Promaster / Transit

[Photomike]

So I have figured out a perfect van, it is a hybrid between.....

For clearance and size .....

For maneuverability and travel speed .......

For fuel economy........

For camping luxury ........

For warmth in the winter

And for coolness.........

So as you probably figured out I still have not decided on a perfect unit, I need a computer program that would help me design from the ground up then build it :Wow1::sombrero::ylsmoke:

 

[Flagster]

I'm currently pricing a "upsize" replacement for our 2015 shorty 144" Sprinter. After driving both a Transit 3500 high roof and a PM based RV...I would say that there is no way I would go PM...the unit was only 1 year old with 2K miles and rattled and shook like my 30 year old one ton pickup with no load in the back...on washboard...seriously...
The transit was really nice and actually felt much more grounded than our 4x4 sprinter...ecoboost engine might have had a part in that "feel"...

 

[Photomike]

Well I have been convinced to stay away from the PM and wouldn't you know it I have two ready to camp units offered to me this week :ugh: Add to that my current daily driver has a possible leak in the transmission cooler and I am really wanting to get the RV project going.

I may have a chance to go look at some Transit's this coming week. Now I need to decide on the medium roof or the high roof. I would like enough room to stand up in but as I am not planning on camping in one spot a lot I am leaning (pun intended) to the medium roof if I can at least stand 99% upright. The lower wind resistance is high on my list as I will be driving this in a lot of different weather.

I still have not given up completely on a GMC Savana with a raised roof but sure not looking promising.

I found a 2003 Ford with a Great West conversion already done to it for a fair price, but after looking into it found out the engine in it has a lot of issues with the plugs. Plus it has 150,000km and I would like something with a lot less as I can put on a lot of km's in a year.

The search and decisions continue!!!! :bike_rider::bike_rider:

 

[calicamper]

Go tall roof gives you better layout options bed platform that can raise up opens up lots of multi use options that seems to be a big bonus for you. The windage difference will be so minor especially loaded with living gear and work stuff. That and standing up is kinda a big deal when its 30below 👍

 

[Photomike]

Go tall roof gives you better layout options bed platform that can raise up opens up lots of multi use options that seems to be a big bonus for you. The windage difference will be so minor especially loaded with living gear and work stuff. That and standing up is kinda a big deal when its 30below ��

Good points about storage. About standing up.... well I am vertically challenged so I could almost stand up in low roof

 

[tims5377]

: ) i'm sharing as i pass through...

Whatever you choose i wish you many happy adventures.

I'll play the T or PM game.

I really, really tried to get myself wrapped around the Transit. Even had a Portland dealer having a Quigley T shipped from a Seattle dealer lot for me < < only to have the Seattle lot crew wreck the van trying to get it onto the flatbed. This latest Transit Fail got me to stop and take a breath.

Waaaay back in 2014 i was beginning to research for a replacement for our current Chevy AWD 1500 conversion (which we will put up for sale probably in December or January).
Part of the research included the new-to-US PM. There are as many peeps that dig the looks on both the T and PM that dislike them. For my wife and i we never liked the T looks, but were willing to live with it if need be. But we really dug the Euro look of the PM. And spent some time viewing the Euro YT videos of the conversions using the similar platform.

Since we are totally spoiled with the current rig's AWD it was the measure of road-handle-ability. We took two test drives in new Transits, but rear ends slipped on dry pavement (one was empty, the other had ~2K over rear axle). When we took the PM out in similar conditions and same course/roads it behaved like our AWD and was basically on rails. I've always been either a FWD or AWD guy from AWD Volvos to FWD Toyotas. The last RWD vehicle we had was a 2007 TACO 4x4. Before that? A 1980 Toyota Celica GT nearly 4 decades ago.

So it was the drive/handling that sold my wife and i on the PM. She never liked the T drive, even when we took the QT out and up a trail/forestry road with 4x4h engaged. Sure, it was cool to have the 4x4 on the side, but we had to admit that in all the driving of our TACO, we engaged the 4x4 twice. BUT FWD and AWD? We've had many instances when it was noticeable that it was working silently behind the curtain to keep us safe on the wet PNW roads.

The first thing i did was have BFG KO2s put all around on the PM to get it ready for winter driving.

Time will tell if all of this was a good move on our part. For any given vehicle (volvo and toy included) there are issues. For us, we were totally into the nice fit and finish of our PM and the ability to have dual swivels and other things. On ground clearance? The only way to get it is to honestly go bigger tires. The Transit and PM and even Ford e and GM/Chevy are all within an inch or so of each other stock, and we've never had clearance issues on the groomed forestry roads we travel (the lift and all the trail bling on the current AWD Chevy is way more for cool factor and looks than out of need... even though it is very functional off pavement on such dirt/gravel roads).

Just a ramble and food for thought.
: ) Thom

Bumping this for long term feedback on your promaster! Currently debating Transit LWB, Med roof vs Promaster 159 High roof

 

[Accrete]

Bumping this for long term feedback on your promaster! Currently debating Transit LWB, Med roof vs Promaster 159 High roof

Greetings, as i reply i'm typing from the comfort of the inside of the PM parked next to the pine trees a few miles south of where Overland Expo will be held this weekend in Flagstaff.

Over ~18 months have past since i posted the quoted "ponder" and my wife and i could only be ( : happier : ) in maybe a Unicat or some crazy extreme expedition truck camper (which by the way is partly what brought us to OE this weekend...planning for rig v3.0)

My wife and i have logged about 6,000 miles on both vans since we retired in fall of 2018, mostly in the SW deserts. She absolutely LOVES the driveability of the PM, even over the Chevy AWD that was her daily driver for so many years (that i've taken over, somehow i get the hand-me-downs, or was that my plan all along as i added all the mods/trail-bling?)

We have run into ZERO issues with the PM on the off-pavement miles (and there's been hundreds). There has been more than one adventure that i watched Cari maneuvering the PM down a single track with a wheel off the ground and gently work through some ruts in the trail. One site up Lovell Summit road we were camping to the apparent amazement (their looks spoke volumes) of side by sides, jeeps and lifted trucks that saw the two vans in camp with all the trimmings set up for a few days stay.

The PM (or our modded Chevy AWD for that matter) are not for trails, but that hasn't stopped us from getting where we hopped!