Everything Race Vans

So, in an effort to reduce the amount of tires on the road (currently pull an open trailer with my silverado) and to make myself a little more independent (it's an 04 silverado I've had to put some work into), I was thinking about going to a van. I live in a place where I don't have a bunch of room to store a trailer. My current one takes up 3/4 of my single bay garage with my bikes and tools taking up the other part.

Requirements:
Ideal: Room for 3 bikes (one being a grom/zuma) using trs or my chock or a combo of the 3, some tools, and room to sleep with everything in there (in case I need to pull over and nap at a rest stop. I don't need that much room to sleep but the ability to lay down would be clutch, don't care if part of me is in between bikes.)

What would also work: 2 bikes using trs (one being a grom/zuma), room for tools, room to sleep with everything in there.

There seem to be 4 main brands I see, Mercedes Sprinter, Freightliner, Dodge, and Ford. Chevy too if I'm to include a normal cargo van (which still isn't completely out of the question.)

Who has experience having one as a race hauler? Pros/Cons? Reliability? Things to look for or look out for. Certain brands and/or years "to have"? There are many out there and I want some real world feedback on reliability, cost of ownership, etc.

Appreciate the feedback!

 

you've been here long enough to know that "other" is a for sale section...

Lots of van threads to search, but the short answer is- for your requirements you'll want the longest available Sprinter, Transit, or Promaster. All Sprinters are Mercedes built, just carry different badges over the years.

 

I did exactly what you did and dropped the open trailer for a sprinter van. I have a 2012 2500 crewcab which comes with a bench and rear windows behind the oassnegr and driver. This allows me to have passenger plates which is very important in NYC. Commercial vehicles have restrictions on where they can drive and park. here is is packed up for Barber. 1900 mile drive with zero issues. Also this year I installed a tow hitch, trailer brake lights and brake controller. For the last two hours of my drive from NYC, I picked up a 24’ camper to stay in while at the track.

Like mentioned above get the longest one you can find. Mine is a 144 wb and as you can see all of the floor space is used.




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LOL You're right. If this can be moved, please move it. Do you have any more pictures of the cargo area when you're packed up towards the front? Trying to gauge how much space is left after two bikes get put in there.

So in terms of reliability and cost of ownership, is there one better than the other brand wise? Yea I get that I'd be paying a premium if I went sprinter because, well, mercedes but if it's worth it its worth it.

 

I have that same ladder and a Transit. How'd you hang it on the door like that? It's heavy and always in my damn way

 

That isn't a ladder, it's my foldable ramp. I used some 1/2 lumber as a frame then bolted to metal frame on upper part of door so that I can handle the weight, but the ramp i

 

Mine is a long/tall '06 Sprinter, the "garage" is 10' long and the "RV" part is 4' behind the front seats. The second question is a loaded one... do a LOT of reading on the Sprinter Source (and other) forums to gauge your level of tolerance for their quirks and issues. Buying new vs. well used makes a big difference too.

 

I bought a Chevy Express with 190,000 miles on it and put another 100K on it with no issues.
If you get a long wheelbase model you will have plenty of room for 3 bikes.
I like that it is small enough to fit in most car washes and parking garages.
It's very reliable plus parts and maintenance are really cheap.

If you look for a 2007 and up it's throttle by wire so adding cruise control is very easy.

At one point I was issued a new Sprinter for work but I would take an older Chevy over that.

YMMV

 

I've done both the Sprinter and the Express Extended. Sprinter was a 2005 2500 passenger - 225 length Tall but seating was the crewcab configuration (special order - was originally a bicycle shop race van). On the Chevy Express side, I had a 2004 Savana 3500 Extended Cargo and currently have a 2006 Chevy Express Passenger Extended. Although the Sprinter could be a problem in parking garages and drive-thru's and a lot of car washes, the load height was comparable if not a little bit lower than the Chevy and the space was awesome, especially being able to walk upright, and it even had tie down mounts in it. When money gets a little better in a couple of years, I'm going back to a Long/Tall Sprinter or maybe a similar Ford Transit. BUT, what CJ notes about parts and maintenance is most definitely something to think about - Chevy breakdown or work is no issue anywhere with easy/cheap parts available (used & new) while the Sprinter was more of a specialty vehicle and parts always took longer and were more expensive without nearly as much on the used market.

 

I went with the sprinter 3500 170” extended body. If you need room for 3 bikes and want some creature comforts it’s hard to imagine you could make that happen in anything smaller. I haven’t put many miles on it but it drives nice. I bought a cheaper used cargo version and made a poor mans crew van. My wife can use it to pick up the kids and she used to hate driving my ram 2500.

 

I currently have a 04 silverado with the 5.3 in it and I've done a good amount of work on it so I'm familiar with the Chevy/GMC 5.3 and working on it and it's failure points.

Just saddens me that I did the hubs, fuel lines, water pump, tstat, plugs, all fluids including tranny and diff, front brakes, had the infamous heater core line quick disconnect go and heater core leak (that still needs fixed, it's bypassed for now) and now I want to downsize my "rig" to make traveling more convenient.

 

What year/price range you looking for? My Sprinter is going up for sale soon since I've hardly used it the past 2 years.

 

Here's the thing, after reading and searching I'm still not real clear on "the years to own" or what milage to look out for... Whatcha got?

 

The newest 4 cyl. diesels are supposed to be good, but the "holy grail" Sprinter is the 2006, last year of the I-5 diesel designated "T1N". That is what I have.

 

A few details: 2006 Sprinter long/tall. Almost 400K on it, runs great. I'll be cleaning it up, taking pics and putting an ad together probably right after the GNF. The market is all over the place on these... I'll probably be looking for $6500.

 

I just feel weird about spending $6500 on a 2006 with 400k on it. That's the higher end of the mileage I see these things being sold with. What kind of concerns would I have with a van with that many miles?

 

400K or 100K, these things have a bunch of quirks that are well documented on the forum https://sprinter-source.com/forum/index.php

Check out prices on an '06 with <150K with any kind of buildout... you'll shit yourself

 

teaser pic- the bedliner'd parts are a bit faded now, but otherwise looks the same.

 

bench flips forward to form bed, huge cooler fits underneath

 

Since someone asked via PM- I'll share the answers here:
First 330K or so it was an auto parts delivery van in PA, then 2nd owner bought it and added seats for his family of 10. I bought it with 36xxxx and removed seats and built it as it is now. The 2nd owner happened to be a Sprinter specialist mechanic (millionmilesprinter on the forums) and he got the $700 GDE tune put on that adds power and eliminated the problematic EGR. I've done the work on it since I've had it, the biggest thing I had to do was replace the alternator. As far as "electrical work", I added the solar panels and 2KW inverter and added switches for light bars f+r. There's no house battery or rear lighting in place now, but wiring is in place for it. The CEL has been on pretty much constantly due to one or more bad glow plugs- I never cared since I don't need the van during the cold months. The A/C worked fine until the van sat most of the last 2 years, now it doesn't. Going to try and get it recharged soon. Other dash lights are on due to a bad right rear wheel speed sensor or tone ring, which disables the otherwise working cruise control. I did a bunch of rust repair on the rockers and lower doors, only a few small spots on the red parts could use some attention. All the rust is/was cosmetic- the underside of van is very clean. I added a bunch of Dynamat type insulation in the door panels, now the slider door closes with a "thunk" instead of a "clang" and the ride is fairly quiet. Motor and trans work great, I've always gotten 19-20 MPG loaded or not. I added a hitch but have only towed a small open trailer a couple times. The thing cruises nicely down the road at 75+, the factory limiter kicks in at 82.