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DO NOT DO A DIESEL. You're already over your head with a gasser. They're a pain in the rear end on pickups; in a van body they're pretty much impossible to work on. A Sprinter style van will drive worlds better than the typical Econoline or Express, but like anything else snub-nosed, they're a pain to work on. ESPECIALLY the diesel Mercedes-based ones. A modern Ford Transit handles like a drat go cart compared to an Econoline, but they have tons of issues. I used to have to pick up brand new* (had a few hundred miles from being driven for a wrap) Transits, and I was shocked if there weren't at least a TPMS and check engine light when I got them (and if they weren't on when I picked them up, it was only bc the battery had been disconnected - they'd be on by the time I got them to the office). Often a random "door open" warning too. They drive really well for what they are, but they have to be one of the worst built vehicles on the market right now. Transits with the NA 3.5 or 3.7 in particular seem to like making GBS threads out water pumps. Did I mention the water pump is timing chain driven on them? There's a weep hole and even a tiny little tray to direct the coolant to the ground so you MIGHT notice it before it dumps your entire cooling system into the oil pan, but in reality that tray is so hot from the exhaust manifold that it never makes it to the ground. The only engines available on the USDM Transit right now are the 3.5 NA and 3.5 Ecoboost (don't do the Ecoboost - they move decent enough with the NA 3.5, the NA is more reliable as well). I never thought I'd see the day when I'd recommend a Nissan, but a high roof Nissan NV with the V8 wouldn't be a bad idea for #vanlife. Yeah, they're discontinued, but most of the mechanical parts are shared with the Frontier and Titan. The 4.0 V6 isn't bad either, but it's pretty slow even when empty. They're kind of a pain to park thanks to the long nose, but they pretty much have the nose from a pickup - they're as easy to work on as a pickup. They were the most reliable vehicles we had at the last place I worked with vans; 2017s with >200k miles were running circles around brand new Transits with <3k in terms of repairs.
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Jun 16, 2023 21:33
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Vampire Panties posted:On the NV, not sure if I would go with the V6 or the V8. Reliability seems to be excellent with both engines, although I know the nissan V8 is a gas guzzler, and I'd have to assume the V6 is one sad loving panda on a highway grade in the mountains. Weirdly the NV2500 is rated with a 3klb+ payload either way. I know the V6 NV can hit 105 on a flat road when lightly loaded, and still had a little bit to give. I wouldn't want to take it through the mountains in the van body though. I can attest to the V6 being thirsty as hell, I usually saw ~12 MPG in my work van (3500 V6, 6 speed auto IIRC), though that was doing delivery duty and wasn't shut off at all the entire day (so lots of idling). It was constantly hunting between the top 2 gears at typical highway speeds here (~80ish).
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Jun 21, 2023 01:57
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Vampire Panties posted:
The NV got the VQ40, which used a timing chain. Remember, the NV is (loosely) based on the Titan, not Frontier. Most of them were close to 200k, I think mine was the lowest mileage NV we had at maybe 140k (mainly bc it was cursed, that thing spent more time in the body shop than on the road). They're a lot more comfortable than a Ford Transit or Econoline too. I spent 12+ hours a day in it, it just just kinda hard to get in and out of for me bc of how high up the 3500 is (arthritis). Cloth seats and carpet up front too, vs vinyl in the Transits. The Transits got better mileage and scooted better, but of the two companies I worked for that had Transits, both had to keep a couple of spare vans (at least 1 or 2 were always in the shop, but part of that is the fleet company they both used took 2-3 weeks just for a drat oil change, god help you if you sent it in for tires - I think we had 8 in the shop at one point). The company that had both NVs and Transits had the NVs serviced at an indie shop, they had much better turnaround. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Jun 24, 2023 |
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Jun 24, 2023 20:42
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I had the V6 / VQ33e in a 2004 frontier. It was a good motor, although the timing belt / interference engine bit always spooked me 
. It too got absolute poo poo gas mileage. A buddy of mine had an 04 Titan with the V8, and it got trash gas mileage as well, but he used it as a tow rig while he lived out of a 24' travel trailer for 3ish years and ran it up to 220k miles (IIRC).