Retiring the Big Red Thunder Chicken.

Talked about it for the last two years and after 19 years of loyal mostly trouble free service I am retiring my Dodge Truck to light duty, feed runs and work around the farm like pulling the hay wagons etc. With 398,000 miles and the truck falling apart around the engine.... it is time

Been debating long and hard what to replace Red with. I keep coming back to Doge 2500 or 3500 ProMaster Cargo Vans with the 3.0 Eco Diesel, the 159" wheel base and the high roof. I Found one locally that I like a 2016 retired Fedex trade in, has gotten regular maintenance like clockwork at a shop that I am friends with the owner of. Ran it over to him this morning to check out and he was like I just serviced it a few weeks ago and it has no foreseeable problems and can't see why it would not be good for another 125,000 - 150,000 miles with regular maintenance other than it being a ugly ass Dodge ProMaster there ain't anything wrong with it. I also know the FedEx driver that ran that van since it was new...... LOL she has made a lot of deliveries to the farm over the years in this van, so when she delivered today in her new van I asked what she thought about her old van. She said she would rather have it back than the new one. So I am pretty much convinced to go ahead and buy this one. Got the dealership talked down to $9,200 for it (Started at $13,900) .


It is the longest one they make and I have plenty of head room standing up in it. It ain't purdy but I can see where it would have a lot more practical functionality for me now days than another big pick up truck. Would have to get a tow package installed on it but it is rated for a 5100 pound towing capacity and the Chuck Wagon comes in at around 4,200 loaded and a Van Cargo Capacity of 4,000 pounds. It also come with a Certified Pre Owned 3 month/3000 mile warranty for what that is worth.

The real debate is But this used one for $9,200 or Buy a new one for $36,000. Replacing Red with a new Truck that would almost match him would cost around $70,000 and well I just am not going to drop 70 grand on any vehicle


Generic stock photo of one that is shorter. Another friend has a graphics company and is chomping at the bit to create the wrap for the van so we would be pretty much losing the plain white.







So does anyone have any experience with these they would like to share with me? Any Major draw backs I am missing? Other than its uglier than the South side of a North Bound Skunk The one thing I am uncertain about is the Front Wheel Drive on these. For everything I have driven in my life......... I have never owned or driven a Front Wheel Drive...........

 

Get a 2007 to 2014 Sprinter, any of the three "Makes" Mercedes, Dodge, Freightliner with the 6 cylinder Diesel!
The real trick is the $1000 upgrades you should do, the fuel tuner and throttle tuner, both will pay for them selves in no time! They are only rated to tow 5000 pounds, but can be upgraded with rear subframe connectors!
I got mine for $13000 cash, low millage, and with a warranty ( which I immediately voided by upgradeing) and did the upgrades right away! Cant say enough good things about these vans, they are bomb proof reliable, and the fuel millage is awesome! They also ride very nice, something you come to appreciate after a long day on your feet bustin yer arse!

 

We had those at a company I was a service tech for. If you keep up the maintenance they do 500,000 miles easily. We didn't get rid of them until 300k, and some of the guys bought them and still have them, and one has 820,00 mile now (with a rebuilt transmission, original engine) and he still uses it as a camper.

 

I still want the big red thunder chicken when you are finished with it! My 12 Valve has been missing antifreeze every time I check for the past few years and I have been topping it off and waiting for the demon to reveal itself. Yesterday when I was driving home from the feed store the belt started squeaking and I knew without looking that the water pump has been the problem.

 

The towing operation with front wheel drive would bother me no end. I'll admit to zero experience with front wd towing, but the concept of traction loss smells to me like jackknife lurking in the turns. Granted, the same situation can arise with rear drive, but at least there are some rear wheel control options (power on or off) that idle back wheels don't offer.
Now, other than saying I haven't met a Dodge I could like, I'll siddown and shaddup.

 

Good job getting that much use out of Red.

 

Neighbor has the Perkins diesel in 4x4,Loves it and claims it runs on air and only a small amount of fuel?

 

For some reason never identified Red has been through about 15 thermostats in the last 19 years . Fortunately they always get stuck open so all I lose is heat instead of stuck closed and overheating You would really not want Red the dash is gone, every time we go down the road something falls off. The engine to rear end is great its everything else falling apart around the drive train that is the problem. And then there are the random little electrical fires in the dash Oh and the heater core bolted onto the passenger side floor... Just because it was easier to put it there and run longer hoses than to get to the old one. I am going to keep Red for another year just to make feed runs and haul tractors around. But seriously the only thing worth anything left in Red is the 7 speed rockwell tranny, the rear end and the 4.9 long block and it could use a full rebuild and the block cleaned out and flushed real good..... after 19 years I imagine there is more than a little sludge in there.

I have really good trailer brakes and have trolley bars installed on everything instead of dicking around with the little button on the brake controller. Like I said I don't know jack about FWD. I don't run the trailer in the winter or when it is raining so risk of JKs would be minimal in my case. I did learn today that my fleet insurance likes these Vans a lot more than they like the trucks. The liability insurance I carry on the Inc. Vehicles drops $150 per year if I get the van and drop red off.

My electrician popped in today to measure out how much cable he need for the Machine Shed electrical job and rolled in the with one of these. Didn't even know he had one....... His is 2014 with 220,000 miles on it and says he loves it and actually has 3 of them that he sends his crews to the bigger contracts with and usually just runs around doing the residential service work in his little pick up because it gets better mileage. LOL also said most of his residentials are bad breakers, and common AirCon repairs so he doesn't need to carry a full vans worth of parts and tools. And in my case I usually have all the conduit, boxes, breakers and parts for the jobs and he only needs to figure out how long and what gauge cable I need. Any his vans are retired FedEx vans as well that he bought for $11,000 each with 140,000- 160,000 on them and only problem he has had to date was a tranny rebuild one of them. Told me another Electrician a few towns South has 6 of them 500K plus on them with no problems to date. We have a lot of the FedEx ones floating around I guess because we have a big Terminal 35 miles to the North and a smaller hub 30 miles South West and they trade them all in to the same GMC dealerships that also sells Dodge Cab Trucks, Gliders and Commercial Vans. So there are always FedEx trade ins sitting in their used commercial lot. Which would splain why the salesman is offering me a even better deal if I buy all 3 that they have on the lot now LOL If I take all 3 I can have them all for $8,500 cash each. Very tempting but I really only need one. Kind of surprised me that FedEx Trades them in at 125,000-150,000 miles. Given everything I am reading says they are solid to at least 300,000.

 

Well if the engine in my Oliver 1755 is a good measure of Perkins Diesel Engines they are good engines 1975 model year, one in frame and still running strong. Also uses a lot less fuel per acre than anything else I have ran.

 

I would like to swap that 4x4 Rockwell transmission setup into my 96 Dodge.

 

The Perkins diesel probably built 75% of the Gulf of Mexico...

We had one in the 50'Gulfstar,6 banger to boot.
From Grand Isle La to Progresso Mexico we only used a surprisingly small amount of fuel,Wish I could remember the actual
amount,Impressed the hell out of me for sure,Probably 2 quarts of oil tops for something like 450 miles of hard running.