Picking A Van To Live In | Ram Promaster 2500 High Roof 159WB

#vanlife #rampromaster #vanconversion

When I started looking for a van to live out of I had a hard time deciding on which one would best suite my needs. After weeks of researching and test driving I ended up purchasing a 2015 Ram Promaster 2500 High Roof 159 Wheel Base. It came in at a good price point with all the specs that I was looking for.

It cost $21,000 with 63,000 miles on it. A bit more than I would've liked, but it was in pretty good shape. I traded my 2017 Toyota Tacoma for $29,500 and I had already paid off $15,000 of that so I was able to put a downpayment of $5,000 on the van and take the remaining $10,000 for conversion expenses. I’m sure you can find better deals on craigslist or something, but I was short on time and needed to pull the trigger on something.

The interior height is around 76” so I can stand up straight. The cool thing about the Promaster is that the engine and everything is housed up front which allows more standing room in the back without raising the roof really high. I can still get through 9 foot drive throughs with my solar panels and fairing on. The interior width is around 76” as well, so I was able to have a permanent full size bed in the back where I can lay width wise. The 159 Wheel Base gave me enough room for a couch, kitchen, dining room, wet bath, garage, and bedroom while still being able to fit in regular parking spaces.

I will say that it’s a good decision to get some type of protection plan if you’re buying a used van. These are commercial vehicles that haul a lot of cargo across the states with drivers that don’t care what happens to the vehicle. When they trade the vans in they can have all sorts of issues. My transmission went out 5 days after I bought mine and the Total Automotive Protection Plan I purchased for $1,500 covered the transmission for a $100 deductible. It paid for itself right away.

If there’s one thing I might want to have done differently it would have been to get the 3500. After we were all done with the conversion the riding weight of the van had increased quite a bit. The van now struggles when climbing elevations in places like Colorado with all that added weight. The 3500 might have provided that needed power. I guess we could’ve framed everything with aluminum instead of wood, but we didn’t have the budget for that.

If you have any questions make sure to leave it in the comments or shoot me a DM | @dogcatmanvan

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