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dog_hair_everywhereOP
OvernighterMadison, WI14 posts, joined Jun 2025
greg said van talk, so here. two of us, early 50s, one 75 pound German shepherd named Otto who has to ride on the floor or he paces and pants the whole drive. we are buying a class B in the next year, probably used, and i cannot pick a brand until i pick a chassis.
the dog decides it. he needs floor to lie on while we drive and somewhere to sleep that is not our bed. from walking through what the dealer in Sun Prairie had on the lot this spring, the Travato 59K felt like the most floor, the Revel was tight with him in it, and a Transit based Beyond was somewhere between. what i have no feel for is how a ProMaster drives versus a Sprinter versus a Transit on a six hour day. anybody owned more than one?
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vanlife_at_62
BoondockerTucson, AZ47 posts, joined Jun 2025
i have owned two. a 2016 Roadtrek on the old Sprinter and now a 2022 Solis 59PX on the ProMaster. the Sprinter drove like a big car. the ProMaster drives fine until a semi passes you on I-10 between here and Phoenix and then you hold the wheel with both hands for a second.
but the ProMaster is wider inside and for a big dog that wins. Otto would own the aisle in a Solis. in the old Roadtrek my dog rode in the shower pan because it was the only flat spot that was not under somebody's feet.
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promaster_tech_luis
Long HaulerElkhart, IN126 posts, joined Jun 2025
shop answer, since i see all of them. the ProMaster is front wheel drive, the widest body, the cheapest of the bunch to service, any Ram dealer will touch it and the 3.6 Pentastar is an old friend. Sprinter is the nicest on the highway and holds resale best, and it costs the most when it needs something, you learn every Mercedes van dealer between home and wherever you are going. Transit sits in the middle. AWD was available, Ford dealers are in every town, and the EcoBoost pulls hard if yours has it.
for a dog that big on the floor i would start with the ProMaster for the width alone. measure him lying down stretched out and take a tape to the next walkthrough. people skip that and then buy a van the dog hates.
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sprinter_4x4_or_bust
BoondockerSalt Lake City, UT34 posts, joined Jun 2025
the required Sprinter guy reply. luis is right on the width, i will give him that. but a Revel is the only van in this conversation that gets you and Otto up a washboard road to a trailhead in the Uintas in May, and that is worth a few dog elbows. our lab mix is 60 lb and sleeps on the bench with the table dropped. took her two trips to work it out.
if you are mostly campgrounds and pavement, ignore me and buy the wide one.
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retiring_teacher_van
First TankColumbus, OH7 posts, joined Jun 2025
new here, also trying to choose. no dog, one cat who will dislike all three equally. luis, when you say the ProMaster is cheapest to service, how much cheaper are we talking? i have read Sprinter service stories online that scared me more than the purchase price did.
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dog_hair_everywhereOP
OvernighterMadison, WI14 posts, joined Jun 2025
for whoever lands here later with a big dog. we took a tape measure to a 59K in Sun Prairie and a Beyond 22D at a dealer down in Rockford. Otto lying flat is 46 inches nose to tail. in the 59K aisle he fit with room left over. in the Beyond he had to curl up and he did not like it. so we are leaning ProMaster, which means a Travato or a Solis.
Winnebago lists the interior dimensions in the specs for each floorplan if you dig a little, winnebago.com, and those numbers matched our tape within an inch. judy, i want to know the service numbers too, hoping luis comes back.
