Roadtrek is making a ProMaster model... Zion

[stanw909]

I should also add that I think roof airs are ugly but will I take it off ? Heck no.

[GeorgeB]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Easy there. Let's not get into a "who's van is the ugliest" debate.


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Let's say that loving a van design is an acquired taste!

We first bought a Sprinter that we considered the Thoroughbred of vans. We canceled the Sprinter order in favor of our beloved ProMaster Toad... that we now find very attractive, compare to the arrogant design of certain upfitted Sprinters. Glad to have the look of a normal unpretentious van, not a first class B. You have to admit that esthetic considerations are a very important part in deciding what you will buy, drive and use for an extended period. Our decision for canceling our first order was dictated, among other things, by the very ugly interior design of the upfitted Sprinter we choose first. Inner beauty aside, we choose the Safari Condo van for it's very convincing layout, enterprise culture, reputation and price point ! More than 20 000$ less than the Thoroughbred. Will see if it still runs in a few years from now.

Who knows we might have the option of getting back to the Sprinter XL FLEX that Safari Condo is now testing with the same popular FLEX layout (electric permanent bed at the rear) see photo. ...maybe on a 4X4 MB ! In our dreams

Dry fit testing on a future MB Sprinter XL FLEX by Safari Condo

Complete album
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 354&type=3

But I guess I should start a new thread with this!





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[wincrasher]

Hey, I've had guys get all weepy over how beautiful a torque wrench is, so nothing really surprises me.


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[stanw909]

I have seen some really fetching torque wrenches.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

I can't imagine getting a 16" truck tire would be a problem anywhere in North America. It's a very common size.

But if having one along is a high priority above, well it's just one more factor to differentiate the brands:

Winnebago - forget it, no room. But you'll get the pleasure of having a noisy Onan generator!
Pleasureway - maybe, hung off the rear door. You'll still have a genset and a 2 battery box.
Roadtrek - yep, underneath, but you won't have an onan generator.

Or you can buy what you like, and find a mounting bracket that hangs off the door or a swing arm bracket on the receiver hitch. Or get a storage box for the receiver hitch and put a tire in there as well as a bunch of your other "must haves" you want to carry. There's downsides to those choices as well.

I haven't read this entire thread but one of the issues with spare tires that I've come to realize is that unless you rotate the spare(s) through the configuration to cause uniform wear, if one of the other 4 tires fails, the spare has more tread than the rest. It becomes a mismatched anchor. So, I guess what I'm saying is that unless you do rotate the spare on and off the active rotation, or there's a blowout early on in the life of your tires, you're probably going to have to replace the entire set in the event of a single tire failure. The spare is more likely to be useless to you.
Btw, am I the only one that thinks that "Zion" might be a name that could alienate some buyers?

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Mike

Btw, am I the only one that thinks that "Zion" might be a name that could alienate some buyers?

Alienate who? Zion is a name for Jerusalem, a city important to Muslims, Jews and Christians. But I am sure Roadtrek's name was inspired by Zion National Park in Utah and nothing else. It would not be the first time a vehicle was named after a national park, place or wilderness area that would evoke outdoor adventure. Maybe they have Arcadia, Arches, Banff, Yosemite, Rainier, Glacier, and Cascades as pending names. Some names are too long or maybe shouldn't be used, like "Death Valley" and "Badlands".

[Mike]

My point was that it might evoke an emotional response in some based simply on the name. As evidenced by your response to my comment. If they had wanted to name it after a National Park, there were probably other better choices as you've also suggested. Along that line of thinking, I found it odd and interesting that they chose that one. Just saying.

Yes, Death Valley might be a bad choice.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Mike

I haven't read this entire thread but one of the issues with spare tires that I've come to realize is that unless you rotate the spare(s) through the configuration to cause uniform wear, if one of the other 4 tires fails, the spare has more tread than the rest. It becomes a mismatched anchor. So, I guess what I'm saying is that unless you do rotate the spare on and off the active rotation, or there's a blowout early on in the life of your tires, you're probably going to have to replace the entire set in the event of a single tire failure. The spare is more likely to be useless to you.

Having a full size, matched, spare tire is a good thing, but as you say it loses a lot of the "good" if you don't use it in the tire rotation. It basically sits around and gets old, and costs a lot to replace when you do the other tires or it gets to old. Any of us that have aluminum wheels that don't match the spare wheel (Roadtreks), or upsized tires that don't fit the spare holder don't have a choice about putting the spare in the rotation, so we have to accept the downside of it. I am always torn as to what to do if I get a damaged tire in the middle of the set's life, replace 2 or all 4. Replace two and you lose front to back rotation and wind up out of sync forever. Replace 4 and spend twice as much. The only good at that point is that you might have a newer tire for the spare than you had before.

[Mike]

I've got a brand new Bridgestone OEM spare tire, circa 2002, sitting under the bed in our van (no continental tire kit) that's never seen the light of day. Thus endeth the lesson?

I've replaced all 4 recently and got a very good deal on them based on the failing sets wear characteristics. I have used Discount Tire twice for the new and old sets so that helped when decision time came. They also didn't carry the type I preferred so that made replacing all 4 the only viable option.

[wincrasher]

A 2002 era tire is not safe to use, regardless of if it's been out of the sun or not. It may look fine, but it isn't.

Yeah, not sure if any van named after Death Valley would be a good seller. Maybe if it was black. I'd expect it to have a VERY small fresh water tank.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

A 2002 era tire is not safe to use, regardless of if it's been out of the sun or not. It may look fine, but it isn't.

Agreed. That's why I added the conflicting smileys on my post to imply sarcasm. Sorry if it didn't come across that way.

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Yeah, not sure if any van named after Death Valley would be a good seller. Maybe if it was black. I'd expect it to have a VERY small fresh water tank.

A dried cow skull hood ornament and a sand and cactus mural would complete the look.

[gerrym51]

delete

[gerrym51]

delete

[Gryphon]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

also rvtrader has 3 zions atvancity. msrp is 92,500 94,500. other than the shipping charges i have no idea what options they have

Looking at Van City's website, they have 3 Zions listed with a status of "Taking deposits on ordered units", which I interpret to mean that they're not in stock yet. Each shows a different color selection for the interior, but no other options listed. Hopefully they'll get one in before the St Louis RV show at the end of January so I can take a closer look.

[Davydd]

The first Zion just rolled off the assembly line yesterday I believe. I understand Mike Wendland will have a report on the event soon on Roadtreking.com.

[mlts22]

If the MSRP is ~95k, that is about 10k more than Winnebago's offering, and assuming RT has some more value-added stuff, it is pretty reasonably priced.

[wincrasher]

Just last week the CEO ofvRoadtrek was saying $82k.


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[Mike]

I thought he said $79k in Wendland's pre reveal video? Could be wrong, of course.
Maybe the dealer websites are quoting the always inflated MSRP, which is never their lowest OTD price. Is van city et al a Canadian dealer? We get gouged regularly on price comparisons with the American prices. Not just on RVs.

[markopolo]

I remember it being - around $82,000 MSRP depending on options - in the video. If they get up to around $95k MSRP then that's getting very close to a Winnebago Era on the Mercedes Sprinter platform .................

[booster]

I guess if Roadtrek is working the Promaster in to be a replacement for the Chevy the $95K would be in the ballpark as many 190s are there now. If they are trying to compete in the lower cost market, I think they will be too high.