Ram promaster 1500

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fireryan

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
Anybody have 1 of these vans. We generally run 3/4 ton vans because the stuff we carry ususally squats the 1/2 tons to much. Wondering if these are any different?
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Regardless what the vehicle is, if it "squats" too much, you likely are at least pushing or even exceeding it's load rating.

Ever pull one that squats too much on a scale to see where you are at with it?
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I have vowed to never buy a van less than a 1 ton ever again. I've replaced three transmissions in my 3/4 and 1/2 ton vans/trucks in the last 2 years. I drive the vehicles with the overdrive off to help save the transmission, but it costs me in fuel. My next vehicle if new will be a Nissan NV3500 high roof. It has a 5 year/100K warranty and it's less expensive than the other brands. Electrical service vans just carry too much heavy stuff.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
It seems to me that a lot of weight in vans is unnecessary. Steel shelving that falls apart anyway, carrying around EMT fittings and sticks of EMT when you might use it once a year in a residential setting, using heavy duty 375 lb rated ladders when neither one of you weigh more than 175, and so on. The extra maintenance that you have to do on them from carrying around several extra hundreds or thousand pounds of unnecessary weight is just ridiculous. Yeah it seems to me that most people would rather have a large fan with high maintenance cost rather than something smaller and having to organize or pair down tool selection, even though the smaller fan probably do 70% of their service work. If you have to haul a bunch of stuff to the job site, get a trailer.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
It seems to me that a lot of weight in vans is unnecessary. Steel shelving that falls apart anyway, carrying around EMT fittings and sticks of EMT when you might use it once a year in a residential setting, using heavy duty 375 lb rated ladders when neither one of you weigh more than 175, and so on. The extra maintenance that you have to do on them from carrying around several extra hundreds or thousand pounds of unnecessary weight is just ridiculous. Yeah it seems to me that most people would rather have a large fan with high maintenance cost rather than something smaller and having to organize or pair down tool selection, even though the smaller fan probably do 70% of their service work. If you have to haul a bunch of stuff to the job site, get a trailer.

I tried wood shelving, it sagged under the weight it was holding. If you make the wood supports thicker, it takes up too much space. I've tried light weight steel shelving, also sagged. Now I use heavy duty steel wire shelving like they have in kitchen storage. Works good.

I frequently use EMT in residential settings. Usually it's for outside in a lanai (patio) or garage surface-mount work, but just yesterday we had to install a circuit that ran through a huge home theater with a drop ceiling.

I'm not sure where you are finding these light weight electricians. I'm 200 and most guys are heavier than me. I use 300 lb ladders.

A trailer seems like a great idea until you have to do work at a house with a driveway off a major road that is about one car long. There are lots of them around here. No place to park.

I have pared down what I carry. I used to carry all size fitting up to 2". Now I carry 1/2", 3/4", and a select few larger items. I used to carry at least one stick of PVC up to 2", Now I carry just 3/4" and a few scrap pieces of other sizes.

I do carry more power tools than is absolutely necessary, but I like speeding up the job with things like a macho-hammer to install ground rods.
 
Last edited:

hbiss

EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
Location
Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
Occupation
EC
The idea is so that you won't have to worry about having the needed material or tool. You just get in the truck and go without even looking at the work order. But it comes to a point where hauling around everything you own gets ridiculous. Wear and tear on the truck, gas mileage, etc.

After owning many Ford F250 vans that went through rears and transmissions, buddy of mine bought a Dodge half-ton van :? that has front wheel drive. He complains that it is terrible in the snow. Maybe that's because he has so much stuff in the back that the front wheels barely touch the road? :eek:hmy:

-Hal
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I tried wood shelving, it sagged under the weight it was holding. If you make the wood supports thicker, it takes up too much space. I've tried light weight steel shelving, also sagged. Now I use heavy duty steel wire shelving like they have in kitchen storage. Works good.

I frequently use EMT in residential settings. Usually it's for outside in a lanai (patio) or garage surface-mount work, but just yesterday we had to install a circuit that ran through a huge home theater with a drop ceiling.

I'm not sure where you are finding these light weight electricians. I'm 200 and most guys are heavier than me. I use 300 lb ladders.

A trailer seems like a great idea until you have to do work at a house with a driveway off a major road that is about one car long. There are lots of them around here. No place to park.

I have pared down what I carry. I used to carry all size fitting up to 2". Now I carry 1/2", 3/4", and a select few larger items. I used to carry at least one stick of PVC up to 2", Now I carry just 3/4" and a few scrap pieces of other sizes.
That still is dependent on why you are there. Service calls and one afternoon installations might not warrant the trailer. Total renovation, you might be parking that trailer in the yard(if necessary) for a few days, or even getting permission to park it somewhere nearby but on other property.

If there is space to unload tools/equipment at the site maybe you only bring trailer first day to unload, and sometime near the end of project to load items no longer needed. Other option is multiple trips with just your van or truck just for material/tool delivery and pick up.

If space is that small, other contractors are going to have similar problems. As electricians we maybe have it a little easier as we don't typically have all that large of individual items for most dwelling applications and actually can bring items one van load at a time easier then some other trades can do with what they sometimes bring.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
That still is dependent on why you are there. Service calls and one afternoon installations might not warrant the trailer. Total renovation, you might be parking that trailer in the yard(if necessary) for a few days, or even getting permission to park it somewhere nearby but on other property.

If there is space to unload tools/equipment at the site maybe you only bring trailer first day to unload, and sometime near the end of project to load items no longer needed. Other option is multiple trips with just your van or truck just for material/tool delivery and pick up.

If space is that small, other contractors are going to have similar problems. As electricians we maybe have it a little easier as we don't typically have all that large of individual items for most dwelling applications and actually can bring items one van load at a time easier then some other trades can do with what they sometimes bring.

Agreed. I was referring to service calls. For large, multiday jobs, I drop a gangbox from a pickup truck.
 

mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
I have the Ram 1500 and love it. My previous van was a Ford E250 which I liked but did not like getting inside the cargo space on my hands and knees. I can walk around inside the new van by just tilting my head a little and I don’t even have the tall version. What I like most is the ability to store a 6’ stepladder sideways behind the protective wall. I do need to use a 4’ stepladder to get ladders on and off the roof but it’s not a big deal.
 

JoeyD74

Senior Member
Location
Boston MA
Occupation
Electrical contractor
It looks like even the 1500 ram van is 8550lb gvw with a over 3500lb payload.
They all use the same engine and trans no matter what version so it looks like suspension is the only changes if you go 2500 or 3500.
 

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
I have an E250 and when I was doing my own work, the best thing I ever did was to empty it out and keep it as light as possible. There's no reason to have a van full of stuff if you keep on top of your inventory.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I have an E250 and when I was doing my own work, the best thing I ever did was to empty it out and keep it as light as possible. There's no reason to have a van full of stuff if you keep on top of your inventory.

:thumbsup:

The guy I referred to earlier that I used to work with had just tons of extra little knick-knacks, inventory, and tools that added up to a ton of waste. Two sticks of Unistrut, 20-plus pounds. Spare battery for a generator, 20-plus pounds. Any conduit over 3/4 in, even subsections of 4 inch sleeve something, 50 plus pounds. Junk crap like blown HPS ballasts, bulbs, used Breakers, another 50 lb. 5 gallon oil drum for doing generator change outs, over half full, 25 more pounds.

Tool wise, he had, last time I saw him, got a hydraulic Punch-Out kit, could do up to 4 in knockouts. 45 lb, and he still had the original manual set on the truck, another 5 to 10 lb. Instead of having like an 80 piece socket set in a nice plastic box, he had a ton of sockets in the bottom of a metal tool box, that weighed more than a bag of Quikrete... Add another 90 lbs there.

I occasionally have pop 200 lb without a tool pouch or materials, however I think I would rather have a ladder collapse under me then have to Lug around those big orange suckers all day. The Werner blue ladders are good for 250 lb and way substantially less than the ones rated for 300 or 375. He once carried around a portable generator for a week and a half when a hurricane was supposed to hit... Not for any specific customer or job... Add about 250 lbs there. All manner of tools for digging, post hole making, trenching, Etc, add another hundred pounds there.

My point is if you do not watch the ounces, the pounds will add up tremendously.

My first work truck was a K 1500 extended cab with a camper shell. I built two wooden shelves across the wheel wells, and kept all of my materials and heavy duty plastic boxes. The truck was organized to the point I could send a green helper out there and tell him exactly where something was, and if it wasn't in that spot, it's because I did not have it. Sure there are some things I had to carry that many electricians would not, like six hundred foot of extension cord for running the drills roughing in commercial jobs, about 10 nail biter drill bits, because breaking one of those or dulling it out mid job will require you to pull off and go buy another one. I had one good corded drill, two good cordless drills, Sawzall and a few other power tools.

Getting back to the topic on hand, selection of your vehicle may depend largely on how well you can organize it. I bet a good many of us could fit in most of the essential items needed in a Ford Focus with a ladder rack. A 10-in-1, a voltmeter, a pair of dikes, and a pair of wire strippers can get an awful lot of work done.

I don't like carrying around even an extra pound in my tool pouch, and no truck likes having to carry around the extra weight. It will not complain like I do, however it will cost you more in gas and maintenance than if it was lightly loaded.

I love my tools and like being prepared as much as the next guy, however I admire efficiency of action over carrying around a rolling garage. If I am doing work that I know will require some different tools, pull them out of the garage and put them on the truck while drinking your morning coffee and going over your game plan for the day in your head.

Or just imagine having to use a six and a half foot bed in the extended cab of a K 1500 to do all your work... I did that for 4 years, the only thing I would have done differently with get a pull out slide for the bed so all my materials come to me rather than me crawl inside.

Last thought... If you cannot tell a completely green helper exactly where something is on the truck, it is not organized. If you don't know if you have something on the truck, it is unorganized. And if you have to spend more than about 10 seconds looking for something, it is definitely unorganized. I would rather work out of a Ford Focus with a ladder rack that was perfectly done then another standard electrical van that is a giant rolling cluster... truck.
I am not alone in this, I am noticing many electrical companies around here with minivans or even compact cars to do service work, estimates, and other things that do not require an entire rolling warehouse of electrical parts and tools.

Even if you go with the Ram 1500, you may find a gently used one only a few years old where the original owner has already eaten a lot of the depreciation on it. you can spend the money you save on that on another vehicle for service work, save the money for breakdowns, go to Jamaica for 2 weeks, whatever floats your boat. I can't give a thumbs up or down on that particular van, I will say that it is better than a sprinter, which seems to me worse than a boat as far as expenses go.
 

fireryan

Senior Member
Location
Minnesota
:thumbsup:

The guy I referred to earlier that I used to work with had just tons of extra little knick-knacks, inventory, and tools that added up to a ton of waste. Two sticks of Unistrut, 20-plus pounds. Spare battery for a generator, 20-plus pounds. Any conduit over 3/4 in, even subsections of 4 inch sleeve something, 50 plus pounds. Junk crap like blown HPS ballasts, bulbs, used Breakers, another 50 lb. 5 gallon oil drum for doing generator change outs, over half full, 25 more pounds.

Tool wise, he had, last time I saw him, got a hydraulic Punch-Out kit, could do up to 4 in knockouts. 45 lb, and he still had the original manual set on the truck, another 5 to 10 lb. Instead of having like an 80 piece socket set in a nice plastic box, he had a ton of sockets in the bottom of a metal tool box, that weighed more than a bag of Quikrete... Add another 90 lbs there.



I occasionally have pop 200 lb without a tool pouch or materials, however I think I would rather have a ladder collapse under me then have to Lug around those big orange suckers all day. The Werner blue ladders are good for 250 lb and way substantially less than the ones rated for 300 or 375. He once carried around a portable generator for a week and a half when a hurricane was supposed to hit... Not for any specific customer or job... Add about 250 lbs there. All manner of tools for digging, post hole making, trenching, Etc, add another hundred pounds there.

My point is if you do not watch the ounces, the pounds will add up tremendously.

My first work truck was a K 1500 extended cab with a camper shell. I built two wooden shelves across the wheel wells, and kept all of my materials and heavy duty plastic boxes. The truck was organized to the point I could send a green helper out there and tell him exactly where something was, and if it wasn't in that spot, it's because I did not have it. Sure there are some things I had to carry that many electricians would not, like six hundred foot of extension cord for running the drills roughing in commercial jobs, about 10 nail biter drill bits, because breaking one of those or dulling it out mid job will require you to pull off and go buy another one. I had one good corded drill, two good cordless drills, Sawzall and a few other power tools.

Getting back to the topic on hand, selection of your vehicle may depend largely on how well you can organize it. I bet a good many of us could fit in most of the essential items needed in a Ford Focus with a ladder rack. A 10-in-1, a voltmeter, a pair of dikes, and a pair of wire strippers can get an awful lot of work done.

I don't like carrying around even an extra pound in my tool pouch, and no truck likes having to carry around the extra weight. It will not complain like I do, however it will cost you more in gas and maintenance than if it was lightly loaded.

I love my tools and like being prepared as much as the next guy, however I admire efficiency of action over carrying around a rolling garage. If I am doing work that I know will require some different tools, pull them out of the garage and put them on the truck while drinking your morning coffee and going over your game plan for the day in your head.

Or just imagine having to use a six and a half foot bed in the extended cab of a K 1500 to do all your work... I did that for 4 years, the only thing I would have done differently with get a pull out slide for the bed so all my materials come to me rather than me crawl inside.

Last thought... If you cannot tell a completely green helper exactly where something is on the truck, it is not organized. If you don't know if you have something on the truck, it is unorganized. And if you have to spend more than about 10 seconds looking for something, it is definitely unorganized. I would rather work out of a Ford Focus with a ladder rack that was perfectly done then another standard electrical van that is a giant rolling cluster... truck.
I am not alone in this, I am noticing many electrical companies around here with minivans or even compact cars to do service work, estimates, and other things that do not require an entire rolling warehouse of electrical parts and tools.

Even if you go with the Ram 1500, you may find a gently used one only a few years old where the original owner has already eaten a lot of the depreciation on it. you can spend the money you save on that on another vehicle for service work, save the money for breakdowns, go to Jamaica for 2 weeks, whatever floats your boat. I can't give a thumbs up or down on that particular van, I will say that it is better than a sprinter, which seems to me worse than a boat as far as expenses go.

Yes i had a sprinter. One of the worse purchases ive ever made
 

peter d

Senior Member
Location
New England
:thumbsup:

The guy I referred to earlier that I used to work with had just tons of extra little knick-knacks, inventory, and tools that added up to a ton of waste. Two sticks of Unistrut, 20-plus pounds. Spare battery for a generator, 20-plus pounds. Any conduit over 3/4 in, even subsections of 4 inch sleeve something, 50 plus pounds. Junk crap like blown HPS ballasts, bulbs, used Breakers, another 50 lb. 5 gallon oil drum for doing generator change outs, over half full, 25 more pounds. .....

To add to your excellent post, I have noticed that there is a direct correlation between messy and overstocked trucks and the inability to plan your work and manage material for those jobs. Just a hunch here, but that guy you just mentioned who had a rolling junkyard probably exhibited this characteristic. :roll:;)

I completely agree with you about ladders. There is absolutely no reason to use those IA rated ladders unless you're some big sweat hog and need them. But for most of us, it's just dead weight.

I worked for a company who used all box trucks and Sprinters. Some of the guys managed to completely trash a box truck and make it unusable since they were incapable of organizing it. So it's not the truck but the person using the truck that makes the difference.
 

sameguy

Senior Member
Location
New York
Occupation
Master Elec./JW retired
I worked out of a s10 blazer! for 3 years. I have , service change container,rough in container, trim container, breakers in a small container,wire container Romex, thhn, 3 drills in bags, xcords in a box, on the roof pipetube , ladder.
Few service calls mostly remodels, most all work I had to go see to bid so noted what would be needed. Unloaded and reloaded containers each night when I got home for the next days work. Tried to make schedule so I get at least a full 1/2 day; any down time was for, inspections, supply run, look at a job, bidding. My biggest thing was I made myself do any part of the job that I could with what was on the truck before leaving the site. I also realized I was getting slower as I got older and really looked at how much could I actually get done.
I've worked out of vans, pickups, one guy had a short school bus (that was pretty good to work out of).
Most important TP in a coffee can!
 
I bought a Ram Promaster 1500 High Top about 2 years ago. It’s been a great truck, not a single breakdown. WE learned our lesson, as the previous truck was a 16’ Isuzu Box Truck

Don’t waste your money on the 2500. The difference in payload is @ 370 lbs. I couldn’t find any other difference at all between the 1500 and 2500, just the cost.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I bought a Ram Promaster 1500 High Top about 2 years ago. It’s been a great truck, not a single breakdown. WE learned our lesson, as the previous truck was a 16’ Isuzu Box Truck

Don’t waste your money on the 2500. The difference in payload is @ 370 lbs. I couldn’t find any other difference at all between the 1500 and 2500, just the cost.
Towing ratings, maybe? If that matters to you?
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I'm about 600 lbs over the max weight allowed right now on my F150 with service topper. I could really use that 370 lbs.

Get you a bathroom scale and start weighing tools on your truck. That giant Roto Hammer that makes pound and ground rod so easy probably weighs 30 lbs or more, probably 60 by the time you include the case and a few bits. A Bosch bulldog with an SDS to SDS Max adapter on it and a ground rod driver bit is much easier to use on top of a ladder and weighs a good 20 pounds less. I'll accept the 15 extra seconds it might take over a giant Roto Hammer as infrequently as I drive ground rods. Any times there's no temporary power, I will take a 16 oz framing hammer and a scrap of wood to beat the ground rod in... Soil isn't too tough here


And ditch those 300 pound rated ladders... I swear I hated those things more than any other single thing on the work truck... Trying to wrestle a 10-foot plus one of these off the top of a van without a ladder assist is not only a waste of time, half the time it's dangerous standing on top of another ladder to get it off by yourself. Go to Lowe's, get an 8-foot blue frame Werner ladder, move that around all day versus one of those orange ones... You'll be surprised how much extra time it really takes moving around a heavy ladder all day... Or how much less wore out you are. Not saying you will be able to pair down 600 pounds, however I would be reasonably willing to bet you could easily remove 200 lb without noticing those tools or materials are even off the truck.

By the way, I really like your idea and use of wire basket shelves... Not only are they lightweight and strong, they are open and more easily rearranged to sizes you need then steel shelving units.
 
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