Is this the IDEAL small Indie Grip Truck ?

[John Wee]

What do you guys think ? If not, do you have other good recommendation out there ?

http://www.nissancommercialvehicles.com/nv-3500

 

[Justin Chin]

Your local shop here has these and they work really well for the small indy setup. In fact I just finished an indy feature with one. I was camera, so I'm not sure all the details. We did fill it up with all my fixtures and more. 12 fixtures.

The basic setup we rented:
http://www.dtcgrip.com/pdf_forms/SPRINTER.pdf

Pretty much the same as a Sprinter.

 

[John Wee]

The Sprinter is about $20k more expensive than the Nissan though. What sucks is that the Nissan doesnt come in Diesel.

 

[Bob Torrance]

There is a full size Ford Transit coming in about 8 or 9 months. It will come in diesel. Just like the Sprinter.

 

[John Wee]

Gah wish the tall guys will be able to fit into the garage at night (possible theft issue especially when You have your company's logo on the body of the van).

 

[Bob Gundu]

Here's a look at the new ford ones:

http://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/transit/2014/

http://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/transit/2014/gallery/photos/

 

[John Wee]

Tht looks wonderful and the starting price is not too stiff. I hope it can fit inside a garage.

 

[Paul J Steinberg]

William F Whites here in Toronto have a series of mini-grip trucks built as Sprinters: http://www.whitesinteractive.com/

Pretty limited though. Personally I'd go to a 3/5-ton with a genny.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

Lowing Light & Grip here in Grand Rapids has a nice Sprinter package...really holds a lot...hard to imagine using a vehicle much smaller than this, though. And it gets aroung 26-27 mpg...big plus!

http://www.lowinglight.com/sprinter-van-packages.shtml

 

[Jon Carr]

Personally I would just save up for cube truck with a lift gate. Your BBG will love you for it. Gives more room to organize and expand your gear. This would make a nice camera tuck though. But to each their own. The sprinters are great trucks for these jobs.

 

[Craig W. Bickerstaff]

What does BBG stand for?

 

[Shane Kelly]

What does BBG stand for?

Best Boy Grip.

 

[David W. Jones]

The Sprinter is about $20k more expensive than the Nissan though. What sucks is that the Nissan doesnt come in Diesel.

Do you have to buy new?

I saved a bundle purchasing a used Sprinter which was a trade-in on a new model.

 

[Jeff Zueger]

Absolutely love my Sprinter. I found a used one for $17k with 105,000 miles

 

[John Wee]

Dont have to buy, how reliable are the sprinters especially when they have some age on them?

 

[Jeff Zueger]

They are built for OTR use, When I was looking found many with 300-400k miles.

 

[Jon Carr]

I believe they are sleeve diesel motors which can last 500-1 million miles till its first rebuilt.

 

[Mark Collins]

William F Whites here in Toronto have a series of mini-grip trucks built as Sprinters: http://www.whitesinteractive.com/

Pretty limited though. Personally I'd go to a 3/5-ton with a genny.

Agreed. The "Viral Van" as it's called I find to be a tease rather than a full on package. It's like saying "hey, look what you could get if you had money". But for a super small low budget indy production, I guess it's fine....

 

[paul schefz]

i love my sprinter...i get better gas mileage then with the station wagon i had before, mercedes diesel engine (extrmely reliable, low maintenance, great gas milage)...yes, forget about garages or drive throughs, watch for low branches....but it blows away any competition....compared to a regular ford van it gets about twice the milage and has about twice the interior space....at outside dimensions of a suburban or f150 (except for height of course..)
these ford vans look like complete rip offs....pretty funny...but i guess competition is good...the only thing to keep in mind is that mercedes has been building these for decades and these are tall vans....they really have the suspension figured out....a vehicle so tall (and skinny) can start handling really funny really fast if you just slap a tall body on a regular truck suspension (ford?)....
sprinters are the best....

 

[John Wee]

Hows maintenance on these since it is technically a Mercedes ? and would the Dodge variant have the same reliability with cheaper maintenance by Dodge instead of the big M ?