# Promaster shelving



## 29573 (Apr 8, 2012)

Hi,

Picking up my Promaster van this week, finally.

Looking to unfit it.

Was considering Sortimo, Ranger and Kargomaster.

Just found the Weatherguard line, looks like a great setup.

Anyone using it, wondering if the quality is comparable.

Thanks


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Those are premium shelving systems. Adrian Steel is also up there, but usually a little less expensive than Ranger and Weatherguard. 

And then there is American Van. I like them a lot, they are a lot cheaper but still great. That's what I use and will continue to use.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

American and Adrian are the two companies that have always been in my vehicles. Always worked well.


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## drewsserviceco (Aug 1, 2014)

My first van I got new, I got a deal on an upfit package from the dealer for being a commercial customer and it was Adrian Steel, which was nice but ultimately the layout didn't fit my needs. 

Since then I've been buying American Van due to quality vs. cost value, and I like they are a (sort of) local company. Decent quality and innovation that's affordable in the scope of shelving and storage solutions. 

I might be making the change back to a van from the box truck, probably a Ford Transit, and will likely build my own shelving and storage since I don't care for the layout offered commercially.


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

These are a few pics from my 1500 Promaster 136" high roof that I lost to a flood last month.

Currently setting up a 2500 Promaster 159" high roof. Will load pics when it's finished. Waiting for more shelving and parts to come in.


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## Majewski (Jan 8, 2016)

I think it's time I get some shelving too!!!


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

Stop buying tools you don't need and get some shelving

I just spent $1200 Friday for more and waiting on an answer for the ladder rack parts so I can order those. Probably another $300 - $400 I'm looking at.


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

When I look at vans I don't know how you guys work out of them. I will take pics tomorrow of my truck. Its a ford e350 with a 12 foot utilimaster trademaster body on it. I could never go back after working out of this


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

TRurak said:


> When I look at vans I don't know how you guys work out of them. I will take pics tomorrow of my truck. Its a ford e350 with a 12 foot utilimaster trademaster body on it. I could never go back after working out of this


I love being able to step into the van and stand up while gathering all my tools and material. Just like I was in a warehouse.












The utilimaster trademaster is nice, but I could never work out of one again. There are too many cabinets to open, it takes too much time to go around and get stuff from 4-8 different outside cabinets. During the Winter you can never park on the street because the entire right side of cabinets is blocked by snow mounds. And the left side cabinets require you to stand in the street and avoid cars whizzing by. And the biggest problem I have with utility bodies is that you have all the cabinets outside to make access to material easy, but then you always have to climb into the back for something, so it would have been easier to just step into a high roof van in which everything is available from the inside.

Sorry for the rant. but I hated working out of a utility body :laughing:


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

HackWork said:


> I love being able to step into the van and stand up while gathering all my tools and material. Just like I was in a warehouse.
> 
> 
> Sorry for the rant. but I hated working out of a utility body :laughing:


My BIL and I had this argument all the time. 

I did have a covered utility body while at one company and it was okay for installing control systems but a van is my preferred choice for service work. 

The BIL had a pickup with a utility cap and the bins accessible from outside. But he did mostly new work.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

MechanicalDVR said:


> My BIL and I had this argument all the time.
> 
> I did have a covered utility body while at one company and it was okay for installing control systems but a van is my preferred choice for service work.
> 
> The BIL had a pickup with a utility cap and the bins accessible from outside. But he did mostly new work.


Oh yeah. I could definitely see the utility body with all the cabinets being useful in many instances. But not for electrical service work, at least not for me.

While it was cool being able to go to one or two cabinets and grab what I needed real quick, the truth was that no matter how I organized it I always ended up having to go to 4 or 5 cabinets. And then when I needed one thing inside and had to climb in, I wished I was able to just step into a van and have access to everything.


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

To each his own! I don't do much service work, almost no residential. We are mostly commercial/light industrial. Lots of conduit and MC. There is one drawback to this truck. Its a diesel and maintenance is much more expensive. It has 78k miles and it Runs good but we've done batteries, an alternator and just had its third set of tires put on it yesterday.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

TRurak said:


> To each his own! I don't do much service work, almost no residential. We are mostly commercial/light industrial. Lots of conduit and MC. There is one drawback to this truck. Its a diesel and maintenance is much more expensive. It has 78k miles and it Runs good but we've done batteries, an alternator and just had its third set of tires put on it yesterday.


Mine is diesel too. The last fillup was my best mileage yet, 22MPG. Most other vans are getting half of that in gas mileage.

But I worry about repairs in the future 

BTW, I still want to see pictures of your setup!


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

HackWork said:


> Mine is diesel too. The last fillup was my best mileage yet, 22MPG. Most other vans are getting half of that in gas mileage.
> 
> But I worry about repairs in the future
> 
> BTW, I still want to see pictures of your setup!


With diesel just keep the maintenance done (filters, fuel treatment, etc) I have had a few different ones and they last well if kept up.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

MechanicalDVR said:


> With diesel just keep the maintenance done (filters, fuel treatment, etc) I have had a few different ones and they last well if kept up.


You probably had them before the new EPA bullsh1t that they added to them. It's about $4,000 in extra exhaust parts that costs $10,000 to fix  

That reminds me, I have to fillup the exhaust fluid this week :blink:

I can't wait for Trump to gut the EPA.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

villageelectric said:


> Hi,
> 
> Picking up my Promaster van this week, finally.
> 
> ...


I know when it comes to pickup tool boxes Weatherguard is the best there is. I would imagine their shelving is Cadillac also. 
I just put some Adrian steel in my nissan this weekend. Seemed as good as any but I am just a basic shelves type of guy.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

HackWork said:


> You probably had them before the new EPA bullsh1t that they added to them. It's about $4,000 in extra exhaust parts that costs $10,000 to fix
> 
> That reminds me, I have to fillup the exhaust fluid this week :blink:
> 
> I can't wait for Trump to gut the EPA.


Yup sure did 86 Mercedes, 90 Isuzu, 95 Ford.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

I bought two vans last month. One we built our own shelves out of would because that is what my guy wanted to do. I like it as it is way quieter and makes better use of the space. 
The other is just 3-44 inch shelving units from Adrian steel it is OK. $800 for the steel the wood was probably about the same if I included labor.


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## daveEM (Nov 18, 2012)

HackWork said:


> You probably had them before the new EPA bullsh1t that they added to them. It's about $4,000 in extra exhaust parts that costs $10,000 to fix


That's so good.

Them suckers are the filthiest, stinking, noisiest, air polluting, smelliest POS on this earth.

An old one drives by you, well you may as well smoke a hundred cartons of cigarettes.


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

Here she is! Excuse the mess. My spring weekend project is to pull it all apart and organize it,


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

TRurak said:


> Here she is! Excuse the mess. My spring weekend project is to pull it all apart and organize it,


Jelly.


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

Don't be, 9 miles per gallon. Remember when diesel was 4.50 per gallon??!! That sure was fun


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

I get that with my 2013 ford e-250 in the winter. Sometimes I get all the way up to 12.5 in the summer on the highway.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

TRurak said:


> Don't be, 9 miles per gallon. Remember when diesel was 4.50 per gallon??!! That sure was fun


I just want to rub it in a little more:



HackWork said:


> Mine is diesel too. The last fillup was my best mileage yet, 22MPG.


:whistling2:

:laughing:


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

TRurak said:


> Don't be, 9 miles per gallon. Remember when diesel was 4.50 per gallon??!! That sure was fun


My Jeep doesn't get much more than that.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

TRurak said:


> Here she is! Excuse the mess. My spring weekend project is to pull it all apart and organize it,


Nice truck!


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

I wish it would come close to your mileage Hack! What is your vehicle??


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

TRurak said:


> I wish it would come close to your mileage Hack! What is your vehicle??


Sprinter. I really love it, but I worry about future mechanical issues. 

People think they are expensive, but I got it for $42 with lots of options, navigation, and a nice factory divider.

Your truck must be $50K at least, huh?


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

It was 40k in 2008. I like working out of it but it has no frills. My next one will have the 14' box and will be a cab over like this.


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

I seriously considered a utility body and a standard box truck but ended up with the Promaster. Just couldn't see making either of those vehicles work with the type of service we offer. 

If I did nothing but new construction I would definitely go with a box truck instead.


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## drewsserviceco (Aug 1, 2014)

TRurak said:


> It was 40k in 2008. I like working out of it but it has no frills. My next one will have the 14' box and will be a cab over like this.



The turning radius on the LCF style trucks are amazing. The wheelbase for a 14' box is 4" more than my Chevy 3500 van. A friend of mine has one, just be prepared for a harsher ride than a pickup and usually their interiors are no frills (with no ability to upgrade even if you wanted to spend the money). Still fantastic maneuvering and ease of maintenance.


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

drewsserviceco said:


> The turning radius on the LCF style trucks are amazing. The wheelbase for a 14' box is 4" more than my Chevy 3500 van. A friend of mine has one, j*ust be prepared for a harsher ride* than a pickup and usually their interiors are no frills (with no ability to upgrade even if you wanted to spend the money). Still fantastic maneuvering and ease of maintenance.


I've talked with a bunch of guys and that is always their complaint with those cab over trucks, their backs kill them at the end of the day.


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## drewsserviceco (Aug 1, 2014)

Wouldn't be so bad if there was a way to upgrade the seating or something, but in typical metric fashion, one size fits.... eff it, that's all you get. They're all the same, Isuzu, Hino, UD...not like a domestic manufacturer that would gladly accept your money to upgrade, the metric boys don't care, what you see is all they make. I think the only upgrade they offer is cloth over vinyl. 

Now, not horrible for driving locally, but I can't imagine the shape I'd be in after anything longer than 30-40 mins. Roads and traffic both suck around me, maybe it's better for others and wouldn't be as noticeable.


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## TRurak (Apr 10, 2016)

It won't be any worse than my e350. The diesel engine sits back further into the cab than the gas model. It's not built for comfort


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

drewsserviceco said:


> Wouldn't be so bad if there was a way to upgrade the seating or something, but in typical metric fashion, one size fits.... eff it, that's all you get. They're all the same, Isuzu, Hino, UD...not like a domestic manufacturer that would gladly accept your money to upgrade, the metric boys don't care, what you see is all they make. I think the only upgrade they offer is cloth over vinyl.
> 
> Now, not horrible for driving locally, but I can't imagine the shape I'd be in after anything longer than 30-40 mins. Roads and traffic both suck around me, maybe it's better for others and wouldn't be as noticeable.


Floating aftermarket seating is always an alternative.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

TRurak said:


> It won't be any worse than my e350. The diesel engine sits back further into the cab than the gas model. It's not built for comfort


GM vans/cutaways have waaay more cab space. You wouldn't think there would be that much of a difference, but there is. I have actually changed how I sit when I drive because of how much windshield time I get in my E-250. My personal truck is a chevy pickup, and I keep the seat about 4" closer to the wheel, and the back straighter than I used to when I ran a GM van for work.


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## mikewillnot (Apr 2, 2013)

drspec said:


> I seriously considered a utility body and a standard box truck but ended up with the Promaster.


Shopping now. Wondering how the promaster holds up, long term.
Alternatives: nissan nv, transit, all high roofs


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

mikewillnot said:


> Shopping now. Wondering how the promaster holds up, long term.
> Alternatives: nissan nv, transit, all high roofs


The ProMaster is front wheel drive, the front seat was VERY uncomfortable for me since it's a European design that is a lot like those cube trucks that have the very small front cab, and there is a bar going across between the rear wheels that is like 5" above the ground.

I don't care for the NV either, too much hood in the front like a pickup truck while too little cargo area in the back.

I love my Sprinter. If I had to get something else, it would be the Ford Transit.


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