well guys i have good news and i have bad news freightliner has already come out with the van it is called a sprinter it has lots of room in it plenty of pep and they even have a dually model well theres the good news the bad news is they have mercedes engines and mercedes auto trannies now dont get me wrong they run like scalded dogs but if you like to do maintenance yourself then you wouldnt like it for i.e. they dont come with dipsticks for the tranny you have to be an official dealership to even get one, when you change the fuel filter it goes on upside down so to prime it you have to have a special pump setup that attaches to the top of the filter housing,another tool that not just anyone can get their hands on now i would be willing to bet that if they do come out with a pickup it will have the same mercedes that they are already usin in the freightliner med. duty trucks and i say this for two reasons one since mercedes owns freightliner it is alot cheaper for them to use their engines even in the class 8 trucks in 5 years that and the detroit 60 series will be the only two engines you can get w/o special ordering one and two they are really having a lot of success with the two mercedes engines they are using now just ask okiebroncrider me and him check those things in every day

 

BigJon:<br>Over here we do have the Sprinters for quite a while. As for tranny dipsticks on the autos the tranny has a feeler in it. So it will show up the fluid level. <br>And the manuals are filled to the filler plug. <br>On the Sprinters over here the fuel filter is upside down, but it is self venting. No need for a pump, just bump the starter. <br>I don't know whether the Sprinters for the US market will be different. <br>About running like scalded dogs. My 98.5 RAM needs the Edge Pulse to get away from the stronger ones. No chance stock. The high roof bus with the 2,8 liter diesel maxes out at 105 mph ( but this can be helped electronically)<br>I think the average US customer will need to get used to a 5 cyl diesel revving to 5000 rpm in a &quot;truck&quot;. <br>AlpineRAM<br><br>Oh well if anybody is interested in bombing a Sprinter, give me the engine number and I'll see what we can do... ;D

 

alpineram:<br>what is your opinion of the sprinters i mean are they holding up pretty good are they good sellers i would like to know what others think over here they are so new most people really dont know what to think

 

UPS here has a few sprinters roaring around. I like the looks of them. My local dealer says the 4500/5500's are coming.

 

yeah i think you're right they are definitely coming and i wouldnt be surprised to see a half ton truck as well there is a lot of rumors buzing around here at the oklahoma city freightliner dealership about them producing a &quot;pickup&quot; and i know all of us mechanics here at the dealership are crossing are fingers but only time will tell

 

About them holding up, and selling: Yep they sell well. Since the laws about GVW are different over here the philosophy concerning p/us and vans is different also. With a normal drivers license you may have max 7700 lbs GVW, and may have a trailer with max 1650 lbs. <br>So the weight of the empty vehicle is very important. Actually my RAM is rated 1325 lbs payload over here. <br>The manual tranny sprinters with the diesels do work really good. Exceptionally good brakes. The engine is someway funny if you drive the 5 cyl for the first time. Either you hear a 6 with a miss or a 4 with some rattle. <br>Since I do not know whether the US will get the same as we get I can't comment on the interior. Over here the interior looks are not the looks of luxury, but the looks of something you can clean with a sponge. <br>Most sprinters that are sold over here are vans, ghen bus, and some are flatbeds or truckbeds. <br>Some do haul extremely light 5th wheels with them, I think the limiting factor is the law. <br>Maybe take a look here<br><br>AlpineRAM