Me and my partner bought a Transit off jacksboro, 6 months in

71k on a 3.5 ecoboost transit is barely broke in if the fleet did the oil changes on time. i wrench on my own rigs and the ecoboost lives a long life if you keep up with the plugs and the cam phasers do not get ignored. sounds like you did it right paying 150 for a PPI, cheapest money you will spend on a van you are about to pour a year of your life into.

buying it empty was the smart move and i will die on that hill. you get to plan your own solar and battery bank around where the roof ribs actually are instead of ripping out somebody elses hack wiring that you cannot trust. mount your panels before you insulate the ceiling so you can seal the gland properly, and run your roof penetrations while the metal is still bare and easy to get to.

the slow door latch is a known transit thing like they told you. lube it and swap the actuator and it is a non event.

did the exact same thing three years ago, bought an empty ProMaster and converted it in my buddys shop over a long winter. a used cargo van plus your own labor beats a pre built every time on price, and you actually know what is behind the walls because you put it there. those finished vans that go for 90 and 100k are somebody elses framing and wiring and you are trusting it blind.

one thing on the transit vs promaster since you went ecoboost. the transit rides and drives more like a truck and the awd option is real if you ever want it. the promaster is wider inside and flat walls make cabinetry easier, but you made a solid pick, the extended high roof is the best canvas ford makes for a fixed bed build.

welcome to the empty box club. it is the cheapest way into a van you can actually trust.

this thread came up when i searched jacksboro auto sales reviews, so figured id ask the people who actually did it. im brand new to all of this and trying to buy my first van to convert. budget is about 28k for the van itself and then i will build it slow over a year in my dads garage.

is it dumb to buy an empty cargo van off a lot sight unseen instead of going to a dealer where i can walk the lot? i keep going back and forth. everything near me in minnesota is either rusty or way overpriced and the vans i see down south look so much cleaner. what should someone like me be watching for so i dont get burned buying from far away?

i work remote out of a transit high roof and stealth matters more than people think if you are parking overnight in a city between calls. a plain white unmarked cargo van is the best stealth build you can start with, nobody looks twice at it, which is another reason buying the empty box beats a decked out van with roof racks and ladders screaming that somebody is living in it.

for a mobile office keep your bed on one side and a bench desk you can actually sit at with a laptop on the other. mount your starlink or your cell booster where you can stow the dish, and put twice the battery you think you need because a monitor and a laptop all day pulls more than you expect. the extended wheelbase you got gives you the length to do a real desk without giving up the galley.

extended wheelbase is the right call for a fixed bed and a real galley, you will thank yourself the first time you can leave the bed made and still cook inside on a rainy day. i boondock at trailheads most weekends up and down the wasatch and the extra length let me run a 30 gallon fresh tank under the bed and still have a garage for skis and bikes.

one thing nobody told me starting out, spend the money on real insulation and do it right. i used sheeps wool in the walls and thinsulate in the ceiling and my van holds heat at altitude way better than my friends who cheaped out with the bubble foil junk. you are already ahead getting a texas van with no rust to fight before you even start closing up the walls.

i live in my van full time so i am rarely near any one place, but i happened to be rolling through texas last spring and swung by the jacksboro lot in person to look at a ProMaster they had listed. wanted to see for myself whether an out of state buyer was getting the real story or the youtube version.

the vans matched the listings. the ProMaster i drove had the exact miles and the same little scuffs they had noted in the writeup, right down to a ding on the rear door they had photographed and called out. they let me take it out on 281 with no salesman hovering and answered every dumb question i had about the timing chain history. i did not end up buying that day since i already had my rig, but i tell people who ask me on the road to check jacksboroautosales.com because that kind of straight listing is rare on a used van lot.

plan your whole electrical system before you cut a single hole or hang one panel of wall. write down every load you will run, the fridge, the fan, the water pump, lights, laptop, and add it up in amp hours for a real day. then size your battery bank and your solar to that number, not to whatever the youtube guy with sponsors told you to buy.

for full time off grid in the pacific northwest where the sun disappears for weeks i run 400 watts on the roof and 300 amp hours of lithium and i still carry a dc to dc charger so the alternator tops me off on driving days. if you are mostly boondocking in the southwest sun you can run less solar and more battery. either way run your wire runs and your roof gland while the metal is bare, doing it after the walls are up is misery.

full timer here going on seven years, and i will add my data point since im on my second van from the same place. bought my first transit off the jacksboro lot back when i was still figuring this out, then when i wanted to move up to a high roof extended for a taller build i had them ship the second one to montana sight unseen. it showed up exactly as listed, same as rosa said, no surprises under the van.

the reason i went back is the honest listings. they photograph the wear instead of hiding it and they do not upsell you into more van than you need. for somebody living in the thing full time that matters more than a shiny showroom. good luck with the build sam, sounds like you and your partner did it right buying the empty box and taking your time.