Sprinter Van planning stage

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
A very "stealthy" camper - I really like the concept.

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The stealthy part is good, as is the security it provides. But a lot depends on the climate you'll be using the truck in. If you're in, say, Arizona, you can make the great outdoors your living space and be in the camper mostly just to sleep, cook and eat. In a place like Oregon, though, you will often be stuck inside the camper for the great percentage of your trip, and then giving up stealth to have light and a view is often a good tradeoff. It is for that reason that my Sprinter pretty much had windows everywhere they could go.

Mog Junior DS rear quarter.jpg

Of course, it also depends where you want to camp. I camped in scenic and reasonably safe places where I actively wanted to see out. If someone plans to camp in places where it's not permitted or in areas where it is often not safe, then my van would have been a bad choice.
 

Clutch

<---Pass
The stealthy part is good, as is the security it provides.

While this example is a bit garish, you can achieve a bit of stealth and keep the windows if you went with a wrap, I can see Christian's example done
on a passenger van with windows.

vehicle_wrap_graphics_rancho1_san_diego.jpg


Flagster or what about an Isuzu NPR crew cab? A 2012 KTM 500 would look good in there.

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ianc

Adventurer Wannabe
I met these guys at the Bad Kissingen Allroad expo last summer. They apparently build the factory fit Mercedes 4x4

http://www.oberaigner.com/en/vehicles/sprinter4x4faq.html

I wonder can the kit be ordered in Europe and then privately shipped to the US?

I decided the Sprinter was a little too small for 4 people long term and ended up going with the Vario 4x4 instead.
 

Flagster

Expedition Leader
I have been pouring over posts on sprinter source forum for the last week...
Lots of good info...One of the main questions I had when I first started looking last month is if you could get a rear step and tow hitch as the salesman where I first went told me no on both...not so

http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22343

Mike you make a very good point regarding the climate where the van will be primarily used and the benefits of windows...my main concern with adding windows is that from what I read you cannot open them...at least the crew windows seem to be fixed...I would like to add ventilation options (ie screens) but if the windows are fixed the benefit is limited to light only.

The other concern I have with a bare cargo van is heat in the summer...does anyone have experience sleeping in a cargo van (non insulated) in warm weather...I don't plan on making it a point of hitting the desert in the summer but wouldn't want to be roasted out...
 
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mhiscox

Expedition Leader
Mike you make a very good point regarding the climate where the van will be primarily used and the benefits of windows...my main concern with adding windows is that from what I read you cannot open them...at least the crew windows seem to be fixed...I would like to add ventilation options (ie screens) but if the windows are fixed the benefit is limited to light only.

The windows don't open, a hugely-disappointing situation. That situation is, I suppose, explained by the fact that if you have cargo in the back, it doesn't need fresh air, and if you do, there's a rear air conditioning option they'd like you to add for a lot of money. Indeed, most passenger vans will have rear AC on them. It's pretty much only RVers that need ventilation when the vehicle isn't moving.

You can get replacement windows for both the T1N and NCV3, but the situation is more better for the T1N. Both awning and sliding windows are available, and there's the happy situation that you can get windows sized to match the embossed stamping of the window frame area that exists in vehicles which didn't come with windows. But the NCV3 has very sexy flush mount slightly-trapezoidal windows and replacing them, or putting them in where none were supplied, is a bigger challenge. But you can get the windows; they're just not as good in that they are, at best, "flipper" or "t-slider" windows that only have the bottom quarter of the window, more or less, as the window opening. So you go to a lot of expense and effort for not all that much gain. (Serial production NCV3 RVs have the same windows, FWIW.) Look here:

http://parkin-acc.com/page42.html

to get a brief overview of the situation.

Nothing stops an NCV3 owner from cutting rectangular holes in the sides of cargo vans and putting in a window offering better ventilation. Well, except that it'll look a little dorky. The NCV3 window stampings aren't quite vertical at the front and rear edges:

4wd Sprinter.jpg


Image Credit: The Sprinter Store

so there's no chance of making it look quite right. Still, an aesthetic faux pas may be the least distasteful compromise.

With an NCV3 like your proposed crew cab, it'd be tempting to try to live for a while using the front windows, open side door and/or open rear doors as ventilation. Getting opening windows will be expensive and a pain, and they could be added later if they have to be.

But while the Sprinter's non-opening windows are unfortunate, they provide, especially on an NCV3, a really great view and a lot of light. The view out of, say, a 170 Passenger, is pretty compelling.
 

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
One more option, Nissan NV High Top Van with Quigley 4wd conversion ($11k)
This is a great option for people who don't mind the questionable aesthetics of the high roof NV and, more importantly, can live with a maximum 120 inch cabin length. The shortest new Sprinter has a 128.5" maximum cargo length, the 170" wb is 169.3", and the 170" extended is 185.0", better than five feet longer.

The pricing on the NV's, sometimes discounted, is comparatively good, and the idea of a 317 hp V-8 with 385 torques is also appealing.
 

Flagster

Expedition Leader
The engine price and nissan quality are definitely attractive but there is a small part of me with some vanity...and the NV is just well...ugly...not saying a lifted quigley nv with big tires wouldn't get me excited but I am not looking for a 4wd van right now...just a bicycle hauler
 

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
That's a very nice build that everyone should check out, but you gotta love the ADVRider inmates' ability to turn it into a 166-page thread that makes it a slog to see the important parts.

The thing done on this build that's significantly different from common practice and worth learning about is Geek's use of 8020 extrusions for the cabinet framing. Expensive, but cool-looking and a nice technique. Start about here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715683&page=49

and move forward to see what's involved.
 
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Flagster

Expedition Leader
Still going back and forth with a Quigley V10 E350 that can be had new for less money...

Upside for me is is the V10 which while sacrificing much in fuel economy is more tried and true/simple to work/cheaper to upkeep on than the MB diesel

Biggest downside is size as a camper top would be necessary for standing headroom...4x4 while not necessary would be nice...

Decisions decisions...
 

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
As you plan things out . . .

I just got an e-mail from the couple who bought my Sprinter last spring. Both of them are now retired and they just got back to Oregon from a month spent back country camping in Death Valley.

!cid_C6224C19-1530-435F-BB54-E1E102D833EB@alyrica.jpg

A month in the fifty or so square feet of cabin space seems like quite an accomplishment, but Joe wrote that they did pretty well, including sleeping fine. He said the 50 gallons of fresh water capacity was real nice, as they could easily go a week on a tank, and that counted a couple of hot showers for each of them. All in all, they were very happy with the design and also were pleased with how well the Sprinter did on the trails. Without any mud to get through, the lack of 4x4 didn't matter much, and the near 9" inches of stock ground clearance was more important.

Before they left, they added 200 watts of solar panels to my Thule crossbars, and that, working through a Blue Sea controller, took care of keeping the batteries up.

I post up this little report to point out while the Sprinter admittedly isn't the best rock crawler or mud bogger, there are times that the Sprinter configuration is about as good as it gets, and this time in Death Valley seems to be one of them. Space for good facilities and systems while still getting 20 mpg, and enough room to stand up, move around and generally stay comfortable for a whole month at a time. I miss having this one, and am starting to lean toward building out another.

(A link to the van's build threads is here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/19224)
 

HMR

Rendezvous Conspiracy
I also have a 2005 Tacoma 4x4 that has been my reliable DD/camping truck for over 7yrs.
Flagster- we also have a 2005 Tacoma 4x4 that used to take us all over the Western U.S. on camping trips. After much research including a tour of mhiscox's amazing Sprinter, we purchased a low mileage 2004. That was 18 months ago. I've lost count of how many nights we've spent in the Sprinter but the Tacoma has only been on a single trip in that time. The way I look at it: The Sprinter is not an "offroad" vehicle but will go anywhere a 2wd VW van will go and people have been taking those things to wild places for decades.

I started with a bare cargo van:
i-F6w5tFB-M.jpg


I sketched out the design on paper and did 100% of the work myself using basic tools:
i-8452X2w-M.jpg


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Very fun and rewarding project.

Flagster said:

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:)
 

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