Capt Eddie
Adventurer
I have seen pics of the 4 x 4 sprinter. Is Sportsmobile going to offer it in their line of vans?
When is the 4 x 4 Sprinter coming out in the U.S.A.?
- Thread starter Capt Eddie
- Start date
mhiscox
Exp. Leader Emeritus
Don't be surprised if, when you call Sportsmobile, they tell you that they built the one red 4x4 using the previous chassis, but that they will not be producing others. Be sure to let us all know if this is wrong, but this is my understanding of the situation.elcoyote said:
In fact, at the moment, there doesn't seem to be anywhere that you can actually turn over a NAFTA Sprinter and fistful of money and get your van converted to 4x4. Several of the anticipated conversions have either encountered delays or have been cancelled or indefinitely postponed.
As I say, let us know if you find current information to the contrary, but the last I heard was that none of the sources we were expecting to have by now is ready to go.
I've been wondering if you couldn't buy/build your Sprinter-based camper here, then ship it to Germany and have someone like Inglhaut* convert it. After touring around Europe for a while, you ship it back. I don't think that the EPA/DOT are going to care about (or even notice) the conversion. Of course, we're talking about suitcases full of money involved, but you would end up with the only MB-authorized* fully-legal, 4x4 Sprinter camper in North America...
*IIRC Inglhaut is the shop that does the 'official' Mercedes conversion.
*IIRC Inglhaut is the shop that does the 'official' Mercedes conversion.
dhackney
Expedition Leader
mhiscox said:
When I was researching Sprinters in 2007 I was unable to find anyone who had any proven track record doing a 4x4 conversion except Inglhaut. Inglhaut was completely unresponsive and very uninterested in doing business with anyone from the U.S.
All the other shops I found that were willing to take it on wanted cubic dollars and an open ended schedule. It would have been more a journey of discovery for them than a regular project with a budget and a timeline.
I don't know what Sportsmobile's current official policy is on the 4x4 chassis but I sure hope they pursue it. A 4x4 Sprinter would be an excellent vehicle and a unique solution in its size and weight range.
Overland Hadley
on a journey
While I was in the Chiricahua's this spring, there was a white Sportsmobile Sprinter in the campground. I did not take a picture of it, but I did stand there for a while taking a look at it. It looked good, but I do not remember if it was a 4x4 or not.
Has anybody else seen this white Sportsmobile Sprinter?
Has anybody else seen this white Sportsmobile Sprinter?
mhiscox
Exp. Leader Emeritus
Maybe. Probably OK with the EPA/DOT/NHSTA combine, but getting Iglhalt to take your dollars might be trickier. To wit:Lynn said:
TIMES 2!dhackney said:
A bit over three years ago, Creative Mobile Interiors and I did our best to get Iglhalt interested in converting my Sprinter camper. The ONLY thing they would even think about was for me to pay to ship my Sprinter over to them, pay them to do some work which would take them some indefinite amount of time, and then pay to have my Sprinter shipped back. Given that base conversions start at 20K Euros ($30K), it was pretty clear that the cost of my 4x4 conversion would substantially exceed the cost of the vehicle. In the end, they decided that even this arrangement was not something worth doing. (And, as best I can recall, nothing from Oberaigner or Achleitner was any more promising.)
In their defense, remember that there are differences between the North American and European Sprinters which might be enough to cause unforeseen troubles, and that many American companies are equally hesitant to sell something as complicated into a foreign country. Also take into account that the differences between the older (T1N) and current (NCV3) model Sprinters is substantial and that further limits the possibilities; I'd be surprised if any of the companies has yet had their hands on a NAFTA NCV3.
mhiscox said:
Notice that I included a European tour in the proposal. My thought was basically if you wanted to tour Europe (or the world) anyway, maybe starting in Germany would work, and you get the conversion done in the process.
That way you'd be paying for the shipping anyway, and it's not part of the conversion price.
jammyauto
Adventurer
I was really interested in doing this a couple years ago before I bought my Sportsmobile. I wrote them a letter and got a response back that they would convert a new NA sprinter for me. They even sent me about 4 pages of info on all the different options and pricing at the time. They insisted that there was absolutly no warrantee whatsoever and no parts support in NA however. My local Dodge Fleet dealer at the time thought that they could even arrange for European delivery which is a common thing for MZB to do. That would eliminate the need to ship the sprinter to europe. The truck could even be titled and registered in CA before being shipped to the USA. Customs would be simple on a new truck with CA plates allready on in. What killed the deal was that the sprinter with conversion was quite a bit more that the base ford with 4x4 and at the time a poptop was not possible on the sprinter. Since my family is 4 people we felt that the poptop was essential. Another killer for us was that my wife felt that the spinter was "ugly" and that the ford looked "tuff". Hey don't laugh. Spending that much $$$ money requires the approval of the spouse so her criteria in a vehicle matters too.
Motobueno
New member
4x4 conversions
Our van is going to be the first conversion done in the U.S. by Sportsvan S.A.:Mechanic:
http://www.us.sportsvans.co.za/news.html
Please don't ask me about the price or when you can get one.I am the test mule and when it is up and working "sorted" , I'm sure that you will hear more.Stay tuned!
El Sparkplug Bandito
Our van is going to be the first conversion done in the U.S. by Sportsvan S.A.:Mechanic:
http://www.us.sportsvans.co.za/news.html
Please don't ask me about the price or when you can get one.I am the test mule and when it is up and working "sorted" , I'm sure that you will hear more.Stay tuned!
El Sparkplug Bandito
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sprinter 4x4
oh yeah i can still remember that! i made the quote for Josh from CMI.
Iglhaut Germany was scared to do the job because of product liability (and reliability) in the US. that was why they wantet to shift the conversion to south africa to avoid the product liability clause and possible court cases. Why? search the net for front spring braking. now the customers are driving around with spare springs. never mind vibrations and steering angle problems!
mhiscox said:
oh yeah i can still remember that! i made the quote for Josh from CMI.
Iglhaut Germany was scared to do the job because of product liability (and reliability) in the US. that was why they wantet to shift the conversion to south africa to avoid the product liability clause and possible court cases. Why? search the net for front spring braking. now the customers are driving around with spare springs. never mind vibrations and steering angle problems!
sprinter 4x4
our attitude: prototype, testing, testing, testing, market!
i convert, test and adapt 4wd Sprinters to customer requirements and their needs.
for desert
for mud
for swamps
for snow
you ask, we do it!
now it is time to do it! :wings:
dont worry! there will be no pieces! we investet 1 year in research into the NAFTA Sprinters to convert :Mechanic: and we invested a wheelbarrow full of $ but we are getting there. the T1N could have been converted long ago but the business is with the new Sprinter NCV3 in the market.haven said:
our attitude: prototype, testing, testing, testing, market!
i convert, test and adapt 4wd Sprinters to customer requirements and their needs.
for desert
for mud
for swamps
for snow
you ask, we do it!
now it is time to do it! :wings:
