Mastodon4x4
New member
Just got mine Friday. Picked It up in Texas and drove 2 days back to Denver. I went with the duratracs also just in the 235/85-16. Slightly taller and a little skinnier. Loving it so far...
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2015 Sprinter 4x4 build begins
- Thread starter Err
- Start date
She's a beauty!
Jwestpro
Explorer
Interesting, passenger/full windows! What are the plans?
My dealer thinks he can order a super single-3500 (for added GVWR and towing) plus 4x4...and high roof. I asked him to "prove it" because the online builder does not allow that combo.
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mhiscox
Expedition Leader
I'm gonna be waiting to hear how this one turns out. Potentially a very cool piece of information.
And congratulations, Rockymountainrovers. That is a very handsome truck; thanks for the photos.
Jwestpro
Explorer
Dealer: "As far as the super single tires, it appears that they are available on the 4X4 3500 Sprinters."
Me: "About the super single, I swear that online they were not available on 4x4. Using the online configuration tool, it's not connected with 4x4. I used "cargo van", then it shows the 4x4 choices in 2500 and 3500 separate from the super single/3500 choice column."
Dealer: "I configured a 3500 Cargo Van (the only one that you can get the super single tires - remember, that way you have the wider distance between the wheel wells like on the 2500 Vans) and didn't raise a flag. The crew vans are only available in the 2500 version."
Me: "I don't believe you
I'll need to see proof."
Me: "About the super single, I swear that online they were not available on 4x4. Using the online configuration tool, it's not connected with 4x4. I used "cargo van", then it shows the 4x4 choices in 2500 and 3500 separate from the super single/3500 choice column."
Dealer: "I configured a 3500 Cargo Van (the only one that you can get the super single tires - remember, that way you have the wider distance between the wheel wells like on the 2500 Vans) and didn't raise a flag. The crew vans are only available in the 2500 version."
Me: "I don't believe you
I'll need to see proof."Thanks for sharing the start of your build!
Feeling like a kid waiting for Santa over here. Ordered my Sprinter 4x4 so many months ago, but I'm being told that it should arrive in a few weeks. I'm starting with a high roof 144 passenger van with the same color as yours, but I plan to make a lot of changes and mods to it over time.
Interesting tire choice. I've been debating what to use, but have been leaning toward the BFG KO2s. After putting proper wheels on my G, I ended up running the same size Duratracs as you do. I like them quite a bit and think that they are a better all around tire than the BFG KOs on my D90, but the Duratracs seem to wear much faster than the BFGs. Been reading lots of good things about the BFG KO2s so I'll throw a pic up if I go that route.
One question, did you have to adjust the speedo and ESP for the tire change? When I dropped to 16s and bigger, wider Duratracs on my G, I had to have the computer updated to account for the change in tire size.
Please keep the updates coming!
Feeling like a kid waiting for Santa over here. Ordered my Sprinter 4x4 so many months ago, but I'm being told that it should arrive in a few weeks. I'm starting with a high roof 144 passenger van with the same color as yours, but I plan to make a lot of changes and mods to it over time.
Interesting tire choice. I've been debating what to use, but have been leaning toward the BFG KO2s. After putting proper wheels on my G, I ended up running the same size Duratracs as you do. I like them quite a bit and think that they are a better all around tire than the BFG KOs on my D90, but the Duratracs seem to wear much faster than the BFGs. Been reading lots of good things about the BFG KO2s so I'll throw a pic up if I go that route.
One question, did you have to adjust the speedo and ESP for the tire change? When I dropped to 16s and bigger, wider Duratracs on my G, I had to have the computer updated to account for the change in tire size.
Please keep the updates coming!
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
I'm curious, too. Both my T1Ns, in common with a lot of German vehicles, had big positive speedometer errors--e.g., 65 read as about 70--which were removed by going up in tire size (on the T1Ns, to 215/85R16s at 30.4 inches diameter). In exchange, though, the odometers started reading low by about 5%. I'm interested in knowing if new NCV3s have the same big error and if fixing the speedometer as a side effect of bigger tires affects the odometer. Thanks.
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
Indeed. And you also have to remember to multiply your miles/gallons mpg calculation by 1.05 to get the correct fuel economy.
Jwestpro
Explorer
You've got it backwards. If actual speed is 5% lower than what is on speedometer. The vehicle odometer arrives at any given distance before you've actually traveled that far.
The "5% longer warranty" only works when using a tire large enough such that your true speed is higher than the vehicle registers. Also how you get a speeding ticket for 70 mph when speedometer showed just 65.
I've had this happen actually. I thought I was only skirting the safe limit of 8-10 mph over posting but was actually 15-16 over posted speed. This was on my 2004 Discovery with tire change from 255/55x18 to 265/75x16.
I knew better but was just daydreaming or not paying attention after getting the tires that week.
However, the wear of the vehicle is not simply a factor of miles through space. The engine revs, gears in driveline moving, number of start ups, are all much more important than distance rolling.
Mastodon4x4
New member
More pictures of the truck with 235/85/16s. I just wanted to give everyone an idea of the fit. Currently I am running 50 pounds in the front and 75 pounds in the rear. There is no sway, the truck feels factory stable.
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Haf-E
Expedition Leader
No, not actually. With stock tires, the T1N sprinters speedo displays a higher than actual value for speed but the odometer is spot on from my own, and others, experience. With a bit larger tires installed, the speed is then correct, but the odometer reads a lower value since there are fewer revolutions of the larger tire per mile traveled. So you get a bit extra distance and time on the warranty - not that it maters very much since the sprinters tend to be pretty reliable and the warranties are pretty short.
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
I wouldn't pretend this is important, but the situation with the Sprinters is that the speedometer reads higher than your actual speed, e.g., reads 70, really going 65. As the tire gets larger, there are fewer revolutions of the tire in a mile traveled, and that has the effect of lowering the speed registered by the speedometer and lowering the miles recorded by the odometer.
The situation you cited with your Discovery is the opposite of the way it is with many German vehicles. The popular explanation is that there are draconian fines levied in Germany for a speedometer which reads less than the actual speed, so the manufacturers make certain to err on the side of giving higher readings so that no speedometer they ever have will, through random variance, read lower than actual speed.
Anyway, in my case, going 500 miles will register about 470 miles on the odometer. If my warranty was 20,000 miles, I'd travel over 21,000 miles before the odometer read 20,000. [/QUOTE]
Jwestpro
Explorer
Well that's strange/interesting but I would expect, maybe naively, that current vehicles have the speedometer and odometer sourced from same on board information and thus more or less, "synchronized". I have tested this on my BMW 2008 which has sppedo, odo, and nav input against my iphone with google map point to point expected distance and then started at same time an app recording my route on the phone using gps and glosnass regardless of cellular connection.
The car registers less distance covered on the odometer and less current speeds on the speedometer all as compared to the apps on the phone with current speeds and distance traveled. My car is basing it's speed, even if pre-set to be off a little with a 245/40x18 tire while I'm actually running a 245/45x18. So, it's fairly close but still I got a little "free warranty" by about 3-4% based on calculations described above
The 2007 LR3 is much more different by changing from 255/60x18 to a 275/65x18. I needed every mile I got having had $800 in warranty work done at ~99,863 with 100k being the limit and a few $thousand done just a couple thousand miles previously.
I hope these Sprinters won't need the same level of "maintenance" in the first 100,000 miles ?!