2018 Sprinter 4x4 144" Take 2

[freshlikesushi]

Water tank is all done, just gotta weld on the brackets for support, and install!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Starting to mock up electrical components to put on rivnuts and and heat shrink and stuff. Gotta build some 90* terminal blocks for the inverter to clean up the wiring a bit.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[freshlikesushi]

A big thing is done, and marked off the list.
Water tank is finished and installed. Bolts to the wall and the structure for the side to support it.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Also started to skin the passenger side battery/wheel well cover
Will also be covering everything panneled with foam and fabric for a nice touch surface on everything. got some nice outdoor fabric that should hold up quite well.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
I do have to move the Ctek forward a bit, but this is why we mock stuff up right?

 

[Wyuna]

Will that tank hold when filled and offroad?

I can only see 3 mounting points, 2 small tabs and a top mounted rail on a huge suspended tank

Is there a lower hidden mounting rail underneath that we can't see.

Im enjoying the posts, keep them coming, its good to see something different.

 

[freshlikesushi]

I got alot done today, but it doesn't look like it lol.
The ceiling is about 90% up. gotta make some side pieces to fill that gap on the edges, then pull it down, finish doing some nuterts and paint it all.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Took far too long to do. Put every single piece up, measured where to drill the holes so every single bolt is in the same spot on each board. a bit over the top lol

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Finally also got most of that driver wall installed. Tomorrow i will cut out the window and work on the trim piece as well as the lower panel, fuse panel installation for that wall and the electrical outlet installation as well. fingers crossed anyways.

Have to get the whole rear all done by thursday. Bedslide should be here thursday, so need to get the side panels all buttoned up before then. This weekend iw ill install the Van Compass suspension as well!

 

[freshlikesushi]

Will that tank hold when filled and offroad?

I can only see 3 mounting points, 2 small tabs and a top mounted rail on a huge suspended tank

Is there a lower hidden mounting rail underneath that we can't see.

Im enjoying the posts, keep them coming, its good to see something different.

It sits on top of the wheel well completely. There is about a 3"wide flat spot on there. Its held better than the last one i did lol.

Though, I will most likely make a support there at some point to go under it

 

[Wyuna]

Thats good to hear that there is a lower support in the middle, when you have time, another support would reduce the overall stress on the tank

last thing you want is the tank cracking and leaking on the battery.

The roof lining looks great, it was worth the extra time

I really should do more on my T6 camper build, watching your build makes me feel lazy

 

[freshlikesushi]

and again more progress

I hate it, because I only really get 2-3 hours after work to mess with it before i have to get home, and 45 minutes of that is spend getting everything set up and cleaning up at the end. So I never get what I want done lol.

Finished skinning the passenger side and mounted all the electrical items in final locations. The little open spot down there is annoying me, But i will figure out something to put there. The panels won't stay white (some are black), everything will be covered with 1/2" foam and a really cool outdoor fabric that is a killer blue color the wife picked, but I wont be doing that until I am done touching whatever area I'm working on so it doesn't get dirty. Most likely the very last thing to be done.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Blue sea switch panel is mounted on the back of the cover, easy to turn things on and off (water pump, under bed lights, outlets etc)
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Left a small gap between the two to prevent any rattling or squeaking, and allow for cable passthru for smaller gauges
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Water tank back panel, and Tern Overland water fill are mounted. The color is off on the cover, so gotta take that part back and get them all resprayed
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
And got the Tern Overland window shade unit installed as well. Trying to source some 3" thick foam to use to trim out the space between the window and the wall, not sure what i will use for that just yet.

Overall somewhat satisfied. I would like to get the water tank unit covered today, and the lower driver wall skinned as well. If i can manage that, I will be happy. The Van Compass suspension gets here tomorrow, and the Bedslide on thursday. By having the rear all done, i can put the bedslide in and be done with that and the suspension this weekend hopefully. The dometic stuff should be on the way (penguin 2 ac, 75dz fridge, stove/sink) and im kind of waiting on them so i can build some important parts before i go too far and have to remake things because of size issues.

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

Have you driven with the Tern Overland window open yet? Or is it not advised?
Would a second row passenger be able to crack it a bit and get air while driving?

 

[freshlikesushi]

Have you driven with the Tern Overland window open yet? Or is it not advised?
Would a second row passenger be able to crack it a bit and get air while driving?

So glad you asked as i glossed over the fact that it has a second locked position that barely cracks it enough to vent.

 

[freshlikesushi]

A number of things, such as finishing the roof, ordering the roof rack from Voyager Offroad and 110 wiring and stuff have been waiting on the arrival of the Dometic Penguin 2 AC unit. I got the version with the thermostat, well to be fancy or something. No heat strip since i have a Diesel heater. Plan is to run off the CTEK Smartpass and Inverter when driving/stationary whatever. I can also get a couple hours off the battery, or run from a honda 2000 generator when beach camping.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
The CFX75 and slide also came in as well, but that wont be messed with until next week most likely.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Took the cover off to well, take the cover off and take a look at all the stuff inside. Everything looks pretty well built and fastened. Was mainly checking to see if anything is going to break or vibrate loose from taking the van off sweet jumps. Doesn't look too shabby.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Had to make a roughly 2" spacer to space the mounting plate down to the level it needs to be at. sealed on both sides with weatherstripping
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
all mounted up and pretty. Next up is wiring, then trimming the wood to fit
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Id say it looks pretty sly up there.

I will be color matching it as well.

 

[tienckb]

Excellent design and fabrication. You definitely have mad skill.


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[freshlikesushi]

Excellent design and fabrication. You definitely have mad skill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

aww thanks man. I just try to figure stuff out the best I can lol

 

[freshlikesushi]

Im drained. Getting to the point where i have to take some time off lol. on top of 40 hours a week, i am averaging another 25 hours on the van, and its catching up hah. I think i may take a few days off after this weekend (or maybe this weekend)

The Van Compass suspension came in and opted to go ahead and put in the killer Fox stuff. TBH never was or am a huge fan of fox. But its the only option out there, so it is what it is. Did the rear, and after putting them in backwards the first time because i didnt read directions, and flopping it back around, i still got the rears done in an hour. at 630, I start the front, see the instructions said 4-6 in a driveway, or 3-4 for a pro on a lift.

Hold my beer.

Knocked out the front in just under 3 in a driveway sitting on a tire. Did a little hooning on the way to work on some powerline trails and the difference is so night and day, that it is hard to explain.
It just works so much better. No more bouncing around, the rear especially is a huge difference. The back end even with a full load hopped and bounced its way down the trail. Not anymore. Cant wait to get the sumo springs and the rear spring pack in when it is all said and done.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[paroxysym]

The Van Compass suspension came in and opted to go ahead and put in the killer Fox stuff. TBH never was or am a huge fan of fox. But its the only option out there, so it is what it is. Did the rear, and after putting them in backwards the first time because i didnt read directions, and flopping it back around, i still got the rears done in an hour. at 630, I start the front, see the instructions said 4-6 in a driveway, or 3-4 for a pro on a lift.

Hold my beer.

Knocked out the front in just under 3 in a driveway sitting on a tire.

LOL amazing.

loving this build, keep up the good work man

 

[crogthomas]

Firstly, good work.
Second, a word of warning on the AC unit. I worked on some vehicles in Africa driven on road roads that were fitted with similar Dometic units (FreshJet 1100, listed for motorhomes in the UK).
The rubber isolating mounts for the compressor pump allowed a little too much movement and the pump bashed the copper pipes of the adjacent condenser flat in some cases and fatigued and snapped the joining pipe to the evaporator in others. We had to replace the mounts with more solid versions (noise not an issue in our case) and pack the gap between the compressor and condenser with polystyrene as a backup. On reflection we were using the units well beyond their designed application, but eventually we had to come up with a completely different solution.
I’ve no idea if the unit you are using is the same internal design, but it may be worth investigating the range of movement of the compressor. It seemed quite firm to move by hand, but Nigerian roads dished out their own unique punishment.
I’ll see if I can dig out some internal photos if you like?