Hodakaguy's 4x4 Sprinter Build
- Thread starter Hodakaguy
- Start date
Hodakaguy
Adventurer
That's great info, thanks! I haven't made any electrical connections yet so I may just re-route them back to these connections for now.
Thanks again, that's whats awesome about these forums!
Hodakaguy
Awesome! Can’t wait to see the build. Always fun to watch yours. This time I actually have a 144 Sprinter and might get some ideas.
Quick question. Wondering why the choice of a Sprinter instead of maybe a Transit with Quigley conversion? We love our Sprinter but I do wonder about future maintenance costs, etc. if I were doing a conversion now I might choose a gas Transit so interested to hear your Sprinter opinion.
Quick question. Wondering why the choice of a Sprinter instead of maybe a Transit with Quigley conversion? We love our Sprinter but I do wonder about future maintenance costs, etc. if I were doing a conversion now I might choose a gas Transit so interested to hear your Sprinter opinion.
TheBlueBus
Busdriver
Keen to see what you'll come up with! If it's gonna be as clean as your Tacoma it's gonna be pretty awesome!
When you say VW Syncro, do you mean 4WD Vanagon? Because the 4WD Eurovans are certainly capable of higher speeds and they're just as robust. Just not sure if you got them in the states...
When you say VW Syncro, do you mean 4WD Vanagon? Because the 4WD Eurovans are certainly capable of higher speeds and they're just as robust. Just not sure if you got them in the states...
Farfrumwork
Well-known member
Hodakaguy
Adventurer
Thanks, I enjoy these kind of builds. Yeah my VW was a 4wd Vanagon, my build thread on that was is here: CLICK HERE.
Hodakaguy
Hodakaguy
Adventurer
It was a personal preference really, I like higher riding position in the Sprinter compared to the others and the overall style. We looked at the others and just liked the looks and feel of the Sprinter better.
Hodakaguy
Hodakaguy
Adventurer
Hodakaguy
Adventurer
Been pretty busy lately and haven't been posting much.
Recently my father and I went to the NW Overland Rally in Plain WA and camped with the van and his Tacoma/Drifter setup. We had a great time and talked to a lot of great people. The rigs worked great, can't wait to start building out the Van and making it more comfortable for camping.
Sooooo many cool ideas at these shows.
Our camp for a few days.
When I was driving the van home from CO we got into a strong cross wind on the drivers side and the roof top AC started making a really annoying rattle which persisted for about 2hrs until the cross wind went away. I kinda forgot about it until a couple days ago coming home from another outing and got into another cross wind....yep rattle was back! Yesterday I got up on top of the van to disassemble the cover on the AC unit and see what's loose, turns out I didn't have to take anything apart to find it! The leading edge of the cover was missing one bolt and the other bolt was super loose allowing the cover to flap up and down. Right before I picked the van up Mercedes had performed a service bulletin to fix a leaking roof AC unit, apparently they forgot to tighten down the front bolts! A little loctite and a new bolt and it's all good to go again.
Loctite 243 Available on Amazon Here: CLICK HERE
Next up it's time to add some vents to this baby. The only windows that open for venting are the two front windows but then bugs can easily get in. There is an emergency window that you can open on the drivers side but it has no screens as well and isn't the best option as you need to prop it open with a stick etc. I decided to remove the emergency window and replace it with a CLR double vent window with screens. I'll eventually add a AM slider vent window to the slider door as well.
Here's the stock emergency window.
The emergency window bolts onto the body with 5 small bolts, remove the rubber covers to expose the nuts then remove all 5 nuts. Then it's just a matter of lifting out the window.
Once the window is out just pull out the rubber seal around the window, you won't need the factory seal with the new window.
The vans with the emergency windows will need the mounting holes filled to avoid water leaking into the van. I'll be filling the holes with some stainless 10-32 3/4" long Allen head cap screws with some Sikaflex 221 sealant under the head of the bolt. This will allow me to replace the factory rubber trim caps on the interior once the new window is installed. Once the window is installed the screws will be hidden under the edge of the tinted glass.
Sikaflex 221 available on Amazon Here: CLICK HERE
https://amzn.to/3eZpadV
New window installed! Here you can see the factory rubber trim caps re-installed on the bolts that are plugging the factory emergency window mounting holes.
Looks factory! Sprinter CLR Window Here: CLICK HERE
More to come
Hodakaguy
Recently my father and I went to the NW Overland Rally in Plain WA and camped with the van and his Tacoma/Drifter setup. We had a great time and talked to a lot of great people. The rigs worked great, can't wait to start building out the Van and making it more comfortable for camping.
Sooooo many cool ideas at these shows.
Our camp for a few days.
When I was driving the van home from CO we got into a strong cross wind on the drivers side and the roof top AC started making a really annoying rattle which persisted for about 2hrs until the cross wind went away. I kinda forgot about it until a couple days ago coming home from another outing and got into another cross wind....yep rattle was back! Yesterday I got up on top of the van to disassemble the cover on the AC unit and see what's loose, turns out I didn't have to take anything apart to find it! The leading edge of the cover was missing one bolt and the other bolt was super loose allowing the cover to flap up and down. Right before I picked the van up Mercedes had performed a service bulletin to fix a leaking roof AC unit, apparently they forgot to tighten down the front bolts! A little loctite and a new bolt and it's all good to go again.
Loctite 243 Available on Amazon Here: CLICK HERE
Next up it's time to add some vents to this baby. The only windows that open for venting are the two front windows but then bugs can easily get in. There is an emergency window that you can open on the drivers side but it has no screens as well and isn't the best option as you need to prop it open with a stick etc. I decided to remove the emergency window and replace it with a CLR double vent window with screens. I'll eventually add a AM slider vent window to the slider door as well.
Here's the stock emergency window.
The emergency window bolts onto the body with 5 small bolts, remove the rubber covers to expose the nuts then remove all 5 nuts. Then it's just a matter of lifting out the window.
Once the window is out just pull out the rubber seal around the window, you won't need the factory seal with the new window.
The vans with the emergency windows will need the mounting holes filled to avoid water leaking into the van. I'll be filling the holes with some stainless 10-32 3/4" long Allen head cap screws with some Sikaflex 221 sealant under the head of the bolt. This will allow me to replace the factory rubber trim caps on the interior once the new window is installed. Once the window is installed the screws will be hidden under the edge of the tinted glass.
Sikaflex 221 available on Amazon Here: CLICK HERE
https://amzn.to/3eZpadV
New window installed! Here you can see the factory rubber trim caps re-installed on the bolts that are plugging the factory emergency window mounting holes.
Looks factory! Sprinter CLR Window Here: CLICK HERE
More to come
Hodakaguy
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Dances with Wolves
aka jk240sx
243 for life! a lil dab will do ya! thanks for the updates dude! Quality sir, you have it.
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Hodakaguy
Adventurer
Our family camped at the Adventure Van Expo at Mount Hood Oregon this weekend with the Sprinter. We all had a great time and got to meet some really great people. We also checked out some sweet van setups! It was nice for the wife to check out the different interior options in person and helped us nail down a direction we want to go with the van. There were a LOT of vans at the show and the day parking was packed with vans on Saturday. Fun Stuff!
What a view to wake up to in the morning!
Roambuilt.....Yummy! Love the Shadow Rack with built in awning, good for 50mph extended.
Lots of cool stuff to check out!
We took a couple hrs on Saturday to check out the Timberline Lodge up on the side of Mt Hood.
At the show I picked up a few items from Terrawagen for the Sprinter...always fun adding new bits to the rig
These are the Terrawagen storage pockets, they attach to the seat bases with the provided VHB tape. Always nice to have areas to rat hole small items.
Next up is a black Mercedes emblem for the rear doors, no more chrome
And last up is the rock guard for the leading edge of the hood. The guard attaches to the hood with VHB tape as well and the fit is spot on.
Before and after install.
More to come....
Hodakaguy
What a view to wake up to in the morning!
Roambuilt.....Yummy! Love the Shadow Rack with built in awning, good for 50mph extended.
Lots of cool stuff to check out!
We took a couple hrs on Saturday to check out the Timberline Lodge up on the side of Mt Hood.
At the show I picked up a few items from Terrawagen for the Sprinter...always fun adding new bits to the rig
These are the Terrawagen storage pockets, they attach to the seat bases with the provided VHB tape. Always nice to have areas to rat hole small items.
Next up is a black Mercedes emblem for the rear doors, no more chrome
And last up is the rock guard for the leading edge of the hood. The guard attaches to the hood with VHB tape as well and the fit is spot on.
Before and after install.
More to come....
Hodakaguy
Hodakaguy
Adventurer
Fabricated an aluminum mount for my Scangauge II this morning. I like running the scangauge as I can tweak the MPH display right on the money with the GPS as well as monitor actual coolant temp etc.
The Scangauge II
Scangauge II available on Amazon here: CLICK HERE
Laying out the mount on a scrap piece of aluminum plate.
Mount cut, bent and painted.
The mount will be stuck in place with VHB tape
On the Sprinter the OBDII port is located under this cover, I'll have to trim the cover to allow the connector to remain in place while the cover is closed.
Cover trimmed and re-installed with Scanguage cable plugged into the OBDII port.
And installed. I ran the cable up under the rubber door molding, the only portion of cable visible is the small section next to the scangauge.
The mount is angled towards the driver for easy viewing.
On a not so much fun note I completed the B service today. New Oil, engine air, cabin air and fuel filters along with fresh oil.
Hodakaguy
The Scangauge II
Scangauge II available on Amazon here: CLICK HERE
Laying out the mount on a scrap piece of aluminum plate.
Mount cut, bent and painted.
The mount will be stuck in place with VHB tape
On the Sprinter the OBDII port is located under this cover, I'll have to trim the cover to allow the connector to remain in place while the cover is closed.
Cover trimmed and re-installed with Scanguage cable plugged into the OBDII port.
And installed. I ran the cable up under the rubber door molding, the only portion of cable visible is the small section next to the scangauge.
The mount is angled towards the driver for easy viewing.
On a not so much fun note I completed the B service today. New Oil, engine air, cabin air and fuel filters along with fresh oil.
Hodakaguy
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