Hodakaguy's 4x4 Sprinter Build

[Hodakaguy]

Hmmm...my 34" tires are rubbing on my custom tweed interior slider door panel. Let's fix that!

While we were on a trip this weekend I noticed a black spot on the bottom edge of my interior slider door panel, yep the tire is lightly rubbing when the door is fully open....but just Barely! I'm pretty sure the actual mark came from driving short distances at the house with the slider open...not a great idea lol. It's already left a black mark and I don't want it wearing a hole over time if I drive with the door open again so it's time for a fix.

I had a piece of 6061T6 Aluminum flat bar laying in the shop and after cutting it to length, rounding the ends and drilling/counter sinking holes for the mounting screws it's ready to bolt on. I used a soldering iron to melt a hole through the tweed/foam so the fabric won't fray, a drill to make the hole in the wood panel and a self tapping screw to go into the metal on the door.

About 30 min total and the door panel now has a tire guard that also works as a foot knock plate while we are getting in and out of the van

Offending Tire Mark.

6061T6 Aluminum flat bar ready to install.

Using a soldering iron to melt a hole through the tweed and foam, this prevents it from fraying.

And a drill to drill through the wood panel.

Self tapping Screws

Installed Close but it's not touching

I like the aluminum finish, it matches the L-track.

Hodakaguy

 

[whith]

Real nice. Thinking about doing something similar for my Express. Just have a tiny but of rubbing on the slider.

 

[Hodakaguy]

Let's finish out that interior trim!

Stopped in at Terrawagen and picked up one of Eric's "Tidy Trim" kits. We're running a custom interior in our 2017 sprinter and for the last several years the trim around the B-Pillars and over the sliding door has remained unfinished. I keep saying I'm going to tackle this project but never find the time since making a professional looking trim piece for these areas is a royal pain and I have way to many hobbies fighting for my time lol. Luckily for myself and everyone else Eric is now making a Tidy Trim Kit designed for just these areas! The kit says for 2019 and up but fits the older NCV3's as well. The kit is composed of ABS plastic molded pieces that fit like a glove and it's available with or without a drivers side trim ring.

Once back home I set to installing this setup ahead of the upcoming Adventure Van Expo in Hood River OR.

The kit as it comes from Terrawagen in all it's glory.

Here's the section of missing trim around my sliding door.

First up I needed to remove the Mule bag and remove the upper panels in the van.

The kit comes supplied with these barrel nuts that screw onto the existing factory door hardware, the center trim piece will attach using two of these barrel nuts. These rest of the trim pieces are compression fit.

Testing the center trim piece for fitment.

Since I utilized/retained my factory passenger plastic trim in my build I'll have to make the new trim piece tie into my existing trim. The Terrawagen kit comes with trim pieces that go all the way to the floor and most people will use the entire kit. Here I'm marking out where I will cut the upper trim piece to line up with the L-track.

And....Cut.

Test Fitting.

With the trim piece temporarily installed I could take measurements and see how much I will have to shorten the panel. With the measurements in hand I carefully peeled the existing fabric/foam back, cut the panel down to size then used some 3M90 to re-wrap the panel.

Continued Below.....

 

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above.....

Here I'm cutting out a piece out of the scrap portion of the upper trim piece. This will be used to cap off the cut end and make a nicer transition from the Terrawagen trip to the OEM trim.

Covering the first piece with automotive tweed. I started by applying glue to both the fabric and the trim piece, letting them tack then mating them together. I started the glue process in the middle of the piece then applied glue in sections and worked the fabric into place.

Next pieces done

I used a soldering iron to melt through the fabric and open up the mounting holes in the middle trim piece. This seals the fabric so it won't Frey.

I cut another piece of ABS plastic off the scrap trim and used it for a stop. I glued it and the end plug into place.

Had to open up a hole to clear my L-track mounting bolt. This corner gets trapped behind the L-track.

Installing.....Fit's soooooo nice.

Continued Below.....

 

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above....

On to the drivers side. Here's what it currently looks like without the trim piece. Drives me crazy.

Pulled down the Mule bag and removed the panel. I trimmed a section of the fir strips to clear the trim piece.

Test fitting. The trim piece is just a tad to high to fit with my existing panels so I'll have to trim a bit.

With the trim piece temporarily installed I can take measurements and shorten the upper wall panel to match.

Well that's nice, the cut came out right where I mounted my Victron 712 Battery Monitor Display. I'll have to come up with a way to cover that!

Test fitting the panel, fit's great! Here I'm also trimming down the L-track and test fitting as well.

Here I'm trimming a bit off the top of the trim piece to allow the panels to fit up tight.

Test fitting....looking better!

To cover the existing hole I decided to move the 712 Display over a bit and fabricate an aluminum cover that will hide the existing hole.

Decided to round the forward edges a bit for a better look.

Painted black and installed on the panel.

Continued Below....

 

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above....

Trim piece covered.

And going back together.

Love the clean look!

To channel the words of the Dude......It really ties the van together!

Hodakaguy

 

[Euro6]

Whaouh !

 

[Hodakaguy]

Custom Fiamma L-track Awning Crank tool Mounts.

I usually carry my awning crank under my Mule Bag on the passenger side in the small fabric loops on the bottom side of the bag. While I love the location the handles are a bit larger than the shaft of the crank and hangs up on the loops making it a pain to remove & put back away.

After a bit of poking around I decided to mount the crank to the L-track on the passenger side under the bed. This locations will allow quick access and it will be out of the way.

The crank came with two plastic mounting clips, a quick test fit shows that you need a bit of force to snap the crank into the clips and to pull them out. I don't want to mount the clips directly onto the fabric/wood panels as I'm afraid they will eventually pull out over time. Well...time to fabricate come custom mount points.

Note: The links below are my Amazon Affiliate links, I make a small portion each time someone purchases from Amazon using one of my links, at no extra cost to the buyer. I only provide links to items that I personally like and use myself. i use the money to put back into my builds and support making videos/posts. If you prefer not to use my links you can search for the same items directly off Amazon. Thank you for the support!

Supplies that I used:

• L-track Mounting Studs: CLICK HERE
• Fiamma Crank Mounting Clips: CLICK HERE

I started with a couple pieces of 1" X 3/16" 6061 T6 Aluminum Flat Bar.

Drilling holes. The tabs will mount to the L-track via a mounting stud and the crank mounting clips will attach to the aluminum tabs via drilled/tapped holes and mounting screws.

I'll be mounting the crank arm on this section of L-track on the passenger side under the bed frame.

Attaching the mounting tabs onto the L-track via the L-track mounting studs.

Hodakaguy

 

[Hodakaguy]

Keeping your rig clean on the road. Doing some cleaning this morning in preparation for Hood River Adventure Van Expo next weekend.

Thought I'd share my vacuum setup that I carry with us in the van. It's an older Dyson unit that's running an adapter allowing me to use my Milwaukee Tool batteries on the vacuum. The vacuum is great with a lot of sucking power and no bags to deal with, but the stock battery held a charge for under 10 minutes and made the entire thing almost worthless. I found an adapter on Amazon that allows use of the Tool batts (They make them for all brands, I just happen to be vested in Milwaukee). The adapter just bolts on and you slide in your battery....bam that's it. Allows quick batt changes and with the 8.0 it will run a LONG time on a charge, we usually get through an entire trip on a single batt.

The vacuum's are expensive new but you can find ones with bad batteries cheap on CL or FB market if you keep an eye out.

Note: When ordering make sure you order the adapter that matches your exact model of Dyson.

Note: The links below are my Amazon Affiliate links, I make a small portion each time someone purchases from Amazon using one of my links, at no extra cost to the buyer. I only provide links to items that I personally like and use myself. i use the money to put back into my builds and support making videos/posts. If you prefer not to use my links you can search for the same items directly off Amazon. Thank you for the support!

Supplies that I used:

• Dyson Battery Adapter: CLICK HERE

Hodakaguy

 

[texasnielsen]

Keeping your rig clean on the road. Doing some cleaning this morning in preparation for Hood River Adventure Van Expo next weekend.

Thought I'd share my vacuum setup that I carry with us in the van. It's an older Dyson unit that's running an adapter allowing me to use my Milwaukee Tool batteries on the vacuum. The vacuum is great with a lot of sucking power and no bags to deal with, but the stock battery held a charge for under 10 minutes and made the entire thing almost worthless. I found an adapter on Amazon that allows use of the Tool batts (They make them for all brands, I just happen to be vested in Milwaukee). The adapter just bolts on and you slide in your battery....bam that's it. Allows quick batt changes and with the 8.0 it will run a LONG time on a charge, we usually get through an entire trip on a single batt.

The vacuum's are expensive new but you can find ones with bad batteries cheap on CL or FB market if you keep an eye out.

Note: When ordering make sure you order the adapter that matches your exact model of Dyson.

Note: The links below are my Amazon Affiliate links, I make a small portion each time someone purchases from Amazon using one of my links, at no extra cost to the buyer. I only provide links to items that I personally like and use myself. i use the money to put back into my builds and support making videos/posts. If you prefer not to use my links you can search for the same items directly off Amazon. Thank you for the support!

Supplies that I used:

• Dyson Battery Adapter: CLICK HERE

Hodakaguy

Great documentation as usual on your threads. Thanks for posting. Quick question. Your Dyson link for battery adapters brought me to this site. Not sure it’s correct. ???

Your Guide to the Best Products and Services - SuperOffers.com

Your Guide to the Best Products and Services

www.superoffers.com

 

[Hodakaguy]

Great documentation as usual on your threads. Thanks for posting. Quick question. Your Dyson link for battery adapters brought me to this site. Not sure it’s correct. ???

Your Guide to the Best Products and Services - SuperOffers.com

Your Guide to the Best Products and Services

www.superoffers.com

Weird, link seems to be an issue on just this site.

Try this: Click Here

Hodakaguy

 

[texasnielsen]

Weird, link seems to be an issue on just this site.

Try this: Click Here

Hodakaguy

Same odd site still. May be the IOS on the phone. Will try the laptop tomorrow!

 

[RVflyfish]

I just tried it on my iPad and it took me to the Amazon link.

 

[ITTOG]

Works on my Android.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[jgaz]

Outstanding workmanship as always.
The tip about using the soldering iron to make clean screw holes in the interior fabric alone is worth the price of admission.