InssssssssVANity!!!!!!!......or ****** did I just fly to Maine to by a Sprinter!

[vwadventureman]

I've heard swapping the rear end ratio requires settings to be changed on the computer - so beware...

The top two gears on the 5 speed tranny of the 5 cylinder sprinters are overdrive - so its no surprise to me that you need to shift down to 4th when hitting hills - its only a 2.7 liter engine. I pulled trailers a number of times that were over the 5k lb "limit" and I was impressed with the performance - of course it was through Oregon and California where the trailering speed was 55 so 60mph was fine. I think pulling a syncro high roof is pretty extreme (perhaps you have the higher power v6 engine?) as that is a lot of wind resistance - but probably similar to when I pulled my Pinzgauer on a trailer from Sacramento to Seattle...

Gearing was greatly changed by adding 5" taller tires, so mine (2003, SHC, 2.7-5) has noticeably less power. It would have towed fine with stock tires. The Syncro didn't create much extra wind drag and the driveline is out so it's all mostly gearing related. The 'test' was only a 5-mile loop on a relatively flat road, and the tow would have been 2700 miles over real mountains - so a definite no-go. The Syncro will hitch a ride behind the Isusu FRR 7.8 box truck next trip west, it pulls it much better.

 

[Cole]

Minor but significant update.

My van came with this carbon fiber dash surround and 3 of the most ghetto-fab switches on earth. One was for the fogs, one for the cargo lights and one for the heater fan bypass. I kinda ignored them until one of them fell into the abyss.

Today I replaced them with 3 proper switches and the look and function is much better.


Before:

After:

 

[Haf-E]

The computer probably won't care about the gear ratio. Especially since it will think it's more stock than my current set up.

The computer knows the engine RPM, current gear and the revolutions of the rear wheels - if the axle ratio is changed then it thinks the tranny is slipping and it shows an fault and goes into limp mode...

I would check into it more prior to swapping the rear axle out - would be a bummer to find out it doesn't work.

 

[Cole]

The computer knows the engine RPM, current gear and the revolutions of the rear wheels - if the axle ratio is changed then it thinks the tranny is slipping and it shows an fault and goes into limp mode...

I would check into it more prior to swapping the rear axle out - would be a bummer to find out it doesn't work.

Doesn't work that way. For what it's worth I've already changed the effective gear ratio with tires.

I've swapped out gear ratios on other computer controlled cars too! (Diamler produced Jeeps, some of which use the same transmission as the sprinter)

The wheel speed sensors tell the ABS what to do, the only link they have to the engine computer is to tell it to take throttle control away from you if you re spinning the tires or in a skid.

It wouldn't think the transmission is slipping because it has internal sensors for that.

Seriously, think about this for a second. There is no check of drive shaft speed(transmission output) vs. Wheel speed. As far as the computer is concerned this is a fixed mechanical connection that can never change. So it's a waste of time to measure it. There is nothing it could do if there was a variation. So changing it makes zero difference to the computer from an operational standpoint.

Getting incorrect odometer/speedometer readings is possible with bigger tire. But not the gear ratio change.

 

[Cole]

Snowy and cold here today. Opened the glove box and spotted the IR temp gun! Figured I'd walk around and take a few readings out of curiosity.

The only heat source in the van is the stock Espar coolant heater.


Outside van temp!

80/20 right above the slider door. This whole 14' length rests on the van body.

80/20 above the cab.(connected to the 80/20 shown above)

Coldest spot of 80/20 I could find. Very near the back of the van and half way up the side wall. This is connected to the outer wall of the van.

Steel on slider door near the floor.

Room temp according to my Maxxfan remote.

 

[Josh_G]

how long had it been running?

 

[Cole]

how long had it been running?

The coolant heater came on about 45min before we got into the van. No sure hoe long it had been up to that temp.

 

[Haf-E]

Here is a forum posting of a guy who actually did a rear end change - took a lot of reprogramming...

http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13749&page=7

Re: Changing Rear Axle Ratio

I suppose I am the first one in the world to actually complete this swap.

Our 2007 Dodge Sprinter chunked its rear axle at 190,000 miles back in July of this year and the Dodge dealer wanted $5800 to replace it with a new one. They do not rebuild these at the dealer.

Thats just too much money so I had it towed from the Dodge dealer to a ring and pinion shop who promised me that they could rebuild it for much less. They tore into it and found the carrier wasted and a broken drivers side axle, this was from the center pin coming free and letting the spider gears fall into the ring and pinion. It bound up and ruined everything. So they tallied it up and told me it would be $3600 in parts and labor for them to rebuild my existing axle.

Still too much IMO.

So my Sprinter is a 4.18 and when I bought it new I originally wanted a 3.92 but there were none available at the time. I always regretted not getting the 3.92, and now seemed like the chance to make that swap and finally get what I wanted in the first place.

So I started the hunt online for a complete axle for sale. The ring and pinion shop told me that if I found one they would swap it for $400 labor total. Long search but I finally found one up in South Dakota (I am in Houston, Texas) for $1050.00 out of a wrecked 2010 Freightliner with only 2000 miles on it that had been demolished in a front end collision and had a 3.92 ratio. I bought it on the spot and it cost me $250 to have it shipped down.

The ring and pinion shop swapped it in and I expected the computer to balk at it, sure enough it did. What happens is it will take off fine, then when it gets to 5th it will throw a limp and default you to 3rd gear only, no other gear will be available, not even reverse which I found out the hard way, until you kill it and restart. So now it was time to take it to the Mercedes Dealer, which I had spoken too about this before I ever even bought the different axle. A nice high RPM cruise across Houston to the Mercedes dealer left me one step away from the van being back in service with its new rear axle.

Initially they tried to reprogram modules to make it work but ran into trouble, it would not completely get happy with the different ratio, mostly because the EIS module (ignition) would not accept changes. But they were persistant and got with Mercedes Engineering in Germany and Mercedes approved the changes and sent codes to unlock the EIS. This did take a few days to make happen. All said and done they had to reprogram the ESP, IK, EGS, and the EIS to make this work. No Dodge dealer will be capable of this process, do not waste your time. Total cost for the changes to the modules $315.00

So now my van is happy with its new rear end ratio in every way, and so am I. It has slightly less punch off the line, but it is well worth it on the other end because it is much quieter now turning less RPM and consistantly getting 1 to 1.5 MPG more than before.

Cost of low mileage rear end: $1050
Shipping for rear end: $250
Installation of rear end: $400
Programming for rear end: $315

Total damage: $2015 and now I have the rear ratio I wanted, and eventually over time the savings in fuel will recoup the cost.

Props to Alex Rodriguez Mercedes-Benz in League City, Texas for working with me both before and after the swap to get this done. I highly recommend this dealership to anyone looking for the very best to work on their Sprinter vehicle. Good people and an immaculate shop, I almost felt bad dragging my filthy Dodge in there for them to work on LOL!!!!!!




There is a lot more to this story than this but thats the base details. It took a lot of seaching to find the axle and it took a lot of leg work ahead of time to make sure it could be seen through to the end and work correctly before buying it, but the above is the summation of what happened. This thread in particular was my inspiration to see if it really could be done, so I thought I would come back and pay it back. I will check in later to see if there are any questions.

 

[Cole]

That has very little or nothing to do with my Sprinter. That post is about NCV3 and I've got a T1N. Nearly everything on that van is different and it has far more computer controls.

 

[Cole]

The stock tires on this van were 195/70/15s. They are not quite 26" tall stock.

The tires I've had on it for the last year are 235/85/16s they are 32" tall.

Which mean my tires are 6" larger than stock!!!

This effectively changes the gear ratio from 3:73 to 3:02. If I want the engine and transmission to spin closer to stock I need a 4:56 gear ratio. Which of course they don't make, but they do make a 4:18. The 4:18 is ~about the same difference above my current ratio as I'm currently running below it. The difference is that I can select 4:18 as an option in the computer from Mercedes. I can also select 225/75/16 in the computer. Which will put everything MUCH closer to stock than its running now. And it runs perfectly now!!!!

 

[Gregster]

Cool van

 

[Cole]

I've been spending most of my time building another custom Eurovan to sell.

I did new Pirelli vinyl flooring in it and had some left over for the Sprinter.


Eurovan in is current state.

I only changed out the rear flooring where I had the industrial carpet before. I think I may order some more so that I can do the entire van in one continuous piece.

If you look close you can see that I snuck in a Eurovan table behind each seat too. Since I build the Eurovans with custom wood tables I end up with these laying around all the time.

I also had that industrial carpet on this door. It was just a test piece. The stuff was durable, but ugly.

So I reupholstered the door panel too. Need more carpet to do the other one. I still may just swap these out for Maple when I get a chance.

 

[Stroverlander]

Maybe I'm a bit behind but looks great with those wheels/tires!

 

[Cole]

I'm always amazed at how tires can make or break the looks of a vehicle.


Just needs some D60/14bff :sombrero:

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

looking great!