Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
The caps are custom. I put together a guide of how to make them yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u20tN89z274
Mercedes Sprinter 4x4 CrewCab Expedition Build in Canada
- Thread starter Victorian
- Start date
The caps are custom. I put together a guide of how to make them yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u20tN89z274
Interested in the vinyl wrap idea. Really struggling with color selection for our truck/cabin.Thank you Greg,
Indeed we are pleased how everything turned out. Shopping for tires and bigger rims right now... vinyl wrap for the cab soon. Further down the list: rear spare tire carrier, awning, roof rack over the cab, stereo, upgraded seats..... you are right it looks like its never really done
Will you do anything with the cabin also?
Br
Al.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
Update!
I have been bogged down with work and didn't have much time working on the truck the last couple months. Signed up a couple of big commercial customers that will make our camper and truck bodies available through all of North America!
Never the less, I managed to get the rear tire rack manufactured (in powdercoating right now), Stairs installed, leaf springs upgraded, the drivers cab got a vinyl wrap and in February I will be building a roof spoiler/ storage compartment above the cab.
Bigger rims are also on the way and with a A/T tire upgrade it will look pretty sharp.
Also replaced a couple of interior plastic trim pieces.
Overall, we truely fell in love with this truck. It drives and handles very very nice. It's even more fuel efficient than our Subaru Outback! Did I tell you about the hydronic engine pre heater? No? OMG, a dream! Pre heating the diesel engine and the cab makes a hell of a difference on cold days.
Another fun fact popped up the other day: The truck was in service within a fleet of other trucks in a City in Germany, with the task of maintaining hydrodams. Through the original vehicle papers and google, I found the department it was serving. I even talked with the guy that drove it for 10 years! He only had good things to say about the dependability and capabilities off road. He also told me that even though it was a hard working truck, it was babied and also serviced on time at the Mercedes dealership. Man that feels good to know!
In any case, right now we are in deep rain/winter session and working outside isn't much fun.
Please stay tuned for pictures of the finished project in March.
Here is short video with all the specs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEm8ZMq-1cc
Cheers,
I have been bogged down with work and didn't have much time working on the truck the last couple months. Signed up a couple of big commercial customers that will make our camper and truck bodies available through all of North America!
Never the less, I managed to get the rear tire rack manufactured (in powdercoating right now), Stairs installed, leaf springs upgraded, the drivers cab got a vinyl wrap and in February I will be building a roof spoiler/ storage compartment above the cab.
Bigger rims are also on the way and with a A/T tire upgrade it will look pretty sharp.
Also replaced a couple of interior plastic trim pieces.
Overall, we truely fell in love with this truck. It drives and handles very very nice. It's even more fuel efficient than our Subaru Outback! Did I tell you about the hydronic engine pre heater? No? OMG, a dream! Pre heating the diesel engine and the cab makes a hell of a difference on cold days.
Another fun fact popped up the other day: The truck was in service within a fleet of other trucks in a City in Germany, with the task of maintaining hydrodams. Through the original vehicle papers and google, I found the department it was serving. I even talked with the guy that drove it for 10 years! He only had good things to say about the dependability and capabilities off road. He also told me that even though it was a hard working truck, it was babied and also serviced on time at the Mercedes dealership. Man that feels good to know!
In any case, right now we are in deep rain/winter session and working outside isn't much fun.
Please stay tuned for pictures of the finished project in March.
Here is short video with all the specs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEm8ZMq-1cc
Cheers,
Attachments
Darwin
Explorer
I am really interested to hear more about these commercial builders that might be getting involved. It seems like they could build a box pretty fast over a couple of days which might end up making the whole thing a little more affordable for those of us that can't afford a GXV or Earthroamer but want quality and are willing to pay more than the typical slide in truck camper. Will you be at Overland Expo West? I am hoping to make it this year and would love to chat!
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
At this point it's all confidential. You are correct, we designed our system so that builders can have a faster turn around and therefore make more money. Our customers are all over the world, from India to China to Australia to North America. It's pretty amazing to see the business grow!
As for the Expo:
We will certainly be in Arizona, the North West Overland Rally and BC Overland Rally. Not sure if we will have a booth or attend as a regular visitor. I personally like the idea of walking around and attending classes, something that's impossible to do when you run a booth. It's actually very exhausting .... I would also like to leave the playingfield to our commercial builders and not take any business away from them.
Cheers
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
New bigger wheels
Wasn't easy to find bigger rims for the truck. But hey, today was the magic day where they finally went on! Old size on silver rims was 225/70-15. New size black rims 225/75-16 with MotorMaster TotalTerrain AT/3
Next steps:
-assemble and install the composite roof spoiler/storage box
-powdercoat the spare tire rack
-mount the awning
-install diesel heater
-stereo upgrade... cassette radios suck ;-)
Wasn't easy to find bigger rims for the truck. But hey, today was the magic day where they finally went on! Old size on silver rims was 225/70-15. New size black rims 225/75-16 with MotorMaster TotalTerrain AT/3
Next steps:
-assemble and install the composite roof spoiler/storage box
-powdercoat the spare tire rack
-mount the awning
-install diesel heater
-stereo upgrade... cassette radios suck ;-)
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
It totally looks a bit odd right now with the box that high of the cab. But that will be improved by the composite roof box/wind deflector that's in the making.
Jostt
Adventurer
Hello , I Think You are close to start to travel whit your Sprinter....this is the most important, at the beagining You Will find many things You should improve, thats normal, Im on the same point....but the important question to discover this things is to use It... For the diesel heater I can recomend the dualtop from webasto, It is working very good and It has water and Air, and very quite
importing into Canada,how complicated was it?
How complicated was it to import the vehicle? I live in Ontario and have often thought about bringing in a Unimog but am not entirely sure where to start.
Any thoughts on the process would be greatly appreciated. Good luck with the build.
How complicated was it to import the vehicle? I live in Ontario and have often thought about bringing in a Unimog but am not entirely sure where to start.
Any thoughts on the process would be greatly appreciated. Good luck with the build.
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
In Theory it's fairly simple to import a Vehicle into Canada. Till you hit a bumb in the road ... read our story here: http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...-4x4-CrewCab-Expedition-Build-in-Canada/page6 Would I do it again? Nope.
Looks great! How is the camper physically attached? Bolts through the floor to the frame? Something external? Some pics would be great if you have them. Thanks!
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
The Camper is bolted to the factory flatbed. Can easily be removed and put on another 7x10 flatbed truck.
Cheers,
