Sprinter LIFT KIT!!!
- Thread starter Cole
- Start date
Haf-E
Expedition Leader
But how far does the end of the axle sit inset from the current tires outer face? The stock 5 lug wheels have huge backspacing - around 6 inches - ET75 - so with a big spacer it might be able to have the center of the 5 lug wheel set over the top of the end of the axle. What is the diameter of the axle's end part?
Cole
Expedition Leader
Finally got all the parts to put the front end back together. New Bilstien struts, new rotors with Brembo pads, new inner and outer tie rods.
I knew from looking at other posts that the camber was going to be off. I've got some 2* shims on the way that should be here today. Unfortunately our forecast claims upwards of 4 feet of snow at my house. So the Sprinter is going to be stuck inside for a few days.
You can see how bad the camber is here. Shims should probably be included in this kit by default.
So here is the before and after! Definitely gave me the room I didn't have in the front fender.
Need to get the rear done next! But for the moment this will be good.
Since its inside I decided to grind down some rust and will be bed lining the lower prt of the van too. Which will cover over the tiny trimming I had done on the inside of the front fenders before.
I knew from looking at other posts that the camber was going to be off. I've got some 2* shims on the way that should be here today. Unfortunately our forecast claims upwards of 4 feet of snow at my house. So the Sprinter is going to be stuck inside for a few days.
You can see how bad the camber is here. Shims should probably be included in this kit by default.
So here is the before and after! Definitely gave me the room I didn't have in the front fender.
Need to get the rear done next! But for the moment this will be good.
Since its inside I decided to grind down some rust and will be bed lining the lower prt of the van too. Which will cover over the tiny trimming I had done on the inside of the front fenders before.
Cole
Expedition Leader
Finally got the van out of the shop yesterday!
Drives really nice. Actually don't feel the 2" lift on the front at all. Can't wait until they have the rear portion of the lift ready to go for he 3500.
Going to need one of their skid plates next too.
Doesn't feel like the lift changed the driving dynamics at all. Which is a good thing.
I'll put some more miles in it and report back if I notice anything worth noting.
Drives really nice. Actually don't feel the 2" lift on the front at all. Can't wait until they have the rear portion of the lift ready to go for he 3500.
Going to need one of their skid plates next too.
Doesn't feel like the lift changed the driving dynamics at all. Which is a good thing.
I'll put some more miles in it and report back if I notice anything worth noting.
Cole
Expedition Leader
Time for an update.
We took the Sprinter to Moab from Denver over the weekend. All mountain freeway and twisty back roads to get there.
While we went out to camp off Kane Creek. Then explored and found the back dirt trails from Moab to Gateway, CO. In total we did a few hundred miles of dirt tracks. Van was loaded with all our normal camper set up, two adults, one 3yo, and two large dogs and all the standard gear that comes with them. On top of that we had 3 bike, 2 paddle boards, etc. What better way to test out the suspension set up.
The first thing to note is that the van settled quite a bit after putting some miles on it. I tried to get it to settle before putting in the camber shims with not much luck. I'd suggest driving the van a few miles after the lift install to see how yours settles and then decide on the camber shims.
Over all the van handled great! No issues in the wind. (I added a front sway bar to my 3500 awhile back which makes a big difference). We spent quite a bit of time on rough roads and there seem to be no odd handling quirks of the lift. I also tend to run the 75mph limit (or more) on the mountain freeway when possible and the van handles the high speed corners with ease. Never felt "more tippy" do to the lift.
This picture is at about 8,400ft overlooking the canyon lands between Moab and Gateway. It drops thousands of feet straight off. It was freaky even parking the van that close to the edge. There is a few feet of trees and then it just vanishes to the valley floor.
Kane Creek switchbacks.
The only problem I've had so far with the lift is that my 12yo Wolf Hybrid has a harder time getting in the van now
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We took the Sprinter to Moab from Denver over the weekend. All mountain freeway and twisty back roads to get there.
While we went out to camp off Kane Creek. Then explored and found the back dirt trails from Moab to Gateway, CO. In total we did a few hundred miles of dirt tracks. Van was loaded with all our normal camper set up, two adults, one 3yo, and two large dogs and all the standard gear that comes with them. On top of that we had 3 bike, 2 paddle boards, etc. What better way to test out the suspension set up.
The first thing to note is that the van settled quite a bit after putting some miles on it. I tried to get it to settle before putting in the camber shims with not much luck. I'd suggest driving the van a few miles after the lift install to see how yours settles and then decide on the camber shims.
Over all the van handled great! No issues in the wind. (I added a front sway bar to my 3500 awhile back which makes a big difference). We spent quite a bit of time on rough roads and there seem to be no odd handling quirks of the lift. I also tend to run the 75mph limit (or more) on the mountain freeway when possible and the van handles the high speed corners with ease. Never felt "more tippy" do to the lift.
This picture is at about 8,400ft overlooking the canyon lands between Moab and Gateway. It drops thousands of feet straight off. It was freaky even parking the van that close to the edge. There is a few feet of trees and then it just vanishes to the valley floor.
Kane Creek switchbacks.
The only problem I've had so far with the lift is that my 12yo Wolf Hybrid has a harder time getting in the van now
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Nice trip! If I can swing it, I am going to Overland Expo next month. :elkgrin:
Regarding the settling. Any time you remove the spring seats, they take a few miles to settle back down. If yours are older or high miles, a new set of seats and plastic spring blocks (between spring and frame) will give you another half inch of lift compared to worn ones.
After about 20 speed bumps mine had stopped settling. I still needed 1.5 degrees to get into spec (installed 2 degree shim). With a heavier load 1 degree might be enough? When I take the van in for tires I will get a copy of the print out uploaded.
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Cole
Expedition Leader
I just got some more goodies from VanCompass. I'm pretty excited to see a company offering parts for the adventure Sprinter crowd and supporting the older vans.
I'm going to add their stuff to my own site now too along with my van hammock and maybe some other Sprinter things I've been thinking of.
But....I've been excited to get my own van lifted and much closer to how I had envisioned it in the first place.
I actually bent the crap out of my car hauler leg a few days ago pulling it through a rut with the Sprinter a few days ago. So clearly a little more lift in back will help.
These are the rear lift parts. VanCompass didn't initially have a 3500 Sprinter available to them to developer the rear suspension parts. So there has been a lot of back and forth here to develop it off of my van. It's really only some minor changes in the big picture. But we all wanted it to be done right.
On a related note.........This is also the front engine skid plate! Oddly, I'm excited about this piece for 3 reasons and two of them may surprise you. First, I'm hoping that the skid helps a bit with the undercarriage aerodynamics and sound deadening of the road noise. I've noticed that a similar plastic skid may have been available at one point for these vans for similar reasons but was seemingly dropped from US vans.
Of course the engine protection in the parts of the world I drive this thing is a major reason. Other than the oil pan the Sprinter has a couple of very vulnerable transmssion cooler lines and other bits that could easily leave you stranded if damaged. (I actually had to leave my wife and daughter with a broken trans line for about 3 hours while I walked to go find parts, that sucked!)
...and of course this thing should add some much needed off road bling to the van.
I'm going to add their stuff to my own site now too along with my van hammock and maybe some other Sprinter things I've been thinking of.
But....I've been excited to get my own van lifted and much closer to how I had envisioned it in the first place.
I actually bent the crap out of my car hauler leg a few days ago pulling it through a rut with the Sprinter a few days ago. So clearly a little more lift in back will help.
These are the rear lift parts. VanCompass didn't initially have a 3500 Sprinter available to them to developer the rear suspension parts. So there has been a lot of back and forth here to develop it off of my van. It's really only some minor changes in the big picture. But we all wanted it to be done right.
On a related note.........This is also the front engine skid plate! Oddly, I'm excited about this piece for 3 reasons and two of them may surprise you. First, I'm hoping that the skid helps a bit with the undercarriage aerodynamics and sound deadening of the road noise. I've noticed that a similar plastic skid may have been available at one point for these vans for similar reasons but was seemingly dropped from US vans.
Of course the engine protection in the parts of the world I drive this thing is a major reason. Other than the oil pan the Sprinter has a couple of very vulnerable transmssion cooler lines and other bits that could easily leave you stranded if damaged. (I actually had to leave my wife and daughter with a broken trans line for about 3 hours while I walked to go find parts, that sucked!)
...and of course this thing should add some much needed off road bling to the van.
Cole
Expedition Leader
Got most of the rear lift installed a few days ago. Have a few misc bits to finish up. Really straight forward process and easy for any DIYer to do. Good quality parts from VanCompass. Sprinter looks much better with the full lift on it now.
It consists of drop brackets for the rear sway bar, shocks and bump stops, and of course the spacer block and u bolts.
It consists of drop brackets for the rear sway bar, shocks and bump stops, and of course the spacer block and u bolts.