FrankenSprinter- the beginning

[Jcmcdowell]

I just bought a 2004 158"wb Sprinter 2500 with 117k for conversion. My wife and 2 small kids (2&4) travel all summer as contract entertainers for fair in the Rocky Mountain States and we are tired of only getting 6 mpg with our 1995 Fleetwood Bounder pulling a trailer. Besides the poor gas mileage, it's a real pain trying to drive the motorhome to run errands or do some fun sight seeing when we have some free time. While it is very comfortable, the fairs put us up in hotels during the fair so we really only need an overnighter and an occasional week long camper conversion that can pull a 3,000 lb trailer.

She's pretty plain jane right now. Normal wear and tear but lot's of recent maintenance items in the last 2 years from the previous owner.

We sold our mini donut food concession trailer to buy (mostly) the Sprinter and we now have the motorhome up for sale in Tucson, Arizona where we base out of in between trips (currently we are in Tucson about a month in the Spring and a month in the fall).

I have a few key design principles for this conversion:

1. Keep it simple
2. Keep it light

I've been trolling the forum reading about folks conversion and there's a lot of great ideas out there. Our objective is:

1. Sleep 5 on occasion but 4 all the time. I'm using the EXARBY frame and mattress from IKEA as the starting point. At $110 for a 48" x 73" bed with frame, I can't buy the steel for that amount of money. We plan on a couch/bed behind the driver's seat and a shortened couch/bed in the back across the van fitting tight 69". I'm going to use one side of the mattress and frame to build a wall attached bunk on the driver's side in the back for storage and the occasional guest.

2. Limited storage. I plan on building removable drawer sets that fit under the couch/beds so everyone get one large drawer for clothes. A floor to ceiling closet about 22" wide will fit behind the couch/bed on the driver's side and hold a small hanging closet on the top and a cabinet for the porta-potty. I plan on two upper cabinets. One above the couch/bed behind the driver's seat and one above the kitchen cabinet on the passenger side right behind the sliding door.

3. limited kitchen. We mostly make one burner meals anyways and there's always a grocery nearby. With the ease of driving to a store compared to the motorhome, we are seriously cutting down on food storage. A 48" x 18" cabinet will hold a small SS sink, RV water pump, a small Engel front opening fridge with small freezer (ice cubes). A small two burner camp stove will be hinged on the outside of the cabinet in the sliding door area. It will swing up level for cooking and fold down flat for travel. At this time we are only planning on the small propane canisters. The water tank will fit on the passenger side behind the wheel well. The grey water will likely just dump onto the ground from the floor. I'm considering provisions for a larger BBQ tank under the motorhome but haven't fully researched that yet.

4. I'm planning on spray foam insulation with carpet coated luann paneling.

5. LED lights from IKEA (just cut the wires to the transformer and wire them to a switch to your 12v)

6. Vent fan above the galley

7. Slim profile rooftop AC

8. Wired for 20 amp power via our honda 2kw generator (or shore power). I haven't decided on one or two 115 amp/hour deep cycle batteries for the house power. We will likely get a 2kw inverter.

Future Improvements? Solar panel, passive water heater, rear door enclosed shower setup, hydrogen generator?

Suspension. I'm planning on adding a transmission oil cooler, Active Suspension, the 1" lift blocks to the rear, and possibly an additional leaf spring depending on how she pulls the trailer.I would also like to get larger sidewall tires when these wear out to get a little extra ground clearance (we spend a fair amount of time in Mexico and another inch would mean a lot!)

I raided an old truck bed camper for bit and pieces and stripped off the plastic liners on the walls. I start roughing out the wiring tomorrow and doing some metal fab for the headliner project. With luck, I can start measuring and cutting the EXARBY frames to fit. I'd like to go frameless and use spring latches into bushings located on each wall to hold the frames in place. This way I can remove them with ease and relocate them when needed. Some extra metal supports may be needed in the sidewalls to carry 400 ish pounds of shear load.

I'll post some picts when I get something worth showing. Like many, not a lot of time for the next two weeks.

Thanks to all those that contributed and shared some great ideas.:thumbup:

[d_bertko]

Good luck with your project.

Never a good idea to run a high-pressure camp stove inside the van. Certainly shouldn't build it in---don't you want to cook outside when its hot? A propane locker inside the van would give you a lockable metal cabinet whether or not you're carrying a bbq tank inside of it. An underside tank costs a lot of ground clearance unless you cut a filler door into the sidewall.

A 2kw inverter works best with 400+ ah of batteries. Since you want a vertical door Engel with a freezer that will likely take at least 1/2 a house battery per day. My chest Engel uses a little less than that run as a fridge. It would use 3x as much as a freezer.

Now that you've upgraded to 4 house batteries:smirk: you can run a microwave and a mag induction burner without bringing a generator for nine months of the year. Very easy to live off an electric kitchen while on the road and an outside propane kitchen in camp.

Make certain that the roof ac unit will reliably start from a 2000w Honda if that is your intent. Some do and some don't.

Luaun is too fancy a grade of ply to cover with carpet. And carpet holds dirt, grease, moisture compared to say, ply covered with 3/8 closed cell foam under sturdy marine vinyl.

Are you going to add an Espar diesel furnace?

Dan

[Jcmcdowell]

Good luck with your project.

Never a good idea to run a high-pressure camp stove inside the van. Certainly shouldn't build it in---don't you want to cook outside when its hot? A propane locker inside the van would give you a lockable metal cabinet whether or not you're carrying a bbq tank inside of it. An underside tank costs a lot of ground clearance unless you cut a filler door into the sidewall.

The idea is to have to fan/vent above the kitchen and be able to open the sliding door when doing any serious cooking. Mostly it would be used to make coffee, fry eggs, heat soup. We never use the stove in the motorhome now- too hot. We rarely use the microwave even in a home where power is abundant, not sure we would in the Sprinter. The thought was to hook/unhook the camp propane tank with every use. The stove can be taken outside easily as well.

A propane locker is a thought, but where? Maybe even finding a pancake tank or flat tank than can be refilled for under the van. Then a dometic fridge would be great.

A 2kw inverter works best with 400+ ah of batteries. Since you want a vertical door Engel with a freezer that will likely take at least 1/2 a house battery per day. My chest Engel uses a little less than that run as a fridge. It would use 3x as much as a freezer.

That's a tough one. I read in the Engel specs average 3ah consumption. I can offset the power when driving but you're right about the drain. a Solar panel would help. Even a 40w panel could keep the battery charged during the day- but at night?. 4 deep cycle marine batteries sure are heavy. Another point for a propane locker. We get almost 3 weeks of use out of a BBQ tank on our sailboat with a Dometic fridge and cooking.

Now that you've upgraded to 4 house batteries:smirk: you can run a microwave and a mag induction burner without bringing a generator for nine months of the year. Very easy to live off an electric kitchen while on the road and an outside propane kitchen in camp.

Make certain that the roof ac unit will reliably start from a 2000w Honda if that is your intent. Some do and some don't.

Good thinking. Most of the 15,000 BTU units only draw 9amps according to the specs.

Luaun is too fancy a grade of ply to cover with carpet. And carpet holds dirt, grease, moisture compared to say, ply covered with 3/8 closed cell foam under sturdy marine vinyl.

We own a sailboat now with a vinyl headliner and indoor carpet in the berths. Given the choice between epoxy painted birch ply, outdoor carpet over luann, and vinyl over ply- We would probably choose the epoxy painted birch and/or the carpet over luann. With two small kids and markers, crayons, food- padded vinyl wouldn't look too pristine after awhile.

Are you going to add an Espar diesel furnace?

Dan

We're never in a place that gets that cold. Mexico in the winter and Rocky Mountain States in the summer. Maybe getting a heat strip for the AC just in case?

Thanks for the feedback, all good points.

-JC

[Jcmcdowell]

A week in the life might go as follows.

Hit a grocery to re-provision then hit the road. Drive 6+ hours. Pull into a walmart or other discrete parking lot for the night.

Make soup for the kids, quesadilla, or mac and cheese followed by a frozen yogurt stick for dessert. Mom and Dad might have a glass of wine, pork tenderloin with a green salad.

Read for awhile, take a walk, watch a DVD (thanks RedBox) before bed time.

Get up in the morning, make a pot of coffee, cereal for the kids, scrambled eggs, clean up and hit the road.

Arrive at destination. Check in with fair, 3 hour setup, check in to hotel. Maybe eat in Sprinter from groceries or not.

For the next five days we would sleep in the hotel and drive back and forth to the fair (usually a couple of miles at most away). We tag team the kids and would use the sprinter as a place to have the kids chill while at the fair. Bigger fairs we hire a person to help in our attraction. The kids can play inside the van (color, paint, read, watch a dvd), have a cold drink, frozen popsicle or yogurt stick in AC, take a nap, and then we go back out and do it again. We Drive back to the hotel at the end of the day.

For our big cooking we use a pressure cooker. Great food in a short amount of time. Chicken, Rice, Pot Roast, Veggies, Pork, Ribs- all less than an hour at most. Many in as little as 15 minutes.

End of show, break down (3 hours), re-provision at a market and hit the road for the next fair.

Sometimes there are breaks in between. A few days, maybe a week or longer. We either dry camp in a BLM park or visit friends and can usually have power. We very very rarely stay in RV parks now. Once in a blue moon a state or national park. Mainly because of our length restriction with the trailer and motorhome (54' overall).

When we go to Mexico in the winter it's not too hot. We would use the Sprinter like a van and rarely use it to camp. SO we would just turn the fridge off when not in use. The big plus, it usually takes up to a week to get the boat ready to go into the water and about the same at the end of the season to close her up on the hard. We can plug in at the Dry storage and stay in the Sprinter instead of roughing it on the boat on land while trying to clean up. By May, it really starts to get hot. Having an AC in the Van would make like easier at night.

So we don't camp A LOT, but I need it to be comfortable on the road. The fridge is the biggest problem I see with power issues. The AC would always be run off a generator or shore power.

[d_bertko]

The idea is to have to fan/vent above the kitchen and be able to open the sliding door when doing any serious cooking. Mostly it would be used to make coffee, fry eggs, heat soup. We never use the stove in the motorhome now- too hot. We rarely use the microwave even in a home where power is abundant, not sure we would in the Sprinter. The thought was to hook/unhook the camp propane tank with every use. The stove can be taken outside easily as well.
We always use our "inside" electric kitchen when we're on the road. Plenty of alternator amps. The mag induction burner is used for boiling coffee water and then maybe oatmeal or eggs. Half the waste heat of propane. The pot is hotter than the cooktop so very safe and kid friendly. The microwave gets a lot of use since so many things can be cooked on paper plates. Corn-on-the-cob, sweet potatoes, soup, any kind of steamed veggie add a lot of healthy things to our diet. Anything without cleanup is a plus.

A propane locker is a thought, but where? Maybe even finding a pancake tank or flat tank than can be refilled for under the van. Then a dometic fridge would be great.
I bought a plumber's propane cabinet. It can take up to a 40lb tank. We carry a 20 lb bbq tank in it. I thought it was wasted space until I realized how useful a locking metal cabinet was for the camera, laptop, etc.

But a propane locker is not rocket science. Just a caulked box with a gasketed door and a floor and sidewall vent. I looked at lots of marine homemade jobs before I bought mine. I think sized for a bbq tank is ideal since you can refill or exchange. Ours lasts at least a season since our heat is diesel and we heat hot water only as needed for a portable shower/spray wand. The ten lb tanks used on my summer raft trip were very easy to lug around. The raft guys turned down my 20 lb tank as unnecessarily awkward. Not a problem for me around camp.


That's a tough one. I read in the Engel specs average 3ah consumption. I can offset the power when driving but you're right about the drain. a Solar panel would help. Even a 40w panel could keep the battery charged during the day- but at night?. 4 deep cycle marine batteries sure are heavy. Another point for a propane locker. We get almost 3 weeks of use out of a BBQ tank on our sailboat with a Dometic fridge and cooking.
You might look at the Engel chests and run one in fridge mode. About 1.5a x 24hrs or half your model. The Engel is much more powerful than a propane fridge. It runs full tilt until whatever you put in is cold---warm beer becomes quite cold in 15 minutes. I threw away the Dometic my used van came with because it was so slow and the propane tank was a road hazard. Our Engel leads a double life. It comes out of the van and into the stick house as a second fridge or freezer if we're hanging around at home. That and the induction burner are welcome at any potluck!

Good thinking. Most of the 15,000 BTU units only draw 9amps according to the specs.
It is only the initial start surge that prevents most 2000w gensets from running an ac unit.

We're never in a place that gets that cold. Mexico in the winter and Rocky Mountain States in the summer. Maybe getting a heat strip for the AC just in case?

Sounds like a solution. Maybe add a cube ceramic heater or two if you have enough shore power. Our favorite travel times are the shoulder seasons and we love to sleep at altitude in the warm months. Hardly ever use the Airtronic overnight when a down comforter will do. But it is my wife's favorite improvement since a cold or wet morning or evening is so much more comfortable without wearing lots of layers. She often works on a laptop while I'm off paddling a river. So she's the expert about spending hours in the van in relative luxury.
Dan

[Jcmcdowell]

I got the rear bed/couch/bunk frames welded and installed and the sound deadening materials installed per teamtexas suggestion. I used the GRACE Vycor product found at Lowe's and it cost $220 for 6 rolls and seems to work well.

I posted an album of all the photo's here:

Sprinter Bed/Couch Install (https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/SprinterConversionRearBedCouchAndSoundDeadeningIns tall?authuser=0&feat=directlink)

I'm trying to make the conversion as light as possible but we really need to sleep 4 all the time and once in a blue moon 5. Using the van as a structural component saves a lot of material and weight. I can also remove the frames and use the interior for cargo in just a few minutes.

[maxextz]

very interesting thread..........but we will need pics.:thumbup:

[beachbum57]

Wow! Looks great! I like the couch/beds alot! :clapping: Looking forward to seeing the build as you get it done.:popcorn:

[Jcmcdowell]

very interesting thread..........but we will need pics.:thumbup:

click on the link for the Picassa photo album.

[Jcmcdowell]

Well, after much thought and looking at the space, I think for this season we are only going to use two of the rear bed frames versus three. There just isn't enough headroom clearance to have a side bunk to use for storage when not being used for a 5th bed.

I've been working on our electrical needs and here is what we are planning:

12v- Starting Battery:
We are going to tap off the cargo lights to install 8 LED lights which will only draw about 2 amps if all of them are turned on at the same time.

12v- Auxillary battery:
Battery- a sealed AGM type-looks like it will be in the 100 ah range (located under pax seat)
Solenoid- Blue Seas ACR 7610-SI
Shore Power charger- Intelli-Power 9245
Blue Seas 6 fuse block with ground
1-water pump circuit
2-fridge circuit
3-fan circuit
4-left outlet circuit
5-right outlet circuit
6- future inverter?

110v- 30 amp; 2 breaker panel
1- 20amp for roof top ac with heating strip
(currrently considering Polar Cub 9200 btu unit)
2- 15 amp wall outlet circuit and shore power charger

shore power will have male connector in rear underside.
solar is still on the table. Possible 60-80w panel small controller right into the aux battery.

I'm ordering the items now and then will start on the rough in and then insulating.

[teamtexas]

Looking great, keep up the good work. I like the couch across the back of the van. I would do something like that if I had it to do over. Only I would have built a slide out that would have allowed the back of the couch to fold back flat to make a double bed.

Dan

[Jcmcdowell]

I would have built a slide out that would have allowed the back of the couch to fold back flat to make a double bed.

Dan

Mine doesn't slide. I can move the upper bunk frame down to fit in front of the bottom bunk to make a double bed. This way I can have the bunk beds (very easy to set up), a couch (very easy to put back) or a double bed in the back in about 2 minutes. My 4 year old tested out the top bunk and liked it. Mom approved after we agreed to install a "lee cloth" across so she doesn't fall out in the night.

We also have the slide out bed behind the driver's seat going in to sleep. The back beds are for the kids and the front bed is for the wife and me.

I'm a little stalled while I source and order parts. Once things are in progress, I can start cutting out holes for the vent and ac and then start insulating!

[Jcmcdowell]

Well I picked up a Polar Mach for about 1/2 price used from a Mobile RV tech in Phoenix. Anyone on the area, he's on craigslist and he still has 2 low profile AC units for sale.

He says the Polar Mach has a lower startup draw than most AC's because of the larger fan and larger evaporation coils. According to him, it should start fine on the Honda 2kw. The good news, we don't have a lot of other draw besides the fridge.

A few more items and then we start cutting:rad:

[d_bertko]

Excellent work.

I looked at your Picasa pix and those spring-loaded pins look like a great idea.

On my van we use sections of 2" seat foam covered in marine vinyl that are supported by atv ramp sections. It was easy to fit the sections tight enough so that the minor gap doesn't interfere with sofa comfort. The vinyl is rugged and easy to keep clean.

For bed use we use a 2" layer of 4 lb memory foam to make a couple of 30" twins or a 45" skinny double. The memory foam layer makes it impossible to tell the underlayment is in three sections.

Just a thought if a thinner bottom layer with heavy-duty covering suited for all-weather bench use would be of use to you. My van gets as many days of damp paddlers inside as nights of sweet dreams.

[Jcmcdowell]

Just a thought if a thinner bottom layer with heavy-duty covering suited for all-weather bench use would be of use to you. My van gets as many days of damp paddlers inside as nights of sweet dreams.

Not a lot of need for us right now to have all-weather covers on the cushions. Things may get sandy while in Mexico but otherwise we're pretty dry. During the summer we are on the road or at a fair. During the Winter, we are mostly on the sailboat. We don't really like the vinyl even on the sailboat- you're legs stick to them when you're sitting down:(

[Jcmcdowell]

I got the Polar Mach roof top AC installed today and a basic fantastic roof vent installed. The vent was a piece of cake so far, I haven't insulated or installed paneling yet. The AC was a little trickier because, of course, it sits on the metal stiffening ridges with a gap where the opening should seal. Per the mobile RV tech I bought the unit from, he suggested doubling the closed cell foam and that worked. We water tested it spraying right at the seals with no water leaks.

We ran the Polar Mach off a 15 amp house circuit just fine. I'm hoping the 2kw Honda gen will will perform equally as well. It should.

By the way, the Polar Mach is approx. 10-3/8" tall. The lowest profile AC on the market is 9-1/2"

The Polar Mach is really overkill for the Sprinter. It's a 13,500 btu ac but has similar output as other 15,000 btu units. Even the low fan setting is pretty powerful for the Sprinter. But, hey, it was a good deal. I'm going to install the 5,600 btu heating strip as well.

I've located all the circuits and runs in the van and tomorrow start roughing in the home runs.

I'm 90% certain I'm going to drill a hole in the floor and run the home runs to the passenger seat underneath the van instead of through the passenger pillar. I am running a 12ga. extension cord wire from roof down to the battery for a future solar installation and it would be pretty thick to get through the pillar. I found a nice looking RV roof plug so I can wire it all together and worry about the panel later.

Looking on the passenger side behind the sliding door underneath the van (in front of the rear wheel well) there appears to be enough room for a 11# propane tank to be installed. I'm still on the fence because it may be overkill for a single burner for coffee and eggs once in a while. If I do go that route, I plan on making the tank removable to refill instead of cutting out an access door to fill the permanently mounted tank.

[d_bertko]

My marine vinyl was a requirement because of my wet use. I was surprised that vinyl out of the sun remains pretty comfortable. But sounds like you prefer hotter climes than we do.

A Sunpentown magnetic induction single burner works well for us. About 70% heat transfer efficiency as opposed to half that for propane so really great for hot weather use. A good complement to the propane campstove since mag induction is instant on/off and excels when you need to simmer. The alternator certainly covers the w-hrs for any road use for it and the microwave.

I have a large propane locker and only carry a 20 lb bbq tank in it. (The locking steel cabinet does give some extra secure space.) Our 20 lb tank is used for most cooking and to supply hot water. A tankful lasts for months so a 10lb size would be reasonable if you didn't mind searching out a refill instead of a swap. I bought a plumber's locker but it would be pretty easy to custom build a smaller one out of many materials. I do like steel. My tank stays in the backyard for many day trips so the locker remains useful for storage space.

I did think it would be easier to build an underside container for my spare parts/tow kit/come-along rather than to hang a propane tank there. But we got religion about taking less gear on long trips and it doesn't seem so urgent as it was earlier on.

[Jcmcdowell]

I did think it would be easier to build an underside container for my spare parts/tow kit/come-along rather than to hang a propane tank there. But we got religion about taking less gear on long trips and it doesn't seem so urgent as it was earlier on.

I hear you on that one. We're moving down from a 34' motor home and we were surprised at how much stuff we lugged around we never used. The Sprinter is supposed to be lean and mean. Compared to the motor home, it has virtually no storage.

But, then again, it's our virtual home. We have a storage unit in Tucson and stuff stored at my Dad's house (in Tucson). Otherwise, we are free wheelin'. Surprisingly, we have found you really don't need that much stuff after all. The boat has the boat stuff, the work has the work stuff, we just take our personal belongings with us in between. Never the less, every season we are forced to purge and get rid of stuff we haven't used. I don't want to get back in the cycle of working real hard to earn the money to buy something and then turn around and work real hard to pay to store it and never use it. "Use it or Lose it", is our mantra.

My wife's biggest gripe, we don't have room for all her hobbies; sewing, jewelry, knitting, painting...that and the long stem red wine glasses:)

[Jcmcdowell]

Here's more pictures on the conversion.

Installing the Polar Mach Roof Top AC, Fan Tastic Vent Fan, Wiring the van, and Insulating the van.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/SprinterRoofTopACVentFanWiringInsulation?authuser= 0&feat=directlink

[Jcmcdowell]

Here'e the progress:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/SprinterFinishingInsulation120vCircuitsPaneling?au thuser=0&feat=directlink

[teamtexas]

Good looking progress, the walls look tight. Whats your plan for the wheel wells? They are a megaphone for road noise!

Dan

[Jcmcdowell]

Good looking progress, the walls look tight. Whats your plan for the wheel wells? They are a megaphone for road noise!

Dan

I was waiting until the walls went in to cover it with the Vycor flashing. Thought that would keep the goo down. The wheel wells will be covered by a steel & wood frame in the end with insulation inside.

[Jcmcdowell]

Well I'm closing in on finishing the paneling. A few notes:

I used 1/8" Luann from Home Depot. 1/4" was less than a buck more per sheet but I was concerned with it being to bend at the top and across the ceiling.

The 1/8" works pretty good but can ripple. I managed to hide a main seam behind where a cabinet will be located but along the front headliner and rear doors I will have to install a wooden trim piece to keep the panel from bowing. The panels are screwed down with a 12" increment in between screws. There are places it could use tighter increment. I have experimented with using a drywall J channel to transition the seams. By using the 1/8" Luann and the indoor/outdoor carpet there is too much of a gap in the 1/2" J channel. I think 1/4" Luann and the carpet would fit much better and look real nice along the horizontal seams.

I haven't put the carpet on the Luann yet but I don't think it will improve that much.

I was able to insulate my 158" wheel base van with 5 sheets of 1.5" foam board insulation available at Home Depot.

I was able to sound deaden the van with 6 rolls of the Vycor flashing found at Lowe's.

The paneling took 8 sheets.

I used 3/4" self tapping screws for the paneling and I'm into my second box from Home Depot.

I used 25ga. 2.5" wide metal track (for metal framing) to add "nailers" where the Luann met in the window sections.

I used a half round corner bead at the top edges of the ceiling to create a nailer for the side panels and the ceiling panels. I'm not quite done but the intention is to have the ceiling panels pinched up by the side panels. If there's a problem, I plan on adding a wooden trim piece in the limited areas where there is no cabinets.

The wall panels were a piece of cake. The ceiling not so much. Definitely a 2-3 man job. For the ceiling I used full 48" wide pieces in the center and added two smaller strips along the edges. I have an AC unit in one panel and the vent in the other panel.

I'm on the fence about taping together the vertical panels on each wall,or for that matter the whole wall panel together and lay one piece of carpet at one time. It would take a few people-install it in the van but how often do you really plan on taking it out?

The passenger van side is not terribly huge. I can break the driver's wall where the closet cabinet meets to make it more manageable. Still a two man install.

I'm looking forward with being done with this phase and moving on to building the cabinets and installing the couch/bed. I'm missing the fridge and water system components but they can come later.

[Jcmcdowell]

Here's pictures of the carpet install.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/3WDVfPRqRixhVgsDQZzK2w?feat=directlink

[Jcmcdowell]

Modifying the Exarby couch/bed to be able to bolt down in the Sprinter.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/SprinterBedCouchModification?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[Jcmcdowell]

Ughhh.... slow slow slow.

I am using 1" 16g a steel tube to frame out the cabinets. There's not many but the main closet cabinet has a lot of things going on. The cabinet upper section is a rear facing closet and the lower section steps out from the wheel well and has the port potty in it (rear opening as well). There's room for a drawer in the middle and a 9" cubby storage that I can build in.

I spent the better part of yesterday bending the 2 pieces of tube to match the wall curvature, then painstakingly measured in place and welded (not in the van) three sides of the cabinet together to realize that I can't install it in the van full size. The floor to ceiling cabinet is too big to tip in place and install! DOH!

The good news, the hard work is done with the weird angles (ceiling to wall,wall to floor) in reference to plum. Now I just cut the frame off and make two cabinets that bolt together.

I'm running out of time. We depart for Billings,MT on monday and I wanted to get the Sprinter an oil and transmission fluid change (our first since ownership) done before we hit the road for about 2500 miles.

I will likely have to wait on the upper cabinet, and getting the steel powder coated until we return in about 9 days.

[Aqua Puttana]

Ughhh.... slow slow slow.
...
Good things often take time.


...I wanted to get the Sprinter an oil and transmission fluid change (our first since ownership) done before we hit the road for about 2500 miles.
...

Not that you asked...
2500 additional miles on a transmission that isn't showing symptoms of problems is nothing to worry about so I'd let that one go. A Sprinter engine oil/filter change is an hour of time at the outside for a beginner. just make certain your catch container is large enough. Good luck. vic

P.S. - Oh yes. Don't overfill the engine oil. Better to be 1/2 quart low than 4 ounces above.

[Jcmcdowell]

I only had three half days to work on the cabinets. I used 1" 16 ga steel tube. I bought 80' for about $70.

As mentioned before, I ran into a little hurdle when I realized I couldn't fit the cabinet in the van in one piece and had to cut it in half and add more structure. That took a lot more metal than predicted.

I was able to weld the frame of the closet cabinet which also will hold the porta potty and a storage cubby for blankets (nice sized about 16" by 24" by 24" deep). With the remaining stock I built one overhead cabinet that was 60" long. It was 10 3/4" tall by 12" deep to fit the curvature of the wall and roof. By the end I had less than 4" scrap metal left. In fact, I had to weld two scrap pieces together to get a length long enough for the last piece.

Here's some pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/SprinterSteelFrameCabinets?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I have to leave on a 2500 round trip road trip on monday so I need to shift gears and finish the electrical and lighting in the van. I'll leave the cabinets out till I get back in 9 days. I still have to weld the tabs that will secure the wood panels in place and buy more stock to build the kitchen cabinet and other upper cabinet. I'm hoping to get the steel powder coated depending on price.

Yesterday, with the assistance of my electrical engineer father, we finished the 110v ac setup and I'm knee deep in wiring the Blue Seas ARC relay into the starting battery. Following other members, here's the setup.

Starting Battery- 60amp inline fuse- Blue Seas ARC relay- 60 amp inline fuse- House Battery

all strung together with a 6ga wire from the engine compartment to the drivers seat through the passageway between seats to the passenger seat where the house battery is located. The 6ga. wire was 16 feet and there's a couple feet extra.

Off the house battery there is a 6 fuse Blue Seas block with cover for the DC circuits and the 45amp Battery Charger tied into the AC circuit. I have a solar line coming in from a connector on the roof for future growth. There's room for a small MMPT controller under the seat.

BY the way, I used a 92 amp hour Delk AGM battery I bought locally used for $50. If it gets me through a season I will be pleased.

[beachbum57]

Could not access your pictures from the link but I will look forward to more pics when you return from your trip. Have a great time and be safe! :bounce:

[Jcmcdowell]

Sorry, try this link. I forgot to make the album public.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/SprinterSteelFrameCabinets?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[Jcmcdowell]

Here's more pictures...
https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/ElectricalWiringForSprinter?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I wired the ACR next to the starting battery inline with 60amp fuses on either side. I used a 8ga. jumper cable wire to run to the passenger seat compartment through the wiring harness and seat tunnel.

The 92 amp hour AGM battery is wired to the home run to the ACR, the Intelli-Power charger, and the fuse box. The ground is wired to the chassis, the Intelli-Power charger, and the fuse panel.

The fuse panel is bolted to the inside of the cover panel for the seat and looks real nice there. Because of the kids I was concerned with the possible little fingers.

The Intelli-Power charger is powered by a 12ga extension cord cable wired back to the breaker panel in the rear on the outlet circuit (15amp).

I have the solar connector wire coiled up for future use.

The IKEA LED lights work out well. I had to buy a bunch of small connectors and solder them on to be able to remove them from the ceiling panels. I wired them to rocker switches with a LED light that look great.

The LED lights put out a sup rising amount of light for the low amp draw. I am very pleased with the interior lighting. I wired 4 runs of ceiling lights and there will be two more strip LED lights for under cabinet lighting by the kitchen cabinet and over the couch for reading.

One more day to finish the shore power plug, wrap the undercarriage wiring harness, and a final test.

I bolted the closet cabinet together and used some massive 2" self tapping screws to hold the cabinet in place for this trip so we can use the hanging rod. I'm not risking the upper cabinet above the kids.

My seat belts STILL have not arrived, I through bolted EYE bolts for the kids car seats. Our 4 year old must revert to a car seat instead of her booster chair for this trip.

I need to order the fridge so it will be here when we get back. Two more cabinets to build.

I'll take some more picts when the van is cleaned out and the cushions installed.

[Jcmcdowell]

Here's the link to the Album.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105166290732724768390/1stRoadTripInTheSprinter?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Making a mad dash, I tied up the loose ends and got the cushions in the van. My wife was loading it up as I cleaned her up. With the seats out, I went ahead and took out the liner, center console, foot wells and super cleaned them and armorall'ed them along with the dash. I cleaned the seats, vacuumed, washed the rear stock floor, installed what tie down bolts i could access.

It looks like a new van.:rad:

I had one hiccup maybe someone can shed some light on. I went out this morning to fill up and it was cold here- maybe low 50's and raining. I used the heat booster button on the dash where the AC button is then went to get diesel. I idled awhile after getting fuel, while my wife was shopping then at low RPM drove to pick her up. When I jumped out to load the groceries I noticed white smoke coming from under the engine compartment. I quickly shut the engine off and checked in the engine compartment and there was some kind of pump in front of the battery on the bottom. I looked it over, restarted the engine, rev'ed it up a few times, and shut her off and the pump turned off. I got back home and checked her over again, let her idle awhile and could not reproduce the smoke. I think it had to do with the heat booster, which I looked up and noticed should only be used below 40 deg F.:thinking:

We're running behind schedule (perpetually) but we are loading up now and plan on hitting the road realistically by 2-3pm for Billings, Mt. Roughly 2600 miles round trip in 9 days.

Crossing fingers, when we return I will continue on the steel cabinets and the kitchen.

[beachbum57]

Looks great! Have a wonderful trip!::thumbup:

[Jcmcdowell]

We're back from our first trip in the Sprinter. 2700 miles round trip from Tucson, AZ to Billings,MT! By and large the interior layout works great! It was nice to be able to use the van before I wrapped everything up so we can tweak a few things we noticed on the way.

The back bunks turned out to be a blessing for us. The girls would be sleeping away in the couch/bed strapped into their car seats and we could alternately crawl up in the rear bunk and take a nap while the other drove or crash for a few hours since the girls were still sleeping.

We averaged 22mpg for the whole trip with peaks of around 26 mpg while going 45mph through West Yellowstone when it was 1 deg F around 3am with snow and ice on the roads. The Sprinter did great in the snow and ice, no slipping, ABS brakes responded wonderfully.

I see the need for a diesel heater though. We got snowed in at Flagstaff and slept in the Walmart parking lot with temps around 20 deg F. It would have been REAL nice to have some aux heat. But, again, it will be a rare occasion that we camp in that kind of cold.

I have some other work to do before I can get back to working on the van. We have two weeks before we leave again.

[beachbum57]

Glad that you and your family had a good trip and that your back safely. Sounds like you will be coming up with more ideas for how you want your van/camper space to be. Camping in it always brings more ideas.:rolleyes:

[Jcmcdowell]

I'm starting the under couch/bed/bunk drawers. I'm using 1/2" birch ply and bottom mount slides. Under the couch/bed by the driver's seat I can get about 6.5" drawer height by 20" deep and fit three drawers under there each 20" wide max. That will be the girls clothes storage and some toys.

In the back I can fit two larger 24" wide x 15" tall drawers under the bunk that are 20" deep on the bottom mount slides. Those will be Mom and Dad's drawers. That leaves space from the rear doors for generator, pancake compressor, hoses, extension cords, mechanical spares, tool box, etc...

The idea is run two 1/2"x2" strips full width (60" and 48" perspectively) in the front and back of the drawers and attach the slides to the ply. Then I can slide the drawers into position and bolt the 1/2" down to the floor.

For removal, undo the 4 ply bolts and remove the whole assembly- that's the plan anyways.

I have an idea for a cheap water tank. On craigslist here in Tucson I can find 15 gallon plastic food safe barrels with two bungs that will fit garden hose thread. They only cost $10 a pop and they're pretty durable. One will fit behind the wheel well on the passenger side. I have to make a decision pretty soon before making the back drawers because I'll have to cut down the drawers a few inches to accommodate the 14.25" width of the barrel.

The down side based on sitting it sideways, unless you install a pickup, you won't be able to pump out all the water. It's not that big of a deal really for the cost and a small pickup can be fabricated to install in the garden hose bung. You might even be able to tap a overflow vent on top of the tank.

I haven't looked but there may be space under the van for the barrel. It's about 36" long and 14.25" in diameter. I would need some sort of shield for it to protect from rocks but it would save space inside. I'm leaning toward inside though.

[Jcmcdowell]

I did some clean up after our first trip.

I installed the Autoscan by the gear shifter (PICT 1). I just removed one of the plugs and routed the cable through from the OBD connector. I used foam double sided tape to hold it in place. Good so far.

I installed a cheap wireless back up camera (PICT 2 & 3). I tapped into the overhead light for power for the display and velcro'ed it on the left side of the rear view mirror. For the camera, I installed it high on the driver side rear door. For power I tapped into the license plate lights which turn on when the ignition is turned on. It works surprisingly well considering how cheap it is. It will be a big help in backing up to load a trailer and it already has been helpful backing in and out of tight parking spaces.

I installed a 3-12v outlet under the cup holder and wired it into the 12v plug by the shifter (PICT 4). I didn't want it on all the time though, so I installed a switch into a blank plug. Now we can run the GPS, charge cell phones, and charge iPods at the same time. It only has a 5 amp rating though, so nothing with any real power draw.

After this long trip, I really want to install a 1500w inverter so we can make coffee in our thermos pot on the road. We have one that makes the coffee into an insulated carafe and doesn't have a heating element. THe power consumption is 1200w but only runs about 5 minutes for a full pot. It would make traveling long distances easier to be able to have some decent coffee any time we want. Otherwise it would be a perk pot on propane. I think I can install one in the overhead cabinet above the kitchen counter. That way the coffee maker can live there.

My wife would like me to install an overhead DVD player with wireless headphones for the girls. I would install it under the kitchen overhead cabinet and it looks like a 9" screen would fit fine. It would tie into the 12v outlets in that cabinet for power. Walmart currently has some deals for less than $100. BUT FIRST-I need to build the cabinets and install them!

[teamtexas]

Keep in mind if you decide to put part of your water system outside you will have to keep it from freezing. :hmmm:

Dan

[Jcmcdowell]

Keep in mind if you decide to put part of your water system outside you will have to keep it from freezing. :hmmm:

Dan

Good thinking. Being in Arizona, I never think of that:thinking:

I installed the drawers in the rear with the space allowance for the 15 gal barrel. I've been rushed on other things but I did manage to weld in the tabs to mount the wood panels in the cabinets (mostly).

Today's Thanksgiving and we load up for another convention-this time in Las Vegas. I'll be gone another week before I can get back to the Van. I ordered a C39iS Vitrifrigo DC fridge for the van. It uses 2.1amps and will fit nicely in the space I have. It ships freight (1/5th the cost of the fridge) and will be here when I return.

I was having a hard time finding a weld-on angle to secure the wood panels inside the steel frames. I ended up using nickel plated shelf pins from Home Depot. I cut off the pins, ground the edges to remove the nickel plating and welded them flush to the outside of the frame panels . They already have a hole to screw the panels in and look very clean.

Happy Thanksgiving!:cheers:

[Jcmcdowell]

We've returned from a month in San Carlos, Mexico on the main land coast of the Sea of Cortez. The van worked out super! We stayed in the van for about a week while I refurbished my daughters berth on our sailboat instead of getting a hotel room.

I haven't finished the water system, tank, faucet or pump install and may wait until May to do that. The storage areas worked out great. The overhead storage is solid. The IKEA LED lights fabulous. We actually needed our roof vent fan in December in Mexico! I ran the roof top AC but we didn't need to use it.

I'm pretty happy with the stock cargo floor. My kids spill and track so much dirt!

I installed a little vitrifrigo DC fridge and it made life easy. It sips 3.2 amps and is a front opening little fridge with a little tiny freezer section with a door on it. It was 1.8 cu ft and ample for our needs. A couple of pieces of meat in the freezer, some veg and cold drinks. There's enough storage for us to last 3-4 days easily.

The bunk bed design is great. I can quickly convert from the couch to a bunk bed and one side benefit- we use the upper bunk for more storage on the road. One of us can sack out in the lower bunk while the other drives and the top bunk we put two guitars, some backs, and extra linens and blankets.

We have a TON of storage under the sink cabinet, in the closet cabinet, under the bunk and couch, and above the couch and sink. I can even fit 4 plastic bins behind the couch or bunk (tightly) and still manage to close the rear doors.

I highly recommend the window vinyl used for wrapping cars. it is very nondescript. Easy to install and low maintenance.

The charging system is so good I don't even think about it. The ACR works quietly and without fail. I would check the voltage on the house AGM and it was always topped up.

The IKEA couch/bed with a little modification works well. The cushion is not as comfortable as del would like. I am tempted to remove the wood slats and replace it with a 1/2" ply screwed on the top. Other than that we can add a pillow top to the bedding to try and make it more comfortable. With a little practice it now takes me less than two minutes to open the bed or put it back in the couch position. It takes about the same to install the car seats.

We haven't installed the seat belts yet since it would require taking out all the cabinets and removing the panels. The girls are still in the car seats which is attached through eye bolts in the floor.

I have a spot on the roof for a solar panel but with the way we use the van I may not need one. A 60 watt panel would do the trick though.

I WOULDN'T use the 1/8" luann, but otherwise the build out has worked out very well.

PS- Diesel is running under $3.00 per gallon in Mexico!

[beachbum57]

Welcome back! Hope you enjoyed your trip! Will be looking forward to pictures of course:popcorn:

[Aqua Puttana]

Keep in mind if you decide to put part of your water system outside you will have to keep it from freezing. :hmmm:

Dan
Depending upon ambient temperatures and figuring a vehicle is left unheated at times I should think that the possibility of freezing should be expected for the water systems whether interior or exterior, and then designed/installed with that in mind. :idunno: vic

[Jcmcdowell]

Back, briefly, from 3 months in Mexico! The van is working out great.

AC runs off 2kw generator, 12v fridge doesn't drain battery because we drive every other day, I need to add some solar to keep the batteries charged when we are away- but the sprinter is awesome for our family of four.

Here in Mexico, diesel is running a hair under $3.00 per gallon. That's about an .80 savings per gallon from right across the border in Tucson.

[Jcmcdowell]

Boy it got HOT in June while still in Mexico. When we had the boat on the storage cleaning everything for summer storage (salt everywhere) we stayed in the van at night and used the Honda 2kw generator all night to run the AC.

First, there were some loose wires that caused some head scratching, the wiring does take a beating over time.

Second, we ran the AC the first night on the warmest setting thinking it wouldn't strain the generator. Not so, after 2-3 hours of compressor cycling causing big loads on the gen, it popped the internal breaker.

The next night a friend suggested cranking it to the coldest setting to reduce compressor cycling. It worked great! But we froze! The gen ran a little over 6 hours on a full tank.

Glad to have the AC though in the heat and humidity!

We're back in Tucson briefly. I'm installing a tow hitch, water tank and pump, a small solar panel, and maybe a transmission cooler before we head up through the rockies with a small trailer.