2010 3500 RV build

hein

Van Guru
Updated the rear plumbing with a new mixing valve and hose/sprayer. Now we have hot & cold out the back door.



Below. Plumbing inside the back of the Techma Silence Plus toilet. Fuses are for the toilet controls/pump and bathroom exhaust fan. PVC ball valves are in the hot and cold supply lines. Mixing valve is on the right. I can just reach it with the door shut. Solenoid valve is for the toilet bowl fill.



fuse holders:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KR88A
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001762LE4
ball valves:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24136&catid=437
 
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ehallspqr

Member
Very nice. I like how your build has everything accessible for maintenance/repair. Did you ever get the hot water heater sorted out, the overheating problem from engine coolant?
 

hein

Van Guru
Thanks for the compliments.

I need to make a cover now that everything is installed. Really love the pinch hose clamps that I saw George use on his build.

I have not resolved the issue of engine coolant temperature tripping the Isotemp electric over-temp switch. We haven't used AC power for hot water since we seem to have plenty from engine heat. I did drill a small hole in the cover so I could easily reset the switch if needed. I'd like to use an electric solenoid valve controlled by a thermostat but I haven't found a valve rated for engine coolant & temps that can exceed 220F. I believe most coolant system components are designed for 270F.
 
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hein

Van Guru
More on bike transport. Haven't given up on the door mount but meanwhile...

The OEM cargo L-tracks from the back of our van were relocated to a small enclosed trailer that we will tow on longer trips when we have more gear. The bikes will go inside.

To keep the trailer space configurable for hauling cargo and materials, I constructed a Yakima bike rack that fits into the L-tracks. The cross bars were beefed up at the ends by inserting some steel bushings. Then the ends were drilled through for some grade8 3/8-24 x 1 1/2 long bolts. There is a collar around the hole on the track fitting so the bottom hole in the cross bar was counter-bored to press over that diameter.

L-Track Fitting


Bike Rack:


End detail:


below: Also got around to painting the interior side of the rear doors and the door jamb. Top is Rustoleum Aged Iron texture and the bottom is Rustoleum truck bed coating. Sorry for the lousy I-really-should-get-a-new-phone photos.

 
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Hein, thanks. My 144 high roof goes to Van Specialties next month for some changes, including a panel bed. I mean to have it be 40" above the floor, which should clear the tallest bike, with tire or tires on the floor. I will probably do the L-track-plus-fork-mount solution for the bikes (four, usually, maybe five) but in a perfect world I'd do wheels-on and just roll them in. These bikes will usually have a 15mm thru-axle, sometimes 20mm, sometimes a quick release.

Morgan
 

hein

Van Guru
You are welcome, Morgan. The threaded L-track fittings open up a wide range of possibilities for removable racks. I'm sure Greg and Rob at VS will be able to take the concept in whatever direction works best for you. Please post photos. I scrounged all the Yakima parts on Craigslist. $20 for the Yakima crossbars.
 

Rensho

Member
Hein, thanks. My 144 high roof goes to Van Specialties next month for some changes, including a panel bed. I mean to have it be 40" above the floor, which should clear the tallest bike, with tire or tires on the floor. I will probably do the L-track-plus-fork-mount solution for the bikes (four, usually, maybe five) but in a perfect world I'd do wheels-on and just roll them in. These bikes will usually have a 15mm thru-axle, sometimes 20mm, sometimes a quick release.

Morgan
At 40" above floor, you can't sit straight up in bed without your head hitting ceiling. You're a tall guy with big bikes, so it will be tough fit either way.
 
At 40" above floor, you can't sit straight up in bed without your head hitting ceiling. You're a tall guy with big bikes, so it will be tough fit either way.
Yeah, I know, but bikes inside the van is worth it. I'll squirm into place in bed. Tried it with my friends Sam and Jason's van. It was bearable. I'm not positive that this is a good idea, but it's the idea I'm comfortable with now. Compromise.

IMG_8171 by mtbkers, on Flickr

Bikes in back by mtbkers, on Flickr

I'm 4" taller than the tallest person in their family, and my bike is taller too. I'm taking the liberty of quoting Sam here:

The "new plywood floor" is 1.5" higher than the black plastic step/floor that is at the back of the van where the doors close.

I've taken these measurements from my new plywood floor.

From floor to bottom of the bed rails (the two supports that run down the sides of the van) is 37".
From floor to bottom of aluminum framing of bed is 38.25"

(The aluminum tubes for the bed rails and bed frame are 1" thick but the bed frame sits on 1/4" of rubber, so the bed sits at about 1.25" higher - see photo below).

From the floor to top of bench seat without headrests is 39.5". It's not actually the top of the seat, but rather the top of the seatbelt mounts. You will probably need to allow at least 40" from the floor to be safe.

At 40" you will have a couple of inches less headroom than us. Erik was convinced we didn't have enough headroom when I was designing for Jason's quirky Maverick fork, which is why I think we just had thin Thermarests for our road trip (in hindsight, I would have put the panels up even higher so that I can squat underneath without scraping my back on the bed panels when getting stuff from the depths of the "garage"). Unless you're sitting up in bed reading a book, you won't even notice. And who reads a book sitting bolt upright? If at all. That being said, Jason is 5"10. You are taller. But I'd much rather have less headroom in bed and more in the garage.
We will probably go with the bed at 40" (floor to underside) and a mattress, meaning crawl in and crawl out. It also means that the bed will clear the top of the bench seat in front, with headrests removed. In a 144" Sprinter, we'll need some overlap and creative fit, and our kids will need those seats, and we'll want that open space between the front seats and the back seats for the two golden retrievers, and just for a little bit of hang-out and food prep space. It could also be floor sleeping space. I can read in bed without sitting up. We'll likely have the bikes on a hitch rack quite a bit of the time, but being able to put them inside is pretty nice, and we'll do it when we can. The below-bed area may be a sleeping area for the kids, when the bikes are on the hitch rack. Kids are 15 and 17. At some point this van won't sleep four people.

Not sure if I'll be able to adapt any rack idea. I was thinking that something like this:



...but single, one per bike, with a quick-release base that could snap into the mac-track front and rear might work. I'm imaging the rear is placed in advance for wheelbase. The bike is rolled in, and then the front is placed in. Maybe there's even some fore-aft adjustment with a knob and a sliding plate. The plate on the bottom would have some "rudders" fore and aft of the hole for the quick-release that keep it centered in the mac-track. Not sure if this will work. Fork-mount works. In either case we'll have the mac track rearranged to be installed flush, at intervals, count of four I think, parallel to centerline, as in the second picture above. If I come up with something better than fork-mount later on, I can substitute it.

Bikes are a central part of our lives. The Sprinter, for us, exists because bikes. I think for many people that suggest hanging them on a rack outside, or getting folding bikes, the Sprinter exists because Sprinter, and the bikes are an afterthought. Ours are pricey, and steal-able, and I'd rather they didn't get rained on or covered in road spray. I'd like to be able to walk into a restaurant out on the road somewhere and not have to worry about them.

Hein, sorry for the thread jack! Hopefully it's close to germane.

Morgan
 

Rensho

Member
Thanks for those pics, that is a great van to look at ideas and usage.
I measured my bike at 34" with dropper post down. Put my platform at 37". At 40", since you want to clear the bench, that sounds perfect. Just saying don't put that platform any higher than needed.

/end of thread jack. ;-)
 

hein

Van Guru
Morgan,
That's a nice layout for a family of 4 and gear. Is the rear OEM seat removable? It looks like it folds down for another bed. Maybe you could hang the tandem from the rings in the ceiling. Sitting up in the night could be painful, however.

Found this photo at your flickr page of a bike hanging on the rear door. That's what I am considering but think some fork mounts (front wheel off) will be more reasonable for that location than what I mocked up with the Raptor. Is there a bike cover available?

sweet OSV build, imo.
 
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casdclassb144

New member
Serious Mountain Bikes in the photos Nice ! , I have a Litespeed Obed, use to race 15 years ago, getting old, I now have it setup for committing , road-bike only now - Trek Madone, As prior person said, Your design brings some interesting ideas use of space, I have a Roadtrek Agile and plan on not installing the rear top cabinet and mounting the bike flat without wheels then one bike by the sliding door. You know how that goes, you dont use them as much. If I wasn't going to be in my RV living for extended periods I would go with your design in a second! I dont like leaving my bikes outside, just cant hang them off the back. Your height situation is well worth it! ( I am a short guy :) works for me)

Maybe somebody should start a topic about bikes, Probably is one already


Chuck
Roadtrek SS Agile
SD CA

Reply to:
Yeah, I know, but bikes inside the van is worth it. I'll squirm into place in bed. Tried it with my friends Sam and Jason's van. It was bearable. I'm not positive that this is a good idea, but it's the idea I'm comfortable with now. Compromise.
 
Morgan,
That's a nice layout for a family of 4 and gear. Is the rear OEM seat removable? It looks like it folds down for another bed. Maybe you could hang the tandem from the rings in the ceiling. Sitting up in the night could be painful, however.
I believe it's as removable as any OEM bench; release the latches and lug it in and out. But I don't think Sam and Jason do that; that two-seat bench remains in place. Theirs is a 170, so they don't have the bed overlapping the rear bench. Our 144 would require the bed overhang the bench, and we'd have to stow at least the most-forward panel every day. Compromise. They have a family of four as well, but their two boys are younger than my two kids. (That tandem isn't mine either, but we do have one.) I think if our tandem were in the sprinter, there'd likely only be two people traveling in the vehicle. I've ridden our tandem with every member of our family on the rear ("stoker") seat. :)

Found this photo at your flickr page of a bike hanging on the rear door. That's what I am considering but think some fork mounts (front wheel off) will be more reasonable for that location than what I mocked up with the Raptor. Is there a bike cover available?

sweet OSV build, imo.
I don't think I took that picture, but I think it'd work fine. (Edit: found it, Outside Van took it.) I remember seeing bike mounts like that on various VW buses over the years. Some sort of backup retention in case a qr loosens would be good! Imagine going over a speed bump or some washboard that jarred the bike just hard enough... A cable through the frame ought to do it.

I've been stalking Sprinters for a while, there's plenty of pictures in my flickr photostream. (There's probably more, those are the ones where I've mentioned the word.)

Again, sorry for the diversion.

Morgan
 
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hein

Van Guru
My daughter snapped this photo while passing on the highway.



Not shown is the illuminated check engine light due to a code P0675 (#5 glow plug circuit). Found the awesome post on how to repair it so feeling good about that.
 
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ChuckWally

New member
I was just up there last Friday doing some rockhunting/hanging out... Got stuck real quick in one of the low sandy spots! Luckily, had a tow rope, 2x6 levelling blocks and was able to bum a tow from some campers! Slight blow to my pride but a reminder that Sprinters aren't meant to go off-road!!
Have fun!
Chuck
 

hein

Van Guru
Hello Chuck,

Awesome that you had an adventure when your were here. I am not sure I understand where you got stuck but glad you got out.

News:
I put quite a few miles (+500) on the van with the CEL illuminated. Changed the #5 glow plug today and all is well. It just turned 50K so maybe this should have been a warranty job where they replace all the glow plugs.
 
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hein

Van Guru
Nice dry weather so a good time to re-set the slider door window with VHB tape. The window was already installed when we bought the van but it was leaking a little. The outer sheet metal was bent inward along a small portion of the forward upper corner so the seal was compromised in that spot. (no picture)

Obligatory poking head out through the hole shot. (although I didn't cut it.)



Below. Both edges had been primed so no rust. I put a bead of 3M Window Weld between the inner and outer sheetmetal and let it cure overnight. This provides a more solid edge that won't deform when the clamp ring is tightened.



Next. I pulled off the bulb seal and cleaned the remaining sticky with 3M adhesive remover spray followed by isopropyl alcohol. Then I placed 1/2" wide .090" thick VHB tape on the flange.



Below. Took the opportunity to paint the inside sheet metal to hide the last of the white visible in the interior. This realizes a goal that started with the first post in this build thread where I painted the seat pedestals.



Update:
Window back in:



Edge of VHB seal:



This update appears to have fixed a rattle in the sliding door that would only occur on bigger bumps. Maybe the window was actually a little bit loose. VHB win!
 
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hein

Van Guru
The sliding door still had fiberglass insulation from the previous owner's conversion work. Time to update that to the 'Thinsulate sandwich'. First step was to seal the trim clip holes so removed the trim per Geek's video. The trim was in full sun and almost too hot to touch so it popped off pretty easily. I had released some of the clips from the inside so that helped. After they were all out I put a bead of 3M Window Weld around each one and popped them back into the door. Then snapped the trim piece back on. With that done it was time to go inside, turn on the air conditioner, some music, and install the insulation.

Step 1. EZcool layer loosely installed against the van skin. Pulled in and unrolled in the less accessible areas above and below the window and along the sides. The EZcool is taped together and held in place with foil tape. The Dynamat was installed previously.



Below - Steps 2 & 3. Thinsulate and then a layer of Reflectix cut to fit the openings. Strips of Thinsulate are poked/pulled into less accessible areas. The EZcool lining makes that easier. For the larger areas Thinsulate is held in place against the EZcool with 3M 90 spray adhesive.



Similar layup above the window but no Reflectix on the openings because I may want to add storage pockets to the panel that goes here.



Note: Thinsulate is very effective without the other layers I installed.

All finished with the door panel back on.



More insulation photos and explanation: https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showpost.php?p=266149&postcount=133
 
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hein

Van Guru
Oil change time. Cut off quart bottle makes a handy funnel to get every last drop of the liquid gold.

 
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offdalip

New member
Hein Wrote:

The interior of this van was done by Van Specialties. They installed 1/4" plywood strips down the length of the van ceiling, across the ceiling at each 'rafter' and along the top of the side walls. The interior panels are fastened to those strips and directly to the interior body structure down the sides and along the bottom. It's all done with self tapping sheet metal screws which I'm not fond of but to have rivet nuts in each spot would be a ton of work. I have treated each hole with a rust preventative before reinstalling pieces. We also sealed the strips and backside of each panel with water based polyurethane. There are some photos earlier in this thread.

If I were to design my own panels. I might try to fasten them with these:

http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn....1860-25-2T.jpg

http://www.clipsandfasteners.com/Pus...pas1860-25.htm

Those are what my new 2015 Ford Transit 148 LWB HR came with all the way to the top of the interior roof.

I'll have to figure out how to gingerly take them off to install the wiring, insulation and
theadweave B4 reinstalling them again with the platform bed attachments.......
 
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