2017 4x4 Build Out - Grey Escape

We purchased a new 2017 2500 Crew Van 144 4x4 in July of last year after I wore my wife down with incessant van talk. Originally I planned to buy a used 2WD, but my wife insisted we needed a 4x4 vehicle! She is a keeper. This pretty much required us to get a new vehicle. Luckily a local dealer had a nice selection of 4x4 cargo and crew vehicles to choose from. Since purchasing I have been wrapping up a list of house projects required to be completed by my wife before van works starts. The first day of van progress commenced yesterday on 2/3/18. I expect progress will be slow with the full build out taking at least a year.

First off, I want to thank all of those that have taken the time to document their builds, provide tips, etc. I plan to do the same. I won't repeat information that is readily available, but I will provide useful links. I will add useful information I pick up along the way. I will also try to do some interesting things utilizing a range of fabrication methods I have available to me. In particular the use of 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC routing along with the usual woodworking and metalworking techniques. I plan to model everything up in CAD to help with layout and design details.

Here is the requisite vehicle feature list:

Paint/Upholstery & Trim
759 - Graphite Grey Metallic
VU9 - Leatherette black

Optional Equipment & Value Added Packages
AR2 Axle ratio 3.92
CL3 Leather steering wheel
D03 Roof - high
D13 Roof rails
H15 Heated co-driver seat (a must for the wife)
H16 Heated driver seat
LB9 Illuminated exits
T85 Assist handle – left rear door
T85 Assist handle – right rear door
ZG4 Downhill speed regulation for 4x4
C01 Driver comfort package
C02 Driver efficiency package
C03 Active safety plus package
C05 Premium appearance package
X22 Trailer hitch package
X27 Additional battery package
X30 Low & high range 4x4 package

Other Relevant Details:
Auxillary diesel fuel tap
Upfitter electrical connection under driver's seat

My build plan is pretty similar to many others. Here are the general requirements and plan:

Sleep up to two adults and two teenage boys
Provide maximum flexibility for hauling gear (mainly surfboards, kiteboards, and skis) - i.e. lots of track
Electrical system with battery storage and shore power - possibly solar panels in future
Clean water system with sink and a heater
Gray water system
Rear shower extension for external use
Diesel heater
Two vent fans
Portable toilet
3 panel bed
Refridgerator and microwave
LED lighting throughout
Cook top will be stand alone LP unit for internal or external use
Table between front and bench seat
Swivel seats up front

I am currently trying to decide whether or not to keep the included headliner. I am leaning towards no based on feedback on the forum. The first project was to remove the trim panels and seal the clips. While I have them off I intend to spray them with a black 3-part urethane. That is up next. I also plan to do the front and rear bumpers along with the area below the trim, if the trim coating goes well. I will discuss more about the material I plan to use and questions I have in my next post.

The first bit of progress was to remove the trim panels and seal the body clips. There is a great deal of information online regarding this topic so I don't have much to add. I ended up using Dynaflex 800 because my local store did not carry butyl rubber. I had bought some Sikaflex but decided not to use it due to its reported permanency. Here are a few links I found useful:

https://radvanadventures.com/2016/1...n-space-a-cautionary-tale-of-terrible-design/
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f11/fitz-2016-sprinter-4x4-rb-150s-build-16293-22.html

And a big thanks to LooseRocks as reading his build thread was my first exposure to the problem!

As others have noted a good set of trim/panel tools is a must. It took me a bit to get used to exerting some force and as others have reported the clips are pretty hardy. I didn't break a single one.

As I noted in the first post I have decided to apply a bedliner material to the trim and some other areas. I have settled on using U-POL Raptor after doing some research. I probably should have asked this before I ordered it, but if anyone has had experience good or bad with it please let me know. I am also debating as to whether or not to remove the front and rear bumpers to spray them or just mask them off and do it on the van. If anyone has sage advice in this area I would also appreciate it!

Welcome to the forum! Really looking forward to your build!

Finished the first major project! I sprayed the front fender flares, trim, bumpers and rocker panels with U-Pol Raptor. I highly recommend this product. Super easy to use and apply. There are a host of videos out there with good advice. I sanded the trim while I had it off to seal the clips using an old random orbit sander with 120 grit sandpaper. This worked really well. I ended up removing the rear bumper and mud flaps to sand them as well. I sanded the front bumper and mud flaps on the van. I learned quickly to sand the painted areas of the van (rocker panels and fender flare) by hand to prevent going through the paint. I then reinstalled all of the trim except the fog lamp bezels and masked everything off.

I used one can of U-Pol #4 adhesion promoter to get into joints and crevices. I then ended up spraying two coats of Raptor as recommended. The first was a thinner coat and the second was more geared at getting good coverage. I ended up using one kit, which has 4 one liter bottles. If anyone would like more specifics please let me know and I will be happy to go into more detail.

This project was all prep. Here is a shot of the trim as sanded and the van part way through masking. I can understand why LineX charges as much as they do given the labor involved in this type of work. Definitely gets easier as you do more of it.

Enjoying this, thanks for posting.

Nice rig! I really need to do the body panel mod that you completed...

shouldbeasy said:

Nice rig! I really need to do the body panel mod that you completed...

Click to expand...

Thanks! Hopefully it's as durable as advertised. I will try to report back on this in the future.


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The headliner came out today in order to prepare for fan installation and to figure out the layout and wiring. We have decided to go with two MaxxFan's which have arrived and will go in soon.

If anyone in the NW is interested in a factory headliner for your build drop me a line. They will be going up online for sale soon. I have decided not to try and reuse them.

I have seen some debate on the forum as to whether or not the headliner above the cab needs to be removed to get everything aft out. A few things on the headliner above the cab need to be undone, but not the whole thing. You do need to remove the coat hooks on each B pillar and pop out the pillar cover at the top. Then pop four grey clips loose along the top edge of the cab headliner (see photo). Be careful as they are likely to break. Once these are loose there are some black clips that have to be removed to get the section behind it out. The only real difficulty in removing the rear sections is the molded tabs that fit into the body frame oval holes. I found by pushing up on them with a screwdriver I could get them to pop out.

I am currently planning out the electrical system. I have a lot of questions in this area. I will do more research and then post a schematic with any questions for which I can't find answers or lack understanding.

The U Pol looks neat - did you do that mostly for aesthetics or other reasons?

If you do end up putting some solar panels on a 2 fan setup, there is a photo of a 170 with 2 fans and 440 watts of solar in the link. It can be a bit tricky to put it all up there but it is feasible. (edit - sorry, just saw that you have the 144)

Two fans on a 144 ?

I did the U-POL for aesthetics, but mainly to provide a chip/ding/scratch resistant coating around the lower area of the vehicle. Anyone doing this mod should be aware that MB does not recommend painting or coating the areas over the radar sensors for blind spot assist if you have it. I noticed this in the BEG after I did it but had considered this aspect before doing so. I decided to take the risk. I had a hard time believing a very thin coating of urethane would respond much different than the plastic already over the sensor. The blind spot assist seems to be working fine.

Two fans may be overkill! I have a buddy with a 144 and in hindsight he would have liked two fans. We plan to use a propane cook top so my thought was also added ventilation would be good if cooking inside. I will have a carbon monoxide sensor also. That said I have been wondering if two is a bit much. I am curious if anybody has two fans in a 144 that could offer some guidance either way. I haven't cut the holes yet so its not too late to change course.

Window Question: We would like to put some small sliders in the rear. It looks like the best option for our needs is the CR Laurence VW1033L/R. If you have found something similar that you like better please let me know. It would be appreciated.

If you do go with two fans, maybe consider to put them side x side so they don't completely occupy the roof. Even where you are, panels can make a difference.

I had one fan at rear in a 144" WB and never felt a need for two. In fact I think a 14" fan is overkill for a small conversion. Did have a 4" square floor hole just in front of the driver side rear wheel. Usually floor hole open and that had natural draft from under van and out the open, not powered Maxxair vent. Seldom powered the Maxxair in our environment.

We had two fans in our last 144 (and an opening side window) and plan to do the same on our current build. The reason we liked it is that you can set both fans on super low (especially with the Deluxe MaxxAir - the low speeds are soooo quiet!), one in, one out, and sleep with a really nice breeze across the top of the van where the hot air can accumulate. In our last van we had an elevated bed platform so this was particularly appreciated.

We decided to go down to 1 fan. It seems like it will be sufficient. We shall see how it works out. I also ordered the VW1033 windows, Thinsulate insulation, and CLD.

I have been doing a lot of research on the electrical side. It is definitely the thing I know the least about. I have lots of questions, but I have been making good progress figuring things out. Attached is a very high level schematic of what I am thinking. We plan to charge off of alternator, shore and solar. We only plan to run 120VAC appliances when shore power is available (primarily a small toaster oven). We will have a fridge (running off DC or AC when available), lights, water pump, usual stuff. I would also like a compressor at some point. I need to do the energy budget, but at this point I am just figuring out how all of the pieces fit together. My thought was to use a selector switch to tie into the power we plan to use at any given time. So here are my initial questions:

1. Sprinter BEG says that charging current from the alternator needs to be limited to 40A. I need to dig up internal resistance of the battery (~200Ah of AGM's) at 50% charge to see what the power draw will be. I suspect it will be less than this. It seems a 40A DC circuit breaker might be a good idea. I am curious how others have addressed this. The van has an OEM charging relay but it seems prudent to put one in on the house side as well. I really don't want to damage the vehicle electrical system.
2. Most schematics I see use an MPPT charger for solar only and provide the inverter and alternator current directly to the battery bank. Can it all be run through the MPPT? I read on another forum that this should be fine.
3. Any recommendations on an MPPT charger and battery monitoring system? The range of options is overwhelming. I am looking for something relatively simple but with some capacity for intelligence in the system.

Thanks for any help or recommendations. I truly appreciate it.

Very clean schematic. What did you use to draw it?

julie777 said:

Very clean schematic. What did you use to draw it?

Click to expand...

I used Microsoft Visio. It is a great 2D layout program. The version I have has some great symbol libraries, but it is pretty easy to make your own as well.

"3. Any recommendations on an MPPT charger and battery monitoring system? The range of options is overwhelming. I am looking for something relatively simple but with some capacity for intelligence in the system."

A Dutch company called Victron, main distributor in the US is PKYS; http://shop.pkys.com/ . Very modern, built in blue tooth to your phone or pad, can be integrated into computer systems, best of all relatively cheap. They have a good website with lots of support documentation. https://www.victronenergy.com/

I found a great thread that answers most of questions 1 and 2 for the sake of anyone else working through the complexities of a van electrical system:

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42013&highlight=battery+charging+current

It sounds like some type of charge controller between the alternator and batteries is a good idea to get proper control of the three charging phases. Doing so is also required to limit the current supply from the alternator. A 200Ah AGM system ideally would be drawing around 30A at the most, which is within the 40A limit. I now need to see if there is a good MPPT charger that can handle solar and alternator/shore power supply. I started looking at Victron products and they do offer a nice range of reasonably priced hardware. I haven't pinpointed a specific model that explicitly does this so if folks are aware of one please let me know.

My next post should have a far better defined electrical schematic including hardware selection.

This weekend I prepped for MaxxFan installation. I am following Graphite Dave's approach using aluminum flat bar to reinforce the top of the fan. I also chose to paint the mounting fan flange (part of it) and aluminum bars grey to better match the van. Waiting on some fastener hardware to commit to making the actual cut! It will be a bit before I get around to that.