Cargo Van to Iron Tent

Sub-zero conditions are not that common at most North American ski resorts. I have used my 170 van in sub-freezing weather multiple times this year snow boarding, camping, and mountain biking. My coldest experience recently was mountain biking in Southwest Utah in 17 F temps with 50mph winds rocking the van. My insulation is sufficient enough that we rarely heat the van while sleeping overnight. I have no doubt the van would be very comfortable in sub-Zero temperatures, we just may have to turn on the Espar.

I have primary Thinsulate throughout the van with a layer of rigid poly iso foam in the floor. I have up to 4” of Thinsulate in the lower walls. I have fished pieces of Thinsulate in every possible crevice. I also have layers of mini cell foam in the floor and on the wheel wells, and Refectix in the ceiling. The result is a well insulated van.

I initially focused on getting the greatest R value from my insulation and planned to use poly iso foam throughout most of the van but quickly realized the rigid foam is hard to install properly, time consuming, it is a mess to install, and it is prone to squeaks. The drawbacks to spray foam are similar.

Thinsulate is very easy to install piecemeal as you build out the van allowing you to place electrical and plumbing followed by insulation. Cost of Thinsulate material may be higher than other materials but the added cost is more than offset by the install labor savings and ease of retrofits.

Other suggestions I incorporated to make a four season van include 4 season window covers from SprinterPaul, heat tracing on my external PEX lines, and isolating the cargo area with insulated covers.














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Thanks for the info, gtrimble. Our van has more glass than yours, but good to know Thinsulate worked well in 17 degrees.

Thinking About Selling the Iron Tent - Pricing Logic

Since buying a fifth wheel rig a couple of years ago, we have seldom used the Iron Tent and have only put a few thousand miles on during that time. The total milage is around 55,000.

So, I am thinking about selling it.

Any suggestions on a logic for pricing?

The van is presently at home in Broomfield, Colorado, but I am taking it to Austin for a few days next week to get two new Lifeline 8D batteries and eat some BBQ. Around Dec 1, it will go to Surprise, AZ for the winter.

PM me if any serious buyers are interested in a pre-sale peek.

Changed-out the original two LifeLine 8D batteries for two new of the same. I've been happy with the batteries over the last 6 1/2 years, but the effective capacity had declined over the last few months.

Now, we are good to go for winter camping with no worries about off-grid power.

With the lifelines, if you find yourself partial cycling them often ( 5+ cycles without a charge to 98% or higher), you should consider a recovery "equalize" charge every 30-90 days when this usage is happening. This would be something like 15V or so until the return/charge current drops under 0.5% of C. This has a noticeable impact on capacity loss due to sulfation.

Which is tough with those 8Ds as their C is very large. I bet there was still enough in those old 8Ds to be productive on a solar storage solution

After a lot of fun, it's time to sell the irontent. See the posting in the Sprinter Vans for sell section of this forum.

PM me for more info.

Sold.