Greta Van Blau- '16 144 low roof 4x4 project.

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
I wouldn't be too worried about that, Ive never seen a snake pick up something that was already dead. Its even difficult to acclimate captive held snakes to taking something that isn't alive. But the rotting smell, as those vents are part of the fresh air intake into the van?? That I am concerned about! HA!

I didn't have a set of star drivers with me on that trip (they are in my tool bag now!) but by the time I got home the carcass had migrated into the cabin air box up against the filter. Much easier to remove from there.

Im getting the rubbers re-balanced at the moment, ill grab some step pics for everyone interested after the tire shop is done.

Cheers.
 

SOCAL2015

Member
Hi there,

How is your tune from OE tuning? I had mine done a few weeks back (took advantage of the 20% off year end special) and while the van has more power I was disappointed that they did not remove the speed limiter. After several attempts to reach them (via email and phone), I think I finally have another appointment next week to see if they can solve it (driving to Huntington Beach from San Diego again...). I say "I think" because it's been tough to get any response...

Did they remove yours? Not trying to win any top speed contests but would like more flexibility when passing a Semi while driving to Mammoth - especially when facing on coming traffic as I hit the wall at 82...

Thanks,
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
It is not as bad as the photos make it look, Its slightly about 1.75" below the pinch seam at the lowest point. It is above the transfer case and the fuel tank.

Had I realized the final placement during install I could have tucked it up another half inch, counter to the install instructions.

Its not ideal, but my wife is very short and I have 2 kids under three years old. Usability is more important than all out offroad prowess at the moment.

I took the van and pounded around Alabama Hills and a bunch of Jeep tracks north of mammoth lakes over christmas, and while I hooked my Aluminess bumper a couple times, I had no issue with clearance at the step.
 
They make a solid product - hopefully the electronics hold up on this unit as mine (just a bed step) was mechanically actuated (your foot...) instead.

Looks good! Bet the wife is happy.
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Pounding around outside of mammoth lakes around the Obsidian Dome. Got a few interesting looks from other real 4x4's. The van held its own. This was one of the few spots I was willing to stop forward momentum. Depicted angle is accurate, my 2 year old thought it was hilarious...my wife not so much.




Last weekend in Joshua Tree at Jumbo Rocks. First come first serve campsites are a bit tiring, with people coming in and out at ALL hours thinking they will get a site. I mean, really, 2 am on a holiday weekend and you think you are getting a spot? But go ahead, drive around 6 or 7 times looking for one.






Heading to Mt Pinos area this weekend, then a break before another long slog to Colorado to grab some slope time in Breckenridge. Probably going to log 20K miles before the first year in the van is up. I am hoping the sprinter is a long lived vehicle...
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Well I got the rear leafs and remote reservoir shocks from Van Compass installed. Took about 3 hours to get everything sorted out. The factory center pin for the leafs is a motherfu**er, it just wants to spin and spin and is not really big enough to get vice grips on as the instructions say. Struggled with the first, then soaked the second in PB Blaster and took a beer break. After still not being able to hold the bottom of the pin tight enough to spin the nut loose I welded a scrap of metal to it. SOLVED.

Even with just the rear done the improvement is pretty dramatic. On the softest setting she eats speed bumps but has a fair amount of rocking still. At firmer settings the sway in the back is GONE and it still tackles broken pavement and speed bumps much better. Really looking forward to getting the front done so I can really give it a shake down.





I have not done the front because I have a problem with one of the struts or strut hats and given that I only have 13K miles on the van I am letting MB perform some warranty work before I modify the front and they refuse to work on it :lol: This is my loaner
 

tegan_ca

Build Planning
ORH, what was the symptom that caused you to take it in for warranty on the front struts?

That 170 HR with air is a big vehicle, damn.
 

grantwilson

FreedomVanGo
My hot water system has exceeded my expectations. I went back and forth, weighing system complexity, cost and performance when designing it and ultimately decided that simplicity and cost were going to win out over performance in my design. Turns out, performance is exceptional as well.

My hot water heater is a 2.5 gallon Bosch point of use electric hot water heater. It is a fiberglass insulated tank, has a very small footprint, was exceptionally easy to plumb and install and works flawlessly. Added bonus...it was $158 shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0148O658Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My initial run with it didnt go very well and I think now it was because I had a lot of air trapped in the system. Now that I have purged the system everything is working like clockwork.

From ambient (around 70-75 deg F) it takes just under 10 minutes for the 1440w heater to heat the 2.5 gallons to 140 F. I measured 26ahr drawn by the inverter (which means my inverter+heater is only about 80% efficient if my math is right). From the tank it goes through a thermostatic mixing valve whose output is set at 98deg.

I opened the hot valve on the sink and ran it over a thermocouple reader until the water temp dropped below 95 degrees. I netted 7.2 gallons of hot water (water above 95 degrees).

I then re-heated the tank and turned the whole system off. After 22 hours I went out and repeated the test. After sitting for almost a full day I got 4.1 gallons of hot water (water above 95 degrees).
and calculations for a 4 gallon version on a 2k inverter from the same MFG as you
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
I have been running the fronts for about a week now. So far I love them, although I am beginning to wish, in my heavy van, I had a bit more damping up front on the road. In the dirt, they are BUTTER, but need a little more damping for preventing low speed oscillations. I do have a lot more weight way up high than most people. Fiberglass is much heavier than than the steel roof of a high roof van.

Install thoughts. Everything went smooth in the front. The lower shock mounts have a THICK coating of powder coat. I had to take an angle grinder with a flap wheel to the inside edges to get the shock to slide in and even then I had to use a mallet. I trimmed a lot less fender plastic off than the instructions suggest and maintained one mounting point that VC removed. I think my trimming is the way to go for minimal dirt and crap getting where you dont want it. My drivers side looks even better than my passenger side (pictured).













Hard to tell here, but the van sits level now, well actually the rear is about 1/3"-1/2" high, but its not loaded. Once I get my travel load back into the van (water, clothes, food, 3 more people, firewood etc) I am sure it will sit level to 1/4" low
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
After suffering two no starts after letting the van sit, first time for 2 weeks, second time for 10 days, I finally took the 5 minutes to run another lead from my dual bank charge controller to the starter battery.

Confirmed that the alternator definitely does not top that battery up. After driving for several hours I hooked it up and the solar immediately started pumping 8a into the battery and didnt go into taper for close to an hour.

Completely unsure why I didnt do this a year ago when I first installed all this stuff. Peace of mind that the truck wont be dead when I go out to it is well worth the 5 minutes it took to run a 3 foot length of 10ga.
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Screwing around in the dirt over Mothers Day weekend. Mom was nice enough to shoot photos while telling me I was going to wreck the van :)




Look mom, 2 wheels!



Shot of the day


 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Having a 2500 van is great when you need to grab 1000lbs of lumber (green redwood is HEAVY). SO much easier than loading into the bed of a lifted truck and strapping it down.



Building some planter boxes, managed to knock one of them out before smashing my thumb with the hammer and calling it quits. You forget how satisfying building things is sometimes.

 
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DirtDogg

Member
After suffering two no starts after letting the van sit, first time for 2 weeks, second time for 10 days, I finally took the 5 minutes to run another lead from my dual bank charge controller to the starter battery.

Confirmed that the alternator definitely does not top that battery up. After driving for several hours I hooked it up and the solar immediately started pumping 8a into the battery and didnt go into taper for close to an hour.

Completely unsure why I didnt do this a year ago when I first installed all this stuff. Peace of mind that the truck wont be dead when I go out to it is well worth the 5 minutes it took to run a 3 foot length of 10ga.
Was there an unexpected load on the starting battery?
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Was there an unexpected load on the starting battery?
No. Common issue with the sprinters from what I have read. If you let them sit too long they will drain the starter battery. They have a battery disconnect in the driver footwell if you park it for extended periods of time and don't have a battery tender or solar feeding it.
 

OffroadHamster

Well-known member
Road Tripping over Labor day.
Sunset over the Minarets




Burning Man ruined our trip home, clogging 395. We took some DWP service roads to get around an hour or two of it, but it was still pretty agonizing. Notice the parking lot on the left.


Finished building GRETA's new home. Shes finally off of my driveway! Not the biggest deal, but were on a curve and a hill and the van blocked uphill visibility. We have little kids a people drive a bit fast coming down the hill. This way I can see up hill better and people coming down can see down hill better. The van is a big vehicle!
Hauled 20 yards of dirt out, built a retaining wall, poured some concrete and installed some new fences/gates. I can fit a 40ft RV now should I ever want to (I wont)


 
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