Living With My New Advanced RV

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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
I cut a 3 1/2" x 4 1/2" hole in the Sprinter floor just ahead of the left rear wheel and behind the refrigerator. Hole has a plywood cover that can be opened or closed with a lawnmower cord. Under floor I have a house vent screen to keep out the mice.

When the air temperature inside the van is higher than the air under the van you get a flow of air up past the refrigerator coil and out the open but off Maxxair roof vent. It is easy to determine when I forget to open the vent on a hot day. Open the van to get in and I immediately know I forgot to open the vents. Vents work just like a chimney.

I also have 1 1/2" of rigid insulation on 4 sides of the refrigerator and it is wrapped in Reflextix. Do not know how much that helps but I am sure it does. On a cold night I close the vent and Maxxair to retain heat in the van. I also let van get cold at night so refrigerator works less. I keep warm with a 12 volt heating pad under my sleeping bag. On colder nights I add a balaclava to keep my head warm.

The vent must be closed when driving on a dusty road to prevent dust from entering.

https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showpost.php?p=145056&postcount=9
 
Davydd

Davydd

Well-known member
DiamondSea,

If you have a better detailed photo of your black painted wheels I would very much appreciate seeing it. The one exterior photo you posted was from afar and completely dark. I've seen white and I've seen light grey but I cannot find a good black picture. If I went painted wheels it would have to be black with my Graphite Metallic Grey paint (dark grey) I think. Mercedes Benz list options of either white or black wheels as an extra vs I assume the light grey I see a lot of on commercial Sprinters.
 
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Diamondsea

New member
RE black wheels:
I am unable to photo mine at present as it is away in storage until my next trip. On the Advanced RV web site if you click on ABOUT and look at the very last picture there and click on the pix to enlarge you get a good view of a black wheel. Also my post #11 on this thread shows such. I think the shiny spots are the brake disk showing through the holes. My RV was built on an in-stock chassis at Advanced so I think they painted the wheels themselves. The paint has held up well but is a bit chipped off the lug nuts as the wheels have been removed to change to all steel valve stems. I could touch these up myself if so inclined. I think that Advanced once had pictures of the wheel options on their website so they may be able to email you one.
 
sailquik

sailquik

Well-known member
Davydd,
Ummm....light gray???
The options (from Mercedes Benz are:
Silver
White (Fed Ex gets these)
Black
There's not "light gray".
The Silver is not chrome plated look for sure, but it's far from "light gray".
Roger
 
avanti

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
sailquik said:
Davydd,
Ummm....light gray???
The options (from Mercedes Benz are:
Silver
White (Fed Ex gets these)
Black
There's not "light gray".
The Silver is not chrome plated look for sure, but it's far from "light gray".
Roger
Click to expand...
Mine’s "gray white". Could that be it?
 
sailquik

sailquik

Well-known member
Pete,
What color are your wheels....not the exterior color of the Sprinter.
You can order a Sprinter in a whole bunch of colors some plain, some metallic paint.
But the wheels are either alloy (aluminum colored)
Steel:
Painted:
MB Silver
White (FedEx)
Black (if you order them painted that color from the factory.
In epc.startekinfo, those are the only colors you can order for replacement wheels.
Roger
 
avanti

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
sailquik said:
Pete,
What color are your wheels....not the exterior color of the Sprinter.
You can order a Sprinter in a whole bunch of colors some plain, some metallic paint.
But the wheels are either alloy (aluminum colored)
Steel:
Painted:
MB Silver
White (FedEx)
Black (if you order them painted that color from the factory.
In epc.startekinfo, those are the only colors you can order for replacement wheels.
Roger
Click to expand...
Sorry. I mis-parsed Davydd's msg. I thought he was talking about repainted wheels. I was wondering about your "3 colors" comment. My error. Sorry for the confusion.
 
sailquik

sailquik

Well-known member
Pete:
No worries.....I was just trying to see if the Advanced RV folks were ordering their Sprinter's with wheels
that are light gray.
If they are, then Advanced RV must be painting them that color as the 3 colors mentioned are all I
have ever seen...on Sprinters, and in the startekinfo system.
Dodge/Freightliner offer (offered for MOPAR/Dodge) the same 3 colors.
I've ordered new wheels in both the silver and in black.
The RV up fitters seem to order the black ones, then put either chrome simulators or Alcoa aluminum wheels
on the vans during the up fit.
That's why you can buy near new (RV take offs) Sprinter wheels so cheaply.
The Sprinter Parts sources buy the take off wheels in large quantities from the RV up fitters and sell them
cheap, but only if you want the black ones.
Hope this helps,
Roger
 
Davydd

Davydd

Well-known member
I'm talking about the steel wheels. If you go to cargo vans on the Mercedes Benz website and go through the build your own exercise you have wheel options to have them painted by Mercedes Benz either white or black for an upcharge. I called the stock wheels light grey as they are definitely not metallic silver like a lot of popular B vans are. Either that or the road grime dulls them up pretty fast. The Mercedes Benz black is supposed to be a glossy black.

The four wheel 2500 Sprinter has an option for aluminum alloy wheels that look pretty nice but they say on the 3500 6 wheel you get four aluminum alloy and two steel wheels for the inner wheels. That confuses me. How do you rotate tires? I hope not mount and remount.

I currently have chrome steel simulator wheel covers. I don't know if I want to go that route again.

I believe these steel wheels are the stock color:



 
sailquik

sailquik

Well-known member
Davydd,
Yes, the wheels in your photos are the std. MB Silver 3500 5.5Jx16 516/519 (3500 in the USA) series wheels.
As far as rotating the tires correctly using 4 alloy wheels and 2 steel wheels, yes they have to be dismounted and
remounted to stay with the MB recommended rotation schedule.
The reason you cannot just put 6 or 7 Alcoa Alloy wheels on a Sprinter and then rotate them normally is that the
hub centric lugs on the end of the full floater axle, and the rear wheel studs are too short to accommodate the
thicker hub web of a stacked pair of the Alcoa wheels.
The stamped steel OEM 5.5Jx16 MB 516/519 series (3500 USA) are thinner and can be stacked/paired and still
engage the hub centric register diameter on the ends of the rear axle, and also have a few threads showing outside
the lug nuts on the 6 wheel mounting studs.
Hope this helps,
Roger
 
Davydd

Davydd

Well-known member
I guess aluminum alloy is out. Imagine the cost for a tire rotation. I now have Michelins from Discount Tire and they give life of the tire free rotation. I wonder if they would do so if they had to remount tires? I got very frustrated with the nearest Freightliner dealer. They said they couldn't rotate tires on a Sprinter that was clearly indicated on the M-B service schedule. I didn't argue with them as I had the Discount Tire deal. So my last service was at a new Mercedes Benz dealer in Rochester, MN 100 miles away. Not too much of a problem since it is on our frequent route down to La Crosse, WI and we could just hang around for a couple of hours with a Target, Dick's and Lowes next door.
 
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bobojay

New member
David, just for curiosity, how's the service prices at MB Rochester compared to your Freightliner dealer close by?
 
Davydd

Davydd

Well-known member
bobojay said:
David, just for curiosity, how's the service prices at MB Rochester compared to your Freightliner dealer close by?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it was more expensive but they were also way more thorough, explained all their services, washed the van and even cleaned the inside of the windshield, and served free coffee and powerbars. :)

BTW, the Freightliner dealer is not exactly close. They are 40 miles away on the same highway we take to Rochester. We have a Mercedes Benz dealer about 8-10 miles away that has a subsidiary that sells Pleasure-way Class Bs. Ironically, after two years doing that they still don't service Sprinters. A Sprinter service for a Mercedes Benz dealer is supposedly a million dollar investment said the M-B rep at Advanced Fest.
 
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bobojay

New member
Davydd said:
Unfortunately it was more expensive but they were also way more thorough, explained all their services, washed the van and even cleaned the inside of the windshield, and served free coffee and powerbars. :)

BTW, the Freightliner dealer is not exactly close. They are 40 miles away on the same highway we take to Rochester. We have a Mercedes Benz dealer about 8-10 miles away that has a subsidiary that sells Pleasure-way Class Bs. Ironically, after two years doing that they still don't service Sprinters. A Sprinter service for a Mercedes Benz dealer is supposedly a million dollar investment said the M-B rep at Advanced Fest.
Click to expand...
I wish the MB Sprinter dealer here in Kansas City was that thorough. Feels like a regular Chevy or Ford dealer in their waiting room. No extras....
 
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Unity Traveler

2013 LTV Unity Twin Bed
Diamondsea said:
I have 4700 miles on the rig. A couple of days ago I drove down a very steep private drive and upon startup to leave a check DEF message came on. From my readings on this forum I thought that was premature mileage wise. I decided that the sensor in the DEF tank might have been left "exposed" above the fluid level due to the extreme grade. Anyway at my next fuel stop at a typical 7-eleven type gas station that sold diesel fuel I asked if they sold DEF. Sure enough I was surprised that they did near the motor oil and it was just over $6/gallon. It was branded "PEAK" which is a name I am familiar with for products like washer fluid. It was labeled "Blue DEF" although it was clear, not dyed. The gallon jug had no special spout or opening but I was able to pour it in carefully without spilling a drop. Upon startup I continued to get the check message, but the message did not appear after the next startup and it has not returned.

I guess I will never know if the level was really down or if the very steep grade had fooled the tank sensor. My driving is mostly highways with little stop and go city type driving. I was thus surprised to add the fluid at 4700 miles so I tend to believe that the steep grade fooled the system. Does very cold weather use more DEF?
Click to expand...
We have replaced our Def Fluid three times & each time the mileage was approximately at the 4500 mile level. Seems to be the norm for us.
 
hein

hein

Van Guru
Davydd said:
I wonder if they would do so if they had to remount tires
Click to expand...
I am a dedicated Discount Tire customer. The manager at my store said they would be happy to dismount the tires to rotate them. I probably won't rotate my MS/2s although I might rotate the spare through front wheels if that's an acceptable practice.

Flying J truck stops are an easy place to get DEF at the pump, BTW. I'm sure others have it also.
 
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Davydd

Davydd

Well-known member
You can get DEF fluid at almost any auto store like NAPA, Advanced, O'Reilly, etc. and just about all truck stops. Sometimes you can at regular service stations but only likely if they also sell diesel. When the light comes on you have plenty of time to find a store.
 
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