2004 T1N Mountain Bike Van Build

alexk243

KulAdventure
Your going to need moderator help, as your posts older than 24 hours will be locked from editing. It is a big time consumer to do, so its a hard call.
Ok, I was able to go back and edit URLs and links... should be better. Let me know if you guys notice anything like bad links or missing pictures.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Thanks for posting this, want to carry the hard-to-get-on-the-road parts so I’m not stuck waiting for an order.
No problem, going to try and keep updating the list when I add more to it. I have had a few breakdowns on the road and its really nice to be prepared for it.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Thanks! The EPA link had this chart for anyone else wondering:




So for 20 gallons of water the EPA says 6ml of bleach, the CDC says 15ml of bleach (if water is clear). So between 6-15ml of bleach for 20 gallons. Since this water is not for drinking and only for showers/sink I will most likely learn towards the 15ml or more to prevent bacterial growth in the tank (since it may be heated to 90 degrees F).
 
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alexk243

KulAdventure
Haven't had a chance to post in a while, just got back from a big trip to the Northeast US/Canada. We started in Chicago and headed to the tip of Nova Scotia (Cape Breton) and had an awesome trip! I am going to get into the rest of the interior build, but I wanted to post some pictures from the trip and a few of the small projects I have done along the way, prior to finishing up the interior.

Here are some pictures of the van from the trip.

Killington, VT


Highland MTB Park, NH


Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec


Little harder to find parking in Toronto, but I bartered with the guy to give us this spot. If anyone else is looking for a place to park in Toronto I found a way better place while I was biking around the city, just ask.




Van used just under 1kw for a 20 day trip from the battery (shunt from house battery).

I would highly recommend Cape Breton for the scenery, but if you are a mountain biker you have to stop at Highland MTB park in New Hampshire, what a cool place. The vibe there is all about mountain biking. However for some of the coolest mountain biking I have done you have to do the Nielson trail in Vallee Bras-du-Nord, super technical, but such an amazingly designed trail. Would do again for sure.

The bike rack I have on the back I bought just for the trip and loved it. Its a Yakima Hangover 6, which is one of a few companies doing vertical bike racks. It was pricey, but I realized that the most aggravating thing about my van trips were loading and unloading bikes and this definitely fixed it, but it did have some quirks. I did a review of it here: Yakima Hangover 6 Bike Rack Review
 
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alexk243

KulAdventure
Did another trip last weekend to Copper Harbor, MI for some awesome mountain biking and wanted to put up some pictures of the Yakima Hangover bike rack holding 6 bikes. The thing weighs a ton, but worked so well for us to shuttle bikes up Brockway mountain to ride the flow and overflow trail.





At the campsite:


With the bikes folded down to get access into the back doors:
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Rear Sliding Door Wont Latch

Was having an issue with the sliding door not wanting to latch closed. I had tried adjusting the latch and it didn't seem to help. I finally realized that it was relative to temperature... it didn't seem to latch well it very cold or very warm temps... which made me wonder. Many people have reported expansion issues with spray foam insulation, which I used in mine, but I had not had any noticeable issues. On a hunch that the expansion of the spray foam could be changing the alignment of the door I decided to remove some spray foam and create slots for expansion and contraction:

BEFORE:


AFTER:


While I was in there I used some thinsulate insulation to add to the gaps I had created and touched up the bottom of the door with some black spray paint.





I also decided to replace the main roller since they are not that expensive and mine looked worn:



Lastly I used some flooring I had left over to cover it all up.



Reinstall was very simple, but is much easier with two people. I ran into a wiring issues since I also replaced the internal door latch so I got pretty good at taking the door on and off to fix the wiring issue (wiring issue thread here). Eventually it was fixed through shorting out a sensor.

It seems that removing the insulation and/or replacing the roller and latch has fixed my door not latching problem. Haven't had an issue with it since!
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
I have found that if the rear roller is even slightly misaligned, the latch won't line up. As the rear roller wears it droops a bit, and can go beyond the ability to adjust it. Unfortunately they don't seem to last very long with daily usage.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
I have found that if the rear roller is even slightly misaligned, the latch won't line up. As the rear roller wears it droops a bit, and can go beyond the ability to adjust it. Unfortunately they don't seem to last very long with daily usage.
Yeah it seems like I am not the only one who was having a hard time dealing with lining up the sliding door. Seems to be a common issue. Just wanted to make sure it was not my spray foam job that caused it, but I replaced so many things at once it would be hard to tell... Either way its been a while now with the door latching perfectly with no issues!
 
Incredibly informative and inspiring thread.

Thanks for taking the time to post so much of the preventative/scheduled maintenance information. I have a 2005 Westfalia built on a 2005 Sprinter 2500 and I just started gutting it for a complete rebuild.

The only thing I can offer in return is make sure that the rear roller assembly on your door is a genuine MB part and not a knock off. I spent a ton of time and frustration repeatedly realigning/adjusting my door after having purchased what was billed by one of the reputable online parts suppliers as a genuine MB rear roller only to find out it was a structurally inferior Chinese knock off.
 
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bcman

Active member
I have found that if the rear roller is even slightly misaligned, the latch won't line up. As the rear roller wears it droops a bit, and can go beyond the ability to adjust it. Unfortunately they don't seem to last very long with daily usage.
That's been my experience. The smaller two rollers are just plastic spinning on metal, no ball bearings or even metal reinforcement. I wore out 2 sets in 3 years. I came up with a cartridge ball bearing replacement, but it's a DIY fix involving machining on a lathe.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
That's been my experience. The smaller two rollers are just plastic spinning on metal, no ball bearings or even metal reinforcement. I wore out 2 sets in 3 years. I came up with a cartridge ball bearing replacement, but it's a DIY fix involving machining on a lathe.
I like that design a lot, but since I don't have the machining ability/equipment I think I will just replace the OEM rollers every few years. Not that expensive or hard to do.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Engine/Trans Mount

Got into some maintenance on the van today. Replaced the two motor mounts and the transmission mount, they actually didn't look bad... but they were not that expensive and didn't take that long to do so figured I would replace them.

IMG_20200426_160119.jpg
Engine Mounts

IMG_20200426_172003.jpg
Transmission

Engine ones were a bit of a pain, but the transmission one seemed easy. Heads up the nuts are not metric... 17mm is close, but 5/8" fit perfectly.

Jacked up the engine oil pan and the transmission oil pan with no issues, just used wood to spread the force around.

IMG_20200426_171948.jpg
(I dont know why the picture is upside down... it looks fine on my computer... Sorry)
 
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Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Mine looked pretty good, but it can't hurt to replace at 16 years. Mercedes likes to use 18mm nuts in random places. For some reason a few socket/wrench kits don't include an 18mm.

I strongly suggest using a torque wrench on the big bolt for the engine mounts. Not one of those things you want' coming loose.
 

alexk243

KulAdventure
Mine looked pretty good, but it can't hurt to replace at 16 years. Mercedes likes to use 18mm nuts in random places. For some reason a few socket/wrench kits don't include an 18mm.
I was going to say, I was pretty sure the top bolts were 18mm, but maybe because I didn't have a slim enough 18mm to get into the nuts the 5/8" worked great. I guess my only socket set that came with 18mm was my deep sockets and impact sockets and neither of those would fit into the tight area the nuts are in.
 

sipma02

Currently full time in the van
Love your build. I think I read all the posts! Seems like you’ve had some fun adventures.

What is the little screen/monitor in post #89? I like it, and would like something that measures amps too!
 

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