LifeByDesign
Member
Although I have been a member of this group for over a year I haven't posted much since We obtained our new 170 4x4 back in August 2016. For the first year we had basically a temporary camping build as we were trying to figure out how we were going to exactly use the vehicle. Well after a year and 21k miles we are pretty clear and I went full steam ahead on the build. I will attempt to give back to this community through he documentation of what has already been done and then document the remaining items left on the build.
In a nutshell what we started with was a 2016 4x4 crew 170 3500 DRW. This was purchased new out of Fairfield Mercedes in Sacramento CA in August 2016. It has a decent amount of bells and whistles but the chassis is what we were really focused on. 11Kgvw 170 non-EXT 4x4. That translated into not being overly concerned about every pound I put into the build Kike some are.
With that said I have taken some measures to reduce weight when possible. The entire build is done with series 15 and 10 8020 extrusion, house battery bank is (2) Teala S battery modules that provide amazing power with very little weight. Special thanks right off the bank to four individuals who were a part of my learning curve. GraphiteDave for his no nonsense approach to thinking outside of the box even when it wasn't the norm in the build community. GeorgeRa for his meticulous 8020 skills that planted the seed for doing the buildout like I did. HarryN for his engineering expertise in getting me to think outside the box when it came to the electrical system (I have 10.6kwh of Lithium storage powering a 4000w inverter producing 220vac so i can power off grid high SEER mini split heat pump) and last but not least the person who I have stolen many ideas from over the last year, DieselFumes. Although our builds will look nothing alike in the end some of the core build was built on what i learned scouring his webpage.
In the end the van will be used for extended boondocking for my wife and our 4 dogs. What I love from seeing so many van conversions over the last year is eveykne does it differently. You get to pick and chose what you like and make it your own recipe. For those of you who aren't patient and want to see more of the build photos some of them are posted on our Van IG account @ourlibertyvan
In a nutshell what we started with was a 2016 4x4 crew 170 3500 DRW. This was purchased new out of Fairfield Mercedes in Sacramento CA in August 2016. It has a decent amount of bells and whistles but the chassis is what we were really focused on. 11Kgvw 170 non-EXT 4x4. That translated into not being overly concerned about every pound I put into the build Kike some are.
With that said I have taken some measures to reduce weight when possible. The entire build is done with series 15 and 10 8020 extrusion, house battery bank is (2) Teala S battery modules that provide amazing power with very little weight. Special thanks right off the bank to four individuals who were a part of my learning curve. GraphiteDave for his no nonsense approach to thinking outside of the box even when it wasn't the norm in the build community. GeorgeRa for his meticulous 8020 skills that planted the seed for doing the buildout like I did. HarryN for his engineering expertise in getting me to think outside the box when it came to the electrical system (I have 10.6kwh of Lithium storage powering a 4000w inverter producing 220vac so i can power off grid high SEER mini split heat pump) and last but not least the person who I have stolen many ideas from over the last year, DieselFumes. Although our builds will look nothing alike in the end some of the core build was built on what i learned scouring his webpage.
In the end the van will be used for extended boondocking for my wife and our 4 dogs. What I love from seeing so many van conversions over the last year is eveykne does it differently. You get to pick and chose what you like and make it your own recipe. For those of you who aren't patient and want to see more of the build photos some of them are posted on our Van IG account @ourlibertyvan
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