The build of "Liberty" 2016 3500 4X4 DRW 170

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
 

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I won't go into our temporary buildout as it really only served the purpose of getting us on the road and off of the floor. We learned early on that a non insulated van can produce some crazy temperatures and we knew early on that good insulation, ventilation and climate control were critical to our enjoyment of he van. I stripped everything out of the van to prepare for insulation, fan install and base wiring. My job here isn't to beat a dead horse when it comes to one product is better than another but to show what I did and maybe some of the logic behind why I chose that path. The van had the factory "insulation package" which basically meant that it had some sound deadening pads placed on the panels. I know there are some that will say you should cover all of the sheetmetal with "rattletrap" but I honestly didn't see the need. There wasn't the noise level that warranted not only the time, cost and even the weight that putting 100% coverage would add to the build. I skipped that step and just went with the factory sound deadening. For insulation I went with 100% coverage of Thinsulate S600L. This is installed white side glued to sheetmetal with the 3M (90 series I believe) there are a ton of writeups on how to install Thinsulate so I won't fill this thread up with that. I can say that patience here will pay off in the long term. Take your time and get everything to fit properly and get full coverage. If anyone is on the fence about the use of this product I highly recommend. Zero itch and it is self supportive if you create the proper cuts for placement in the very complex sheetmetal structure. Get yourself some nice sharp scissors and an electrical fish tape to work the Thinsulate into the ribs and just take your time.
 

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Fans are another topic that always seem to raise questions and opinions. Where to place it, how many, Fantastic vs MaxxFan etc. my choice was the MaxxFan 7500 due to the ability to drive with it open and I liked the optional remote which has proven to be a huge benefit. I picked mine up through warehouse deals inn amazon. Damaged box translated to savings of I think like $70 and everything was in perfect condition. Placement for me was based on the amount of Solar I wanted to install. Maximum solar panel real estate meant this can had to go as far back on the van as possible without cutting into the ceiling rib. There are a bunch of variations on best practices on fan installation and I will give you another variation. There is two things going on with the roof at this point, it is pitched slightly towards the center rin on both sides AND you have a center rib that you have to deal with. I know there are a couple guys that make some spacer solutions that I believe are cnc'd out of plastic. I wanted something that I could make at home from materials sourced from a box store. What I started off with was 5/4 (1-1/4" thickness I believe) Trex Decking. You just buy the shortest board that you can find as you will only need a couple feet of it. What I did was scribe the Trex decking to the pitch and also to account for the center rib. It is done with 4 pieces and the front and back pieces have legs to allow for the splice joint to not fall right at the corner or where a bolt hole would be. When those were all cut out (used a table saw and a jig saw so nothing complex) I started the sealing sandwich which was a layer of sealing tape, the shins, another layer of sealing tape and then the fan base. All stainless fasteners with stainless gender washers and nylon locking nuts were used. The variation I chose from other installs comes from the aluminum angle I fabricated to cover not only the plasticattacgment points (I heard that can get brittle over time and crack) but also covers up the seam created between the fan and the shim. Same type of scribe cutting was employed in getting these pieces to fit exactly and not have contact with the painted surface. It was followed up with a coating of silkaflex sealant. I have to admit that I had to reseal this a second time because the first time I was using the sealant very sparingly because I thought "ohhhh I want it to look super clean and not have a bunch of sealant on the screws" Well low and behold I was getting some minor leaks past the screws and it required me to completely cover the fasteners. The truth is this is 9+' in the air. Nobody is going to see your sealing job. Function wins over beauty in this case.
 

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dttocs

Member
Thanks for sharing your build and the details here and on instagram. For your electrical system are you charging purely from solar and shore power or with an alternator hookup as well?
 
Currently I am just charging off of solar as I am generating anywhere from 2-3kwh of power daily. There is a shore power connection and before winter I will be installing a vehicle electrical system fed inverter (probably 1000-1200 watt) that will act as my vehicle "shore power" that will supply power through the Conext inverter/charger. Since I run my system at 24v I would have to have a 24v alternator and since my fully charged voltage is only 25.2v the alternator would likely overcharge.
 

irontent

Member
I like your DC system approach. Can you provide more information about how you procured the Tesla modules, cost, and other usage considerations? Thanks in advance.
 
I like your DC system approach. Can you provide more information about how you procured the Tesla modules, cost, and other usage considerations? Thanks in advance.

I am off on a couple week trip out west and will attack this buildout post when I get back but in the meantime I will share briefly what I did to get the modules. I ordered them directly from EV West in California. They are salvaged from a P85 Tesla S. Cost was right about $3k delivered to the shipping terminal in Denver. That is for 2 modules that have 10.6kw or 464ah at 22.8v.

I was all worried on how everything was going to work and in the end it works better than expected. I live about an hour from you and if you ever want to get together and go over each others build I would be more than happy to cruise up to Boulder area.

Chad
 
If you happen to be in the San Francisco Bay area, I have a shop in Livermore. Feel free to stop by.


Send me a DM with your details. We are south of the mudslide in Big Sur now and will make our way around and spend a day or so in Big Sur/Carmel area and then make our way to Yosemite and that might be in our path.


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HarryN

Well-known member
Thank you for stopping by the shop. I really enjoyed meeting you, your wife and of course the dogs.

The son that you met had a very bad experience with dogs when he was young and that is the first time I have ever seen him comfortable around dogs. That alone was a priceless experience for us.

The van of course is a spectacular accomplishment and merging of what is possible beyond the traditional boxed in thoughts, especially the electrical and HVAC system. It raises the bar of what I need to accomplish.
 
Thank you for stopping by the shop. I really enjoyed meeting you, your wife and of course the dogs.



The son that you met had a very bad experience with dogs when he was young and that is the first time I have ever seen him comfortable around dogs. That alone was a priceless experience for us.



The van of course is a spectacular accomplishment and merging of what is possible beyond the traditional boxed in thoughts, especially the electrical and HVAC system. It raises the bar of what I need to accomplish.

Great meeting you both and I hadn’t picked up that he was nervous around the dogs so that is a good thing.

Thanks for the kind words around the build. Look forward to having it complete but in the meantime we will continue cranking up the miles traveling all over the US.



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