PAV Adventure 4x4 Build

ddunaway

Active member
I used the adapter from Hein. My speakers were large enough that I had to do some grinding on the rings.

See picture of the MB tweeter in the dash. My new ones actually fit....was not expecting that!
 

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ReGULT51

Active member
ddunaway - thanks for all the detail. Great timing as I'm planning on digging in soon in that area :)

Regarding the A-pillar...when you had it off did you see any type of airbags located there?
 

UltraMark

New member
ddunaway... thanks for the write up on that. I ordered my van sans any head unit or speakers. I've got to install something. At first I was thinking of 3-way but I think I'm going with the best 2 way stuff I can find. 3 way just seems too tight given the space in the doors and dash.
 

hein

Van Guru
Do you have a link to those speakers? We make an adapter with 5.625 ID hole that might work with those. Awesome that the tweeters snap in.
 

ddunaway

Active member
Do you have a link to those speakers? We make an adapter with 5.625 ID hole that might work with those. Awesome that the tweeters snap in.
Attached is a spec. Looks like it might have fit the 5.625 size. I bought the adapters then researched speakers for weeks before buying some the day I installed them. It did not take too long to shape the adapters a bit but certainly it would have been better to get the right size.

A funny thing in the end, when I had everything hooked and was testing it all out the microphone function on the Bluetooth calling was not working. Got flustered for a while till I realized that the microphone was in the headliner that I had taken out.
 

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napo

2019 170 4x4 Hightop
Nice rig! :thumbup: Hoping to sell mine and get a 4x4 as well some day

The primary motivation was to enable more winter backcounty ski trips for several days to a week out of the van in exotic locales with incredible powder largely in British Columbia but wherever really
We use ours Sprinter for BC split board trips and found that the 1" foam board beneath the floor really helps. We didn't use it in our 1st sprinter and it's a big difference when your camping at Rogers Pass. I'm 6'1" too and raising the floor was a concern but I still clear while walking about, I went with foam board but if I were to do it again I'd probably go with R-Tech. My foam board doesn't squeak but it did for a couple days right after I put it in.
 

ddunaway

Active member
Update on sound deadening and insulation

Sound deadening done on walls and wheel wells - I did about 20% coverage with a mix of Second skin and Reckhorn. The Second skin is black and insulates better. The Reckhorn is affordable but seems much more pliable and goopey when hot.....probably OK but because of this I used mostly Second skin.

Insulation with Thinsulate on walls, ceiling, and doors is about 80% done. Slowed down to do electrical before filling areas I might run wires. Still some weird areas to figure out: A and B pillars, above slider door, around rear door.

Holding off on floor for now. Likely will do something similar to UltraMark....1/4" closed cell foam, 1/2 lb MLV, 1/4" closed cell foam, then MB floor which has a rubber top in my crew. I am getting a whole bunch of foam stuff that goes under wood floors for free..big green roll..not sure if that is worth using...likely not.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
Espar heater install progress

This is quite the endeavor. The number of connectors, wires, clamps, tubes, etc in the kit is overwhelming. I ordered from a place in Europe, and it took a while to get all the instructions in English. My German is NIL. Shreyas at Espar is my savior.

It is physically installed under the passengers seat....took a while to figure out a flat spot that goes all the way thru on my model.

The fuel part is ~80% done. Tapped into fuel tank, mounted and wire fuel pump. Just need to finish heat shielding fuel line under Catalytic converter and finish hooking up to heater. May need to start drilling holes in the frame to get everything attached. I have largely avoided that so far...(should I worry about putting holes in the frame and how is the best way to prevent corrosion on these?)

Exhaust - plan is to try and run to near drivers side rear wheel well to get fumes away from passenger side doors. Its all about winter and skiing for me, so its worth the extra effort. This is a long run, so I plan to run the 24 mm line for a few feet to the muffler, then increase to 30 mm for the long run to the other side. I'll drill small holes in any low spots to allow for drainage. Waiting for parts from Espar of Michigan to carry out this plan.

Still lots of wires and Dsub connectors to hook up right but English instructions are very helpful here:rad:
 

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downunder

Active member
DD, keenly following your build.
In #1 you mention 'Crazy World Travel'. Care to elaborate?
My desire is to do what I think is the same, ship a 4x4 to the US and then onto Europe for extended travel at my pace. 'Tour de France' footage and highlights gets me in, Glasseye's photos as well.
You are a big step ahead of me though; you actually have the 4x4. Good one!
 

ddunaway

Active member
Electrical plan - super basic compared to most

Our needs are pretty minimal. It is going to be all 12 V DC. Any AC needs will just be done with a cigarette plug inverter but I do not expect many. We largely cook outside in summer, spring and fall, so will use a propane camp stove of some sort for cooking all seasons.

There are 2 basic use cases: 1) winter camping with heavy heat use and 2) summer, spring, fall camping.

In the winter, we may be in one spot for 3-4 days at a time without moving at -30C. We may be in one general area w/o much driving for a week. We would be largely out during the day. Not much solar expected. I may even remove the solar panel if I want to use a rocket box (so far up though to roof that this is uncertain).

In the other months, a DC frig would be nice and would comprise most of the load. Solar would keep everything charged.

I am tentatively thinking of 2 more batteries under the chassis for a total of 285 Ahr + 250W solar. In the winter, without the frig the numbers show we should be good but I am not very sure about the Espar power needs. I estimated 20% duty cycle for 16 hrs in boost mode. Also, I made some rough solar estimates from a sailing book but have no real idea if they are realistic....especially with possible snow.

See the attached estimates of power needs.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
And now everyone has to have one......

The electrical diagram - super simple

I am trying to keep everything pretty modular, so am trying to keep the heating, electrical, and batteries out of the main compartment. Since I am just doing DC, I think I can just add some fuse bars under the MB fuses beneath the drives seat.

I will start out without the extra batteries and solar initially but add them soon. At the moment, I need to figure out everything that will be covered by my headliner that could go back in soon. This means I need to run the wires out the roof for solar and find any LED puck lights I plan to put in the ceilng (suggestions appreciated).

Any suggestions on type of wire and where to get it? Marine store are pricey but I do not know if the lower or higher quality wire makes any difference for this application.

Take a look at my electrical engineering marvel and please offer suggestions on this too......:rolleyes:
 

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hein

Van Guru
Your diagram is a good layout. It needs to show fuses, switches and more detailed connections to become a schematic.

Go ahead and plan where your lights will go and run 16-18 gauge to those locations. Also run a 10-12 gauge for the ceiling fan. Check loads/ installation manual to verify wire sizes. Since you aren't sure of your battery location you could run those wires along the upper left corner of the roof, down behind the B-pillar to under the driver's seat. Then you can mount your fuse bar in there and connect to the chassis battery for now. Then later when you install house batteries run a larger lead (with a large fuse at the battery) to your fuse bar.

For solar you need to locate your panel to determine the location of the pass through. Penetrate on top of a roof rib so water doesn't pool around the fitting. Seal with Dicor or Sikaflex. I would use at least 8 gauge for the solar connection. That run should be as short as possible to the controller and then to the batteries. So you do really need to decide where the batteries will be located before you install those wires.

Remember that fuses protect the wire so need to be at the battery/voltage source. Hidden spices are generally not recommended. Do not use cheap crimp terminals. Use split loom and grommets to protect wiring. Edge guard on metal edges that have wires passing over. Make sure wiring is well supported with some slack and not kinked or bent. Don't tie wires directly to metal. Insulated (vinyl coated) P-clamps are much better than zip ties.
 
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ddunaway

Active member
Hein,
Thanks for all the tips. While I get all the principles, my wiring technique and craftsmanship seemed to need improvement in the speaker project, so everything helps!
 

hein

Van Guru
I released the tray for pricing so will be able to provide the final cost and ETA. I thought you had a 170WB in which case our current trays place the batteries ahead of the rear tires. But you have a 144 so you can drop your solar leads to the drivers seat pedestal by running them down the B-pillar with the other wires for you lights & fan. Then just bring a large lead up from the batteries underneath when you install them. Do you have an idea of your roof layout? Glad you got the speakers installed. How do they sound?

Have you considered SchemeIt to do you schematic?
 
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ddunaway

Active member
I released the tray for pricing so will be able to provide the final cost and ETA. I thought you had a 170WB in which case our current trays place the batteries ahead of the rear tires. But you have a 144 so you can drop your solar leads to the drivers seat pedestal by running them down the B-pillar with the other wires for you lights & fan. Then just bring a large lead up from the batteries underneath when you install them. Do you have an idea of your roof layout? Glad you got the speakers installed. How do they sound?

Have you considered SchemeIt to do you schematic?
SchemeIt looks pretty useful.....I'll pursue the layout in that.

The speakers sound about 20X better than the factory system.....perhaps as good as my factory 7 speaker system in the Honda Element. I am glad that I went with a simple speaker upgrade to start.

Cool you are making progress on the tray. Curious to hear cost and ETA. I was worried about clearance but since it does not protrude lower than the fuel tank it seems fine. I was starting to get excited about building a lithium battery and putting it inside (briefly) but I have enough to do at this point without complicating the electronics. Plus, utilizing the extra space below seems better...even if my immediate plans do not really take advantage of the water tank (would likely just get it anyway as long as economics are reasonable). Take a look at where I mounted the fuel pump for the Espar......near the tank fill tube (see pictures). I do not think it will interfere with the tray but worth asking.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
DD, keenly following your build.
In #1 you mention 'Crazy World Travel'. Care to elaborate?
My desire is to do what I think is the same, ship a 4x4 to the US and then onto Europe for extended travel at my pace. 'Tour de France' footage and highlights gets me in, Glasseye's photos as well.
You are a big step ahead of me though; you actually have the 4x4. Good one!
downunder,
I do not have any particular plans at the moment. I have a job that is very interesting and engaging and generally cannot escape for long enough to make it worthwhile to ship the Sprinter now. However, it is a pretty volatile industry, so things can change pretty fast. Certainly, on the next natural break.

I have done quite a bit of travel all over South America in the past and lived there too. One trip involved driving around Chile and Argentina (in a rented car) skiing volcanos. It would be awesome to do more of this in the Sprinter once it is dialed in. Good skiing in Alaska, New Zealand and Japan as well as Europe too. Probably not just skiing though....other activities too. We have the skiing so dialed in here (Washington and British Columbia) it is hard to get the same level of experience popping in to other locales. I find it is usually best to explore completely divergent activities in other places......usually more memorable in the end. My Sprinter is a tan color......it would fit in on desert trips in the Outback or Africa!!!!!
 
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ddunaway

Active member
Do you have an idea of your roof layout?
Roof Layout and skis

I have a the Maxair fan installed directly on the bump-out toward the front. The current plan is to have 2 Renology 100W solar panels (47"x21"x1.4") side by side in back. This way I could remove one and mount a rocket box in the winter to get the skis outside. I'll try with the skis inside in some manner but it is really less than ideal to have skis inside.

I have yet to figure out the attachment rack system for the solar panels and rocket box. My current box is on the large side. Maybe a smaller rear opener would be better. The box also clamps at @ 41" max between supports, so not totally straightforward to mount next to the panel.

Maybe I just to build a "nuggen". It is an upright ski box on back. I have seen this guy twice at Rogers Pass. He built a coffin shaped box and mounted it on his 2" trailer hitch then again on his spare tire holder. It was made metal and wood and held 4 sets of skis. Only one of his rear doors could open.

For the short term, maybe I just mount the panels and see how it goes.....
 

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