Midwestdrifter
Engineer In Residence
After a year of sprinter ownership I finally have enough details to start a build-out thread.
Background:
My wife and I are engineers. After working desk jobs for a few years we decided that we wanted to do some traveling. We disliked fly-in fly-out tourism as it places so many limits on schedules and accommodations. Plus we really like the in-between places. At the core of our personalities, we are overland travelers. Albeit, not as extreme as many (no 4x4 up the mountain side for us).
On a whim we bought a 1982 Vanagon Westfalia which became our home. We drove the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Panama and back. Details are on our blog here.
After over a year and 60k miles, we were ready for some transportation updates. AC when driving would have been nice, maybe some more headroom as well. After going through the total costs, reliability concerns, and comfort factor we decided on a T1N sprinter for our next home. None of the off the shelf conversions met our needs, and with the costs of customization included we were better off doing the conversion ourselves.
The Purchase:
We stumbled upon a low miles 2004 140” T1N in florida. A couple of flights and 2 days of driving later we had our next ride in the driveway! Ironically the sprinter cost almost exactly what we sold our Vanagon for. Other than a resonator change in a Wal-Mart parking lot and the crappy paint we have had no issues other than maintenance items on the sprinter.
The Plan:
We are tentatively planning on leaving our jobs next year to do a shakedown cruise out west and maybe into Canada. Following that we will ship the van to Australia where will be flying to meet it. We will stay until the vans import permit expires.
The List:
Unlike many first time/DIY conversions we have a very good idea what our needs are. While we did sacrifice in several areas moving to the sprinter, I think we really have a good conversion on its way. I would classify us as on the minimalist side of American campers/RVers. However due to the extended amount of time we plan on spending in the sprinter we are splurging on some options.
Some Wife (SWMBO) requirements:
Some of my requirements:
Combined requirements:
The Layout:
Given we only needed to sleep 2, and that we had good success with the Westfalia layout we decided to start there. Well, actually I modeled about 4 other layouts for our 140” and all of them were either to cluttered or totally unbalanced weight wise.
Here is what the layout looked like at the very beginning of the build out.
We have a galley which is 45”L 21.5W 36.5”T. This will have a dual burner induction cooktop and SMEV 5.5” deep by ~15 sink.
The bed is deployed full time and is situated transversely. It hinges up from both ends for storage access.
The tall cabinet on the drivers side has been truncated to make room for a swing out table, and to allow napping on the bench seat.
There is a cabinet over the cab, as well as overhead cabinets on several walls. There will likely be some pull out storage under the bed to be accessed from the rear doors. I have not yet tackled that project. I used Solidworks to make models for all the cabinets.
Background:
My wife and I are engineers. After working desk jobs for a few years we decided that we wanted to do some traveling. We disliked fly-in fly-out tourism as it places so many limits on schedules and accommodations. Plus we really like the in-between places. At the core of our personalities, we are overland travelers. Albeit, not as extreme as many (no 4x4 up the mountain side for us).
On a whim we bought a 1982 Vanagon Westfalia which became our home. We drove the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Panama and back. Details are on our blog here.
After over a year and 60k miles, we were ready for some transportation updates. AC when driving would have been nice, maybe some more headroom as well. After going through the total costs, reliability concerns, and comfort factor we decided on a T1N sprinter for our next home. None of the off the shelf conversions met our needs, and with the costs of customization included we were better off doing the conversion ourselves.
The Purchase:
We stumbled upon a low miles 2004 140” T1N in florida. A couple of flights and 2 days of driving later we had our next ride in the driveway! Ironically the sprinter cost almost exactly what we sold our Vanagon for. Other than a resonator change in a Wal-Mart parking lot and the crappy paint we have had no issues other than maintenance items on the sprinter.
The Plan:
We are tentatively planning on leaving our jobs next year to do a shakedown cruise out west and maybe into Canada. Following that we will ship the van to Australia where will be flying to meet it. We will stay until the vans import permit expires.
The List:
Unlike many first time/DIY conversions we have a very good idea what our needs are. While we did sacrifice in several areas moving to the sprinter, I think we really have a good conversion on its way. I would classify us as on the minimalist side of American campers/RVers. However due to the extended amount of time we plan on spending in the sprinter we are splurging on some options.
Some Wife (SWMBO) requirements:
- Full time, or less than 1min deployable bed
- Permanent swivel table
- Hot/warm water in less than 10 minutes
- Indoor shower (temp or fixed)
Some of my requirements:
- Bed length of 73” minimum
- 72.5” headroom minimum
- AUX power for 2 laptops for 2-3 hours, Lights, Fans etc.
Combined requirements:
- Sink
- 2 burner cooktop
- Compressor fridge with freezer
- 4 cubic ft of storage accessible from indoors
- 30 gallons of water minimum
The Layout:
Given we only needed to sleep 2, and that we had good success with the Westfalia layout we decided to start there. Well, actually I modeled about 4 other layouts for our 140” and all of them were either to cluttered or totally unbalanced weight wise.
Here is what the layout looked like at the very beginning of the build out.
We have a galley which is 45”L 21.5W 36.5”T. This will have a dual burner induction cooktop and SMEV 5.5” deep by ~15 sink.
The bed is deployed full time and is situated transversely. It hinges up from both ends for storage access.
The tall cabinet on the drivers side has been truncated to make room for a swing out table, and to allow napping on the bench seat.
There is a cabinet over the cab, as well as overhead cabinets on several walls. There will likely be some pull out storage under the bed to be accessed from the rear doors. I have not yet tackled that project. I used Solidworks to make models for all the cabinets.
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Again I used 1/2" plywood and 1/x2" stock.
It went so well that I am considering making a custom under-body grey water tank from raw plastic.
If you order one of these make sure to check for damage and REFUSE the shipment if the casing is damaged in any way. Thankfully I will be repainting this unit so the scratches are a big deal. However, I did have to request new motor side end caps as they were badly cracked.
So much wiring... The solar controller case fan seems to run whenever the interior temps get over 95 degrees. Its not terrible, hopefully the bench seat bottom will drop it considerably. If anyone wants more detailed review/info on any of the components let me know.
