DAPHNE 4x4 Adventure Van Build

[pointsunknown]

Like so many before us, lured by the dream of adventure on the open road (and beyond) my wife and I took the big plunge into van ownership this fall. And now after months of forum lurking and many many hours of work on the van I can introduce our 4x4 adventure van to the world. We call her D.A.P.H.N.E. That’s for Dynamic Adventure Pursuit House Near Everything. (Also, Daphne is a sweet name).

This isn't going to be a super fancy van build as I unfortunately lack the skill and creativity for that. For now (Phase 1) we focused on the practical side of things - getting heat, air venting, insulation and a bed. Our goal was to have it roughly converted for the ski season. And I am proud to report that after taking delivery of the van in mid October we were camping in it by Thanksgiving (with our first camping experience up near Mt. Bachelor, where temperatures dropped to around -5F overnight - what a test!).

We haven't done too much to the van that I would say was 'original', relying heavily on the wisdom of those who have graciously posted their knowledge to the forum. Thank you all for that. I have been blogging my experience on another site, but wanted to post some photos and rare bits of original thought here, so as to add to this community that has helped us so much.

We ordered DAPHNE back in April and like most everyone else played the waiting game for months. I think the critical items we added to our build were:

1. 144 Wheelbase
2. Crew van (with headliner and back seat)
3. High Roof
4. 4×4
5. Active Safety package – blind spot monitoring especially. but high-beam assist is also really cool.
6. Fog Lamps
7. Cruise Control
8. Additional battery package

In the next few posts I'll try and highlight some interesting things we did - but like I said before, this is really just going to be a simple build, for now.

 

[pointsunknown]

So, jumping right in to some of the build details. The first thing we did on day 2 of receiving the van was move the backseat back. Here is the post that we followed. There is also more information in this thread and this thread. The punchline being, after removing the factory floor, if you start from the original holes for the back seat and then measure back exactly 858 mm and drill through the floor you will find a captive nut in the frame below. This is true for the 2016 Crew vans and as I understand it other crew vans as well. I believe it is not true for the cargo vans, but can't say for sure.

I wrote in detail about my personal experience of doing this here. But given that there really isn't anything new there that wasn't said in the above mentioned posts, I will just include some pictures for reference.

I would highly recommend a stepper drill bit for drilling the holes, I didn't start with one (because I didn't own one already) but after drilling the first hole I realized the error of my ways and made a quick trip to the hardware store. Those stepper bits are SUPER handy. Also, the rubber factory mat that came over the factory plywood had little outlines for where the rearward escutcheons were supposed to go. We cut those first, then lined up the mat over the top of the plywood and used that as I guide for cutting the plywood. It worked very well.

 

[pointsunknown]

For insulation and sound deadening we used the tried and true Hein patented (okay, not really) Thinsulate/Reflectix method.

Highlights:

• 400 square feet of Reflectix (too much)
• 200 square feet of Thinsulate (40 linear feet, just right)
• 86 square feet of Noico sound deadener (too much)
• 2 cans of 3M Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive
• 6 rolls of foil tape
• Van body –> Noico –> Thinsulate –> Reflectix –> Inside Wall

Here are some links to a few threads I bookmarked regarding insulation because I thought they were useful. You can find a billion of these is you search:

• Wall Insulation Questions
• Wanderweg Van – Insulation
• Lou Shields – Sprinter Covnersion
• Thinsulate post

Of course we got the Thinsulate from Hein. His estimate of needing 40 linear feet for our 144 was just right. We covered the entire van in thinsulate (walls, ceiling, doors - not the floor) and only have a few square feet left over. Hein also taught us this great trick for getting the Thinsulate into the narrow hollow ribs of the van by tying a long string to the end of a little Thinsulate roll (5" wide or so and as long as the rib, rolled over onto itself, fuzzy side out) - then using a shop-vac on the far side of the rib suck the string through the rib so you can easily pull the Thinsulate through. This was definitely a two person job, but it made the process SUPER easy.

We got the Noico sound deadener stuff from Amazon.. It appeared comporable to the fatmat/dynamat/whatever else stuff that a lot of folks have used. The price was right and we bought a lot of it. Way too much. I think we probably would have been fine with 40 square feet or so of the stuff. It doesn't really appear to do much that the Thinsulate isn't doing already (I know this statement lacks scientific substantiation - its just my feeling on the matter).

The layup went like this (from outside to inside):

1. Van skin/metal
2. Noico sound deadening panels (20-30% coverage)
3. Thinsulate
4. Reflectix
5. Wall/Ceiling finish covering

You know, I have read way more than any person should about van insulation and spent countless hours trying to figure out the best way to do this (as I am sure many folks reading here can empathize). Are there other better ways to insulate and sound deaden? I am sure there is. But the true test was on our first night camping in our van near Mt. Bachelor. It was -5F outside and our van stayed a warm 65F all night long with our Espar D2 heater easily keeping up in its lowest power setting. Perhaps I will update this anecdotal evidence this summer when we test out the insulation in 100+ degree weather.

 

[pointsunknown]

Our Crew van came with the factory headliner which I thought was going to be awesome and save us a bunch of work creating a new ceiling for the van. And maybe it did, but let me just say that removing the factory headliner was a huge pain in the butt. I ranted and raved about how much I disapproved of this task in my blog - so I will spare this forum from that. Maybe I missed some critical element that makes removing those plastic push rivets easy to get out from underneath other panels and disengaged from the inaccessible center of the van ceiling, but I couldn't find it (there I go, ranting again).

Here are some links and highlights:

First, research:

• Basics
• Advanced
• 20-minutes – wishful thinking

Tools to remove the headliner:

• Star drive (Torx) of various sizes (T-25 and T-45 I think)
• plastic (or metal?) trim removal tools
• Sheer determination

Tools to re-install the headliner without rivets

• 1/4-20 rivnuts
• rivnut install tool
• 12 – 3/4″ long 1/4-20 bolts
• 1/4″ fender washers

As hinted at above, I did not put the headliner back up with the factory rivets. I did not want to go through that again. Instead, I drilled through the headliner and placed 1/4-20 rivnuts in the van ceiling/roof framing. There are actually holes that will take the 1/4-20 rivnuts adjacent to the plastic rivet placements - so I didn't even have to drill out new holes.

Besides the plastic rivets, I also thought removing the B-pillar was pretty complex. Graphite Dave has a great write-up on how to do this, but what he doesn't mention is the complexity of getting the seatbelt shoulder height adjustment thingy back into position. The plastic part (attached to the B-pillar cover) has to be perfectly positioned over the metal seat belt part (attached to the side of the van) for it to work properly. For me this required lining up this round pin on the seatbelt with the plastic slider while simultaneously pushing the plastic adjustment button up so it can engage the spring loaded button on the seatbelt correctly.

Here are some photos.

 

[pointsunknown]

Okay, last post for today (I have to go skiing) - some brief notes on the fan install. It's probably the one thing every van owner turned DIY conversion specialist can agree on: putting a big hole in your brand new van is very scary. I spent hours agonizing over the best way to do it. In the end, it was actually quite easy. We went with the Maxxfan 7500k.

Summary: Used the standard sandwich method (from outside to inside)
Lap Sealant — > Aluminum bar –> fan mounting plate/flange –> butyl seal tape –> sprinter van sheet metal –> plywood

We used what I think can officially be called the “new standard” fan install method pioneered and made popular by Graphite Dave.

I really don't have anything more to say on this besides what has already been said. But I did make a fun SketchUp model detailing the layup - so I will include those photos for reference.

 

[pointsunknown]

A couple more photos of the fan install. With the fan located at the rear of the van, I did have to shave the plastic of the mounting flange down a little bit - maybe an 1/8 to a 1/4 of an inch or so, so it would fit between the ridges on the roof of the van. Angle grinder made quick work of this operation.

After some significant testing in the pacific northwest weather lab (read: sitting outside this fall), it appears to be watertight, as desired.

 

[LooseRocks]

For insulation and sound deadening we used the tried and true Hein patented (okay, not really) Thinsulate/Reflectix method.

Highlights:

• 400 square feet of Reflectix (too much)
• 86 square feet of Noico sound deadener (too much)
  ...
• Van body –> Noico –> Thinsulate –> Reflectix –> Inside Wall

...

How much do you think is enough?

 

[pointsunknown]

How much do you think is enough?

LooseRocks - Based on my experience with the 200 square feet of Thinsulate being just right I would say 200 square feet of Reflectix would be fine as well. Though we did make magnetic window coverings with the extra reflectix to stick over the windows while we are sleeping - so 100 square feet more (300 square feet total) of Reflectix might be worth your while depending on other use cases you might find for it.

For the sound deadening Noico material - if you go with the 20% rule and maintain that 200 square feet is the van body and roof area, then all you really need is 40 square feet for that and perhaps 20 more for the floor - so say 60 square feet of Noico/Fatmat/dynamat type sound deadening material. Others have used significantly more and many significantly less (or none at all). It seems clear to me that the 'right' amount is whatever makes sense to you. (which I know is a lame answer, but is what it is)

 

[LooseRocks]

I hear you about how much is too much. There's probably not a right answer on some of that. I'm always overbuying crap and wanted to avoid that. I'll probably do 200/200/60 on Thinsulate/Reflextix/Noico. What thickness Noico did you use?

 

[GeorgeRa]

Okay, last post for today (I have to go skiing) - some brief notes on the fan install. It's probably the one thing every van owner turned DIY conversion specialist can agree on: putting a big hole in your brand new van is very scary. I spent hours agonizing over the best way to do it. In the end, it was actually quite easy. We went with the Maxxfan 7500k.

Summary: Used the standard sandwich method (from outside to inside)
Lap Sealant — > Aluminum bar –> fan mounting plate/flange –> butyl seal tape –> sprinter van sheet metal –> plywood

We used what I think can officially be called the “new standard” fan install method pioneered and made popular by Graphite Dave.

I really don't have anything more to say on this besides what has already been said. But I did make a fun SketchUp model detailing the layup - so I will include those photos for reference.

Love it, 3d for a fan. One day I need to move from the last Century 2D to 3D.

George.

 

[morey]

Summary: Used the standard sandwich method (from outside to inside)

Lap Sealant — > Aluminum bar –> fan mounting plate/flange –> butyl seal tape –> sprinter van sheet metal –> plywood

Where did you get the aluminum from? How did you cut it to size?

 

[pointsunknown]

Where did you get the aluminum from? How did you cut it to size?

Nothing fancy for the aluminum bar. Got it at Home Depot. Worked great. Cut it with a chop saw/miter saw using a metal blade, but would think it would be easy enuff to cut with the same jigsaw you use to cut the hole out of the roof.

Used a drill press to put the holes in the aluminum bar. A drill with a good bit should also be fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[LooseRocks]

Was there any smell from the Nicro? What thickness did you use?

 

[pointsunknown]

Was there any smell from the Nicro? What thickness did you use?

I did not notice any smell - even when heating it up with the heat gun (it was really cold out when we were applying, so we warmed it up to help it stick). Used a combination of 80-mil and 50-mil.

 

[pointsunknown]

I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping this thread up to date with progress. I have been updating my blog regularly, but unfortunately not this thread on sprinter-source - which has provided me with so much value. I'll try to get better with that.

Anyway - on to more build information. The Heater Install....

Honestly I think installing the heater was the hardest thing we have done in the fan so far. It’s not particularly difficult, but there are a lot of parts and pieces, do’s and don’ts, and in’s and out’s (inside and outside work, that is).

Summary (TLR):

Purchased the Eberspacher/Espar D2 heater kit from www.heatso.com which is a company based in the UK. It shipped super fast and even with the import tax was still way cheaper than any deals we could find here. The install package came complete with everything we needed to install except for good instructions – which we put together from various posts and manuals found online. Installed the heater under the passenger seat. It works!

Tools:

• Drill
• Large hole saw bits (2″ + i think)
• hack saw or saws-all
• soldering iron
• grinder
• wrenches, ratchets, screw drivers, etc.
• patience
• Materials:

Espar/Eberspacher D2heater kit
A short (12”) piece of 5/16” black flexible fuel line
two hose clamps
metal male-male 1/4″ barbed connector
solder, heatshrink tubing, electrical tape, etc.
aluminum / heat reflective tape (same stuff we used on the reflectix) for use as a heat shield
rust inhibiting paint (for touch up)
butyl tape – for sealing around the mounting flange
zip ties​

Reference:

SprinterVan Diaries – Great write-up; better than this one, for sure. (actually this came out after we did our install, but it’s really good!)
Traipsing about – another good write-up
4x4 PAV Sprinter Build – DDunaway Write-up – good stuff specific to the under-seat install. Post 46, 47, 48, and 49
Procedure:​

The references above are really good so given that, I am not going to go through my usual detailed process here. I will highlight some of the specific things that we did.


The install kit that came with our heater really had everything we needed for the install, save fore the items listed above. All kinds of good fittings for various install options. There were a few barbed tee fittings which I guess are used for if you are cutting into an existing accessory fuel line (like if you have the factory oem espar installed under the hood). Since we didn’t need to do that, we didn’t use several of the pieces, but it was nice to know we had them.

When I first opened the box I freaked out – OMG there are a lot of things in here. But when you break it down it really isn’t that complicated (really). On the heater you have:

• Combustion air inlet (intake, 25mm)
• Combustion air outlet (exhaust, 24mm – smaller!)
• fuel intake
• power wire loom (with a few wires in it)
• control wire loom (with a whole bunch more wires in it – but you don’t need most of them!)

We decided we wanted to put our heater under the passenger seat. This was mostly because we have no idea how we are going to ‘finish’ the rest of our van, in terms of furniture, cabinetry, tables, and the like – so putting it under the passenger seat seamed like a good “no consequence” place to start cutting more holes in the van. We were pretty sure with it under there that we wouldn’t be tripping over it in the future.

So the front passenger seat came out. Since we have heated seats and those side airbags there were a few electrical cables to undo. These were easy enough to detach at their connectors but be warned: I am told that if you start the vehicle with these cables detached you will get a persistent fault (even after you reattach them) regarding the ABS system. This is easy to reset/clear at the dealer I guess, but I didn’t want to risk it. I didn’t test out if this warning is true. I just made sure to connect the seat back in before starting the vehicle (or even putting the key in the ignition). Maybe others will be bolder and can tell me I’m wrong – that’s fine.

We ordered the heater with this nice installation bracket. When it came, I had no idea how it was supposed to work. It also came with this nice rubber gasket. Since I forgot to take a nice picture of the gasket and how all of this stuff was (maybe) supposed to go together, I built a 3D model instead.

So how does that work? See the model below…
Left side: the gasket appears to be perfect for the bottom of the heater, but if you put it on the bottom of the heater, how does it fit into the cylinder portion of the mounting bracket?
Right side: Am I really supposed to cut a 5″ hole in the bottom of the van for the “cylinder” of the mounting bracket to fit in? Doesn’t leave a lot of sealing surface between the van floor and the flange.fan mount question

After staring at the heater, the gasket and the mounting flange for about three hours I decided there was no hope and I couldn’t figure out how to make the three of them work together. I probably could have emailed and/or called heatso and they would have helped me (sprintervandiaries says they were very helpful) but I didn’t do that – I guess I tend to stress the Y in DIY. Anyway – after careful deliberation, I decided to take matters into my own hands and ‘customize’ the mounting bracket. I cut the cylinder portion of the mounting bracket of with the grinder. It was just 4 welds and went pretty fast.

This is the setup I went with ultimately. Without the cylinder attached to the flange I had a nice flat mounting surface to place the gasket on and a nice flat surface to mount against the van floor. I used butyl tape to seal between the mounting flange and the floor of the van (yes! the same tape we used for mounting the fan on the roof!!). The layup order is (from outside to inside):

1. van floor
2. butyl tape
3. mounting flange
4. rubber gasket
5. heater
6. heater bolted up

The mounting flange also served as a great template for drilling the holes. And because the flange was sealed against the floor of the van, I could oversize the holes in the floor of the van (for some wiggle room) and not worry at all about having a leak. Bolts in the bottom of the fan and bolts in the mounting flange all went through the van floor with washers and nuts on the other side (outside of the van) to hold everything nice and snug together. Ultimately I have to say this worked out very nicely.

The second hard part was wiring the controller. We ordered our heater with the “easy start timer”. The kit came with an install CD and while the wiring instructions were espar - easy start wiring annotationplentiful, they weren’t exactly straightforward – well at least not to me. Actually, now looking back they are very straightforward – I was just so thrown off that there were a bazillion wires coming off of the easy start timer module and a whole bunch coming from the heater, but you only connect to 3 of the wires from the espar wire loom and connect to wires from the espar together. Really, that is it. I have annotated the wiring diagram for your (and my) reference.

Wiring of the main heater itself is pretty straightforward. You have three main wire looms: (1) the control unit wiring bundle. (2) the power wiring bundle (with the red wires). (3) the fuel pump power/ground bundle. Its pretty straightforward which one is which. And I have annotated another diagram, for reference.

BIG NOTE: we did not get the high altitude adapter and thus have no reference to wiring for that. sorry.

For the rest of the details, I am going to go ahead and say check out the references. especially this one from sprintervandiaries. because its very detailed.

I mounted the fuel pump inside the aluminum protector that covers the main sprinter diesel fill line. I liked the idea that it would be protected from debris getting kicked up from the road. However, the routing of the intake hose from the OEM auxilliary fuel pick-up was a little tricky (it does a u-turn into the fuel pump) and may not be the best routing. it seems to work for now. To do it, I just pulled of the aluminum protector, drilled a hole in it at the “right” spot and then bolted the pump to it.

On the close up, you can see its a tight squeeze between the sprinter fuel filling pipe, the fuel pump, and the OEM auxiliary fuel pick-up line going the other direction. You can also see the hose clamp over the 5/16″ rubber hose. As mentioned in the sprintervandiaries post – it was really quite difficult to get the 5/16″ hose over the factory fitting. but using a heat gun helped.

Because or heater was installed on the opposite side of the van as the fuel tap, we routed the fuel line across the vehicle, using lots and lots of zip ties as well as ‘heat shielding’ the fuel line with the reflectix tape where it crossed the exhaust and other ‘hot’ parts.

That pretty much covers this installation.

 

[jclark50]

I bought the floor mounting bracket as well and am confused as to how it helps. I guess instead if drilling the smaller holes, with the bracket you can cut a big hole. Not sure I like that better though. What am I missing...has anyone effectively used the floor mount bracket?

The only way I can see it being helpful is if you wanted to Mount the heater off the floor.

 

[sprint2freedom]

I bought the floor mounting bracket as well and am confused as to how it helps. I guess instead if drilling the smaller holes, with the bracket you can cut a big hole. Not sure I like that better though. What am I missing...has anyone effectively used the floor mount bracket?

The only way I can see it being helpful is if you wanted to Mount the heater off the floor.

I bought it and had the same observations and thoughts as you.

I ended up not using it and just mounting the heater directly to the floor with the provided gasket (making two medium size holes and a several small ones for the fuel line and mounting screws) which worked out great.

 

[Midwestdrifter]

The plate makes removal easier, as the screws are accessible from above. It also makes mounting to non flat surfaces easier, as you have more surface area to tweak, or use for sealing.

 

[OffroadHamster]

I bought it and had the same observations and thoughts as you.

I ended up not using it and just mounting the heater directly to the floor with the provided gasket (making two medium size holes and a several small ones for the fuel line and mounting screws) which worked out great.

I used the floor mount bracket. I cut one large hole with a a jig saw and used construction adhesive and construction sealant as well as 4 sheet metal screws to bond it to the floor of the van. It gives you a lot more surface area to mount the heater to, and means the whole thing isn't attached to the sheet metal of the van with just a couple of sheet metal screws. It makes the unit more easily serviceable in my opinion and protects the hose connections from debri etc. Its easier to prevent rust as well if you ask me as you can seal the whole thing rather than a couple of sheet metal screws that are going to be prone to movement from vibration versus a large thick plate solidly bonded to the floor board. Its also way easier to cut one round hole than template and drill multiple little holes and have everything line up correctly. YMMV.

 

[pointsunknown]

It's hard to believe that its been 5 years since we first started building our adventure van, DAPHNE. In that time, we've done a lot and built out and re-built the interior a few times. But each iteration has stayed true to the original intent; to be a practical and dynamic adventure van. Capable of being a camper van one minute and a toy/gear hauler the next.

Here are a few things that we've done over the last few years from my last post:

Built out the kitchen, then rebuilt it a couple times. Here is the current iteration.

We went fancy (for us) and did an epoxy clear coat for the countertop as well as an actual sink from Ikea (instead of a modified mixing bowl, like the previous version).


Built out the bed platform, then rebuilt it a couple times.


After going for years with a high platform to accommodate bikes underneath (like so many others), we decided that the difficulty in getting into and out of bed was not worth it (we never really put bikes underneath - opting for the bike rack on the back). So we lowered our bed platform to a little higher than "couch level". So far its been worth it - though we might need to create some additional storage areas.

Wired in a new amp to power new speakers using the factory (Audio 15) stereo

We wired the amp into the speaker outputs from the factory stereo system, using a 2-channel line level converter and a 4 channel amp as well as separately powered subwoofer. We also, came up with a scheme to run a separate bluetooth music device into the amp so we could play 'house music' without having to put the key in the ignition.

Added solar panels



Added two originally. Then added a third - cause 3 is better than 2. Also changed out the cheap charge controller that came with our solar kit, for a higher quality MPPT version. I'm not sure I actually *notice* a difference, but it 'feels' better.


Finally got rid of the factory ceiling.

And I think the new wood ceiling helps 'warm up' the van overall. The tongue and groove walls also helps, along with some 'ambient lighting' in the soffit between the wall and ceiling.

As usual, we've provided details for a lot of these projects on the PointsUnknown.com blog. There is a lot more pictures and explanation over there, but unfortunately my posts here are limited to only five pictures. Because sprinter-source is such a valuable resource to so many (including me), I'm trying to keep this knowledge base up to date too. We certainly couldn't have done any of it without the valuable wisdom of folks on this site.

We've also started a YouTube channel for various things, including our van. So if you want to check that out, our first van specific post went live this evening:
Video: An Introduction to our multi-purpose Sprinter Adventure Van : DAPHNE