Sprinter lift kit!!

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
I've been dreaming of doing a lift and ultimately a 4x4 conversion on my Sprinter from day one. There just weren't the right parts available and I haven't been ambitious enough to put together buy own kit.

Many of you may remember the original quest to run bigger tires on my Sprinter In this link here

The cliff note version is this quote from myself below. Notice how much bigger the tires I have now are compared to the ones I started with on the 3500.

After running this set up now for about 30K miles I've been very happy with it! I don't have rub issues except on the sway bar I added in the front at full lock. BUT...........the fit is VERY TIGHT! I would like to have more room in there and a more aggressive look.


Figured someone had to step outside the box here and "go big or go home":lol:

Full disclaimer, these don't fit......yet:tongue: They rub the rear edge of the front and wreak fenders but there looks to be plenty of space for my to play with my cut off wheel:crazy: I knew this was going to be the case.....but bought the van to have fun with so here goes!!!!:thumbup:

Just didn't have time to start the fab work today.

235/85/16s





We test fit them and there was about an inch between the duals!



https://vancompass.com Just introduced a new "lift kit" and skid plates for the Sprinter!!:thumbs:

I live in the Colorado rockies and have ventured to some crazy places in my Sprinter as it is. So I'm excited to get a little more room under it.

At this very moment VanCompass is only making the from 2" lift for my 3500. We have been working together to get a rear kit done too:thumb:(They just didn't have a 3500 to work with) They are also working on kits for the newer Sprinters so I figured this might be a good place to have a general discussion about lifts on the Sprinters in general.

VanCompass did such a detailed set of install instructions and a video on their site HERE That I figured a detailed "install" thread wasn't really necessary:lol:But I will include a few pictures and details of my own experience doing it.


I just started installing the front and I'm excited to see how it works out.

Here is the required "before" side shot of my front wheel fitment. The inner fenders have been *slightly* trimmed. I know this looks like it must rub, but it doesn't even in the deepest snow.




Here is what comes in the front kit. There are two spacers for the front sub frame. Two engine mount spacers to keep the engine in the right spot and two spacers for the upper part of the struts. (and bolts).




Of course there was no way the neon green was going to look right on my burgundy Sprinter. So I had them Powder coated to a better color! I honestly would have been fine with grey or black but as long as I was having them done doing a color that was a bit more fun was in order. :laughing:






I'm doing this on the floor of my shop space with pretty basic tools. Having 2 jacks will make life much easier.




You have to pull the control arms off to reach the sub frame bolts. But it only took us about 2 hours to get to this point of having the subframe spacers installed.




I stopped here for the moment to wait for parts. My van drove great but one of my front struts was totally dead:dunno: I decided to do all the brakes, struts and tie-rods while I had the van this far apart. It needed those parts anyway. :thumb:
 
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Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Just a tiny little update.

I finished the lift install. I've installed a lot of lift kits over the years and this one was definitely on the easier end of the scale.


Completing the front end has just been delayed by "while you're in there" items. I discovered one of my front struts was dead so I ordered 4 new Bilstien shocks for the van. The brake rotors were pretty worn looking so I ordered all new rotors and Brembo pads front and rear. That of course led to having to drill out the rusted rotor retaining bolts. Which took a trip to the dealer 20 miles away.

Also figured I'd change the inner and outer tie rods while I had them open. Of course my tie rod tool wouldn't fit the inner Sprinter tie rod and that required ordering a new tool. Which should be here tomorrow.

I'd like to get this on the road with the front lift on it and get some impressions on how this thing is going to work!

 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
I will be interested to know how much toe and camber adjustment you need to get back to spec. Looking good though. Your tires are around 32" right?
 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
I will be interested to know how much toe and camber adjustment you need to get back to spec. Looking good though. Your tires are around 32" right?
I'll be interested in that too. Just eyeballing it now looks like I may need camber shims.

Tires calculate out to 31.73 so just shy of 32".

The VanCompass guys have been running 33s with some trimming on their 2500s.

I'd actually like to go taller but need to figure out the spacing between the dual rear wheels. Maybe I can convince them to make a wheel spacer ?
 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
I'd actually like to go taller but need to figure out the spacing between the dual rear wheels. Maybe I can convince them to make a wheel spacer ?
Why not, seems easy? Its just laser/plasma cutting steel plate, should be simple. Given you are a test customer, I bet they wouldn't mind helping out. :smilewink:
 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Maybe the progress would be faster if I didn't leave all the work to the 3yo.


 

C O L E M A N F U

King of all Manfu
Look good! Now I'm curious how they jack up those radical Arctic Sprinters? The level of fender cuttin to fit the massive tires is obvious but would like to see the underside.
 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Thanks.


Finally got all the parts to put the front end back together. New Bilstien struts, new rotors with Brembo pads, new inner and outer tie rods.

I knew from looking at other posts that the camber was going to be off. I've got some 2* shims on the way that should be here today. Unfortunately our forecast claims upwards of 4 feet of snow at my house. So the Sprinter is going to be stuck inside for a few days.

You can see how bad the camber is here. Shims should probably be included in this kit by default.






So here is the before and after! Definitely gave me the room I didn't have in the front fender.



Need to get the rear done next! But for the moment this will be good.


Since its inside I decided to grind down some rust and will be bed lining the lower prt of the van too. Which will cover over the tiny trimming I had done on the inside of the front fenders before.
 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Look good! Now I'm curious how they jack up those radical Arctic Sprinters? The level of fender cuttin to fit the massive tires is obvious but would like to see the underside.
The Arctic Sprinters have a solid axle swap under them. I've seen a couple of Sprinters with solid axles swaps on the internet but never in person and I've never found detailed information on how they were done.
 

The Silver Lounge

New member
Cole, I'm loving the exploration. I have the 2006> and would love to find the same type of kit for mine. I run 265/70 r16 and although it's mostly on-road here in the UK, it would look fantastic! It will be interesting to see how it translated to better off-road manner.

Do the company do the same for the post-2006 version?

I can't wait to see the finished stance of yours...
 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Thanks.


The company VanCompass is working on lifts for the later vans from what I hear.

We just had a massive snow storm (4 feet in some places) so it will be a few days before I can get my Sprintet out of the shop to test drive it.
 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Finally got the van out of the shop yesterday!

Drives really nice. Actually don't feel the 2" lift on the front at all. Can't wait until they have the rear portion of the lift ready to go for he 3500.

Going to need one of their skid plates next too.

Doesn't feel like the lift changed the driving dynamics at all. Which is a good thing.

I'll put some more miles in it and report back if I notice anything worth noting.

 

Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Time for an update.


We took the Sprinter to Moab from Denver over the weekend. All mountain freeway and twisty back roads to get there.

While we went out to camp off Kane Creek. Then explored and found the back dirt trails from Moab to Gateway, CO. In total we did a few hundred miles of dirt tracks. Van was loaded with all our normal camper set up, two adults, one 3yo, and two large dogs and all the standard gear that comes with them. On top of that we had 3 bike, 2 paddle boards, etc. What better way to test out the suspension set up.

The first thing to note is that the van settled quite a bit after putting some miles on it. I tried to get it to settle before putting in the camber shims with not much luck. I'd suggest driving the van a few miles after the lift install to see how yours settles and then decide on the camber shims.

Over all the van handled great! No issues in the wind. (I added a front sway bar to my 3500 awhile back which makes a big difference). We spent quite a bit of time on rough roads and there seem to be no odd handling quirks of the lift. I also tend to run the 75mph limit (or more) on the mountain freeway when possible and the van handles the high speed corners with ease. Never felt "more tippy" do to the lift.

This picture is at about 8,400ft overlooking the canyon lands between Moab and Gateway. It drops thousands of feet straight off. It was freaky even parking the van that close to the edge. There is a few feet of trees and then it just vanishes to the valley floor.



Kane Creek switchbacks.






The only problem I've had so far with the lift is that my 12yo Wolf Hybrid has a harder time getting in the van now
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Cole

OUTLAW SPRINTER!!!
Camber Shims?? Nice write up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, if you look back at post 9 you will see that the wheels had way too much positive camber as a result of the lift.

Right now I'm sitting with just a touch of negative camber with 2* shims.

This is what the shims look like. They go between the strut and the knuckle.
They were about $40 for two sets from the local auto parts store.



 

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Regarding the settling. Any time you remove the spring seats, they take a few miles to settle back down. If yours are older or high miles, a new set of seats and plastic spring blocks (between spring and frame) will give you another half inch of lift compared to worn ones.

After about 20 speed bumps mine had stopped settling. I still needed ~1.5 degrees to get into spec (installed 2 degree shim). With a heavier load 1 degree might be enough? When I take the van in for tires and alignment I will get a copy of the print-out uploaded.

I got my shims from Rockauto for $31 total (both sides). Moog part number K80758.
 
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