Hodakaguy's 4x4 Sprinter Conversion - Pic heavy!

A

andrewarm

Andrew
Hodakaguy said:
Nope, no noise at all. Length of wiring isn't an issue, just make sure you run correct size wire for the equipment. I ran 6awg for both positive and ground.

Hodakaguy
Click to expand...
Great, thanks! The installer was unwilling to do any more research so I told them to just install the rack and I will wire up the lights myself. It’s wild to me that they couldn’t figure it out.
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
Haven't posted in a while as I got side tracked :). More to come on the van soon.

Picked up a low mile used 2018 Ural Gear Up. Years ago I drove a BMW R69S with a Steib LS-200 hack and racked up a ton of miles on it over a couple year period. Feels great to be back on 3 wheels again and the kiddo loves it!








My thread on the bike: CLICK HERE

Hodakaguy
 
V

VikingTdi

Active member
Wow! Great write up and impressed with the “thorough-ness” over the work!
I do have a quick question (and apologies if I missed this reading all the updates): for the rear bunk system, you installed a vertical bar across the rear windows with L track ~3/4th of the way towards the read. Was there a reason for not just going to the pillar instead of crossing the window?
 
Last edited:
DSM

DSM

Camp-Explore-Build...Repeat
Hodakaguy said:
Continued from above...

Next up it's time to seal this van up and make it weather proof. There is a glaring over site on Mercedes part when they designed the clips for the plastic side panels. Water can easily run behind the clips and into the walls during rain storms or when washing the van....not good. Now that I have my walls insulated the last thing I want is water getting trapped in with the insulation, time to fix this issue.

THIS IS A MUST DO FOR ANY SPRINTER

Note: For 2019 Mercedes finally decided to address this issue by adding a little rubber lip around each retaining clip to keep water out. I've heard that the seal is marginal at best and it's recommended that you still remove & seal these clips as well for a reliable waterproof seal.

Time to start removing the trim




The rear edges of the front doors and both ends of the slider doors have screws that need to be removed.






I purchased a cheap set of plastic body panel removal tools from Harbor Freight to remove the trim panels, they worked great. Note: Make sure the fulcrum of the tool is below the edge of the body panel so you don't leave any small dimple dents as you remove the panels. While pulling on the panel from the end work the tool down the trim piece and pop loose each trim clip.






Some clips will stay with the trim piece and some will stay in the body....either way not a big deal.








Next I removed the clips from the body using another one of the HF tools. You can use a screw driver here as well to reach in and compress/release each side of the clips, the HF tool makes it a quick process. The only thing keeping water out is the plastic contact against the body, and it's not a very good seal. Go slow and you won't break and of the clips, I managed to remove all the clips without breaking any in the process.












Next I used a bent pair of needle nose pliers to release the clips that were still attached to the side panels. I just reached in with the pliers and slightly compressed the tabs until the clip released.










Clips and Panels Removed.








Continued Below...
Click to expand...
I can confirm the new plastic clips on 2019 Sprinter with “seals” still leak.
 
E

eranrund

Active member
Hi! A question about the bed frame - I'm assuming you have some wood surface on which you put the mattress? If so, how is it attached to the frame?
Thank you for sharing this awesomem build log!!
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
VikingTdi said:
Wow! Great write up and impressed with the “thorough-ness” over the work!
I do have a quick question (and apologies if I missed this reading all the updates): for the rear bunk system, you installed a vertical bar across the rear windows with L track ~3/4th of the way towards the read. Was there a reason for not just going to the pillar instead of crossing the window?
Click to expand...

Thanks Mate. I wanted to keep the rear section open and also needed the rear track to follow the same curve as the front track so when the bed is raised/lowered it stays even. It's worked really well so far.

Hodakaguy
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
eranrund said:
Hi! A question about the bed frame - I'm assuming you have some wood surface on which you put the mattress? If so, how is it attached to the frame?
Thank you for sharing this awesomem build log!!
Click to expand...
The bed still isn't quite finished, the boards that are on there now are temporarily strapped on with ratchet straps. We started camping with the setup and I never got around to finishing the bed up. I will add some aluminum tabs on the inside of the frame and the boards will be bolted to these tabs. I have a friend with a CNC router that is going to make me some finger joints so the boards can slide apart as needed. More to come on that once warmer weather shows back up :)

Hodakaguy
 
E

eranrund

Active member
Hodakaguy said:
The bed still isn't quite finished, the boards that are on there now are temporarily strapped on with ratchet straps. We started camping with the setup and I never got around to finishing the bed up. I will add some aluminum tabs on the inside of the frame and the boards will be bolted to these tabs. I have a friend with a CNC router that is going to make me some finger joints so the boards can slide apart as needed. More to come on that once warmer weather shows back up :)

Hodakaguy
Click to expand...
Cool, thank you! Merry Christmas!
 
E

eranrund

Active member
One other question as I study your bedframe design in an attempt to replicate it (finally something to get me to learn how to Tig!). How did you cut the rectangular mounting holes shown here?
1609026981841.png

Thanks again!!
 
E

eranrund

Active member
And another question... I just bought a 1"x1"x0.125" and 1.25"x1.25"x0.125" 6061 tubes and the smaller one is no where near fitting the bigger one... I was expecting it to be a tight fit, but it just flat out won't go in. I tried sanding it a bit and that barely made a difference. More aggressive sanding eventually allowed me to get a few inches in. I'm wondering what your materials and solutions were. Thanks!
 
S

shouldbeasy

Member
I loved your Unimog build and I'm very disappointed you've chosen this platform to make all of us over here look bad.

Your work is phenomenal and the attention to detail is amazing - the amount of love you show your builds is exceptional. Keep it up!
 
E

eranrund

Active member
shouldbeasy said:
I loved your Unimog build and I'm very disappointed you've chosen this platform to make all of us over here look bad.

Your work is phenomenal and the attention to detail is amazing - the amount of love you show your builds is exceptional. Keep it up!
Click to expand...
Any link to the Unimog build? Would love to take a look!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom