Popular Post task Posted March 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted March 2, 2023 I've not posted on here for a couple of years it seems but thought a few on here might be interested in a build thread for our Overland/4x4 camper. First, a little bit of back story to set the scene. Back in 2016 we set off on a tour round Ireland with a caravan and the RRC, got very frustrated at all the interesting places we could have stopped and visited but were unable to do so because we had the caravan on the back along with feeling a bit "tied down" having to use campsites etc. I'd previously been down to Romania with the RRC and had an itch to travel again so we decided to start looking for a camper that we could use to travel. Enter camper "MK1", we bought a 2015 T5 4motion kombi and converted it into a tourer with the usual additions of a poptop and a rock-and-roll bed. When I started the build I had in my mind it needed to get to places I could previously have gotten the RRC and Caravan however that scope soon changed after our first few UK trips but the vehicle was ultimately flawed as a base and, after a couple of great trips down to Bulgaria and up to Nordkap we decided a replacement was required. We had a few requirements that needed to be met with the new vehicle: Suitable and safe for long distance journeys without being too tiring, this means airbags and decent crash protection Under 3.5T, for many reasons. Mostly speed limits and tolls abroad though Space for 2 to be comfortable without needed to "live" outside, Norway taught us that 6 weeks in a VW camper in the rain can be miserable at times Facilities to shower inside Adequate off-road performance with low gearing. The real achilleas heel of the transporter was the gearing when fully loaded Ability to be self-sufficient for off-grid living whatever the conditions The base vehicle we ended up with is a 2014 MWB Low Roof Sprinter 4x4 with a low range and low geared diffs, ex Scottish Power. Which we bought during the second lockdown. Previously used as a workshop van it arrived with the usual racking, wiring etc. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Will be interesting to follow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 We quickly set about stripping out all the racking, flooring and plastic lining. Removed the bulkhead and stripped out all the additional wiring, returning the van back to a "factory state". A good clean and then some remedial work killing and painting rust. Laid some floor insulation and then ply over the top Being 6'5 I couldn't stand up in a high roof Sprinter so we opted for a low roof van that we added a poptop too, from a LWB VW Transporter. This gives decent headroom when shut and acres of headroom when open as we don't use the optional bed boards inside. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 To fit everything inside the van we needed to sleep "sideways" which meant adding side flares to the rear quarters, we also added some small campervan style windows to the rear doors and to the front quarter and sliding door. We chose to keep these small and place them fairly high up for a bit of security, being high it's difficult to look in and should someone try and break in there's less of a gap to fit through. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 9 minutes ago, elbekko said: Will be interesting to follow You won't have to wait long for most of the build, we finished most of it a year and a half ago although I'm still modifying and adjusting as we go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 Once we'd finished cutting big holes in the roof and sides I started to look at the electrics/plumbing/heating. The van had come with a Eberspacher 2.5kw air heater that we decided to retain and re-locate to underneath the drivers seat. I considered a few options for water heating but eventually landed on a Truma Combi 4E with a under chassis LPG tank that also fed a gas stove for cooking and an external gas point for outside cooking. This means we have two independent heat sources running on two different fuel sources, should we run out or one fail, however I am thinking of swapping the LPG Truma out for the diesel version if LPG continues to vanish from forecourts as it's getting hard to fill in the UK. We chose to go with a 120AH LiPo battery, 30A DC/DC charger and a 170W flexi solar panel on the roof. Our previous trips had taught us we rarely spend long stood still and in summer the panel is enough to keep the fridge running and the lights on. I'll probably add a second 120AH battery to this setup at some stage to support induction cooking if we remove LPG entirely. I mounted the solar panel on a sheet of aluminium to give it a bit more strength, act as a heat sink, allow air to pass underneath and to make removal and swapping it easy. We fitted a pair of underslung water tanks, 60L clean and 30L waste. I added inspection hatches to these. I made some looms up and ran all the wiring in the walls inside trunking to each outlet, running a cable for each light/socket etc. and brought the earths back to the same location, under the bed in the boot. Added an external hook-up point and ran cables for external scene/spot lamps. Colour coded for use. Once the services were planned and installed we could insulate and start lining and lay the floor covering. We used stretch carpet where necessary in difficult corners but tried to cover as many panels as possible with automotive grade fabric, sadly this took an age to arrive and turned out to not be enough so we ended up covering more than we wanted with the stretch carpet, something I'll revisit later hopefully. We used Altro for the flooring, something we'd had in the last van and knew was hard wearing and easy to clean. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Interesting ! Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty_wingnut Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Interesting stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 We decided to buy a ready-made furniture kit rather than make this ourselves, this meant we ended up with something that looked far more professional than I'm capable of producing and it was far faster to install. We had to modify a lot of it to fit as the kit was designed for a high roof van with less floor insulation. Bed lowered by around a foot to allow for a thicker mattress that puts the sleeping height at the widest part of the side pods Shower trimmed around the top to fit the low roof Under bed door lowered Overall I was pretty happy with the kit, the fridge mounted by the sliding door has been great when cooking outside or for grabbing beers. We also fitted a single passenger seat and swivels to both driver and passenger bases along with a properly anchored seat belt solution for rear passengers. The furniture kit, when fitted to a high roof, has overhead cupboards and a set of shallow shelves above the kitchen however this obviously wouldn't fit our van so I used this space to mount the various controls. I'm going to re-make this panel to go the full width of the wall above the kitchen and try and add some shelves as I'm not too happy with the outcome. We got a local company to make us some leather seat cushions Wired up the tails in the boot to the various equipment Inverter (replaced with a larger one at a later date) Mains charger Mains consumer unit CBE camper control unit for water tanks, pump, some lights DC/DC charger and Solar combination (replaced later) Fuses for other items that aren't fed via the CBE unit There are 3 map lights, 2 above the bed and 1 above the front walkthrough, that work independent of the CBE controller along with a couple of other lights that allow these to be used should the CBE kit fail. The fridge is wired directly to the battery, via an appropriate fuse, to avoid voltage drop. The boot wiring is another thing I'd love to re-do however that would be a significant undertaking and whilst not tidy it does work. Then had a mattress custom made for the unusual shape of the bed area, which is about 6'5 long and 4'5 wide, a good size and very comfy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 A door was fitted between the hab area and the under bed storage and the area tidied up to hide gas pipes, blown air pipes and to protect the Truma and water pump. I added a blown air pipe from the Truma to blow up the back doors, down the centre of the van and into the shower. After a couple of trips we decided that a plinth between the driver seat and rear passengers was required, this allowed for a nicer seating position and also meant I could run the diesel heater pipes further through the van and into the shower cubicle. I added an access door to get into the underseat storage area without having to lift the seat a few "basically finished" interior shots We added some cab blinds for ease, these have been great although not cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post task Posted March 2, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 2, 2023 Interior done meant I could point my attention at the outside and some toys/fun bits. First up, the van wasn't supplied with air-con, something we'd had on the last van and previous vehicles. I looked at fitting this myself but after pricing up the components and allowing myself 2 weekends to do the job I decided to stump up the money and pay someone to fit it. I think, if I was doing it again, I'd fit the aircon myself though and just pay to get it gassed. We fitted a raised air intake, not so much for wading but to stop dust intake. Rear springs were replaced with some uprated items to restore the ride-height back to that of the empty van I bought a set of steels from a later 907 Sprinter as they're ET54 rather than ET63 so gives a slightly better track width with the 245 width tyres fitted. Added some lights on bonnet mounts and on the rear corners. Fitted a roll-out awning I decided I wanted some decent front and rear recovery points, the rear was covered by the tow bar however the front was reliant on the factory towing eye which seemed a bit inadequate. I looked at quite a few options for adding recovery points to the front. I wanted something that tied the front chassis legs together and braced against cross pulling. I looked at a couple of options from USA where these are a massively popular but ended up choosing a winch tray from N4 as it was a third of the price and seemed to offer what I was looking for. It also meant I could add a winch 🤣 I'm not planning to do much winching, it's more of a "get myself out a sticky situation" insurance rather than something I'll seek out uses for, I've mostly used it to rescue others and only once to recovery myself. I followed a guide on here to mount onboard air using the Tmax compressor and plumbed it to the front and rear of the vehicle To try and break up the solid white of the van I sprayed the sidepods, window surrounds and bonnet satin black. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Nice ! MAER has started doing off road stuff for the MB van Including bottom plates and a winch mount Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Nice job I really like that. If I could afford another vehicle I'd like to do similar but with two kids it'll be a caravan for now. Maybe in the future though...... Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 I didn’t realise those 4x4 vans had a low range 👍🏻. I’ve also never seen those side pods … seems there are a lot of stuff available for them ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 14 hours ago, Arjan said: Nice ! MAER has started doing off road stuff for the MB van Including bottom plates and a winch mount I didn’t know MAER did stuff, I’ll look and see what’s available, I’d like to fit a sumo guard before this summers trip! 10 hours ago, miketomcat said: Nice job I really like that. If I could afford another vehicle I'd like to do similar but with two kids it'll be a caravan for now. Maybe in the future though...... Mike They sell a LWB 4x4 🫣 We met a family of 5 in Ireland who shipped theirs over from Cali to Croatia and had been touring Europe for a few years. 9 hours ago, Anderzander said: I didn’t realise those 4x4 vans had a low range 👍🏻. I’ve also never seen those side pods … seems there are a lot of stuff available for them ? The low range isn’t Land Rover low, around a 40% reduction, it certainly helps but it’s meant I’ve kept to smaller diameter tyres rather than going large. It also helps that the original order was made with 4.364 ratio diffs instead of the standard 3.923. They’re very popular in the states where there’s a massive market so a lot of kit available there but there’s not such a demand over here so we don’t get quite as much choice. The side pods are quite a popular mod, there’s a few different types available but I chose the ones to give the widest sleeping area. I had thought they might be an issue on tight lanes but they’ve been fine so far, the body shell is the same as a 2wd so fitting one out is pretty straightforward other than my choice of low roof. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 Sometime after finishing the inside but before painting it back and fitting new rear springs we had a 5 week break booked somewhere in Europe, sadly some restrictions in 2021 made them almost impossible. Not to be deterred from doing a decent shakedown run we grabbed a refund on our channel tunnel tickets, bought a ticket to Belfast and drove over to Donegal for 5 weeks instead. We had a great time exploring nearly all of the coastline, I was amazed how easy it was to find spots where we were alone and although we didn't really need 4x4 that much, other than a trip up Benone Strand, it was a good learning curve for the vans living arrangements. We learnt quite a bit about the setup on the trip and decided to make a few changes: The table was far too big for two people, we made a new one from an Ikea chopping board that's a much more manageable size The combined solar controller and DC/DC charger was carp, we replaced the solar controller with a Victron unit and then also replaced the DC/DC charger with a Victron unit. When the I switched the solar controller over the solar-gain went from 1.5W to 7W instantly. We wanted to run a coffee pod machine, so we installed a 2000W inverter and a Nespresso machine. This saves a lot of time in the mornings boiling a kettle and has been great when queuing at border crossings etc. allowing us to make a quick coffee on the go without using gas. The rear springs were sagging and the dampers weren't really doing much either, so along with new rear springs we added Koni dampers, new top mounts and some "sumo springs" for the front axle. The brakes seemed a bit "iffy" and on investigation the front calliper sliding pins were stuck solid. Replaced all 4 callipers and discs for genuine. I did a bit of website work for a guy that builds wheel carriers and roofracks and he gave me an Auxbeam control panel as payment, so I fitted that. I replaced the cheap shunt for the hab battery with a Victron unit Now that I had a bunch of Victron kit I decided to build a Cerbo GX on a RaspberryPi to remote monitor battery levels, graph solar and that kind of thing. New -v- Old front struts and top mounts, Sumo spring bump stop replacements. These removed a load of the body sway and gave it a much more positive/planted driving experience without reducing the limited amount of flex it has. In combination with the Auxbeam panel I wanted to make sure the bonnet lights would only run from one switch if the engine was "off" and the other switch if the engine was "running". As part of the SPEN build sheet for the van they specified the "EK1" or "upfitter" connection which has 3 connections. Perm Live/Ignition Live/Engine Running. This is pretty useful for triggering relays to run stuff like split charge systems that you don't want running if the engine is off. I added a bank of relays to run the front lights and air compressor (40A draw is too much for the Auxbeam panel), with triggers from main beam and engine on. Mounted the Auxbeam controller in the roof where passenger or driver can easily reach it. It's also got a phone app that runs from Bluetooth so I can turn the compressor off or various lights when I'm outside or in bed. The fuses/sold state relays are underneath the passenger seat behind an access panel. Bonnet lights mounted Victron sell a Cerbo GX module for a hefty sum but the OS that runs on it is open source and they provide it free of charge if you want to run it on top of a RaspberryPi. When I stripped the van apart I found a Tracker/Telematics system that had a RaspberryPi inside a good case with a decent antenna setup. I mounted the antenna at the back of the van on the roof and re-used it with a Teltonika RUT950 to provide wifi/4g for the vehicle and then re-purposed the RPI for the Victron system. In box with 12v power supply and VE direct cables 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 This is fantastic. We get a lot of the SSE 4x4 sprinters around here, they just hold their money so well. My farmer mate was looking at one as a D3 commercial replacement before he went for a D4 that came along at a good price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 For 2022 we went a bit further afield with a trip down through the Balkans, mostly in Albania and Macedonia. In prep for this trip I changed the oil in front diff, rear diff, gearbox and TX box. Had an alignment done after changing the front struts You can see the clean water tank on the RHS and waste on LHS next to the 100L fuel tank (uprated from a standard 80L). I ordered a rear diff guard, the diff pan is larger than the diff housing so one miss-placed rock will peel off the diff pan. Not ideal. Despite ordering this 3 months before we set off it didn't arrive until we'd already left so I fitted when we got home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 10 minutes ago, landroversforever said: This is fantastic. We get a lot of the SSE 4x4 sprinters around here, they just hold their money so well. My farmer mate was looking at one as a D3 commercial replacement before he went for a D4 that came along at a good price. Thanks! Are the SSE ones blue or white? I saw a couple of the blue high-roof ones available when we were looking but they don't all have a low box. They're crazy money really but we struggled to find anything else that struck the right balance, I didn't fancy climbing in and out a roof tent on top of a D4 and the missus flat out refused. We looked at a "demountable" on the back of the Hilux but they just seemed as cumbersome as the Sprinter once loaded up with the habitation box and you can't access the cab area from the habitation which puts me off a little. I did consider building something on the back of a Defender chassis but it would have been a lot of work and not as comfortable for travelling long distance, or as safe should the worst happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Always wanted to have a crawl under one, so it's interesting to see that. Have they got a separate transfer case? Or is it more like a 4wd saloon/estate car type setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 2 minutes ago, task said: Thanks! Are the SSE ones blue or white? I saw a couple of the blue high-roof ones available when we were looking but they don't all have a low box. They're crazy money really but we struggled to find anything else that struck the right balance, I didn't fancy climbing in and out a roof tent on top of a D4 and the missus flat out refused. We looked at a "demountable" on the back of the Hilux but they just seemed as cumbersome as the Sprinter once loaded up with the habitation box and you can't access the cab area from the habitation which puts me off a little. I did consider building something on the back of a Defender chassis but it would have been a lot of work and not as comfortable for travelling long distance, or as safe should the worst happen. They're blue usually, with lime green wrap added to one half... sometimes they come up for sale with the green still on. Terrible quality picture.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 We set off on the 22nd July and crossed the tunnel on the Friday morning before heading down through Germany/Austria/Slovenia/Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro into Albania where we spent 3 weeks exploring the country via dirt roads and tracks wild camping. I'll apologise in advance for the photos from the holiday, they're not really "build photos" but do show it gets used! I fitted a RAM tablet mount before we left and ran OsmAND mapping for the journey. First few photos are from the Theth to Shkoder road in Albania, quite a well known route. The was just above the Permet hot springs, we drove for around an hour to find this clearing where we camped for the night Just north of Permet in Albania None of it was massively difficult but there were a few tricky section in places, mostly it was just a lot of long dusty rocky roads. Stunning scenery and total isolation in places. After Albania and Macedonia we headed up through Montenegro for a few days then on to Bosnia where we spent a few days exploring Sarajevo and then headed down to Mostar before working our way towards the Croatian border for a look at the abandoned mig fighter jet bunker I got quite a few decent photos of the night sky, there was very little light pollution, this was at the edge of a lake on the hard standing for an old military complex that we camped on overnight. Met a couple from Poland in a Toyota that were headed south so we exchanged map points, GPX and drinks around a fire. One of the many bits of abandoned infrastructure from the 1984 Winter Olympics The abandoned jet bunker on the Bosnian/Croatian border. We drove around inside which was pretty interesting although a lot of holes in the floor. If anyone else is headed out that way I have a lot of places marked on Google maps along with some turn-by-turn GPX files for Albania and Montenegro tracks in varying degrees of challenging that I'd be happy to share. I've got loads more photos too 🤣 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted March 3, 2023 Author Share Posted March 3, 2023 58 minutes ago, landroversforever said: Always wanted to have a crawl under one, so it's interesting to see that. Have they got a separate transfer case? Or is it more like a 4wd saloon/estate car type setup? The 4x4 system is made by a company called Oberaigner rather than Mercedes themselves. It's a bit of an odd setup and not really true "4x4" There's a transfer case on the back of the gearbox with a selectable "4x4" and "low range" however the system is fully open diffs so it can be run in 4x4 on tarmac is you wanted. The front axle is an unusual setup too being an aluminium casing. In place of locking diffs it uses the ABS/Traction to lock spinning wheels and the power is a 60/40 rear/front bias split. This means that fitting oversize tyres has a fairly detrimental effect on the reaction time of the traction system, combined with the lack of flex, which can be interesting on tight hairpins etc. for those who have fitted anything beyond 245/75. It would have been possible to specify a locking rear diff from factory but nobody has ever done so to my knowledge. ARB now sell a rear diff for the Sprinter which I've been sort of considering but I've yet to be in a situation that going slow and taking my time hasn't allowed me to work through. It's still a van at the end of the day! For some real 4x4 van porn check out Iglhaut Allrad Sprinters, they generally have a greater lift and triple lockers with a proper low range. They convert your 2wd drive van to your specification for a price! maybe one day 🥰 All that said, the 2020/21 onwards vans now have the 4matic system from the estate cars which means no low range and non-selectable 4x4, in enthusiast and up-fitter testing seems to favour the earlier 4x4 system rather than the later one for more extreme use but the later system is far better on the road from a NVH point. Mine whines worse than the RRC does. 57 minutes ago, landroversforever said: They're blue usually, with lime green wrap added to one half... sometimes they come up for sale with the green still on. Terrible quality picture.... Ahh, yeah, the rumour is the blue ones have better paint than the white ones! SSE and SPEN tend to release a batch every 5 years so I'd expect to see a new lot in a couple of years or so. When they do we might consider upgrading to a new shape although I'm not a fan of adblue when travelling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 2 hours ago, task said: Ahh, yeah, the rumour is the blue ones have better paint than the white ones! SSE and SPEN tend to release a batch every 5 years so I'd expect to see a new lot in a couple of years or so. When they do we might consider upgrading to a new shape although I'm not a fan of adblue when travelling. The 4x4 system info is most interesting! The adblue issue is easily rectified by someone with the right software and a laptop 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonimouse Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 Theres an option with just a super low first and an overdrive fifth - no low ratio. A lot of utility 2wd sprinters were fitted with rear difflocks . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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