Off Road/Overland Camper - Sprinter 4x4

[Badger110]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:34 AM, task said:

@muddy is right, the Crafter uses the 2.0 VW TDI, it's a good engine, had one in my previous Transporter of the same vintage.

 

What are the plans for it?

It is the 2.0l version, after the 2.5 which I think they swapped out in 2011. 
 

I believe the sprinters and crafters were manufactured on the same line until 2016 before they went their separate ways, hence asking if they shared the same engine.

 

As for what I’m using it for, it’s for work as I needed another van with a higher interior but once I’m inside it with a tape measure I know I’m going to be looking at converting it…

[Peaklander]

On 3/3/2023 at 12:36 PM, task said:

I fitted a RAM tablet mount before we left and ran OsmAND mapping for the journey

I've had a look at OsmAND maps and subscribed for a year as it looks really good - thanks. I've got an iPad 9th Gen which I am going to pair with a handheld GPS as during local 'testing', the iPad constantly drops the signal from its own GPS. Someone locally is going to lend me a bluetooth Garmin so I can try this as the GPS source for the iPad. I am planning to buy a handheld anyway because we have been caught out when walking a couple of times, relying on poor maps or iPhones that really don't like it when there's no data signal.

I am extending the RAM track we already use and also need to buy a mount for the iPad. Our iPhone and TomTom (not taking this anymore) use the B 1" ball but I'm thinking maybe a slightly heavier iPad would be better with C 1.5" but they are bulkier too. Did you go for 1" or 1.5" RAM balls?

[task]

2 hours ago, Peaklander said:

I've had a look at OsmAND maps and subscribed for a year as it looks really good - thanks. I've got an iPad 9th Gen which I am going to pair with a handheld GPS as during local 'testing', the iPad constantly drops the signal from its own GPS. Someone locally is going to lend me a bluetooth Garmin so I can try this as the GPS source for the iPad. I am planning to buy a handheld anyway because we have been caught out when walking a couple of times, relying on poor maps or iPhones that really don't like it when there's no data signal.

I am extending the RAM track we already use and also need to buy a mount for the iPad. Our iPhone and TomTom (not taking this anymore) use the B 1" ball but I'm thinking maybe a slightly heavier iPad would be better with C 1.5" but they are bulkier too. Did you go for 1" or 1.5" RAM balls?

 

Tablet is mounted with 1.5" balls, I don't think the smaller ones would have been sufficient!

I'm using a Samsung tablet which seems to hold the GPS okay, interesting about the GPS issues on the iPad as I'd been considering upgrading to one.

I really like OsmAND, they have a online map feature now too which is pretty useful for route planning and allows you to import GPX from places like Wikilocs and manipulate them

 

[task]

I wondered how much the cyclone filter on top of the raised intake was actually doing so when we got back from our summer travels I emptied it out and measured it, 4 grams of fine dust and a few larger bits so I'd say that was better in the cyclone than the air filter!

I didn't do much van related from September until New Year, a few trips to Wales with mates was it, most of my time was taken fixing the Range Rover and preparing the Triumph Stag for the trip down to Switzerland.

 

 

 

We usually head away for NYE and this year decided to head up to Scotland, van had other plans though.

First issue, the turbo wastegate actuator parted company with the turbo-pack, tied it back on with some wire and limped it home.

Mercedes only list that part as coming with a whole new turbo pack which I was keen to avoid, quick job on the lathe saw a thread tapped and a bolt added to hold it on. Re-fitted and we tried again.

 

This time we got about 20 miles before getting a warning on the dash

Limped it home again, bettery wasn't looking very healthy as we pulled onto the drive and the headlights were like candles

Exchange alternator from Mertrux

New alternator fitted we managed 800 trouble free miles around Aviemore and managed to enjoy a good dose of snow and -7 overnight on NYE

[Peaklander]

That is a nice conversion.😀

I'd like to clear-up a comment earlier where I said that the iPad I am trialling with OsmAND maps keeps dropping the GPS. It turns out that 1) wifi only iPads do not have GPS (I though newer ones do) and 2) it was accidentally tethered to my iPhone personal hotspot and was trying to use that as the GPS source. Today I used a Garmin Oregon 700 as source and the iPad worked perfectly. 

[task]

Not strictly “build” more “use after the build” but thought some might appreciate it.

We got back from our summer trip a week ago and thought I’d do a update on how the van got on and post a few trip photos.

Our route was :

France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, (accidentally Azerbaijan in an exclave), Georgia, Turkey through the south, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, France.

This trip has been quite some time in the planning, having eyed up Georgia as a destination after 2019 but world events conspired against us for a while.

Van went fine, almost zero re-occurrence of the injector/rough running when cold issues we had last year other than a slight grumble one morning in Georgia that wasn’t repeated. I think some dodgy fuel from the Balkans last year caused the issue and with a combination of new filter, injector recalibration and some injector cleaner it’s hopefully been put to bed. I do need a new DMF and clutch now I think, bit of shuddering on slow speed manoeuvres when slipping the clutch, to be expected though. 
 

We did a little over 8000 miles in 6 weeks on a mixture of roads. The first 6 days were spent on cruise control at 65mph in 40+ degrees followed by a lot of slower dirt roads and crawling up rock strewn mountain passes. The return journey was broken up by a 4 day visit into Romania to relax a little closer to home.

A small selection of the 1000s of photos I took, there’s loads on our instagram though for anyone who’s wants to see more.

 

 

 

[simonr]

Wow!

That's an amazing build.

I built my camper van for my specific needs which were more work related - but I think if I were building one for 'me' it would be more like yours.

Quote

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.

I went down the route of using Home Assistant on a Pi4 to connect everything in the van which has proven pretty good - particularly the automations.  I have it making more sensible decisions about heating, ventilation & air conditioning than is possible with a thermostat.  For example, if the interior temperature is > exterior, use the ceiling fan for cooling.  If exterior is > interior, use the AC.  It uses the three to try to maintain 22C inside with the minimum fuel / electricity usage.

I considered Cerbo GX, but past experience of Victron was theat they are a bit of a black-box, closed system.  While they tend to work, there's not much scope for hacking.  My previous van was all Victron.  The current one has none!

Although lots of people build Overland 4x4's, I have a similar issue to you, being 6'7" tall and the idea of being couped up in a Land Rover doesn't appeal very much.  However, I'd not considered a 4x4 van!

I'd not seen the side-pod things either.  They seem an excellent idea.

[task]

7 hours ago, simonr said:

Wow!

That's an amazing build.

I built my camper van for my specific needs which were more work related - but I think if I were building one for 'me' it would be more like yours.

I went down the route of using Home Assistant on a Pi4 to connect everything in the van which has proven pretty good - particularly the automations.  I have it making more sensible decisions about heating, ventilation & air conditioning than is possible with a thermostat.  For example, if the interior temperature is > exterior, use the ceiling fan for cooling.  If exterior is > interior, use the AC.  It uses the three to try to maintain 22C inside with the minimum fuel / electricity usage.

I considered Cerbo GX, but past experience of Victron was theat they are a bit of a black-box, closed system.  While they tend to work, there's not much scope for hacking.  My previous van was all Victron.  The current one has none!

Although lots of people build Overland 4x4's, I have a similar issue to you, being 6'7" tall and the idea of being couped up in a Land Rover doesn't appeal very much.  However, I'd not considered a 4x4 van!

I'd not seen the side-pod things either.  They seem an excellent idea.

Thanks, having looked through your build I feel that’s some high praise

I wanted to keep the van relatively simple and have redundant systems for a lot of functions. I’d love to have a play with the Hassio for the van though, I’d considered a smart stat on the eberspacher for remote control, maybe on the next van 😆

It’s a interesting line to skate between 4x4, overlander and campervan. I tend to be fairly risk-adverse when we are travelling but a little more ability would be nice. That said I don’t think I’d have managed 6 days of 8 odd hours behind the wheel in a row eating up miles in a Land Rover or similar and there’s very few places that the van hasn’t got us.

[Snagger]

I had missed this thread.  Glad I stumbled across it now!  It’s an interesting build with some great solutions.

[Jon W]

I have missed this thread and need to sit down and read it all. Sounds like my dream build! You may have covered this already in the thread but make sure you rust proof everything well as the sprinters do like to rust. Also heard about moisture getting in the sides where the black plastic trims clip on. 

Look forward to getting half an hour to read it all