2018 SPrinter

[grantwilson]

I got alot done today, but it doesn't look like it lol.
The ceiling is about 90% up. gotta make some side pieces to fill that gap on the edges, then pull it down, finish doing some nuterts and paint it all.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Took far too long to do. Put every single piece up, measured where to drill the holes so every single bolt is in the same spot on each board. a bit over the top lol

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Finally also got most of that driver wall installed. Tomorrow i will cut out the window and work on the trim piece as well as the lower panel, fuse panel installation for that wall and the electrical outlet installation as well. fingers crossed anyways.

Have to get the whole rear all done by thursday. Bedslide should be here thursday, so need to get the side panels all buttoned up before then. This weekend iw ill install the Van Compass suspension as well!

 

[grantwilson]

and again more progress

I hate it, because I only really get 2-3 hours after work to mess with it before i have to get home, and 45 minutes of that is spend getting everything set up and cleaning up at the end. So I never get what I want done lol.

Finished skinning the passenger side and mounted all the electrical items in final locations. The little open spot down there is annoying me, But i will figure out something to put there. The panels won't stay white (some are black), everything will be covered with 1/2" foam and a really cool outdoor fabric that is a killer blue color the wife picked, but I wont be doing that until I am done touching whatever area I'm working on so it doesn't get dirty. Most likely the very last thing to be done.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Blue sea switch panel is mounted on the back of the cover, easy to turn things on and off (water pump, under bed lights, outlets etc)
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Left a small gap between the two to prevent any rattling or squeaking, and allow for cable passthru for smaller gauges
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Water tank back panel, and Tern Overland water fill are mounted. The color is off on the cover, so gotta take that part back and get them all resprayed
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
And got the Tern Overland window shade unit installed as well. Trying to source some 3" thick foam to use to trim out the space between the window and the wall, not sure what i will use for that just yet.

Overall somewhat satisfied. I would like to get the water tank unit covered today, and the lower driver wall skinned as well. If i can manage that, I will be happy. The Van Compass suspension gets here tomorrow, and the Bedslide on thursday. By having the rear all done, i can put the bedslide in and be done with that and the suspension this weekend hopefully. The dometic stuff should be on the way (penguin 2 ac, 75dz fridge, stove/sink) and im kind of waiting on them so i can build some important parts before i go too far and have to remake things because of size issues.

 

[grantwilson]

A number of things, such as finishing the roof, ordering the roof rack from Voyager Offroad and 110 wiring and stuff have been waiting on the arrival of the Dometic Penguin 2 AC unit. I got the version with the thermostat, well to be fancy or something. No heat strip since i have a Diesel heater. Plan is to run off the CTEK Smartpass and Inverter when driving/stationary whatever. I can also get a couple hours off the battery, or run from a honda 2000 generator when beach camping.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
The CFX75 and slide also came in as well, but that wont be messed with until next week most likely.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Took the cover off to well, take the cover off and take a look at all the stuff inside. Everything looks pretty well built and fastened. Was mainly checking to see if anything is going to break or vibrate loose from taking the van off sweet jumps. Doesn't look too shabby.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Had to make a roughly 2" spacer to space the mounting plate down to the level it needs to be at. sealed on both sides with weatherstripping
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
all mounted up and pretty. Next up is wiring, then trimming the wood to fit
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Id say it looks pretty sly up there.

I will be color matching it as well.

 

[Natchez]

I thought your first camper was pretty sweet, this one is turning out badass.

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

I am loving this build! Makes me want to get a Sprinter and set this up for similar use but with 3 kids, 2 dogs and we'd probably haul a trailer.

 

[grantwilson]

I am loving this build! Makes me want to get a Sprinter and set this up for similar use but with 3 kids, 2 dogs and we'd probably haul a trailer.

With a 170 you can do it easy. a number of people do it with fold down bunk beds for the kids and stuff

 

[grantwilson]

Im drained. Getting to the point where i have to take some time off lol. on top of 40 hours a week, i am averaging another 25 hours on the van, and its catching up hah. I think i may take a few days off after this weekend (or maybe this weekend)

The Van Compass suspension came in and opted to go ahead and put in the killer Fox stuff. TBH never was or am a huge fan of fox. But its the only option out there, so it is what it is. Did the rear, and after putting them in backwards the first time because i didnt read directions, and flopping it back around, i still got the rears done in an hour. at 630, I start the front, see the instructions said 4-6 in a driveway, or 3-4 for a pro on a lift.

Hold my beer.

Knocked out the front in just under 3 in a driveway sitting on a tire. Did a little hooning on the way to work on some powerline trails and the difference is so night and day, that it is hard to explain.
It just works so much better. No more bouncing around, the rear especially is a huge difference. The back end even with a full load hopped and bounced its way down the trail. Not anymore. Cant wait to get the sumo springs and the rear spring pack in when it is all said and done.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[Gothere]

Such an exciting build! So fast paced, with a bunch of different content, I can definitely see why this takes a toll on you, on top of a regular workweek.

 

[grantwilson]

In the last van I built, not having a way to get cargo out from under the cavernous under bed storage area was super annoying. On this one, I decided I wanted to rectify that very early on in the build.
I designed the whole rear end so the side panels for wheel well covers and stuff were as tight as possible (roughly extend 2" from the wheel well total, due to battery width)

The slide I personally chose was the 00-12 Dodge Dakota Short bed Part Number 1-6243-S

This fit my use case perfectly. They do have other sizes, and another may fit yours better!

The whole process was super quick (IMO) and took about an hour total with some putzing around.
The whole thing was well packaged, heavy, but well packaged. Made it through UPS with no problems (and that is a feat)
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

The assembly is easy with 10 total bolts and about 10 minutes doing it
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

From there had a friend help me set it in the van. I chose to set it as far back as possible just barely not touching the rear door and center it from there
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

To bolt it in, I chose not to use the plus nut stuff that they included. Instead I thru bolted the slide down into the van. I anticipated the slide, so i put a large number of battons on the floor to support the clamping load this creates with the space in the floor, and made sure my wires were ran nowhere near the slide fastening area.
I used a 3/8 stainless bolt, fender washers on both side and a nylon lock nut with anti seize on it to prevent galling.
The location of the holes ended up being perfect, right next to the support structure, so lots of meat
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

And final installation
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Overall, well worth it. I do have some slight concerns about vibration based noises, but until I do more offroading, i wont be able to tell, or sort it out. Around town with speedbumps and road irregularities it isn't an annoyance (and I'm the guy that finds the sunglass holder vibrating annoying)

Will update as time goes on.

I purchased through YotaMafia (info@yotamafia.com) Cause I know the guy from toyota days and he gives a few bucks off for peoples.

 

[Natchez]

Mock it up with the weight it will normally carry before you let the rattle get to you.

 

[grantwilson]

Agreed. Ill get my camera gear load on it and see what happens from there. I already have a quick and dirty idea (think jeep hood type rubber latches for boats) to keep it all tensioned if it does. But I like to try and not mess with something if i dont have to

Mock it up with the weight it will normally carry before you let the rattle get to you.

 

[grantwilson]

A few big things this weekend.

Flarespace flares are installed.
Not alot of words for it, pretty simple install. if you have questions please ask!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
I will say this. I changed from a window on the passenger to the driver side. The reason for this was i found when i was traveling and staying in a city on the streets, the window on the sidewalk side sucked. People were easily able to see in the window and it was kind of awkward at times. By moving it to the traffic side, it alleviates that. So cool story right?

On to installing the Tern Overland Electrical Socket. It's a cool unit that i found on the site and wanted to use rather than the janky noco thing i was going to do.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Its a 3 5/8 hole that has to be used for a pretty tight fit
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Make sure you add some paint to keep corrosion at bay
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
it looks super nice and clean color matched
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

I also did a ton of wiring. Ran all the ceiling lights, switch wires for the door opening like the last van, ac 12 fan wires, 110 wires in and out.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Also remembered this time to run the victron Battery monitor cable ahead of time lol.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

However. I did forget to run the 8ga wire for the blue sea fuse box -_-
go figure.

Lastly, did the first panel in the final decided color/style
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

All the panels you see in the van will be covered like this.

 

[ChepoCDT]

Woooow!!!! It's coming along really nice!

I really want to build someday a sprinter like yours!

Just a question, is it possible to access the battery on the driver side? with the water tank on top?

Congrats!!!

 

[grantwilson]

To bring it up current.

Wanted to start the fridge/cabinet base for the door opening, so built out the base!
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Boom. fits perfect

Then finished trimming out the interior of the flares, and also made the rest of the walls.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
I used more screws than needed, but i like the look, so there is that.

Today after work ill be framing out the driver side cabinet. Ill be doing the kitchen on that side in front of the window this time, with storage and all that stuff on the passenger door side as well.

 

[old_man]

Great work. In jest, I want to ask one question..... Does your wife call you a pain in the ass perfectionist? Mine does, but in the same breath says "but you do nice work", like there is no correlation.

I built a brand new 1973 Chevy van back in the day, I put a stand up fiberglass top on it and built out the interior. The wife and I probably put 100k miles on it trekking all over the Rocky Mountains. That was BC....before children. ;-)

Hope you enjoy yours as much as we enjoyed ours.

 

[blackntan]

not a CB. just a PA. I use midland units for comms. CB is pretty antiquated

Yep i live in the uk

 

[grantwilson]

Great work. In jest, I want to ask one question..... Does your wife call you a pain in the ass perfectionist? Mine does, but in the same breath says "but you do nice work", like there is no correlation.

I built a brand new 1973 Chevy van back in the day, I put a stand up fiberglass top on it and built out the interior. The wife and I probably put 100k miles on it trekking all over the Rocky Mountains. That was BC....before children. ;-)

Hope you enjoy yours as much as we enjoyed ours.

She just lets me do my thing lol. Im OCD about certain things (bolt spacing for example) but other things i dont care (wrinkle in the flare carpet)

 

[grantwilson]

Wish is my command

Building the kitchen cabinet. Will contain two doors and three drawers.
Dometic stove and sink on the right in front of the window. Water jug under the sink, storage on the left, with the vertical cabinet on top on the left, like the last van, except this one is a two piece unit instead of a single unit.
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
welded in drawer slide rails, lagun table mount rails, and skinned the sides
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

covering some of the panels, more fabric on theway
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Skinned and cut out the bed
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
router shavings suck

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
color code ac cover

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

and she sits like this now.

 

[blackntan]

Looking good grant

 

[Phildirt]

Looks awesome.

very very minor detail but I think the fenders being different colors would eventually get on my nerves. I get why it's like that and all but I'd have to paint one or the other to match.

Love it when you post, always something neat to drool over.