100% DIY Sprinter Conversion - The "Making It There" van

[CChristianson]

Hey guys, just found this forum!  My fiance and I bought a Sprinter van and did the entire build ourselves, and I am very proud of how it turned out!  We will be quitting our jobs and leaving Portland Oregon permanently to begin our 6+ month trip around the US just after our wedding this July.  

Please check out our website, MakingItThere.com for a detailed walk-through of our van build and a blog detailing our travels.

Thanks!

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Hi Welcome to the group,

Great looking van! I've been researching and looking into buying a new sprinter 4x4. How's your overall experience with the sprinter been? Any issues to speak of?

Matt

 

[ilovemyvan]

Welcome and congratulation on the upcoming wedding. What a nice honeymoon! I really like your van, very good workman/womanship.

Nicole

 

[BradKW]

Looks like an awesome road trip is in your future! I'll be sure to check out your site when I get home...

 

[highdesertranger]

nice looking conversion. is that a Camp Chef stove oven combo? do you have locks on the cabinet doors to keep them from opening while driving? highdesertranger

 

[CChristianson]

Hi Welcome to the group,

   Great looking van!  I've been researching and looking into buying a new sprinter 4x4.  How's your overall experience with the sprinter been?  Any issues to speak of?

Matt

Thanks!  I dream of someday being able to afford the new 4x4 version.  I consider this sprinter to be my practice run at van conversions, so I can hopefully do a next level build on a newer platform eventually.  In general I love my Sprinter!  

Pros: 
-You can stand it in! (in the high top version anyway)
-Great gas mileage with plenty of power (25mpg during the summer even after the build out; diesel mind you) 
-Comfortable Cab area with seats that have an insane amount of adjustability
-Turning radius is insane (in a good way)
-Overall awesome form factor
-Reliable other than a few common problems (see below)
-Awesome support community/forum  (Sprinter-source.com)

Cons:

-As mentioned above there are some common problems (I am speaking specifically about the older T1N model that I have, but some issues persist to newer models). Such as injector leaks, turbo resonator problems, transmission vibration (RSN), and bad paint leading to rust issues.  


-Having work done can be troublesome and expensive. If you are very mechanically adept, you can fix many of the issues yourself with the help of all the saints over at sprinter-source.com.  Otherwise you may have to get some work done at dealerships or people who have specific experience and knowledge with sprinters, as they have several quirks, and their electronics are especially complex.  Many smaller mechanic shops wont have the ability to truly/accurately access or manipulate the sprinters brain.  Some parts are surprisingly affordable, and others are insanely expensive.  It is always worth doing the research to make double check a mechanic's diagnosis.  I have saved thousands of dollars by doing some research.  

I have had most of the many of the common problems occur on my van since I bought it, including RSN (transmission vibrations), injector leakage (aka black death), some rust, and a few other smaller problems, and can still say that I am very happy with the purchase.  Now that I have fixed those common problems, I feel pretty confident that it will be reliable for a very long time.  Some sprinters live to see 500,000 miles!

 

[CChristianson]

nice looking conversion.  is that a Camp Chef stove oven combo?  do you have locks on the cabinet doors to keep them from opening while driving?  highdesertranger

You are correct! I am using the Camp Chef as it allows us to cook indoors, or we can pull it out and use it outside if desired.  We have a hood vent, as well as a fantastic fan to help draw out fumes, and plenty of intake venting for when we cook inside, which is most of the time.  There is always the concern of carbon monoxide poisoning without proper ventilation, but we always make sure to open up the vents, and we have a CO detector and propane detector just in case. 

We dont have locks on the cabinet doors.  The upper cabinets slide to open, and I have not had any issues of them opening upon hard acceleration or deceleration yet, so no issue there.   The lower cabinets just have normal cheapo catches that seem to keep them closed just fine.

 

[highdesertranger]

let us know if you have problems with the stove/oven. I have one and it's given me some problems. had it at RTR and couldn't even use it. highdesertranger

 

[CChristianson]

let us know if you have problems with the stove/oven.  I have one and it's given me some problems.  had it at RTR and couldn't even use it.  

Thanks for the heads up,   So far it has been great, but we have only used it probably a dozen times so far.  Part of the reason I bought it's was because it was relatively cheap and could be replaced easily,  but I'm hoping it lasts a while.    My brother has one that he has used for many years without issue.  Speaking of my brother(s), check out www.oregontrailer.net if you're interested in teardrop trailers at al

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Thanks for the heads up,   So far it has been great, but we have only used it probably a dozen times so far.  Part of the reason I bought it's was because it was relatively cheap and could be replaced easily,  but I'm hoping it lasts a while.    My brother has one that he has used for many years without issue.  Speaking of my brother(s), check out www.oregontrailer.net if you're interested in teardrop trailers at al

I was looking at this same stove.  Reviews seem mixed.  People either love them or hate them.  You are right though, it's cheap enough where if it's a dud it's not a big loss.

Highdesertranger, bummer, I guess it's not so much the cost when it doesn't work as much as needing it to work when you need it.

 

[highdesertranger]

I didn't realize when I bought it but the stove/oven is made in China. I have several older Camp Chef items and they where all made in the USA. so when I got the oven I assumed it would be too. nope. so far both valves for the stove burners have gone out. getting replacements from Camp Chef was a pain. first they sent me a defective one and the lady on the phone wanted to argue with me, their is no way a brand new valve could be defective she told me. I told her it was, as the screw hole were not even drilled and tapped for threads. this is when I told her I was very disappointed in Camp Chef having this oven made in China. she told me it was because their was no one in the USA that could cast the valves. I called BS. so they sent me a new valve after ageing with her for like 1/2 hour. guess what it was the wrong one. the part number on the box was right but it was a oven valve not a stove valve. so I got to call back and talk to my favorite customer service rep. I don't think she likes me, but I finally got the right valve. now at the RTR it seems the regulator took a dive, as all I get is a warming flame, damn Chinese junk. highdesertranger

 

[masterplumber]

Well that is a bummer, I too have a large 3 burner Camp Chef that I love. I wanted to get the stove/oven combo for my trailer as the valves on my old Coleman 2 burner I currently use in there are starting to leak. I'll have to do more research. ; (

 

[CChristianson]

[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Finally finished and installed my custom roof pods! I made them from scratch in hopes to achieve something that could store a decent amount of extra stuff while being relatively low profile/stealth, light, and leave flat room on top for PV(s). Right now I only have a single 100W renogy panel up there, but will likely add another if I find it to be necessary. One nice thing about the design of these roof pods is that they can be opened from either side of the van, and left open in order to aim the panels towards the sun if it is not directly overhead. Check out the roof pod section on our website for pictures and details... www.MakingItThere.com[/font]