Hodakaguy's 4wd Sprinter Build - Pic Heavy!

Great mod for your van. I’m about to mount my Viair under the hood in the second battery location and run lines fore and aft. But the speed and CFM of the ARB twin is impressive!

I'm pretty impressed so far with the ARB Unit....time will tell how it holds up. 

Hodakaguy

Picked up a Brother labeler. Not nearly as nice as the one you use but its still gonna help a bunch. 

Your gonna love it, very handy!

Hodakaguy

Beautiful Morning Sunrise....




Travel Light, Travel Fast!

Weighted our van this morning, fully loaded for travel (Except clothing and food) and weights in at 7320 lbs total, GVRW is 8550. Not bad as that includes the roof rack, 34" tires, full 47 gallon fuel tank, suspension with 2" lift, ladder, rock sliders, fridge, bed, cook gear, etc etc.

Just a reminder to keep weight in mind when building your setup, the trip is much more enjoyable and safer when the vehicle is light and handles well




2017 Sprinter Wet Wiper System Upgrade!

Seen this upgrade in a previous post and did it to our van today, great upgrade! For this install you install Mercedes OEm wet wiper arms and blades from a 2019-2020 Sprinter. The washer fluid travels up through a hose on the arm then into the blade itself where it squirts out small holes that are drilled all the way down the length of the blade.

The OEM washer nozzles on the 2017 clip onto the arm and they break off super easy, especially when washing the window with a squeegee. They also don't spray where you actually want the fluid to go. With the Wet Wipers the fluid is evenly distributed onto the windshield

Install took maybe 10 minutes, pretty happy to have this addition on the van.
Total $175. If you want to order this setup here are the Mercedes Part Numbers.

Wiper Blades (Set): 9108240100
Wiper Arm Left: 9108205600
Wiper Arm Right: 9108205700

New parts.




The washer fluid travels up the wiper arms through tubing then into the wipers themselves, there are holes all along the wiper blade that the water squirts out of.












Photo of the wipers/washers in action.




Video of the washers/wipers in action.

https://youtu.be/BRB4q6JR25A


Hodakaguy

Edited by Hodakaguy, 05 May 2022 - 02:56 AM.

Backland Expedition Gear Slider Install.

After installing the lift I wanted to install a set of sliders. The sliders offer several benefits: They act as a solid step, protect the rocker panels from damage, protect the side of the van from door dings, can act as bench to sit on or a table platform to set drinks on etc at camp.

I wanted a set of sliders that are built solid and able to be scraped/banged on something without denting or folding up. After a bit of looking I settled on Backland EG steel sliders as I liked the construction and looks of these units. They offer two sizes on the sliders, 4" and 6". I ordered the 6" as I wanted them to be a solid step platform that your whole foot can fit on, not just your toes.  I thought about fabricating my own setup but just don't have the time right now.

Install went pretty straight forward with a couple minor hiccups.

The sliders bolt onto the Van with 4 braces on each side, bolted into the van with rivet nuts and a series of screws along the pinch seam. The rivet nuts and bolts were sealed with Sikaflex 221. The sheet metal screws that go through the pinch seam was sealed with Sikaflex between the slider and seam and will have a Waxoil coating on the bolt heads and washers (Not applied yet). The rivet nut on the front mounting brackets required the plastic to be removed on the OEM drivers and passenger foot wells to drill/install the rivet nuts, there are plastic tabs on the underside of the foot wells that need to be trimmed to allow clearance for the rivet nut (Sorry got busy and didn't get pics of this step). The two drivers side middle brackets had a gap between the brackets and the body, looks like there were possibly built slightly off. I fabricated and painted some steel spacers to install between the brackets and van body then the fit was perfect.

The sliders are very solid and fit and finish is top notch. The bed liner coating that comes on the sliders looks to be ultra durable and offers a great grip. They make stepping up into the lifted van a breeze, a huge improvement!


The Sliders arrived packed very well in a wooded crate and foam bits.  The sliders are coated in INDY Bed Liner and should be very durable over time.








Mounting brackets and hardware.  Brackets are coated in the same INDY coating as the sliders.




Test filling the slider.  Fit perfectly.






Drilling holes (and painting) in the pinch seam.  There are 8 screws that are installed along the pinch seam.






Sikaflex 221 applied between the slider and the pinch seam for a waterproof seal.






Will Sikaflex installed at all 8 hole locations the sliders are pressed into place and held in place with the jacks as the screws are inserted into the sliders from the underside.




The 8 supplied mounting brackets are mounted to the van via Rivet nuts.  First you find the location that you want to install the brackets then hold the brackets in place and use a marker to mark out the bolt/Rivet Nut locations.   You then drill the holes (1/2") and install the Rivet Nuts using a install tool (Not included with the sliders).  Once the Rivet Nuts are installed I sealed the edges with Sikaflex then bolted the brackets in place using more Sikaflex to seal the bolts themselves.




Manual Install Tool










Bracket 1 out of 8 installed.



 

Continued Below....

Continued from above....

The two middle brackets on the drivers side didn't quite match up with the body and left a gap, looks like maybe a slight error in manufacturing.   I fabricated some steel spacers to fill the gap and everything fit up nicely.








The rear mounts get drilled and bolted in place.






The front mounts








And some installed shots.  Fit and Finish is excellent.






















Hodakaguy

nice work HKG !

Hello Folks, for those who have followed me on my past builds this won't be a surprise :-).  Squirrel mode has once again kicked in and our van is now up for sale.  I sold the last vehicle to fund an airplane and ended up building the van instead, now I'm selling the van to make the airplane dream a reality.  

If your looking for a quality turn key Adventure Van look no further!.  Sales ad here: https://www.wanderth...dventure-ready/












Hodakaguy

Someone is going to get themselves a really nice van!

We had our van up for sale for a very short time and then decided we use it to much to let it go so pulled the ad.  With camping season fast approaching it's time to get a few things done on the Sprinter :-)

I'm tired of constantly unzipping the Mule bag every time I need a paper towel sooooooo......Time to fix that!

I ordered a ratcheting paper towel holder from Amazon (The ratcheting units prevent the towels from unrolling when going down the road or tearing a towel off the road.  See video below).  Once I had the holder in hand it was time to fabricate a mounting plate to mount it on my L-track in the van.

Supplies used:

Note: The links below are my Amazon Affiliate links, I make a small portion each time someone purchases from Amazon using one of my links, at no extra cost to the buyer. I only provide links to items that I personally like and use myself. i use the money to put back into my builds and support making videos/posts. If you prefer not to use my links you can search for the same items directly off Amazon. Thank you for the support!

Paper Towel Holder: CLICK HERE




I'm using a piece of 1/4" aluminum flat bar to fabricate the adapter/mount for the towel holder.  I'll use L-track studs to mount the assembly into the van.


Holes drilled for the mounting studs.








Trimming down the factory towel holder mount to match the width of the aluminum plate.






Marking the corners to round them off.






Drilling and tapping holes for the mounting plate.




Tip for tapping aluminum.  Use Anti-Seize for lubricant on the tap, it will prevent galling between the tap and the aluminum.










Fresh satin black paint on the mounting bracket assembly.







 

Continued below....

Continued from above....

I decided to mount the towel holder in front of the forward Mule bag, I have a nice open space in that location and it's a perfect location for easy access.






Mounted onto the L-track.








And a roll of towels installed.










And a quick video showing how the ratcheting function works, This unit is slick!  Click the link below.

https://photos.smugm...140704-1920.mp4


Hodakaguy

Edited by Hodakaguy, 06 February 2023 - 03:21 AM.