Відео

Thanks for sharing that, the law actually says any led replacement bulb for halogen dot headlight assemblies regardless of manufacturer are not legal for highway use, I do have to say I am not quite sure who or how anyone would check or determine that the headlights are not street legal in an impactful way to the operator, the only way to get led headlights is through the manufacturer or through a dot complete headlight assembly replacement. I am not saying anyone should just do what they want but each person has to weigh the benefits of the vastly improved light output and visibility vs having a dot compliant bulb that does not provide better night time visibility which of course is why people switch out the halogen bulbs in the first place

We have not experienced any rattles thus far when driving when the seat is empty and the roads here in colorado are terrible

Awesome and Thank You!, and lucky you having them so close, yes the front transverse leaf still does the lions share of the work, but having the coil over makes such a difference. Everything is doable if you take your time!

Wow thanks and that sounds like a great set up for what your using it for. You have put a ton of work into it and should feel good about what you have accomplished!

This is for the 6 cylinder vs30, it may fit earlier years but i know it fits the 2019-2023, thanks

Thanks and thanks for the suggestion, I just bought a wireless mic so I can do just what your suggesting. Thanks again

Thank you!!

Awesome! Good luck with your build

Thank u!

Which bolt?

Thanks!! I made the plate out of some scrap sheet metal i had in the garage. Primed and painted it and worked out great, there are not many commercially available setups so I made one that fit my set up!

@@ramblingambition I’m not seeing much. Will see if I can fabricate one myself. Not really a big metal fabricator vs wood. Thank you

I just took a piece of 18 gage steel leftover from a sheet i had bought at home depot, cut it with a jig saw with a metal blade to 6 x 8. Then just took a 2x4 and put it and the metal in a vice and bent over with a hammer, left me with a 6x6inch face to mount the power switch and a 2x8 inch face to mount to the engine bay wall. Super simple and cheep

I would just lower the ladder to below the magnet, climb and pull off, the goal of the magnet base is to keep the ladder in place while getting to the roof, so ladder stays in place if you just climbing to retrieve the magnet it should be fine, you also can always leave it in place

Outstanding, glad it is helpful for you! Thanks for checking out the video!

I think thats a great way to keep it clean!

It really isnt an issue, after having it both ways i much prefer the strut opening as the doors are held open, i dont spend time in bed looking out the back. Like most things vans everyone has a specific use and outcome from their build. Thanks for the comment

Great question, i used two slide bolt locks one on each end of the tray, they drop into a hole drilled into the floor like these amzn.to/4030A5f they work great and look good and hold everything solid, you just have to remember to use them, i use a trip checklist because it is easy to forget things and the fridge slide and toilet slide locks are the first two items on the inside list, hope that helps

Thanks I appreciate it, so for jacking for the suspension changes, if you look at the rear leaf spring hanger closest to the bumper there is a large structure that forms the spring pocket, i took a length of 4x4 and a floor jack on each side and jacked the van up that way the placed jackstands on the hitch to support the weight of the van and stabilize it because there is quite a bit of side loading when messing with the springs then took a floor jack under the axle being super careful of the diff cover and used the jack to support the axle while doing the lead spring work. Hope that helps you some

Awesome thanks I appreciate that and congrats on the van, enjoy it!

Thanks ill get you the links

Here is the socket set amzn.to/3ZKysUB Here is the torque wrench amzn.to/3Bf7CdN

@@ramblingambition Thank You Dan, I really appreciate all your help.

@MikeB-g4k absolutely!

Thanks, you can use the same exact set up, the only difference is instead of connecting the wires to a dc to dc charger your just connecting to your battery setup, use the battery switch as the link to your vehicle battery and only open the circuit when the van is off that way the house batteries are maintaining the charge on the vehicle battery

Thank you, I appreciate it, I ran a 2awg wire marine grade tinned copper to the post in the engine bay. Hope that is what you were looking for.

Thanks I appreciate it, good luck with your build, the first van we did was an amazon van! It served us well

So many good options out there, the shower is a good spot for it keep you from having to make another spot for it!

😀

Awesome!! Glad it helped

Not sure i understand your comment?

Hope this was what you were looking for, i will do another video on my dc to dc charger setup, but this one gets the power feed set up

@ramblingambition Oh yea! Perfect! I can do that. I’m going to watch your video daily and on install day! 😁Only difference is I’m running the wire on the inside of the van. What about the negative wire?

With the wiring kit I got from Explorist it has a 40 amp breaker also. It should be placed close to the battery so I’ll just attach it under the seat as well. I ordered it before the van was delivered. I’m going to make other wiring myself to save $.

I am creating a common ground buss for the main electrical system and the ground for the dc to dc system will tie in from the ground buss bar at the back of the van

Yes they use a breaker style of disconnect in their build, I am using their design for my 24v dc to dc setup, just building it myself

Awesome, thanks for watching and glad it helped, I enjoy the process of making the videos, i keep it pretty low tech because its really more about hopefully helping someone get a project done on their own!

Thank you and thanks for checking out the video!

They are 5400lb springs in the back

I am not sure what the coil spring rate is, i also did the 5400lb springs, but that was done after the build out and a scale weight to make sure the spring rate was good and the front bilstein coils were matched by AO to pair with the rear springs. I can imagine empty or barely built it would definitely ride harsh, it will make a huge difference once its built out especially in the sway category

Thanks I appreciate it!

Thanks I appreciate it, I would have taken advantage of those options as well if i could have. I found a buss bar connector for the main circuit buss to activate the auxiliary power posts, it comes Monday so I should get something up this week

@ Nice. I’ve been watching van builds for years and DC/DC was run directly from the battery. Now I see the it run from under the drivers seat. I don’t know why. As my first build, before removing the seat and running wires I’d like to know why.

@rod8073 so the principle reason for battery direct is thats the easiest way to get power out of it as the alternator is providing current while the engine is running, depending on the manufacturer of the van will determine what the battery access looks like and what their power distribution system looks like and how available it is to connect to. In the case of the sprinter the battery compartment is super tight and not necessarily conducive to adding a 2 gauge wire to flow to the dc/dc. So under the seat power distribution give a factory power post that is fusible directly at the power source and makes things nice and neat, but it is a pain to get everything apart and in the case of the 2023’s and up sprinters unless you have the buss bar plate addition you to activate the two aux posts there is no connection point except the main power feed into the distribution block

@@ramblingambition Ahhh. Thank you! That explains it. Now I wait for your video! 🤣 Do you have a link for that buss bar?

@rod8073 here it is, its made by roamrig to provide a power feed for their stereo system but it will work perfect for a dc to dc power feed as well, comes with an 80amp fuse which is plenty capacity for the amp output of the dc to dc even if running two of them shop.roamrig.com/products/beatbox-2023-fitment-kit

Right on, I have a full victron electrical system planned, I am going 24 volts in this van and am using 3 renogy 24v 200 amp hour core heated batteries

@ I got my Victron system from van life outfitters! Not only did I get a 10% discount but a free maxx air fan 7500! They also answer the phone and talk to you and help with your order! I got my RTX 2000 AC and 3M thinsulate from them at the same time!

Thats great customer service is a lost element of business in todays world, glad you had a good experience, I have had good luck with inverters are us, thats where i have bought most of my victron components 3000 multiplus inverter, lynx shunt, lynx t fuse power in, lynx distributor, orion dc to dc chargers, smart solar chargers cerbo gx and touch screen, huge fan of their products and they also have great support and went directly to renogy for the batteries

@ I never heard of them! I have to check them out. I’ve been getting no tax and free shipping from those I ordered from. I’ll look them up now.

I did, in my old van there was a terminal underneath the van where i connected my power post for my accessories and extra fused terminals in the main fuse block under the drivers seat, in 2024 they got rid of the aux battery post under the van and all of the fused locations are taken, there are two available posts in the main panel but the bridge plate to electrify the circuits is not present, so i connected a 1/0 cable to the main power feed into the distribution box under the drivers seat and ran power post and connected the dc to dc charger to that with a battery switch and fuse! They did not make it easy!

@ Oh. So it has to connect under the seat now? I have the wiring kit from Explorist just needing info on installation. They went under the seat also.

@rod8073 yep they probably hit that main lug, its the heavy gauge cable in the middle of the main terminal area

@@ramblingambition Forgot to mention they were building a ford transit. You are a big help. Thanks

@rod8073 absolutely, i hope mercedes has the power bridge for those open post online somewhere, i havent been able to find it yet and i cringe at calling the dealer $$

Thanks, the lonseal is certainly a popular option and it looks good to, and yes being a giant is a challenge in a van, so since i have to bend down everything is a compromise so the emphasis is all placed on function, our old van had the same floor height and it worked fine, i am used to ducking my head. I played around with some of the 12v heating film and ultimately chose to exclude it, i wanted to do the hydronic flooring and heat but the cost and system maintenance/complexity just was more than I wanted to deal with especially given the diesel heater I had in my old van keep us warm with no issues and will be the same heater we are installing in this van!

@ I agree! The hydronic floor is way over priced! It also uses a diesel heater in the system. I’m getting an espar heater myself. I hope it fits in the seat pedestal. It’s way short as I ordered swivel seats. So far I hear they fit. Guess I’ll find out. 😁

@rod8073 we bought the espar heater as well, in my old van it is installed under the passenger seat base and there is plenty of room for the shorter base for everything to fit, we are putting this one in the base of our electrical cabinet more in the center of the van to help with some of the cold spots especially since this van is the extended 170

@@ramblingambition Thanks for confirming that and the help. I measured the back of the pedestal near the slide door as about 8” and got worried. Are you installing a shower? I am.

@rod8073 we are not, again as a giant, haha, its just not practical, everyone i know that has one hates it because its so tight and usually uses it once or twice then it becomes storage, plus it takes up so much room, adds a ton of humidity into the van, is another system to maintain and we are prioritizing sitting and remote working space, we will have an outside shower set up from the rear of the van for non winter time fun, during the winter there is planet fitness memberships which are pretty much anywhere and super cheap, plus as we traveled the country camping out of our jeep in our early overlanding years getting a shower is not super hard and in fact its a great break to take a real shower, just our perspective, you have precious square feet in the van and we just want more function is all

Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it, I will work on the transitions and the balance of talk and work. Thanks

Thats a great idea, my shoes are too big for that space and we plan to put our outdoor carpet mat and dog leashes in it.

flatlinevanco.com/products/the-extension Here you go

Absolutely

Absolutely, In my new van I had considered removing the old heater and putting it in the new van, but there is a new model now and weighing the work vs reward I just ordered a new one, plus keeping the old one in the old van adds value on resale!

@ramblingambition you're right, I'll get a new one, especially I'm planning on traveling up north eventually I'm in Quebec City and I want to be sure to have something reliable. I'll keep the old one for something else. Thanks 👍

@Hermes-t6z right on!

Indeed

@rod8073 thanks I really appreciate it. I am happy with the setup for sure, they are pricy but to me well worth it for the peace of mind and it looks good too

@randerson4383 thank you so much for the comment, I enjoy making the videos with the hope that it helps someone tackle their own project. As to the lift the springs gave about an inch of lift in the rear, the true benefit will be as we load up the van that progressive pack will help take the weight without sagging as much. On the front there is really no change, the shock up front just helps with dampening and sway which is greatly needed on these vans, there will be some natural lift up front as the weight balance shifts to the rear as we build out the van but if I do my job right it should be 1/2 or less up front

Try this link vancompass.com/products/engine-skid-plate-sprinter-awd-2023-2500-by-van-compass

Thanks! Love the videos!

@rod8073 absolutely and thanks!

Thanks, we are going to do an slider window on the sliding door, in my old van we did the CR Lawrence awning windows that had a clamp ring in the bunk area and honestly for our use they stayed covered 95% of the time so this time we are leaving them off, but yes if you break a glue in its a pain to remove but the spiral wire cutters they uses on windshields makes pretty quick work of them, hopefully we don’t have to figure that out!

@@ramblingambition At first I didn’t want bunk windows but wanted air flow in the back while in bed and my wife wants them 😁. Adding only 3 windows saves money also helped the decision. 🤣🤣

@rod8073 I hear ya! Sometimes I cringe when I think about how much I have invested, but when you wake up in a amazing spot and open that sliding door to an adventure it makes it all worth it

@@ramblingambition Oh yeah! This is my first van build so I can’t wait!

@rod8073 its great!

Hello, yes that feature existing on all the vs30 vans that i am aware of, when i was looking at the locks i called thunderbolt to make sure i got the right version and their technician is who told me about it. Mine is a 2024 so your should have it. To test roll down your drivers window, get out of the van and lock the van with the fob. Wait a like 5 minutes and then reach through the window and try and unlock the doors with the unlock button and it should not work.

How do you like the Mercedes Benz app that monitors the van? After the trial there’s a monthly charge.

@rod8073 i have not set mine up yet, been focused on the build out, but i would assume its like all the others i have had, nice when free but not paying for it, thats just my opinion of course

@@ramblingambition Same here. Was just curious what you thought. It is really nice though. GPS, monitoring, tire pressure etc. I don’t want to pay for it though.

@rod8073 I hear ya, you would think for the price of these vans they would include it for at least the warranty period just purely for marketing to suck you into it, so your so used to having it you want to keep it

Thank you really appreciate it, I think that would work, rivnuts make a strong bond, i would use the sika 252 as the bedding compound its a stronger bond than the 221.