Adventure Van -> Truck Camper -> DIY.Roamer

That article is a few years old. No Iveco for the US.

Iveco eh?

The Canadian military has had Iveco light trucks for quite a while.
Everyone I've talked to who has experience with them says they're crap.
Then again I've never talked to a soldier who thinks any of the non-armoured
vehicles are any good.
We'll see I guess.

Read more: http://www.leftlanenews.com/mercedes-sprinter-4x4.html#ixzz2pfw7hRMi

There are shops doing 4x4 conversions here in NA but the cost is jaw dropping prohibitive, unless you are using the van to generate some pretty good revenue.
The factory upgrade works out to around $11,500, and I've seen some custom conversion quotes on the net coming in at the $28,000 mark.
Big difference, too big for the recreational user.

So this is a helluva thread.

I started on page 1 several days ago and finally made it to the end. Fuggin' marvelous!

Last year I was fortunate enough to find myself in New Zealand for 3 weeks. Everywhere we went-particularly on South Island-there were these mini-campers. I couldn't get over how awesome these things were. Many were far smaller than your Sprinter. Many based on VW vans, many more based on small Toyota vans (HiAce? LiteAce? I ferget). I remember thinking how awesome those vehicles are. How much more reasonable they are compared to those MONSTER Class A motorhomes you see so much of here in the US.

In my view you have combined those light campers with a toy-hauler.. which is fuggin' marvelous.

Superbly well done. I leave this thread thinking I must have one. THIS is my kind of traveling. I see FreeTheBeast has checked in here mentioning having bought one. He's in my area and I've heard of him. Hopefully I'll cross paths with him one day and get to see his.

Thanks for the ideas.

That's exactly where I got my van passion, NZ. I rented this little Hiace for a couple of weeks and had a blast. It's amazing how much gear they fit in those tiny things, and they're super economical. With a few more inches of ground clearance and 4 wheel drive...

I hope you've been here and here.

These are available in the US and built on Ford, Chevy or GMC, gas or diesel chassis so you can choose your strengths and weakness accordingly. At 100-130k new they run pretty close to a new fully outfitted Merc Sprinter with comparable options (wet or dry bath, onboard water, shore connections, etc) and they sleep more people due to the over cab bed.

They won't see the economy of the Merc Blue Tech but that's always the cost of 4wd truck chassis.

In the US market it also means that parts are available in every town at every auto parts store or dealer.

http://www.tigervehicles.com/

They seem to be just the right amount of ugly on the outside and nice on the inside for the ADV rider crowd...

I got stuck today on a piece of ice the size of a frisbee

What I wouldn't give for a limited slip rear end.




.mobile

I'm not sure if they make something for Sprinter or not. I'm trying to avoid voiding any part of my 100,000 mile warranty.

In this case I was on a dirt road and met an 18 wheeler at a 90 degree corner. I got over with two wheels on the edge of the road to let him go by.. and then went to drive away and the van wouldn't move.

It was in "one wheel drive" with that wheel on the ice.

I turned off the ASR and after 5 minutes of spinning back and forth I managed to burn through the ice down to the dirt and drive away.. but the damn thing should haven't never been stuck to begin with I did have my chains with me if I needed them.. but I was trying to avoid getting dirty as I was on the way to a client

If we don't do 4WD I think I'm going to invest in a receiver winch that I can mount front or rear for the time when I truly bury the thing.

Barring a change in our plans - I'm completely stripping the van's interior out tomorrow

You use that beastie as your daily driver?:huh

Yeah, I've been underwhelmed twice now. Both times I got a front wheel into a hole or pocket when the van wasn't sitting level, and off we go to spin city. ASR on or off didn't seem to make much difference (by myself, so I couldn't look), and I need to work on technique rocking - the D-R shift isn't easy and it seems to take the trans time to shift as well, so I couldn't get any momentum going. I think the stock tires should share some of the blame as well.

You're stripping out the interior? Wuh?

Oh yeah. 50,000 miles on it already.
20mpg (hell the jeep only gets like 14).. and I keep my mountain bike inside so I can sneak in rides between clients

I rode Boulder Valley Ranch this morning after my first client

There will be no change in plans. We are going to get this done.

Not sure why you are stripping everything out, but I'm looking forward to seeing some more pics!

We've got to do the insulation, put the walls in, insulate the ceiling and finish the ceiling off.

Then the cabinets can go back in. We've (mostly Ed) has been putting things together quickly just to make it usable for our trips. He's done a fantastic job with it. We're looking at this as our "final" build and getting the insulation and such done.

We're both really looking forward to being able to use this all 4 seasons here in CO.