2015 Sprinter 2500 NCV3 4x4 144

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woody

woody

eternal noobie
Staff member
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
1,962
Age
58
Location
Toquerville UT
Our Tiffin is awesome for big trips and multi-week travel schedules, but I've been wanting something "newer" for the weekend or regional short trips...so I picked up a 2015 Sprinter 2500 that's already built-ish. The 98 12v is great for SH day trips but I wanted something newer for real travel.

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Details:

The interior is functional but simple....Dometic sink with cold-only water (folding faucet), small two burner Dometic stovetop, built-in Engel fridge. Small black tank and 20ish gallons of fresh water on board. Goal Zero 1250 solar generator under the bed with a 2nd AGM battery. Two Goal Zero solar panels on the roof. Queen mattress. Decent storage and simple layout. Ultra-portable crapper ;)

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First, tires...the tires on it were A> mismatched, B> bald and C> too small. So a set of 5 265-75R-16 E range Milestar XT's were put on...I opted to keep the rims. The 265 is the max size for no trimming/lift requirements with a 16" wheel...275's would fit with a 17 and might require a touch of trim work. Sadly, the spare is a factory steel rim so it'll get a 4 tire rotation.

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Next, hitch and brake controller...the factory MB hitch and wiring harness works, but the hitch is a ground-grabber and the wiring is notoriously not the best....so off to eTrailer.com for the Curt 6k rated hitch and the Tekonsha wiring harness and Prodigy P2. The harness is supposed to route inside the van body but the inside work made access impossible, so I ran the wire thru a new hole in the drivers-rear interior corner (next to the water lines) and ran it cleanly under the van. The battery is at the drivers feet and the wiring panel is under the drivers seat with a "boot" to route wiring from under the van. Install was a pain, but it turned out clean and works perfectly.

My first test trip was to Lasertown for a few KOH wheeling days. It tows great, the 5-speed handles "normal" grades well and is easy to drop into 4th when needed. I'll have Torque running to monitor some of the critical gauge items (since the factory cluster is useless other than speed and tach). The big climb N of Lucerne Valley to Barstow required 3rd and 50mph, as did the I-15 climb headed SW out of the inspection stop, but 4th/5th was perfect for the balance.

It DOES need a little help with rear weight, so a Van Compass AAL and shock setup is ordered. Van scaled about 7500#. GVWR is 8500 so there is "room" for gear and dogs and the tongue weight. Mileage on my return trip was 11.5 with a brutal headwind....no complaints :)

MB claims 5k towing capacity, and my buggy/trailer combined fall into the 4750# range.

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Nice. Awesome for little trips especially if you are batching it. Which Tiffin do you have? We had a 34TGA for several years before we went to a 5th wheel. Out of the 7 different RV's we've owned, the Tiffin was hands down the nicest.
 
whiterhino said:
Nice. Awesome for little trips especially if you are batching it. Which Tiffin do you have? We had a 34TGA for several years before we went to a 5th wheel. Out of the 7 different RV's we've owned, the Tiffin was hands down the nicest.
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2007 Phaeton 40' with the CatC7...overall love it 🙂
 
USB.... seriously, there's only one??

Yes....and it's disconnected due to the aftermarket Alpine stereo....dumb.

This is "before"....the radio/temp control surround needs to be removed, then the vent trim piece.

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Pop off the surround, believe there were 8ish clips around the outside edges and one in the center. Used a plastic trim removal tool, easy peasy.

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Disconnect the Flasher wiring connection...

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Two T25's on the left edge aand two clips on the right edge and the vent trim slides back just a bit and then removes easily (the top clips are hooks)

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This vent just pulls loose....grab about where my fingers are and slide it back/up.

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Held in place by the foam and a couple alignment pins...no clips to deal with.

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Next, step bit time. I believe my opening was 1", so two steps LESS than max size. This spot clears the lower vent AND the linkage for the upper vent perfectly, and is in a useful spot for the passenger. This is a dual 3.0 USB with an on-off switch....unsure I'd do the switchable version next time, but I had it laying around...

Amazon product ASIN B089SNPYFL
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And, the backside clearance...add your positive/negative (I tapped into the stereo wiring with the constant-hot and ground) and viola!

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woody said:
110,000 miles on it now, added a RennTech tuner, Renogy power management, a pair of GoldenMate batteries Amazon.com: GOLDENMATE 12V 100Ah Group 24 Lithium Battery, Up to 15000 Cycles Rechargeable LiFePO4 Battery, Built-in BMS, Perfect for RV, Solar, Power Wheels, Fish Finder, Trolling Motor, Off Grid Applications : Automotive and changed out the interior for a single cot setup instead of a full queen (more usable space) and a VanCompass 4.3 suspension upgrade.

Nothing major ;)
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no room for the lady?
 
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