Vanimal: 4x4 Sprinter build
- Thread starter Kgorman
- Start date
This is a Pepwave Mini from 5gstore with a Verizon card for WiFi in the rig. We have kids and dude they chew through data plans!! The pepwave is always on power via SwitchPro/House battery and then broadcasts WiFi throughout. I have the Victron Venus GX connected to it pushing house battery and solar stats and tracking info to the inter webs. Plus local monitoring via iPad. Dorky I know.
This mounting spot is ideal, i used the dome light for ground and ran the power in the headliner over to the B pillar and down to my house battery. I have a trick antenna coming I hope works nice on the outside in place of the FM antenna but we will see!
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This is the device:
Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini with Cat 4 LTE Modem + Primecare (HW3)
*TOP 10 Product of 2022* The Pepwave MAX BR1 Mini HW3 with a built-in Cat 4 LTE Modem provides a reliable hotspot for constant connectivity. Engineered with the highest quality build in mind, this tough mini modem is sleek outside, yet ruggedized inside, and has been built to withstand...
5gstore.com
Colorado was amazing this summer. We have been steadily decreasing the amount we drive and over landing more. If I do my homework then the family gets fun trails and sights and experiences and I get to be able to be on dirt. This time we took our two large swiss mountain dogs.. *cough*
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I just got back from a race trip here in Texas where we overnighted and a couple weeks back a camp trip at the ranch. Lots and lots of Vanimal time.
If we’ve learned one thing it’s that a van build is a journey not a destination. When you envision your new van setup it’s most likely wrong. You have to dive in and make changes incrementally. This is a huge benefit over buying a van - your rig suits you!
Back to our journey..
We did a bit of tuning on the power systems to update firmware and recalibrate the BMS700. Now I have accurate readings for SoC. AMSolar has the right calibration charts for my lifeline battery and Victron kit. The AMSolar guys are awesome. https://amsolar.com/rv-solar/support
We need to up our ventilation game. Anytime we use the fantastic fan we can get way more airflow by cracking the rear doors. This is super apparent when we have the dogs. we need more flow! I don’t know the right answer here, maybe a floor vent? Maybe back window vents? This is an area we need to iterate on.
4x4 continues to impress. I don’t have pics but we got deep in the mud on a steep clay rutted road with the loaded trailer! I can’t say enough how good this rig is off-road. It’s no rock crawler, however, just about anything else and it’s amazing. They key, IMO is to put in 4x4 low range and take off ASR for mud, otherwise we leave on ASR. The Toyo MTs help a ton too. She’s a beast!
The VanCompass suspension setup rules. 100% different ride with it. Better sway dampening, better over high speed washboard, better towing. Great upgrade.
I really want to replace the bench seat with two reconfigurable seats. That thing is always in the way. I want an isle down the middle and the ability to move/remove the seats easily. No idea as to how yet.
We have a huge 2020 planned, we are using Vanimal more and more. I am starting a camping trip plan with more Texas overlanding as well as our summer CO getaway.
This year we plan to focus mods in:
- keep working on organization
- roof rack calls, I need more solar. If it’s cloudy I want to generate faster than about 80/90 watts when it is sunny or spotty. Owl Vans has what looks like the answer in a reconfigurable cross bar setup.https://www.owlvans.com/sprinter/ncv3/roof-rack-all-aluminum-safari-style
- some sort of vent near the rear so the fantastic fan pulls air across the sleeping area from the back to the roof.
- more internal lighting.
just an update... hope our learnings help folks out there..
If we’ve learned one thing it’s that a van build is a journey not a destination. When you envision your new van setup it’s most likely wrong. You have to dive in and make changes incrementally. This is a huge benefit over buying a van - your rig suits you!
Back to our journey..
We did a bit of tuning on the power systems to update firmware and recalibrate the BMS700. Now I have accurate readings for SoC. AMSolar has the right calibration charts for my lifeline battery and Victron kit. The AMSolar guys are awesome. https://amsolar.com/rv-solar/support
We need to up our ventilation game. Anytime we use the fantastic fan we can get way more airflow by cracking the rear doors. This is super apparent when we have the dogs. we need more flow! I don’t know the right answer here, maybe a floor vent? Maybe back window vents? This is an area we need to iterate on.
4x4 continues to impress. I don’t have pics but we got deep in the mud on a steep clay rutted road with the loaded trailer! I can’t say enough how good this rig is off-road. It’s no rock crawler, however, just about anything else and it’s amazing. They key, IMO is to put in 4x4 low range and take off ASR for mud, otherwise we leave on ASR. The Toyo MTs help a ton too. She’s a beast!
The VanCompass suspension setup rules. 100% different ride with it. Better sway dampening, better over high speed washboard, better towing. Great upgrade.
I really want to replace the bench seat with two reconfigurable seats. That thing is always in the way. I want an isle down the middle and the ability to move/remove the seats easily. No idea as to how yet.
We have a huge 2020 planned, we are using Vanimal more and more. I am starting a camping trip plan with more Texas overlanding as well as our summer CO getaway.
This year we plan to focus mods in:
- keep working on organization
- roof rack calls, I need more solar. If it’s cloudy I want to generate faster than about 80/90 watts when it is sunny or spotty. Owl Vans has what looks like the answer in a reconfigurable cross bar setup.https://www.owlvans.com/sprinter/ncv3/roof-rack-all-aluminum-safari-style
- some sort of vent near the rear so the fantastic fan pulls air across the sleeping area from the back to the roof.
- more internal lighting.
just an update... hope our learnings help folks out there..
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We’ve gone back and forth over time about how we store and use fresh water. Our use case has been perhaps a bit different than most folks in a van situation because we don’t really use it as a RV. So important characteristics of water are:
- 5-10 gallons onboard
- some way to use it when on the go, open the back doors and spray off shoes or give dogs water that kind of thing.
- some way to move it to our main cooking area for dish/sink duty.
We started with an air charged system using a corney keg. This worked well but the keg is hard to store/strap down.
we moved to battery powered with the Outdoor Kitchens Waterboy but battery was crap, build quality poor and just not happy with it.
I think we are back to air.I am going to resurrect the Corney keg and I’ll detail the mods here. Basically a DIY version of the WaterPort product.
- 5-10 gallons onboard
- some way to use it when on the go, open the back doors and spray off shoes or give dogs water that kind of thing.
- some way to move it to our main cooking area for dish/sink duty.
We started with an air charged system using a corney keg. This worked well but the keg is hard to store/strap down.
we moved to battery powered with the Outdoor Kitchens Waterboy but battery was crap, build quality poor and just not happy with it.
I think we are back to air.I am going to resurrect the Corney keg and I’ll detail the mods here. Basically a DIY version of the WaterPort product.
Just kidding?! Why would we sell Vanimal?
2020 has been a pile of S$&! - but in the tradition of annual mods and trips I have been at work.Our annual CO trip is off, but we will find something else locally - hopefully.
Let’s get into it..
New leaf springs! Mark at VanCompass has been awesome to deal with, and when I called him crying that my van was tilted to the drivers side after we did some heavy tricycling he helped me diagnose the probable cause and I ordered a new set of leaf springs from them. They should help the rear sag along with fixing our “bent” leaf spring. Truth be told it was my wife who bent it - so it was mega easy getting budget approval for the leafs ha!
We also decided that we need more options for prepping food and doing a quick dinner without setting up the full kitchen. So we decided to setup a drawer/cabinet at the rear and mount a Frontrunner drop down table to the door. Of course we would move the potty to the other side. This way we can pull over and make some lunch or dinner or heat up coffee in the morning with minimal mess/fuss. I made sure this works with and without the bike rack swing out attached.
We continue to make changes, I’ll post pics when I can get them to stop rotating.
2020 has been a pile of S$&! - but in the tradition of annual mods and trips I have been at work.Our annual CO trip is off, but we will find something else locally - hopefully.
Let’s get into it..
New leaf springs! Mark at VanCompass has been awesome to deal with, and when I called him crying that my van was tilted to the drivers side after we did some heavy tricycling he helped me diagnose the probable cause and I ordered a new set of leaf springs from them. They should help the rear sag along with fixing our “bent” leaf spring. Truth be told it was my wife who bent it - so it was mega easy getting budget approval for the leafs ha!
We also decided that we need more options for prepping food and doing a quick dinner without setting up the full kitchen. So we decided to setup a drawer/cabinet at the rear and mount a Frontrunner drop down table to the door. Of course we would move the potty to the other side. This way we can pull over and make some lunch or dinner or heat up coffee in the morning with minimal mess/fuss. I made sure this works with and without the bike rack swing out attached.
We continue to make changes, I’ll post pics when I can get them to stop rotating.