Mercedes Sprinter 4x4

This Mercedes Sprinter is fitted with the optional four wheel drive system with difflocks to both rear and centre differentials. It originally belonged to a national power company and would have been used for getting crews and equipment to remote locations. The exterior of the van was in pretty good shape, but the interior left a lot to be desired due to its previous abuse. The front half of the cargo area was converted to a kitchen with ply wall lining. There was even a gas cooker installed. The rear section contained a cupboard with gas tank fitted and a workshop bench. The walls, wheel arches and bulkhead had been significantly beaten up, as can be seen from the photographs..

Interior - front section

Interior - rear section

The interior bulkhead and ply lining were removed prior to purchase leaving the interior empty, but a little messy. A number of further improvements were immediately made to the van -

The purpose of buying this vehicle was to use it as a recovery vehicle for our hot air ballooning business. This necessitated towing a heavy trailer (the van already had a towbar and electrics fitted) and carrying 11 passengers plus a crew member and pilot. The Land Rover 101 that we had been previously using was sold to make way for this van. Clearly, more radical work was required!

A set of 12 minibus seats were bought from Ebay in the UK. These seats all had 3 point seatbelts fitted and were very comfortable. A trip was then made to Wilker Auto Conversions in Clara, Co. Offaly in the midlands of Ireland. They provided a quotation for carrying out a professional conversion to the van using my supplied seats. The work carried out was as follows -

The 'After' shots

Alessio 16" wheels with 235/85R16 Grip Edge tyres (31.12" diam)

Side step and new seated interior

Side shot

Interior - 15 seats including driver - note seats on quick-release 'Unwin' tracking

Second row of seats (fixed) - plus champagne cooler bag :-)

Rooflight - opens forwards, backwards or both

Boston Acoustics Pro 6.53 3 way speakers with crossovers

Interior showing DVD 10.2" DVD screen

Sony Xplod 12" sub and 800W amp mounted in MDF around seat base (Vibe CBR-12 active sub was too big to fit!)

JVC AVX-1 DVD head unit - note rear and centre difflock switches for 4x4

10.2" DVD screen

Parrot 3400-LS colour bluetooth kit including built-in GPS

 

OK, the Bronco tyres have been on for about 4 weeks and have now been removed!! Where there were clearance issues on full articulation (or with 15 passengers inside) the tyres could sometimes rub. This caused complete tread blocks to come away from the tyre carcase. This is the downside of using a retread tyre. The tyres have now been changed with slightly smaller 245/75R16 BF Goodrich Mud Terrains. These had their first outing at the Irish 4x4 Jamboree hosted by CLRI (Club Land Rover Ireland). Here are the photos of the Sprinter in action, which caused more than a few jaws to drop amongst the extreme Land Rover fraternity!!

 

Diary 14th April 2007

The Sprinter was put to good use in January, taking us across to Northern Italy and Switzerland where we successfully won 6 World Records in hot air ballooning. Not only did it not miss a beat, but it failed to get stuck in any of the snow and ice, without having to resort to snow-chains.

The van has also now been fitted with more equipment -

 

Diary 15th May 2007

New addition to the family!!

 

This is a 2002 LWB (4.025m) Hi-roof 4x4 panel van that has been converted in a similar fashion to my MWB 4x4 van. This van is also permanent 4 wheel drive with the centre and rear electronic difflocks. It is fitted with an 8,500lb Husky electric winch to the front. As you can see, I have already changed the wheels and tyres to 16 inch with 245/75R16 B F Goodrich Mud Terrain tyres. This required minor trimming of the front bodywork/bumper to fit.

Changes made so far :-