Lots of us have our dream Sprinters, but how many of us are there who actually go out and build what we dream of? Mike Hiscox knows how to make his dreams take shape. When Mike, an explorer and adventurer, didn’t see his dream expedition camper, he started planning it himself. The platform? A 2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 high-roof cargo van. The conversion itself was done by Creative Mobile Interiors of Columbus, Ohio.
Mike says: “I designed the truck, but don’t be thinking I’m any magic combination of Jesse James and Norm Abram. I can get by, but it was Owen Connaughton and his people at Creative Mobile Interiors that made the finished product so nice…we had unique requirements for storing fuel, mounting recovery gear, large tank capacities, no black water tank, etc. that were incompatible with standard “street” rigs. The craftspeople at CMI did a very nice job of trying to do everything just like I had asked for it. We exchanged probably a couple hundred drawings and e-mails…It took about two months of for everything to come together as to what to build, and then about four months for it to be built from an empty mid/tall T1N Sprinter van purchased by me from the Sprinter dealer in Columbus.”
In the US, the RV industry thinks of an RV as a house, and they size and furnish it that way. Mike’s Sprinter camper van is more like a small ocean-going yacht – every bit of space is used, and some spaces have multiple uses. The van, even on a 140-inch wheelbase, has everything needed for weeks of camping out in the wilds: sleeping room for two, shower & cassette toilet, 2-burner Dickinson propane stove, 3 different heaters, microwave, 22″ LCD TV with built-in DVD player, 8 cu ft. Novakool fridge/freezer, 2800W Outback inverter/charger, Heki roof hatch, satellite receiver, fresh and greywater tanks, plus some pretty serious overlanding gear: a 50-gallon fuel tank that replaces the stock 26-gallon tank, high-lift jack, sand ladders, oversized Bridgestone Dueler Revo A/T tires, even an onboard 10-lb CO2 tank with regulator & hose to help deflate/re-inflate tires for off-road and on-pavement use.
Mike has owned several expedition vehicles, including a giant Unimog 416, and the Sprinter camper van is the smaller feisty sibling that treads some of the same off-the-map territory: “… Mog Junior carries a winch, traction panels, a Hi-Lift jack, tire chains, multitool ax, shovel and all sorts of recovery gear.” Is Mike worried about getting stranded on his adventures? Not too much: “I take a satellite phone and file a trip plan with friends. And, after all, it’s not like you’re going to be stranded in a tent. In my case, I’d have to wait out a bad weather/road situation with water, food, heat and DVDs. It wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
So let’s cut to the obvious question, especially for you Sportsmobile E350 4×4 types – how does the Sprinter camper do off-road?
“You can go a whole lot of places with two-wheel drive and I have not felt limited in my expeditions….the preferred way to drive on expedition is to go everywhere in 2WD until you get stuck, then use the 4WD to get unstuck so you can go a different way.. It’s more solid than I expected, and for forest service or BLM roads in good weather, I don’t know that it gives away anything to any stock truck of similar size. Good ground clearance, easy to steer, a turning circle much less than any pickup and most SUVs, and with the high driving position, very easy to place on a trail. And the inline 5 diesel has excellent plodding-along characteristics.
However, it is two-wheel-drive with no diff locks, so it doesn’t do that well with slippery…because mine has significant weight over the rear wheels, it does better than other Sprinters or unloaded pickups. And there’s room for chains, which will solve snow problems…Still, ask yourself how much time you really need to be in 4WD to do your travels. If the answer is “not much,” you might be very happy traveling in a Sprinter. It’s excellent off-pavement in decent conditions…”
Mike has described his Sprinter expedition camper in great detail over at the Expedition Portal forum in these three threads, which are chock full of more photos and information on the how and why of his mods:
CHASSIS AND EXTERIOR: http://expeditionportal.com/forum/sh…ad.php?t=19224
SYSTEMS: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru…ad.php?t=26415
CAB AND INTERIOR: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru…ad.php?t=20079
Gallery – Sprinter Expedition Camper
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