Mike Hiscox, who had CMI do that conversion of what he calls his "Sprinter Expedition Camper", isn't under any illusions that it's an off-road beast (unlike Pall Halldorsson's 4x4 Sprinter with the 44-inch wheels, see
http://www.4x4offroads.com/mercedes-ben ... nch-2.html).
Mike said:
“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…”
I wrote up a post about it here:
http://www.sprinter-rv.com/2010/11/2...dition-camper/, which includes links to his ExpeditionPortal forum postings where he describes his build in exhaustive detail.