Quote:
Originally Posted by akfiredude
Sorry IPT, I don't mean to hijack your thread.... My wife & I are getting ready to pull the trigger this week on ordering a 144" 4X4 Sprinter as well and are on the fence again with high top vs penthouse. We had lived full time in Alaska until I retired last year and moved down to HOT Sedona AZ. However, we still spend summers in the cooler climes of Alaska.
I've been going back and forth between high top vs penthouse for well over a year. I was originally set on the penthouse for ventilation, openness, lower profile, better maneuvering in tight off road areas, etc (we rented a SMB E350 penthouse in CO and traveled around Moab UT in the past). This past summer we borrowed a 144" 4X4 Sprinter high top from a friend in Alaska and traveled up to the Yukon for 10 days and loved the handling of the Sprinter (we had limited off road except some basic dirt roads). The weather was cool & mild so the high top worked out great. We were impressed with the build and the ample overhead storage the high top provided. In our future van we plan on bringing bikes and a fair amount of stuff so that we can be on the road for a month or more at a time. It will only be my wife & I along with our 70 lb lab.
I was all set on ordering a high top this coming week. Even though we are not going to have any AC in the rear (as we plan on being off the grid quite a bit), we do plan on having 2 roof top fantastic fans for airflow. After reading Fitz's and others comments about the penthouse and ventilation I am back on the fence again.
Since I do not have any experience with traveling in a high top in hot weather my question is this:
What are other folks experiences with the high top Sprinter in the hot weather of the desert SW? It was still in the 100's after we returned down here in mid August and will be in the low 90's to 100's in places around here still in Oct. I know my truck and car gets hotter than hell down here and I can only imagine the Sprinters would be similar or worse. Yes, I know we can open (and screen) the rear & side doors while stopped and camping but while traveling and just being parked it seems like the van would turn into an oven. Do others find that the high top Sprinters are ungodly hot while traveling or parked around town and if so, do they cool down reasonably well with 2 roof top fans? Are there other types of solutions besides rear AC?
Typically while traveling around down here in our truck or Jeep, my Alaskan dog needs the AC on or the ability to stick her head out the window (which does not seem possible in the back of a Sprinter). Any insight on the high top in the heat
of the desert would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
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I would think twice of having no a/c!!! I’m really familiar with desert camping in heat and my advice is get it installed (120 volt unit)and get a few small Honda eu generators/patch cable with an external portable gas tank they can run off all night .also give that dog a buzzer cut or he’ll be miserable,being bald ain’t so bad? If you decide to just have fans you can get front door screens to keep any bugs out,keep us posted
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