My SMB Sprinter Van conversion building experience

[Chumley]

I thought that I would try to memorialize my sportsmobile RV purchasing experieince. Take it from why I chose SMB to design to construction. The conclusion being handed the keys and manuals after the overview at the threshold of the roll up door leading out into a new world of adventure.

I realize the experience will be different for each one of us. I'm also sure that I can't be the only one who had questions about the process of designing and building your vision of the dream Sprinter based RV.

I can't find that it has been done before so I hope I am not duplicating someone else's experience. I apologize if I do.

So I will go back to the beginning...

My wife and I have been looking at motorhomes for a long time. Every time we got close a good reason would pop up not to purchase. Things like where do we store it, how much would it cost in fuel (could we just pick up and go a few hundred miles on a spur of the moment trip?), how much upkeep would it take, how much of a chore would it be to drive, etc... We realized that we didn't want a huge lumbering RV that had a long list of special "needs". That would not be convenient and would likely end up not being used as much as imagined (like many friends who paid big $$$ for a motorhome now being used 3-4 times a year). That's when we started seeing the Sprinter van based RVs, specifically the Roadtrek. My God, how could they fit all of that into such a small van and still seem so comfortable? And - the gas mileage was incredible! So we looked around and Sportsmobile kept popping up. We soon thought Sportsmobile was perfect for us. We could have exactly what we wanted and pay for only what we wanted! We have found out that it is not exaclty the case but it is very close. It's hard to imagine how much they can effectively pack into a van but your imagination can also try to fit too much too.

So after about a year and a half we decided it was time to get serious. I was convinced that if I waited any longer that I would continue to shrink and stoop and and not be able to see over the steering wheel. I also convinced the wife but she didn't take well to my vision of her stooping over and shrinking. After Christmas 2011 we decided that it was time to commit to a build. Hopefully we could still get in an epic 2012 vacation in our own Sportsmobile, maybe. I lurked here and many comments reinforced my notion that going to the SMB website would be the best place to start. I called SMB for initial information and they directed me to their website as well. So I studied that Sportsmobile website until I was sure I knew what we wanted. Intent turned into action and we went to SMB West in early January to see the facility. There is no other place to touch and see the real thing and learn more about the whole deal. During that visit I realized that I might know more about the information provided on their website than they did. Each shop is independently owned and the website is maintained by only one of the shops so you can't necessarily get everything you see on the website at all shops. More on that later.

We had officially started the process.