"Really High" Roof Sprinter Van modification?

[tonyvoudy]

Thanks k9sprinter! Googling the Mega Roof option shows one on an older Dodge Sprinter:

That was indeed the type of roof I saw, modified for an RV setup.

I can sleep well at night knowing the mystery is solved!

[Chance]

I just spent a week in London and saw a lot of interesting vans there. Funny how that works -- was there to sight see but my eyes were often drawn towards traffic when vehicles were different.

Anyway, I saw quite a few high roof vans there, including the Ford Transit Jumbo (not the 2015 model) and the highest roof Ducato, which I believe is called the H3 roof. Our USA ProMaster high roof is only the H2, which is the European middle roof.

The odd thing to me about the Sprinter mega roof is that unlike the Ford or Fiat it looks like an afterthought. It looks like a fiberglass add-on bolted to the van's structure (which would explain the "unpainted" notation in the specs quoted above). And because it's a lot narrower than the van it makes it look like a Beanie cap on top.

I'm glad to see Mercedes offer this higher roof as a third option (as well as Ford on new Transit) because it may force RAM to do the same with the ProMaster. A PM with the H3 roof would add a lot more than 5 inches to height which opens up all kinds of possibilities to multilevel arrangements.

Pictures below from internet of older Sprinter. New 2015 MB Sprinter may be different although it's unlikely in my opinion.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JohnandMandi

I remember looking into those or ones just like them. IIRC, a yellow color scheme and a raised floor in the kitchen area. I also recall a second row bench that turned into a bed with what appeared to be foot space extended into the kitchen cabinets. That could have been a dream though.

-John

Not a dream, I recall that layout too. I thought that detail was incredibly clever. It had a 2-person forward-facing bench that folded flat, and the legs/feet then extended back below counter level but above storage near floor level. The outcome was providing extra sleeping space with minimum affect on storage. During day the area behind seat back would be perfect to store pillows and blankets out of sight. I would copy that feature in a van if I could.

The elevated floor in back I believe provided under-floor storage accessible from rear doors as well as a place for holding tanks to be in heated location, although I'm not sure about the tanks.

[Chance]

By the way, I found picture of the seat/bed in Westfalia. It looks like entire seat slides forward and then opens into bed. Mechanism to open bed seems a little complex and expensive.

I'm guessing the same principle can be done utilizing standard SMB gaucho sofa facing forward. The seat cushion could slide forward where table would go and then a taller seat back could drop flat, thereby exposing space behind narrow 2-person gaucho for feet/legs.

[JohnandMandi]

That's it! Really cool idea but not one we're willing to re-engineer.

-John