Snowy's MB 144" 4x4 Sprinter 2500 build thread

[Christopher Thwaites]

Snowy I think you will be very happy with your bumper decision. I have the same setup. One thing I suggest if you plan to store fuel in the box is to vent it. I cut a 2" hole top and bottom in the backside and covered them on the outside with stainless steel louvered vent covers I got at West Marine. This will allow the box to "breath" and dissipate any fumes. I keep a propane bottle in my box as well and they will off gas at times. I also lined the interior with 1/8" door skin to absorb hits from rough edges of axes and shovels and such. One other thing I discovered is that my Trasharoo will hold 2 aluminum folding chairs easily.
Chris

[rallypanam]

Originally Posted by snowy

and folding chairs and possibly water jug (rare) in the upper rails of the box.

I find chairs mounted to the back get very dirty whenever you travel on dirt, making them not so nice to sit in.. Maybe put the chairs in the box and the rotopax on top?

[Overland_Brandon]

I would suggest taking a look at the "2 GALLON ROTOPAX WITH LOCK" Alluminess offers:

[Fitz]

Another thought is to look at the white (potable water) Rotopax with lock. There is room for the 2 gallon size, but in my case the 1 gallon is sufficient...



Jack Daniels rides here, and he travels surprisingly well!

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Christopher Thwaites

Snowy I think you will be very happy with your bumper decision. I have the same setup. One thing I suggest if you plan to store fuel in the box is to vent it. I cut a 2" hole top and bottom in the backside and covered them on the outside with stainless steel louvered vent covers I got at West Marine. This will allow the box to "breath" and dissipate any fumes. I keep a propane bottle in my box as well and they will off gas at times. I also lined the interior with 1/8" door skin to absorb hits from rough edges of axes and shovels and such. One other thing I discovered is that my Trasharoo will hold 2 aluminum folding chairs easily.
Chris

All good ideas. Thanks.

Snowy

[snowy]

Originally Posted by Fitz

Another thought is to look at the white (potable water) Rotopax with lock. There is room for the 2 gallon size, but in my case the 1 gallon is sufficient...



Jack Daniels rides here, and he travels surprisingly well!

Thanks. Whether JD, or 2G of H20, it looks like a good spot to make use of for something. 2G of Diesel isn't that useful to me though. When I need to fill the aux tanks with Diesel, it will be for more than that, typically 4-8G if I am heading back country and want margin of safety to get back out.

Snowy

[snowy]

Originally Posted by snowy

We already got the factory mid-point catch, which appear to be the same thing. The problem I observe is that almost everyone that opens that sliding door does so with enough force to go all the way past the mid-point catch. I.e., roll right over it. Then it is a matter of coming forward to find the latch. My hope is to make this thoughtless and effortless. I'm just going to tape up a 2x4 as a prototype and will get back on here with results.

Snowy

The midpoint latch from the factory is useful for keeping the door from rolling shut on an decline, but was not enough to catch it upon being slammed open. Thoughts:
1) I was worried about attaching an extension to the door, knowing it would be jostled under significant force and likely work out any screws/holes in the interior liner. My solution was to use straps to hang it so it could move inside the straps without undue force on any particular mount point.
2) SMB provided some scrap material to match the interior. It is not strong, and, FYI, it is a plastic material that melts if you try to iron it(!). I used some webbing for strength, wrapped with the matching liner for looks. Also wrapped the 2x4 with same material for match, and put rubber bumpers on either end of the 2x4.

Attached are some pics of the solution from the interior facing the door, and from above looking down so you can see how the extension stops the door from opening much past the catch point. One other thing. I cut the wood so it was short enough to allow travel PAST the catch point (rather than just to it) on purpose. This works. It allows the door to go past the latch and bounce back a bit. Much longer, to make it stop IN the catch point, would likely have bounced back out of the catch point.

Also, I made two extensions, thinking one would go on the bottom bumpers, but it turns out it would catch on the support for the overhang SBM builds in when they extend the floor over the step well. Restated, bottom extension won't work on my config, but it is because of this floor extending over the step well. One on top seems to work fine, so not spending time trying to get bottom one to work.

Snowy

[snowy]

Mirror mounted above sink: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Snowy

[snowy]

'Shoe storage' mounted on door inside bathroom. Note the hooks on top to hold it securely - these are working. There are hooks at bottom as well to keep it from flying out when opening/closing door. Had to trim the bag width and height at convenient seams to get right fit, and then daughter sewed reinforcements where the bag hangs on hooks.



Snowy

[snowy]

White board on outside of bathroom door. This has been a useful addition, but in a bad location. (We use it to track all the things we need to get at next stop, among other things.) We frequently rub it off/smear it where it is currently located though. Fortunately, I had mounted it with Velcro attachment, so easy to remove and put something else there later.

Snowy