Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Sprinter Van

If it were me, I'd get a F250 and slide in camper. Much more off road worthy (4x4) and much more reliable.

Mercedes?

A friend had one, it was pretty nice

I had lunch with a former colleague a couple of years ago and he was having one built by one of the "custom shops". I am not sure what the base chassis was. I'm thinking he was looking at $200K or so. I have not spoken with him since so no idea of the outcome.

We haven't owned a camper van but my wife loves the idea. She's always looking at camper van web sites about all the neat things people do to and with them. I HATE the idea. I don't want to be tied to a camp site where we have to pack up everything to go see anything and I HATE the extra cost of yet another vehicle to repair, register, and insure.

We ended up with a compromise - a Casita trailer. And, yes, it is a compromise. There are dozens of web sites about all the neat modifications people do on them. Most of them are adding things that Casita should have done at the factory. I've spent a lot more time 'modifying' it than camping in it.

Oh - you guy's looking at the Mercedes Sprinters - are you aware that they make an e-Sprinter version? You're welcome.

We saw several of these and a couple of Unimogs in Glacier National Park this week.

https://storytelleroverland.com/pages/2023-beast-mode

My dad built one from a dealer’s parts delivery van. Added rear a/c, bunks and a shower pan. He used it as a base camp for hiking the AT. Drove it from NC to Montana on a sightseeing trip. It threw a belt in SD and the belt tore something else on its way out. Had to be towed about 400 miles to a MB dealership for repair (unlike me he was an outstanding mechanic, so not something that could be repaired just anywhere).

As long as you have the camper package. I slept in one as a skinny kid. I can't imagine sleeping in one as an adult.

Do a deep dive into parts/labor costs of items that can and DO routinely fail on these, as well as the reality of getting towed to the nearest Mercedes dealer, which could be a looong ways away. In particular, research the exhaust system components.

Having done the above, where I ended up was an AWD Ford Transit. MUCH cheaper parts, WAY more dealerships, and lots of commonality with other Ford rigs so you might be able to get what you need at a NAPA.

To be clear, I don’t own a Transit. But we’ve been looking pretty hard at this and that’s where I’ll land if we go this route.

The good campers have a queen sized bed, room enough for a fat hunter and a girl friend.

Mrs. JeffO,

Thanks for sharing that you almost thought of buying something.

LOL

Fugkin' loser.

What level of fugking idiot thinks they need that to camp in Glacier National Park?

LOL

No one cares what you think ped_o

Ordering one for a retirement gift is the worst thing one could possibly do with money saved lol. Might as well pay someone to kick him in the balls every day

Most mercede delaers wont touch them which really sucks, because you will need help for sure. Any camper is an awful investment. These seem to be a bit worse than many

Sprinter dealers work on camper conversions all the time without question in my experience. Not all Mercedes dealers are Sprinter dealers.
RVs in general are poor investments, that's not why most people buy them. In recent years Sprinters have held their value pretty well.

In 7 years of ownership I've spent $30.00 on parts for my Sprinter and that's because I chose to go OEM instead of aftermarket windshield washer nozzles. I do think it's stupid that I had to replace them when on every other vehicle I've owned they've lasted the life of the vehicle.
The lack of dealers is a valid concern when traveling or if you don't live in a major metropolis.

Good to know, moto.

I’ve certainly read about lots of “van life” folks having much worse luck than that, usually with the newer ones when they made the exhaust system into a Rube Goldberg device. I also ran across a thread where a guy supposedly running a small commercial fleet of them was at wit’s end over it. Said there’s 3 main components to said exhaust system; each costs $2k; and each can and will fail, and you are beholden to the dealer for parts and labor for the repair.

A fishing buddy of mine has an older Sprinter (back when they were branded Dodge) and has had good luck with it, but I don’t think the OP is looking at 15+ year old versions.

Whereas, I like what I’ve heard about the Transits. They don’t have the snob appeal but who cares.

My takeaway, having debated this one round and round with my wife, who wants to play around as van-lifers, is there is no perfect solution. I can find a fatal flaw in a panel van, an over-cab camper, a trailer, a big SUV conversion, a camper van, and so on. Pick your poison.

Some of the new lightweight over-cabs are interesting to me because I already have the truck- which is half-ton so it would have to be an ultralight shell- but DAMN those things are expensive!

We thumbed a ride from a couple our age in NM this spring.. they were pulling a hard-sided pop up trailer behind a Forerunner. From the back seat, the Toyota hardly knew the trailer was there. Certainly it felt like less weight than my 20’ aluminum boat behind my Tundra. They were proud of their solution and we oooh’d and aaah’d over it when we got where we were going and they deployed it so we could check it out. I liked it. More importantly, my WIFE liked it. I think that’s the route we’d go, but, it’s far from perfect to be towing something for long distances. Says the guy who replaced the seals in one of his boat trailer hubs this morning. Trailers are a PITA.

The nearest Mercedes dealer to me is 140 miles. That's a no go.

You would be surprised how many times a week i hear someone say that their rv is their investment and sprinter dealers are harder to find than a mercedes dealer that will work on an rv