NEHA

Beginning in a couple weeks, probably right after Ascutney I will be selling the RAM. I will put up details after Ascutney, including price and pics. In the mean time if you have questions or are interested feel free to email me or see me at Ascutney. I expect to be in a new Sprinter van then.

If someone was interested, driving to Ascutney one more time might be the ticket.

Here is the Craigslist post: http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/cto/3037801253.html

Crap, good deals always come around after I buy something. Now I just hope I can keep mine anywhere near that clean. Someone will scope that up quick.

No action on Craigslist so I listed it at Autotrader: http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale ... =323883518 Same info.

The RAM just departed for its new home in Pa.

Now that you have a few miles on the van, how is that working out?

The van has been great so far. Just a couple quibbles.

Although it is listed as a "3/4 ton" like the RAM, it doesnt handle the tongue weight and "stuff" I carry the same. Visually it looks to have much less rear spring in the Sprinter, maybe to make it ride better without a load. I bought a weight distribution hitch to use with the trailer and that should help by transferring the tongue and some of the cargo weight forward in the van. Also, because I like to keep the sliding door side (right) clear inside to walk to the rear I mounted my bunk on the left and put most of the "stuff" I carry to the hills under it. Add my weight as a driver and the van lists a little to the left. I looked into and initially bought helper air springs for the rear of van. I planned to run minimum air in the right and only enough in the left to compensate for the added weight and correct the list. However before installing them I measured the air springs, mounts and gap where they were to go and found that when the air spring was fully deflated and effectively the spring rate went to infinity, the rear axle travel was limited to 2" compression from the normal (unloaded van) ride height. This air spring also replaced the OEM jounce bumpers which permitted 3.5" unrestricted compression followed by almost 3" increasing spring rate rubber. I felt 2" to dead stop was unacceptable and returned them. I later found some horror stories on a Sprinter enthusiast forum that included pictures of cracked frames on Sprinters after adding these style springs, at the air spring frame mount brackets, and probably running the van overloaded. I have an idea as to what I could use, based on a type of air spring that is not kitted for the Sprinter, but the problem is not severe enough to warrant spending a lot of added time on a solution. So at least for the time being I will do without.

The second little nit was the front end alignment. M-B specifies +1 degree of camber on the front when the vehicle is normally loaded. As it happens mine came with +1.5 on the right and +2.5 on the left with no load and that did not change appreciably when loaded. After 3000 miles I was already seeing more wear on the outsides of the front tires then the rest of each tire. I read about a number of Sprinter owners experiencing short tire life with outside wear as the issue. I had the dealer to change it to 0 on both sides. Based on how I use the van (which is probably way different than the assumptions M-B made) that should be much better.

It seems these super clean exhaust diesels do not react kindly to lots of engine idling. Some parts with TLAs like EGR and DPF tend to get clogged and require manual cleaning or replacement, so I guess I wont be running the engine for long periods just to stay warm. And everything I read about the ultra-low sulfur fuels is the mandatory additive package to these fuels is not adequate to keep injectors lubricated the way sulfur did and it is never clear how much there is in the fuel at each station so I add a few ounces of a special additive at each fill-up (a case of a little too much is far better than a little too little) which effectively increases the fuel cost by a about a nickle a gallon.

Space in the van is unbelievable.

I insulated it a couple weeks back using something called EZ-Cool to slow heat loss in winter and gain in summer in the interior. That not only seems to work really well as insulation, it quieted the van quite a lot too. Very good $150 and a couple days work investment. Only added about 10 pounds too.

Speaking of fuel - mileage is double that of the RAM.

And everything I read about the ultra-low sulfur fuels is the mandatory additive package to these fuels is not adequate to keep injectors lubricated the way sulfur did and it is never clear how much there is in the fuel at each station so I add a few ounces of a special additive at each fill-up (a case of a little too much is far better than a little too little) which effectively increases the fuel cost by a about a nickle a gallon.

If you're so inclined to try, I'd be happy to give you a few gallons of veggie oil to use as a lube additive.

I will pass on that , but thanks for the offer. M-B is very particular regarding fuel requirements including sulfur, bio-diesel content and raw veggie and they do not hesitate to deny warranty for related repairs if there is any evidence of improper fuel use. I will let the Sprinter guys with the Bluetec diesels that are out of warranty try raw veg additives or aftermarket dual fuel systems first and report back after 100k miles or so each.