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If you are curious how much stuff it takes to camp with a family of 7 for a month and travel 8500 miles, I drove across a scale on the way home. I can honestly say we used everything but most of tools, (I did have to change a tire so I was glad to have my big breaker bar) and a 4 person tent.
Here is our scale ticket! Let’s just round it to 8600 pounds. Max weight of the sprinter is 9050.
It’s clear to me I made the correct choice. I can add a 4500 pound trailer and still be under max weight rating. I’m looking!
Here is our scale ticket! Let’s just round it to 8600 pounds. Max weight of the sprinter is 9050.
It’s clear to me I made the correct choice. I can add a 4500 pound trailer and still be under max weight rating. I’m looking!
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Whitenuckler
Minister of Fire
Check your transmission oil. I'm not sure what you have, but if it has no dipstick tube, just a cover cap, you can get the dipstick online. I have a W5A580 5 speed in my jeep and just changed the oil and filter.
Ha ha. This is a new Mercedes. There isn’t even an engine oil dipstick or hole to install one. Trans temp never went over 195F. The plastic trans pan has an integral filter and gets replaced with new bolts every fluid change. Fluid level is verified by an ultra sonic level sensor. Most dealers charge 1200-1500 for a trans service.
We’re pretty bare bones. Fast and light is my motto. We talked and spending $10k on a used small RV that will need a battery solar and inverter upgrade buys a lot hotel rooms.
Whitenuckler
Minister of Fire
Mine sends the oil to the cooler at about 70C, so it sits at around 75C with just everyday driving. I'm glad I had my pan dropped and got it serviced though (it's a 2012 with 145km). The pan was rusted through, and needed a new one. It sounds like you know your van inside and out!
The are only 300 Mercedes van dealers in the US an 60 in Canada. It’s not like a 3.5L ford with a 10 speed or a v8 GM than anyone can work on.
And then the extra fuel cost of pulling a trailer around, harder to quickly pull off the road to check out something out, another thing with tires to maintain, etc. I went from a 35ft fifth wheel with a 1 ton truck, to a half ton and plan to tent camp for the next while. As nice as it is towing a house around with all it's amenities its also a giant pain, and an expensive one at that. Eventually I'll get a small trailer again though, hotels are a pretty costly proposition around here, $250/night doesn't get much, if you can even find one near any of our parks.
We drive so many miles. Planning North Carolina to Alaska next year. It’s going to be 10-12k miles. I don’t really want to tow that far. We drove from Custer SD to Wilmington NC in 3 days. Call it 2000 miles. I don’t think I could have done it in 3 days with a trailer.
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