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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.
That's a good trip, there is tons to see. I live just over an hour from mile 0 of the Alaska highway. It's definitely a different experience than almost any other road on the continent. Some sections are little more than a gravel road hard-surfaced with oil or calcium, the scenery is un-believable though. Hopefully you'll be able to travel through Banff and Jasper National Parks on one of your ways through, the icefields parkway is incredible. Further North Muncho Lake is very nice, and Liard Hot Springs should be a mandatory stop.
Thanks for the suggestions. It’s going g to take a bit more planning than we put into this years trip. It’s 4400 miles to Fairbanks for us. 8500 seems like a lot but next year’s will be pushing 11 or 12 k. We found out this year and that 34 days in the road is our limit. I do 2200 miles in three days but after that I need it need a break from that pace for a bit. We’re 2700 from Banff. That’s 4 hard days. And the excitement of getting we amazing places makes the out leg seem easier than the back home leg.
Definitely requires some thought. I'm not sure there are good alternate routes to vary the return leg. A lot of this drive will be monotonous. It can be a slog one way, but a round trip can be trying.
Some call it a road trip. Others call it a slog 
I think (okay, my experience with kids in the car is) that it is important to get them in the right mind set.
Distraction alone won't be enough on a trip of that magnitude imo. There will be times that there's no "stuff to keep them occupied", but if they have a suitable mindset about that, it can work. That's part of the work one has to do to get the reward (the sights, experiences, etc.)
This depends on the character of the people involved, but in our case that worked reasonably well for trips that involved stretches of driving of 3 days. For 6 year olds and older.
Similar to getting them okay to accept that plane rides can feel awkward (bumpy, etc.). Mental prep is what matters.
Anyway, no golden advice here, just a thought.
I think (okay, my experience with kids in the car is) that it is important to get them in the right mind set.
Distraction alone won't be enough on a trip of that magnitude imo. There will be times that there's no "stuff to keep them occupied", but if they have a suitable mindset about that, it can work. That's part of the work one has to do to get the reward (the sights, experiences, etc.)
This depends on the character of the people involved, but in our case that worked reasonably well for trips that involved stretches of driving of 3 days. For 6 year olds and older.
Similar to getting them okay to accept that plane rides can feel awkward (bumpy, etc.). Mental prep is what matters.
Anyway, no golden advice here, just a thought.
Our kids are all road warriors. 900 miles in single up i95 is normal. It’s me and as the only driver and my wife with CP that are probably the weak links. As a farm kid 12 hours behind the wheel keeping track of 18 tires and making strait driving a game was good prep. Doing that for two weeks straight was normal. (We might take a Sunday off) was good prep but trying a trip to AK and back in about 30 days is daunting right now. Says the the guy who just did over 8k in 34. Basically it’s 14. 14 hour days (maybe more if we can’t average 60mph) to get to to Fairbanks. Add 4 days for Banff another 4 four stops along the way and you have 8-10 days in AK. (First time in thinking about a schedule right now). That hardly seems worth it. Make the trip 6 weeks we could take our time. Probably would consider plulling an RV. If we go for that long.
It seems to be one of those trips where 2 months wouldn't be enough. 8-10 days could easily be filled in Yoho, Banff and Jasper National parks. The Alaska highway could be taken one way, and the Cassiar highway another, which would allow a stop at Stewart/Hyder. Travelling one direction west of the Rockies on the BC 97 could allow a stop at the 1890's Gold Rush town Barkerville, and could allow some stops in the Okanagan and the Kootenays. Allowing enough time would also allow stops in the Yukon like Whitehorse and Dawson City.
If just Alaska is the goal, I wonder how effective flights to Faribanks/Anchorage would be and then getting a rental? Probably a lot more costly, just depends on how you value your time for that non-stop 2 weeks of driving.
If just Alaska is the goal, I wonder how effective flights to Faribanks/Anchorage would be and then getting a rental? Probably a lot more costly, just depends on how you value your time for that non-stop 2 weeks of driving.
We decided the mind set for a trip like this needs to be nomadic living. We can road trip camp for 4 weeks but beyond that we’re just not having as much fun.
We decided that a camper may give us a few more comforts like not being kicked in the face every night by a kid that some how not matter how i tried (I did NOT resort to duct tape) wiggled their way out of a sleeping bag to fling a foot in our direction.
I’m going to look at a used Winnebago Micro minie 2100bh tomorrow. 3700# dry, tandem axel with a slide out. It’s completely opposite of the light and fast with the bare necessities. It’s an RV. With a flush toilet and shower. Bit of your going to make a 50 day trip it will certainly be more comfortable than a tent.
I got a break controller installed on the van last week. The way fuel prices are I might put a hitch on the tesla for shorter weekend trips and kids can draw straws who get to stay home with G&G.
We decided that a camper may give us a few more comforts like not being kicked in the face every night by a kid that some how not matter how i tried (I did NOT resort to duct tape) wiggled their way out of a sleeping bag to fling a foot in our direction.
I’m going to look at a used Winnebago Micro minie 2100bh tomorrow. 3700# dry, tandem axel with a slide out. It’s completely opposite of the light and fast with the bare necessities. It’s an RV. With a flush toilet and shower. Bit of your going to make a 50 day trip it will certainly be more comfortable than a tent.
I got a break controller installed on the van last week. The way fuel prices are I might put a hitch on the tesla for shorter weekend trips and kids can draw straws who get to stay home with G&G.
I strongly recommend considering flying to AK and renting an RV there. The AK highway is a long slog.
Upon retirement the wife and I want to drive to the arctic circle. 2 roads go up there. One in Canada, one in Alaska.
I never considered winter. Seems like something going wrong gets worse faster once the mosquitoes go away!
My parents have drive the Dempster highway on the Canadian side, they were part way up it again just a few weeks ago.
Sometime I hope to make it up there as well.
I think if one has time that is part of the adventure. I think we can make time and make it comfortable.
Flying and renting for 7 is a challenge. I pencilled it out. There have been many day trips from camp to places I’d never take a camper that slept 7. This one will sleep 7 if the skittle one sleeps in the queen bed with us. It’s not perfect. Well worn but not abused. I won’t mind a few dings or scrapes. I won’t mind modifying it for our needs. It’s light enough with enough capacity to carry bikes on a rear hitch rack. AC oven microwave toilet and a shower! Needs solar and a big power station and high current 12v charging cables run from van to trailer.
I’ve never seen another yellow one. So if you see one behind a sprinter van it’s me!
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Some needs are really wants. Large power station idea is now a want item. How about a 300 amp hour LFP conversion…. Needs, new tires (the 2018 tires have all their tread left and are P metric not trailer tires), Tucson active anti sway (or is that a want? I’m rationalizing anything safety related as a need), new wheel bearing. Weight distribution hitch. I got a decent Anderson used this weekend. Upgraded vent fans. Solar a need??? Not sure. I need all the RVing accessories blocks chocks hoses voltage/surge protectors ect. Rear bike carrier a want probably.
The empty van pulled the empty trailer just fine. SLOW. 2.0L powering a combined empty weight of about 10.5k pounds. I have about 3000 pounds capacity left so it will only get slower. I got 13.5 mpgs at 65mph. Almost 16 at 55.
I probably should take the hour round trip to the nearest cat scale and get and empty weight before and after I get the the hitch setup. I don’t want to have to pack with scales. But I might. When in doubt leave it out because your always less than 3 hours from a Walmart is true in the lower 48 but probably not on thr Al Can highway. Spares like slide out motors and wheel bearings or a complete packed hub will probably be taken. This rig will probably burn some oil. A qt every 1000 miles is my estimate. There are not many Mercedes approved 229.52 oils on the shelf in the brick and mortars. Probably no 0w-40s.
I’m debating adding mini leafs to the rear springs. I really don’t want to. They sell softer rear bumpers stops that allow for more compression. I a saggy rear end doesn’t bother me if I have enough weight on that front.
See what this has turned into….. but a hotel room on wheels that will take less time to set up than check into and cat stuff up to hotel rooms has its place. No bikes to take off to set up. I’m still thinking this was a good decision. Nights slept in 0…
The empty van pulled the empty trailer just fine. SLOW. 2.0L powering a combined empty weight of about 10.5k pounds. I have about 3000 pounds capacity left so it will only get slower. I got 13.5 mpgs at 65mph. Almost 16 at 55.
I probably should take the hour round trip to the nearest cat scale and get and empty weight before and after I get the the hitch setup. I don’t want to have to pack with scales. But I might. When in doubt leave it out because your always less than 3 hours from a Walmart is true in the lower 48 but probably not on thr Al Can highway. Spares like slide out motors and wheel bearings or a complete packed hub will probably be taken. This rig will probably burn some oil. A qt every 1000 miles is my estimate. There are not many Mercedes approved 229.52 oils on the shelf in the brick and mortars. Probably no 0w-40s.
I’m debating adding mini leafs to the rear springs. I really don’t want to. They sell softer rear bumpers stops that allow for more compression. I a saggy rear end doesn’t bother me if I have enough weight on that front.
See what this has turned into….. but a hotel room on wheels that will take less time to set up than check into and cat stuff up to hotel rooms has its place. No bikes to take off to set up. I’m still thinking this was a good decision. Nights slept in 0…
Are you going to shorten the longevity of the vehicle towing that trailer around so much?
I just picked up 2 ford Maverick hybrids for my business. They say the payload is 3/4 ton. I’m not sure how long they’d last if I moved that in the bed every day. I suspect the unibody would be flexing an awful lot going over bumps before too long. Just because it says you can doesn’t mean you should!
Just the difference in engine displacement between a vehicle made to tow and your van raises eyebrows. You may want to really shorten oil change intervals while towing.
I just picked up 2 ford Maverick hybrids for my business. They say the payload is 3/4 ton. I’m not sure how long they’d last if I moved that in the bed every day. I suspect the unibody would be flexing an awful lot going over bumps before too long. Just because it says you can doesn’t mean you should!
Just the difference in engine displacement between a vehicle made to tow and your van raises eyebrows. You may want to really shorten oil change intervals while towing.
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