radin2son

Welcome once and

Why there and what do you need it for? It is exposed to all sorts of road hazards, or maybe I just back into or run over them. We have a very small 2+ gallon tank midway on the driver side in line with the sink. It freezes solid like it would where the tire is. There must be other areas near the frame...

Welcome. You are the second dog hauler to post. I’ve seen at least one at a dog show here in Tucson. Check out Skeeter Beater for front door window screens if you need ventilation when parked and want to keep the bugs out. Easy to install and will not scratch the paint.

Normal combined, unless you drive it to maximize mpg. The 2019 MB Sprinter will come with a gas option or 2 Diesel engine options. Truck Trend drove the 3.0 turbo diesel with 7 speed, 22 mpg highway. The 2018 passenger starts at $44k+. With awd, the price jumps to $52k. Factor in routine MB service, the price of diesel and you come out ahead,$$$$, with 13.89 mpg. Can a MB fit in a garage? It will be interesting to see what mpg the MB gas version gets.

Looks good. Are you making a curtain to drape behind the front seats or around the door windows and windshield? We have the later and it makes the living area seem much smaller. We bought insulated panels for the door windows and windshield from eurocampers and use these instead. You can make your own with thinsulate as others have done. Do you have room to add a drop down table to the kitchen cabinet in front of the slider? Very useful when you are outside...

Thanks. We have changed the focus of trips to less developed, crowded areas, however, we still want to travel to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Not sure when... Part of the fun is planning. So when work, kids and school permit, you’ll be ready.

Portal, AZ, EASTERN ENTRANCE TO THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS Very easy to get here when traveling west on I-10 from New Mexico. Take the Road Fork, NM exit, route 80 and drive south. Driving east from Tucson, you can stay on I-10 to Road Fork, no services, just deserted buildings. You also can drive south on route 191 to Douglas, AZ and take route 80 north. Or you can take the 31 mile, dirt mountain road from the monument on the west side to Portal. If you are towing, stay on the pavement. Beautiful area, perhaps more so than the monument. Cave Creek than runs by the 3 campgrounds usually has water. During monsoon season, July through September, the campgrounds will be evacuated if 1and1/2” of rain is forecast. Bears also in the area. Nearby trailheads and popular with birders. All sites are first come first served. No hookups. Water available and pit toilets. Sunny Flat campground is the most popular and developed. 13 sites with room for 28’ trailers and tow vehicle. Steward has 6 sites and Idlewilde has 9. “Pull-in” sites with 16’ trailer limit. In Idlewilde, where we camped, it was “pull of the road” sites in the campground. Lots of shade.

I re-read Daniel’s initial post forward and came to the conclusion that an obd scanner should be part of every NV tool kit. I have Bosch mobile scan that works with both of our vehicles and shows codes when the check engine light comes on or with an emissions scan. There are less expensive units available. Auto parts stores also can run a scan and give you the code. The benefit of having your own is to be able to determine if you can drive it or need to get it towed. Nissan roadside service will cover the tow to the nearest commercial dealership. The longest tow that I’m aware of is Moab to SLC. If you have a problem, service will ask what code came up. This way they have a starting point. There haven’t been any recent posts regarding Commercial customer service. Hope it improved but doubtful...

I’ve never had it not engage manual mode from auto or disengage. I wouldn’t even call it intermittent, but I have had it not shift into D. Caught between N and D even though it looked to be in D. Shifted it back to N, then D. I attributed it to sloppy shifting on my part. Had transmission fluid changed at 30 and 60k at dealership. No related problems.

Welcome. Is that a poptop on your roof? Post some photos of your NV and how/where you travel.

Didn’t know where to post this, but “cargo to camper” made the the most sense. REI CO-OP Journal has plans for a great platform double bed to fit any cargo van. Basically, it is a bench that fits on the driver’s side with some storage underneath. The support slides out and the hinged bed platform folds out onto the support. Throw a bag or two on it and snooze...

Go on line and order one from Nissan or have a dealer order one. If you are trading it in, the cost of the card is $150. Hardly enough to worry about. Just remembered that nav unit was upgraded in 2015 (?) and there are 2 different cards. The dealer may have given you the wrong card. Parts numbers for the correct card are clear on the nav site. Same price.

Assuming you don’t mean for free, any Nissan dealership should have them. They aren’t NV specific. The only issue would be the nav card year, as in old. The 2018 updated card is available or will be soon. That said, I kept the 2011 card in the event I lost the updated 2017 card. The older card worked fine.

Truck Trend did their mid-year long term use review of the Titan new gas V8. MPG was about the same as the older 5.6 V8. This pretty much confirms what NVP owners have said about MPG. If you are looking for a used NV, the older V8 is just as good.

Snow family still greeting people passing by on way to Chiricahua National Monument...

Focus groups of small businesses, who owned Econoline vans, let Ford know they didn’t want a Euro-unibody van. They wanted a truck based van that could handle heavy payloads, tow what they needed, have real roll down cab windows, have actual foot wells without an intruding engine and have easy access for routine engine maintenance. Ford, who switched to snub nosed vans in the early 1960s, listened and developed a long nose van scheduled for introduction sometime in 2019. R&D, however, failed to do a patent search. In 2005, Nissan Commercial committed to building a truck based van unlike the current snub nose and Euro versions. Nissan Commercial patented the term and design of “long nosed” vans. Ford is considering legal action, while Nissan has offered to let Ford pay a per unit fee with each front fender displaying a Nissan badge. In the interim, Nissan Commercial has invited the focus groups to come on down and check out the NV lineup. “It has everything you want.” Source: April Fuel

Will it set off the sensors?

I used brush on bed liner on the step on the slider. For some reason SMB added a wooden step over the existing step and the thin rubber tread wore through. No wear at all since then.

Speaking of the SMB forum, there was a great post regarding portable toilets vs cassette toilets, the latter benefits being mostly hype. There is another word I could use... Why go with a portable toilet? You can take it and your morning java, sit on the roof of your van and watch the sunrise. No other details provided...

While replacing the carbon monoxide sensor in our SMB, I came across this flyer in the the smb manual. 5 flyers or so were included with the idea owners would distribute them. The problem was only 30 were built and were sold through Nissan commercial dealerships in California, Utah and Washington. Terrible marketing strategy! To date, we have seen only 1 other SMB. It was the first one built, a standard top, and was used as a demo. We met the owner in Teton National Park; we both did a double take when we saw theirs (silver) and ours (silver) in the campground. "Who moved our van?" Only 1 SMB, a hightop, has shown up for resale. It sold for $40,000, which is a great price considering the owner had about $70,000 in it. No idea who bought it, as they have not appeared on this forum or the SMB forum. If you should come across one for sale, the rule of thumb is 1/2 the cost of conversion and the current market value of the cargo van. SMB conversion will run $35,000+. Sportsmobile no longer builds these; although, they did do a 1 off that is currently for resale ($56,000). It is a standard top without the penthouse. We have the RB 50N floor plan. The RB 30N I think works best for the hightop NV. I like the walk through, but it really only works for 2. It may seat 6 but only sleeps 2.

Double post, so I’ll just go a different direction. Saw a post on the SMB forum that every SMB is a custom build even with the 2 most popular floor plans, RB 30 or 50. Something is always different in the build. In our case, we added a larger water tank and way to heat the water. The latter we rarely use and only for showers. The 5 year SMB warranty has expired on most if not all 30 builds. We never had any issues.

Not that it isn’t there, but I didn’t see this in the service manual or in any posts. I guess it falls under “it can’t hurt.” Particularly if you do your own service and a tech doesn’t have the opportunity to screw it up. At 30 and 60k, I had the optional service whether it needed it or not. Some disagree that this is needed.

Enjoyed reading your blog. Abe, take a look at the shelving photos with the bungee cords. This is similar to your plans.

I damaged my rear chrome bumper trying to turn around on a dirt road in Utah to avoid getting into 4x4 only territory. I thought the dirt berm on the side of the road would not cause any damage. It did but the real damage was that it pushed up the bumper almost to the point of not being able to open the right rear door. The dealer here fixed the bumper position and pounded out the dent. It isn’t smooth like the left side and there is no damage to the chrome. No one notices, but I know it is there. If you dealer won’t attempt this, try a body shop. The same dealer wouldn’t fix the front bumper, saying to try would damage the chrome and the damage wasn’t worth replacing it at $450. I think the body shop manager was implying I would do it again... He’s probably right.

Daydreaming may not be the correct word; virtual completion and travel may be a better fit. Our NV SMB virtually came out of a box, but we spent untold hours crunching numbers, custom vs diy, new vs used, Ford vs MB vs Nissan... Ultimately, it came down to will it fit in our carport and will we use it enough to justify $65,000? Nissan won out; it was the only one that fit and we have used it. Great van no matter how you convert or use it, virtually or otherwise.