More Interstate Modifications

[JimS]

As a prior lurker, I have finally gotten it together enough to post some modifications to our 2014 Interstate. We sold our 30' Classic SO in May and purchased the Sprinter. Quite a change! Our first trip we noticed that bed making was a real pain - took 20 to 30 minutes. After some serious thought, I had a set of aluminum angle frames built. These were 12" wide by 16" long. The difficult part of this, is that I wanted them to fit snugly against the side of the Sprinter. So, the top and bottom had to be parallel at a measured angle, so to fit snugly with the top rear cabinet and against the side wall. i then built a shelf, to fit into the bottom of the brackets. I bolted the brackets to the overhead rear cabinet, and bolted the shelf to the bottom part of the bracket. The laminate is Wilson Art, Asian Sand. It can be obtained from Home Depot. It is the same pattern that Airstream uses, without the high gloss. From Airstream it is $200+, from Home Depot, $75. In that area the finish makes little difference. (see photos below). We use a 2" foam pad over the fold down bed. Now, we can roll up the pad, with the sheets and blankets and place it on the shelf. Takes about 5" to make the bed. I also added an interior propane switch, as per BikerBill's work up. It works very well and is a real time saver. The other major mod was increasing the solar panel capabilities and the battery capacity. We had three, one-hundred watt panels put on top, and four 6 volt batteries. We now have 440 amps of battery available. The batteries are located in the same area as the old ones, but are in a custom built stainless steel tray. They are Lifelines, so there is no gas release. This was a bit pricey, but we like to boondock and is well worth the effort. Other mods include a Scangauge, RoadHawk dash cam, opening the bathroom wall permanently and a Stowaway II.

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[Ron_CA]

Hi Jim, I can't tell by your description what the aluminum brackets function is. Your pics aren't showing up.

[Ron_CA]

OK, I got it.

I do the same but just leave my fold down bed extensions down, roll memory foam up onto extensions and raise the sofa up. Cool thing is, my cargo cover fits over the top and hides the bedding. That is when I don't just leave the bed made up.

[JimS]

Sorry about the pictures. I tried to drag and drop, didn't work, went to FAQ's - no "albums and photos" on my screen, sent help request, no reply. So.....I will post them as soon as I can figure out how to do it. Sorry about that.

[UKDUDE]

Hit the "Go Advanced" button at the bottom.; opens a new window. Then go down to "Additional Options" and look for "Attach Files" under which is a "Manage Attachments" button. Hit that and it will open a new screen which will allow you to select the files you want to attach.

[JimS]

UKDUDE, thanks for the help. Obviously, the system is not a drag and drop Mac. Hope this gets them uploaded. Thanks for the help.

[Lineolated]

Nice shelf!

Originally Posted by JimS

The laminate is Wilson Art, Asian Sand. It can be obtained from Home Depot. It is the same pattern that Airstream uses, without the high gloss.

Our local Home Depot was able to special order the high gloss Asian Sand for us. Cost about the same as the stock laminate. My DH has built shelves for the wardrobe and is working on a cabinet to replace the 2nd row seat.
DJ

[73shark]

Looks very nice. And functional.

I see that Airstream finally dropped those clunky reading lites under the rear cabinet. All the black spots were good for was to break since the ball & socket pivot was made from soft brass.

[Boxster1971]

Nice upgrade, I want to add something similar to your rear shelf.


- - Mike
2013 AS Interstate on 2012 MB Sprinter