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Sprinter Van

David W. Jones

David W. Jones

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Hi all, I'm getting ready to do the interior of my Sprinter Van and know that a few people here have already completed the process, so any advice would be helpful. I'm planning to section the cargo area into... A; a gear storage area for lights, flags, jib, dolly, camera and such, and B; a multi-purpose area accessed via the sliding side door, which would contain portable capture/edit/preview and voice over capabilities.

Now trying to pick your brain on things like generator mount brackets, power inverter/battery solutions, insulation, external breakouts and such.
Also, does anybody use Sam's Club heavy duty steel shelving for gear storage?

Thanks!

Dave
 
interior layout

interior layout

We have built out MANY trucks for shows over the years. The best way is to put in E-track along the Sprinter walls horizontally and then build modular units out of square stock steal. med. guage to as heavy as you want. Tech screw 5/8 birch tops and varnish. everything has its own CRATE that straps in. you don't always need everything and sometimes you need more room (multi-camera show for example). If you know a fabricator its not that expensive if you grind the welds and paint the modular frames, and build the tops.you can also carpet shelves,. just have him weld rings that you attach with a wratchet strap that has E-clips you clip right into sprinter.Put pnuematic wheels on all your shelves and you will be very happy.(smart wheels on one end only)
regards
 
Frank clearly knows what he is talking about. E Track is the best way to go, keeps everything modular and tiedowns are really fast. If you need additional (permanent) mounting points inside the van "blind bolts" installed with a drill, C-wrench and socket wrench is another option.
 
I love the fact that contextually, the Sprinter van is an accessory to the Red... :)

If anyone has pictures of truck setups, I'd love to see how other people around the world go about it.
 
Alexis Vanier said:
I love the fact that contextually, the Sprinter van is an accessory to the Red... :)
Click to expand...

Absolutely,
I had a Range Rover as my go anywhere shoot-mobile that had racks & platform on top, but unfortunately it was totaled in an accident.
I don't need a full size G&E truck most of the time and can always rent one when I do. The Sprinter seemed like the perfect choice. Large enough to hold what I need for 99% of the stuff I do, it gets great gas mileage, and I can stand-up in it. It's a rather large Red accessory.

Thanks for the heads up on the E-Track, I had forgotten all about it.
 
Hey Guys,

The Steadi Red is certainly eye catching, I wouldn't mind one of these for myself. Shouldn't be too hard to find it though with all the advertising on the side. Did it occur to anyone else that it may just encourage the wrong sort of interest?

I would add a couple of needs to any van spec. It has to have space for what you most need to carry. Magliners fully built for quick in's and outs, so possibly a ramp also. Probably 8' lengths of track, even for smaller dollies. Payload for ladderpod is pretty useful. Room for a couple of Eazi Ups in case of inclement weather. The rest is pretty much obvious, shelving, inverter, interior lighting, 16a input on ceeform, camera bench with baseplate, oh and a coffee machine!

Mike C
 
Scott Miller said:
David,

What year RR? I am thinking of kitting my RR out and would love to see what you did to yours.
Click to expand...

It was an 89, so it had the super reliable standard suspension instead of the hydraulic lift of the newer Range Rovers that can be a problem. The great thing about putting racks or platform on top was that it allowed me to drive up good sized hills, and then level the camera on the platform and shoot great overview or sunset type shots of new housing developments for commercials, ... "Enjoy your new Sunny Ridge home" ... of course I'm not shooting a whole lot of new housing commercials now.
I'll try to find a few of shots of the Rover from my archive when I get a chance. I thought I had a couple of shots left in iphoto but I guess I deleted them.
I did find a couple of older amusing shots of what was probably the most unpractical vehicle I ever showed up for a shoot in.
Due to some vehicle mixup or service issue, I can't really remember, Andrew Benz and myself show up to shoot a series of political spots in a 1977 Ferrari.
And you think your car doesn't hold a lot of gear!
 

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Costelloe Michael said:
Hey Guys,

The Steadi Red is certainly eye catching, I wouldn't mind one of these for myself. Shouldn't be too hard to find it though with all the advertising on the side. Did it occur to anyone else that it may just encourage the wrong sort of interest?

Mike C
Click to expand...

That is something to consider, I was hoping to do a graphic wrap on the Sprinter, but of course that just yells out to a thief... Mother load here!
 
With the E-Track option for the Sprinter what's the best length, 1 longer or multiple shorter?
 
I don't own a sprinter, but my advice is to find a way to protect the exterior wall panels of the van. I have seen many Sprinters where a carelessly tossed case has dented the wall outward (right Parker?).

Also, as we read about more and more gear thefts - find a way to isolate the cargo area from the passenger seats, and install some kind of effective ignition locking alarm. Don't be tempted to get the models with rear windows!
 
Brent J. Craig said:
I don't own a sprinter, but my advice is to find a way to protect the exterior wall panels of the van. I have seen many Sprinters where a carelessly tossed case has dented the wall outward (right Parker?).

Also, as we read about more and more gear thefts - find a way to isolate the cargo area from the passenger seats, and install some kind of effective ignition locking alarm. Don't be tempted to get the models with rear windows!
Click to expand...

The first thing to do on Sprinters is to install wall panels. It takes little or no effort to dent the exterior wall from the inside. They are easily dented by cases especially.

We also have GPS based alarm system on all our Sprinters. It will track them if stolen, you can define a radius on a map and if it leaves the radius it will text you. It will also text you is the battery cable is cut and if the Sprinter exceeds a defined speed limit.

And yes, avoid rear windows- you need to install a rear camera regardless.
 
Already have one with rear windows, so I will make a couple of blackout panels I can velcro into place or remove when needed.
 
David W. Jones said:
Also, does anybody use Sam's Club heavy duty steel shelving for gear storage?
Click to expand...

The shelving is nice, but in the past couple years they have done away with the particle board sheets for the shelf surfaces and replaced them with steel mesh. The mesh sucks -- stuff doesn't slide on it, small things get caught or fall through and it sags under heavy weight. You could always scrap the wire mesh and cut your own particle board, but it's easier to buy the shelving elsewhere.
 
Well as luck would have it I found a place just down the road that did the E-Track install on a couple of grip trucks and sprinters here in town, so it goes in Wed morning.
 
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