Used 2021 MB Sprinter Camper Van Build (RWD) (27, 000 miles) (82, 000) for sale in South Lake Tahoe, CA

*The van is currently located at our home in South Lake Tahoe with delivery to Southern California available*

We have enjoyed every adventure in this van but it’s time to move on to two new projects and see this rig off to a great new home and continued adventures.

Build Components

Flatline Van Company Ladder
(2) Renogy 175 Watt Monocrystaline Solar Panels (350 Total Watts)
Maxx Air 7500K Deluxe with Remote
Goal Zero 3000x
Gozl Zero Link Charger (from vehicle alternator)
PowerWerx custom 12v input/output cables
Blue Sea Fuse 12v Fuse Block
Isotherm Cruise 85 Elegance (clean touch stainless steel)
Ruvati 15×15″ Drop-In Sink
5 gallon fresh water tank, 5 gallon grey water tank (quick-disconnects)
Dometic Two Burner Stainless Steel Cooktop
Overland Sprinter three panel bed with custom bamboo paneling
3 Sirocco II Fans by Seekr
Passenger and Driver Swivel seats by Amazing Auto
Full Thinsulate insulation including headliner and door panels
Custom extruded aluminum and bamboo galley
Custom extruded aluminum and bamboo overhead cabinet
Stainless steel marine slam latches on all cabinets
Custom extruded aluminum and bamboo wheel well storage boxes
Lonseal flooring
Marathon wool wall and ceiling panels
Four dimmable push-button reading lights (LED with night-mode)
Dimmable LED ceiling lights and mood lighting behind overhead cabinet
See more images and videos of the van on our Instagram:

@wildwest_vancraft

Please do not hesitate to call with questions for the fastest response:

(561) 459 Seven Five One Seven

Build Philosophy

This van was built for myself, my wife, and our two dogs. We live in South Lake Tahoe but we make frequent surf trips to the coast via the 395. For the last four years we would spend the summers living out of our van builds. This build is the culmination of those four builds and a total of nearly one year of full time “van life.” In addition to those builds, I’ve taken on three commissioned builds for private clients. Every feature that you see is a product of years first-hand experience with what works and what doesn’t work. If we built it and we broke it we found a better solution. If we built it and we didn’t use it as much as we expected we cut it from the design. If it squeaked or rattled we replaced it with a material that didn’t. If there’s a common feature that seems to be “missing” here it’s because we tried it and found it to be unnecessary or unrealistic. Everything you need and nothing that you don’t.

Up Top

There’s an average of 248 sunny days here in Tahoe. We’ve got a total of 350 watts of Renogy solar panels on the roof to capture as much of that as we can. The panels are mounted to the van with Impact Product (Hein’s) tower mounts secured to Van Tech’s roof rails. We mounted the Flatline Van Company side ladder to the van so that we could easily access the panels for cleaning off snow in the winter. There’s no excuse to drive around Tahoe in the winter with 2 feet of snow on top of the van. It’s a liability for everyone on the road – ourselves included.

Power

The Goal Zero 3000x is charged from the solar panels as well as the vehicle’s alternator via Goal Zero’s Car Link. This is not the small 12v “car charger” that Goal Zero produces. Charging from the alternator brings in up to 600 watts depending on driving conditions. In combination with clean panels and mid-day sun, we’ve brought in up to 900 watts while driving. This set up provides ample power considering our extremely minimal power draw.

I’ve seen the power systems that take up the better part of the “garage.” Those systems are fine but we aim to reduce the number of possible points of failure. We’ve achieved that with this system. Power comes in via solar and the alternator. Power is distributed to the 12v system via a Blue Sea Fuse block with a custom cable from PowerWerx. The entire Goal Zero unit is mounted to the frame of the van with an extruded aluminum “cage.” The fuse panel is accessed simply with thre removal of two 5/16th bolts. You don’t need to be an electrical engineer to understand, inspect, and maintain this sytem. If there is ever an issue with the Goal Zero that requires that unit to be completely removed from the vehicle, that can be achieved with one single tool in a matter of minutes.

Wall Panels

Each wall panel is cut from 1/4″ baltic birch plywood and wrapped in Marathon wool. We’ve gotten sharpie, mud, barbecue sauce, and dirt on the wall panels and have always been successful in cleaning them to new condition with a magic eraser. The marathon wool is applied to the panels with Weldwood Landau Top and Trim adhesive that is heat resistant. Attaching the wool with other adhesives will fail when exposed to high temperatures. You can gues how I found that out.

Each panel is attached to the body of the van with a 1/4-20 stainless steel bolt threaded into a plus nut. Removing any panel requires one single tool. There are no sheet metal screws in this build. Sheet metal screws fail over time. The ceiling panels are attached to the ceiling with the same method but we’ve implemented sport-climbing bolts to join the panels. Any time something can serve two purposes, that’s what we do. You can hang a hammock from the inside of the van to a tree outside with a single bolt. We hang our headlamps and keys on the bolt in the rear of the van when we settle in for the evening.

Galley

Like the rest of the build, the galley was constructed out of extruded aluminum and bolted to the body of the van via 1/4-20 bolts and plus-nuts. The “walls” of the galley are 1/2″ bamboo plywood. The doors on the galley cabinet and drawer are 3/4″ bamboo plywood. We used stainless steel marine slam latches on all of the drawers and doors in this build for a very positive and secure fit when closed to prevent rattling.

The cooktop is a stainless steel Dometic two burner stove. The heat source is a single propane tank – these single tanks do not “off-gas” like larger tanks and can be easily accessed by opening the drawer so that the propane is disconnected and stored unless cooking is taking place. The cooktop is tied into the 12v system so that it can be ignited with the push of a button so when you get to your camp site one hour from the closest store and realize you forgot matches or a lighter, you can still heat up dinner.

The sink is a 15×15 Ruvati with a stainless steel, cold-only faucet. The plumbing to the sink is as simple as possible. There is one 5 gallon fresh water tank and one five gallon grey water tank. Each tank is connected to the system with quick-disconnect fittings so that they are easily removed to be filled/dumped/cleaned regularly. The 12v marine-grade pump is activated with a simple on-off switch located on the side of the galley. This is the system that has worked the best for us. As always, it’s common to see more complicated systems but we’ve found that this system works for our needs and reduced possible points of failure. It is built with reliability and servicability in mind. The system was built to be winterized quickly and easily – a consideration that is commonly overlooked.

Overhead Cabinet

The overhead cabinet is built and attached to the van just like the galley. The door is 3/4″ bamboo and the “walls” are 1/2″ bamboo. Blum struts keep the door open and the same marine grade stainless steel slam latches keep the door tightly shut. The entire cabinet is backlit with warm white LED strip lighting that illuminates the cabinet’s interior at night. Below the cabinet are two reading lights that are dimmable and have a “night mode.” The light are adjustable so that they can illuminate the galley or the driver’s side swivel seat.

Windows

I’ve installed CR Laurence Windows, AMA windows, Arctic Tern Windows and have found that Broad Arrow windows are the best fit for our needs. The windows are curved to accomodate the body contours of the van to reduce deflection/wrinkling of the sheet metal. The windows include bug shades and black out shades that are 100% essential when actually enjoying a van whether you’re off grid or “stealth” camping. The windows are acrylic to minimize heat transfer when compared to glass windows. With the black out shades pulled down, the van is as dark as it was when it was a cargo van with no windows.

We placed the windows strategically to help with air flow as well as visibility while driving. Having pill/bunk windows isn’t helpful while driving and significantly complicateas the build process and ability to make future modifications. Having windows in the rear of the van can be helpful while driving and the slider door window makes driving the van much more similar to a typical vehicle regarding the blind spot in cargo vans without windows.

Bed Frame

The bed frame and rails in this build are manufactured in Santa Barbara, CA by Overland Sprinters. Attached to the tig welded three panel bed system is 1/2″ bamboo. The panels and rails were powder coated locally. Four 1/4″ 20 stainless steel bolts hold each of the three panels to the rails. Removing the panels is as easy as removing 12 bolts.

The mattress is a custom-cut 6″ King size mattress to accomodate for the taper of the van and the rear pillars.

We hang up to four longboards (fins removed) below the bed from the bed rails via the same hooks you’ll find in the ceiling. I’m sure there’s more uses for the hooks that we’ve incorporated but it’s surfboards for us.

Ventilation

This van sees more time in warm weather than cold weather. Even in the winter here in Tahoe it can be sunny and heat an uninsulated van quite quickly.

With the black out shades mostly drawn, windows cracked open, and the Max Air fan exhausting hot air from the van, we can keep it very, very pleasant inside for ourselves and our pups. There’s two Sirocco fans that can turn 180 degrees to move air to/from the bed or towards the galley and one fan under the bed dedicated to our dogs. That’s right. It’s a dog fan.

Swivel Seats

Maximizing space in the 144 platform isn’t complete without dual swivel seats. Both seats swivel completely around. If you want to see the attention to detail in this build, look to the clearance between the goal zero unit and the driver’s swivel seat. Every inch of space was regarded while building this van. There are multiple swivel seat options on the market but we went with Amazing Auto following their calim that their swivel bases come with “true US DOT FMVSS 207 lab test reports”

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do you go to the bathroom?

We spent one summer with a cassette toilet on board. We never used it. Ever since we haven’t carried a toilet and go to the bathroom in buildings just like everyone else on the road. If we’re in the backcountry we go to the bathroom responsibly just like everyone else should that isn’t travelling in an RV with a bathroom.

Where do you shower?

We use a 2.5 gallon Rinse Kit after we surf or mountain bike or climb. It’s enough to rinse down and hose off our two large pups if they’re dirty. That’s what works for us. We’ve spent summers with 20 – 32 gallons of water on board and found that it isn’t worth the expense/hassle/worry. When you see large wheel well water tanks built in to vans, think about the possible points of failure, servicing/cleaning that tank, removing it if nececssary, and winterizing the tank as needed. Those are the reasons that you won’t see large/permanent water solutions in this build.

No heater?

At the moment there’s no heater in this van. The thorough Thinsulate insulation manages the cold well enough for our needs in the areas that we frequent. That being said, adding an Espar heater to the build would (essentially) be as straight forward as adding one to an empty cargo van. If this is a make or break feature for you we can negotiate the installation of an Espar unit under the passenger seat.

What size is the bed?

The mattress was custom cut to fit the space. It is bigger than a queen and smaller than a king.