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You're probably right. In that size sleeper, there's a ventilation problem,(a propane heater requires lots of oxygen, and if it doesn't get it the carbon-monoxide danger becomes all too real) and he would be forced to use the small tanks. Also it could be a fire-hazard. Reckon if he wants to...

You came to the right place to be told that electric heaters are a waste of time in this application. They gobble up enormous power-- so you have to have a generator to run them--- but they can't produce anywhere near the heat you need. They're designed to help in a small space where you already...

OK if I ask why you're trying to re-invent the wheel? I'm looking at this whole thing and thinking it's too small to do what you're asking. Get a proper APU set up instead, it'll be big enough for the job and designed for the job from the get-go. A D-2 is good for heating the sleeper, OR for...

I used Power Service when I had the Sprinter. Sometimes I would forget--- and the next morning I would be reminded why you shouldn't forget. ("Winterized" diesel up North? Yeah, right. I live in Illinois, and up here they sell that damnable soybean mix. A pox on biofuel's house.)

Bet the connectors are bad. Not hard to replace, you get a new pigtail and splice it into the old wiring. The connection between the headlight and the connector is subject to oxidizing and corrosion just like any other electrical connection in older vehicles. That, and ground-fault issues will...

Turtle mentions the problems of going over 10K in a van-- whether Sprinter, Promaster, the new Ford version (I forget the name) or just a plain ol Chevy or Ford E-van--- that you'll have to scale, log and have the DOT physical. Since in this case we're talking a 2500 series Sprinter rated at...

Look at the builder's plate. Carefully. You will see several things which are important. GVWR we're already pounding to death here. Recommended tire sizes and pressure in those tires. Front axle weight rating. Rear axle weight rating. I note that in my old Sprinter, the front axle weight rating...

LDB--- I hadn't thought of that. Howsomever, 25-30 lbs over because you bought a gift for your daughter is unlikely to cause trouble in any event. Przewinski---- that builder's plate is there for a reason. You might want to pay attention. Going to Mercedes, or even going to your knees and asking...

Depending on how the load is placed in the van, and whether it's properly secured (come on--- 2,500 lbs and you didn't secure it?) the overload can actually cause the accident. Placed wrong--- easy to do in a vehicle with an overhang like the long Sprinters--- it can cause unstable handling...

I never did try weighing extra water--- everything else you mention though-- yep. I made sure my carrier knew my capacity, too--- and I'm not inclined to overload. Not worth it, if something breaks I'm the one stuck with the bill.

4X4 may give you confidence so you try to drive when you shouldn't. Everybody who gets one of these 4X4s gets it into their heads that nothing can stop them--- and then find out that this is so when they try to stop in slippery conditions. Or they find out that once you DO get stuck-- it happens...

That 4X4 is gonna cost you--- I guarantee it. My old Sprinter--2500 series, longest, tallest made in 2005-- was good for just over 2850 payload--- with a full tank of fuel and me in the drivers seat, with my personal effects on board. That is, in addition to me, the fuel, the personal...

In any case--- it's been a week, the tires are settled in and running as they should. The only time I get unexpected sway/wander is when either passing or being passed by large trucks--- and that has more to do with the airflow around fast-moving large objects than it does with tires.

One other thing: On a brand-new vehicle all the tires are identical. On older vehicles--- there may be some mixing and matching. I'm running new Goodyears on the rear-- identical tires on that axle. On the front--- some Chinese crap-fest Sentinels that haven't had the usual belt failures yet...

Brand-new vehicles come with 4 brand-new tires for one thing. As the vehicle ages, you do sometimes have cause to replace the tires on one axle but not the other--- in my case, I replaced the rear tires this time. For a real nightmare-- I looked up this stuff on Google, there are of course...

Seems to me you don't get a lot of choices. Sprinters have enough trouble with the emissions stuff-- now you're adding 4WD to the picture. That adds weight-- as already mentioned-- and mechanical complexity. Overloading won't help matters much either. You may get away with it a couple of times...

The tires DO settle in. If you could have ridden with me Sunday evening as I headed out to Waterloo, and then rode with me today on the Battle-Creek trip--- you wouldn't even have to ask. Partly because, after getting off of I-90 Sunday evening and being able to get out at the first...

The good news--- both from my personal experience and from what I've been reading on the subject-- is that new-tire wandering is a temporary thing. It may take a few hundred, up to maybe 2,000 miles for the tires to "wear in" so the wandering completely ceases, but it does cease. Already my van...

My last purchase was Goodyear--- the tires on the rear now. I made a point of making sure they're "the real McCoys"--- even to the point of going to a different shop than the one I usually used for tires. I've run Michelins before, they're good tires. The only problem is trying to get a tire...

I might want to argue a bit about that last sentence. I live up North--- I'm a suburbanite near Chicago-- and more than once I bought "winterized" diesel fuel that gelled so the Sprinter wouldn't start next morning. Better put some anti-gel in there unless you have a way to keep the fuel-tank...