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What did you do to your Promaster today?

708K views 4K replies 381 participants last post by  Baxsie 
#1 ·
Thread idea blatantly taken from the Sprinter forum. >:D


I'd like to say that I did something with my Promaster, but I don't think its even i n the build system yet. So I wait.

But, what did you do?
 
#3,150 ·
I had the plastic footwell / step bucket things out to run some wiring. After vacuuming out all the mouse nests :rolleyes:, I decided that there was enough room to insulate the area with some left over thinsulate I had:
Automotive lighting Hood Building Motor vehicle Automotive tire


It is a little bit crowded getting the plastic cover back in. I think it would have been better to cut little chunks of thinsulate and put them in between the ribs on the underside the plastic cover. But it's in now and unless you look really close you can't tell.

Every little bit, right?
 
#3,154 ·
Finished the new head unit install. Major job -- but there is a good video to follow.

Motor vehicle Hood Light Grille Automotive design


Electrical wiring Electronic engineering Cable Electricity Gas


Motor vehicle Gadget Vehicle Automotive design Sports equipment


Gadget Audio equipment Multimedia Electric blue Auto part


Kenwood DNX997XR, Maestro RCH3 Cable, Maestro RR, SiriusXM (trying to make use of that lifetime subscription), 4-way Video Mux (gives front/rear/and side cameras). Pretty happy with it.
 
#3,158 ·
It was 65 degrees today, yaaaaaaay! I'm holding off on the water system and batteries because we have a week of nights in the teens, But, boy it felt good to start opening things up.

I cleaned things up. Replaced my kitchen faucet because the one I had broke off. Hung some racks, and I mounted the compass with the latitude and longitude to my house, so I'll never forget where home is.

And I changed the van's name. Because to me, it is the beast. I'm excited by it and terrified of it all at the same time. Not scared in a bad way, it's just a big challenge. So when I call it the beast, it really rings true, instead of just being a name.


Tap Plumbing fixture Sink Bathroom sink White
Plant Property Flowerpot Houseplant Building
Black Tints and shades Font Rectangle Space
 
#3,163 ·
Try an enzyme based treatment for RVs for your gray tank, such as “Happy Campers”. But you can’t use bleach with it because it will destroy the good sludge eating bacteria. It might be a little cold for the bacteria to do their thing right now, but I would use it religiously during the warmer months as preemptive treatment. Also, have a fine meshed strainer in your sink drain so that you don’t flush food particle into the gray tank to begin with.
 
#3,173 ·
Today I installed an extended cabinet over the galley. It was a three-day project: remove, weld a new section, rip & attach old painted trim and re-mount to van.

This is one of the punch-list that I came back from Death Valley with:
  • Fix refrigerator attachment Southern California Desert Trip
  • Fix plugged grey water drain (see above)
  • Cut down the massive lagune table to something I can stash in the Pizza oven (done, no photos)
  • Extend galley cabinet for more storage (below)


Countertop Cabinetry Furniture Property Table

Before. The trim to the right will become the new "back" of the extension.
Wood Automotive exterior Motor vehicle Automotive design Bumper

Done welding. The new section is the visible part.
Cabinetry Countertop Drawer Kitchen Chest of drawers

Installed. Waiting for new doors. The two shown are painted 3mm birch which are warped. I'm thinking of replacing them with temper-board. The plan is to rework the skins and tracks with higher quality material and glue, rather than screw them to the aluminum frame, fill any gaps sand, ease the edges and then paint.

I don't recommend welded aluminum frames. A lot of work, nothing is straight, but they are light and super durable on rough roads. The 6mm skins (sides, bottom and back) weigh more than the framing.
 
#3,174 ·
. . . I don't recommend welded aluminum frames. A lot of work, nothing is straight, but they are light and super durable on rough roads. . . .
Dang, those look great. Nice job welding the aluminum -- I have the tig but have never had good success with aluminum.
 
#3,176 ·
Added some small self-adhesive bumpers to the bottom of our "square" plates and bowls:

Product Natural material Creative arts Material property Rectangle


The four at the bottom keep them from sliding during use. Those, in combination with the four around the outside rim, keep them from rattling in the cupboard.

We will have to see how they hold up with our hand washing.
 
#3,185 ·
Slapped some bunks in the van so we could go to the beach. I cut a really comfortable queen memory foam mattress in half for the two 29" wide bunks. Working on wiring now before covering up the walls.


It took a few tries to find a proper place to store the e-bikes, but I think this will work.



My bunk:



The wife's bunk....yes it needs steps!

 
#3,191 ·
Saturday 4 pm, It's COLD. 18° and 10-14mph wind. I thought I was going to get back to the console project today. I did a quick job to push 4" of snow off so it will melt off quicker next week. Too cold to be running back and forth to the basement.
Tire Wheel Vehicle registration plate Vehicle Snow
 
#3,193 ·
It's a lovely 39 and blue skies here in Seattle with another atmospheric river and flooding on the way.
Daytime Plant Vertebrate Leaf Branch


Last week: What did you do to your Promaster today?

I am replacing the warped, sticky, rattly 3mm birch ply sliding cupboard doors with smooth rigid, flat (and probably rattly) polystyrene panels + one mirrored plexy for facial maintenance while on the road. The styrene might get a coat of latex to color match the old door (bottom)
Automotive design Wood Flooring Table Plywood
 
#3,194 ·
Today was mostly a chore day.
- Replaced a bad battery that was only 2 months used.
- Replaced a fitting on the hot water line that was leaking slowly. It was leaking previously and I think I didn't clean off the Teflon tape well enough before putting on pipe dope.
- Replaced the quick disconnect fitting for the under sink gray tank. The old fitting had a valve inside that supposedly closes when disconnected, but it got clogged every week or so. Replaced it with a valve-less fitting.
 
#3,196 ·
I rotated the tires. Purchased a 25" breaker (on sale $12) and 6 pt socket from Harbor Freight plus I splurged on a rapid pump low profile floor jack.
Tire Wheel Vehicle Automotive tire Car


The dealership finally "rotated" the tire at ~17k. I was suspicious that the rotation wasn't proper but put on another 5000 miles before getting that mythical "round-tuit". This is what I found (all # in 32nds of an inch):

DriverPassenger
Front9-10-96-6-6
Rear12-13-127-8-7
Sparen.a.10-11-10
These numbers confirmed my suspicion that they failed to rotate the tires properly.

So, per my plan Advice for tire rotation, I put the two best tires on the front and the third best into the spare. I'll keep swapping the spare and passenger front until they match the driver front tire and then rotate all three until it is time to replace all five tires. This assume the front will wear much faster than the rears (seems there is a good 2-3/32nd difference at 22k miles). I might rotate the passenger rear through if the tires last long enough

It also appears that the center is wearing slower than the sides indicating my pressure is low, so, I'll be bumping fore/aft pressure by 4 psi (61/55 - OEM pressure was 65/80). After swapping tread depth now:

DriverPassenger
Front12-13-1210-11-10
Rear6-6-67-8-7
Sparen.a.9-10-9
 
#3,198 ·
Antsy to get ready for a few days hiking/botanizing/camping next week in southern Ohio, I de-winterized the van. For us that means putting water back in. Friday I sanitized the potable water tank and left it chlorinated overnight as the temps are on the cool side. Today I drained and flushed tank. I'm standing there holding a hose to the fill port. It's 35°, windy with snow showers. What's wrong with this picture? --------- It was supposed to be cold tonight, mid 20's. Not to worry as it was warmer the next two nights. NOW the forecast is for 22° tonight, 17° Su and 18° Monday. Yikes! Water lines are all inside but not insulated. Next on the agenda... go get the electric heaters started. It will be warmer in southern Ohio.
Tire Automotive parking light Wheel Land vehicle Vehicle
 
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