Mies - an ARV 2500 144 WB 2WD Van

[Davydd]

Mies - “Less is more” is now in our possession and on the road after 3 years from conception to delivery. The concept drawings done in 2D MacDraft and 3D SketchUp.

[Davydd]

The finished van.

[Davydd]

Exterior and comparison of Mies to our former van, Alvar.

[Bud]

So David, what's the big deal other than WOW?

Very functional for your B application and that applications can change. And it even has a black water tank! OK, I'm prejudice. Yet 'Know' there is an application for each method out there.

Very Nice.

Bud

[Lennie]

That's beautiful, congratulations. It looks shorter which should give you more mobility. Happy travels!

[MsNomer]

Looks like you got pretty exactly what you asked for. Enjoy.

[Jon in AZ]

I like the curved, raised floor extension at the front. My wife and I both have short legs, so I understand the “dangling feet” problem. You have a very elegant solution.

[dcawd]

Congratulations David. What’s your fresh water, gray, and battery capacity? How much OCCC did you end up with on the 2500 chassis?

[markopolo]

It was fun to see the photos of the finished van. Thanks for posting them.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by dcawd

Congratulations David. What’s your fresh water, gray, and battery capacity? How much OCCC did you end up with on the 2500 chassis?

Freshwater turned out to be 40 gallons, grey is 26 gallons and the black tank is 25 gallons and the black is more than my extended van. The van weighed 7,700 lbs with a full tank of diesel. Some last minute modifications reduced that a couple hundred pounds so I am assuming about 7,500.

[MobileCabin]

Dave,

I really like the fit and finish. Very good use of rear storage.

Will be interested in how it drives in strong cross winds compared to your prior larger dual rear wheel vans.

[Bud]

Forgot to ask, your reasoning concerning the different color Sprinter?

Tks

Bud

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by MobileCabin

Dave,

I really like the fit and finish. Very good use of rear storage.

Will be interested in how it drives in strong cross winds compared to your prior larger dual rear wheel vans.

I’ve gone a thousand miles mostly on the Interstates with the big semi’s. It holds it’s own and way better compared with the N1T Sprinter Pleasure-way Plateau I had. Very little buffeting. It has upgraded suspension and Sumo springs. I don’t miss the the duallies at all. The van is lighter, I need the interior space for my design and I don’t have to put up with two extra wheels and attendant aggravation.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Bud

Forgot to ask, your reasoning concerning the different color Sprinter?

Tks

Bud

When we ordered the Charleston plant only offered three colors initially and metallic silver, white, and one other were available if you didn’t want to delay your order. Hindsight now says it didn’t make any difference. I had the metallic silver in our Great West Van and liked it. I got metallic dark grey in our previous ARV because at the time no other upfitter had one. Now it is common. ARV’s are so well insulated I don’t think it makes a wit of difference. The metallic silver doesn’t show the dirt as much as other colors. If MB offered British racing green I would have chosen that but the green now is kind of a dark aqua green.

[Keyne]

Congratulations! Great to see it all complete. Very unique floorplan. Does it have all the goodies like hydronic heat, lithium, etc.? I would love to do a custom 144 with ARV. Their fit and finish is really really nice, and I could get it exactly as I wanted it.

[Sotovoce]

Beautiful!

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Keyne

Congratulations! Great to see it all complete. Very unique floorplan. Does it have all the goodies like hydronic heat, lithium, etc.? I would love to do a custom 144 with ARV. Their fit and finish is really really nice, and I could get it exactly as I wanted it.

The heat and hotwater is diesel fired D3 (I think) Espar glycol heat exchanger with water for hot water. The glycol passes through a blower fan in the baseboard of the galley for heat. The waste return of glycol heats the fresh water tank.

The batteries are lithium ion Lithiumwerks Valence 12v batteries in a drop in group 27 profile. There are four at 144ah = 576ah. The inverter/charger is an Xantrex XC Pro 3000. I believe this is the first installation of this inverter by ARV.

[Davydd]

I didn’t get a dually as I mentioned. I challenged ARV to creat the design in a 2500 chassis and they did it with a Canadian lightweight 3/4” core board that is as strong as plywood for walls and cabinets but you can’t screw into it. They did a video on this product a while back. So 3M Command accessories is my friend. I did not get a 4x4 as most people think they need in short “adventure” vans. I doubt I will off-road as I haven’t for 16 years. However, I installed Sumo Springs and 2” lifts. I did not get the VP Air Suspension. There is no way people can ride in the back which VB takes out the bounce for sofa riders.

I didn’t get their levelers. I am on the fence with that and could put it in later. The shorter wheel base is easier to find a level spot as I am finding out for now. With the extended body Sprinter I had a knack to finding a level spot most of the time. Oddly with the side by side leveling it is not as critical with 29” wide bunk beds with walls on both sides you can butt up against without feeling you can fall out of bed. The bunk beds are the most controversial aspect of the design and we are getting use to them.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by Davydd

........they did it with a Canadian lightweight 3/4” core board that is as strong as plywood for walls and cabinets but you can’t screw into it. They did a video on this product a while back. ......................

What is Canadian core board, 3/4" on walls?

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

What is Canadian core board, 3/4" on walls?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE5nrA7kxmw