Lebowski says 'Hi!' from The Netherlands

[Lebowski]

Hi all,

In January 2025 my new TGE L4H3 will be delivered to me, it will be converted into a camper van over time after taking delivery. My goal is to be relatively stealthy and build a vehicle that is suitable for offgrid activities and that's why I joined this forum; I will read along to learn from you and when I have questions I will post them with the hope of learning even more.

Imo is the DIY community in the UK more advanced to NL therefore I have good hopes of being inspired here.

Anyway, thanks and I'm very much anticipating my new van.

Cheers, Lebowski.

 

[TonyL]

Welcome, that’s a big van! Keep us informed on the build.

 

[Lebowski]

My van was delivered not in January but in March, due to changed tax regulations LCV's that were plated up to 31-12-2024 were avoiding the luxury tax (37,7% of the nett price) obligations putting a big plus on sales, luckily mine also was produced and plated in 2024 making the van less expensive. Still not cheap but when you can avoid paying extra taxes, why not?

Here's a picture of the van wearing ETA BETA Combat CV rims (17 * 8J ET45) on 245/70 R17 BF Goodrich K02 tyres. Unfortunately currently the van produces fault codes in the safety systems. To solve this situation a change request*** has been sent to the factory and they're programming a new tyre size into the ECU, that will be spooled in at some point when ready. In the meantime I roll on the stock 16" steelies.

***The ECU accepts 235/65 R16 and 235/60 R17 but not 245/75 R17, apparently a size deviation of -5 to +5 percent is fine, but these tyres are +9%, invoking error codes.

Dealer Note: the vans up to 2024-06 had less connected safety systems and can easily accept larger tyres, in the MK2 Crafter/TGE with the large screens in the dashboard this is more complex.

General question: who can tell me which supplier can provide a 36*36cm MaxxFan adapter frame for the REAR of the roof (between rib 2 and 3 as seen from the rear) that will ship to The Netherlands? Mudpod only ships with in the UK.

 

[Lebowski]

I had contact with Pete from Maxxair Maxxfan Deluxe Adaptor Crafter / MAN TGE 2017+ - North Devon Campervans and I will pick the frame up in the summer holidays at their workshop, thanks @rod_vw for the tip!

IMO the 360mm MaxxFan is the best as it sits very tightly between rib nr 2 and 3 (seen from the back) in the L4 sized vehicles, making movement impossible. The fan will also be surrounded by solar panels obstructing the cover almost from being seen when closed, I'll put 4 Craig Solar 200Wp panels (IMO 4x 200Wp is better than 3x 250Wp due to the lesser span width of the panels resulting in less laminate flex [67cm vs 82cm]) on the roof on a custom roof rack. I'll place a Starlink on one side of the MaxxFan and an 80Wp solar panel together with a 2A Victron charger to keep the main vehicle starter battery topped up. When you keep the vehicle stationary for several weeks the starter battery will go flat and that's a use case I'd like to avoid.

Attached my roof plan.



I may add a second MaxxFan Dome above the cooktop to remove cooking smells and damp, and I'll put two top-hinged side windows in the passenger / sliding door area to enable fresh air to enter the vehicle and assist removal of said cooking damp/smells.

 

[rod_vw]

I had contact with Pete from Maxxair Maxxfan Deluxe Adaptor Crafter / MAN TGE 2017+ - North Devon Campervans and I will pick the frame up in the summer holidays at their workshop, thanks @rod_vw for the tip!

IMO the 360mm MaxxFan is the best as it sits very tightly between rib nr 2 and 3 (seen from the back) in the L4 sized vehicles, making movement impossible. The fan will also be surrounded by solar panels obstructing the cover almost from being seen when closed, I'll put 4 Craig Solar 200Wp panels (IMO 4x 200Wp is better than 3x 250Wp due to the lesser span width of the panels resulting in less laminate flex [67cm vs 82cm]) on the roof on a custom roof rack. I'll place a Starlink on one side of the MaxxFan and an 80Wp solar panel together with a 2A Victron charger to keep the main vehicle starter battery topped up. When you keep the vehicle stationary for several weeks the starter battery will go flat and that's a use case I'd like to avoid.

Attached my roof plan.

View attachment 1207

I may add a second MaxxFan Dome above the cooktop to remove cooking smells and damp, and I'll put two top-hinged side windows in the passenger / sliding door area to enable fresh air to enter the vehicle and assist removal of said cooking damp/smells.

Do you have a reason for the 80W solar panel instead of an AMT12-2? That is what I have installed to keep my vehicle battery topped up from my lithium leisure battery which in turn is kept charged from 200W of solar.

 

[Lebowski]

The reason is really quite simple Rod; I did not know such a device exists. Now I'm quickly going to update my roof plan to not include the 80Wp solar panel as it cuts down the weight significantly.
I really must keep it as light as possible whilst not excluding much needed functionalities.

Much appreciated for this useful information!

 

[rod_vw]

The reason is really quite simple Rod; I did not know such a device exists. Now I'm quickly going to update my roof plan to not include the 80Wp solar panel as it cuts down the weight significantly.
I really must keep it as light as possible whilst not excluding much needed functionalities.

Much appreciated for this useful information!

Glad to be of assistance.

We are crossing into France via Le Shuttle on Wednesday for six weeks holiday, no real idea where we are going except initially we are heading for Normandy then who knows where. I will be on line most days so may speak to you during our holiday.

Maybe you are a Volkswagen enthusiast? If so you may like the look of this...



Myself and my wife at BBT in Belgium in June 2019 on our way to Bad Camberg vintage Volkswagen Meeting in Germany, then with T6 camper as back-up.

 

[Lebowski]

Enjoy your holidays on the mainland Rod! We're heading the other way in August and three weeks later we'll return, our first time on Le Shuttle ever. I remember it being built in the eighties, when I lived in Leamington Spa.

I have owned a couple of Volkswagens, let me think:
Golf II GTD
Golf II G60
Golf I convertible
New Beetle
Lupo 3L
Passat B7

And some VAG Group siblings:
Audi A4
Seat Leon
Audi A2 1.2TDi

And I've had the pleasure of working at PON in Leusden, the Dutch VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Porsche, Bugatti importer where I've seen a lot of nice vehicles among which the old T1 vans up to the VW XL1.

That's a nice Beetle you have there!

 

[rod_vw]

Wow, now the world gets smaller!!
Back in about 1974 when we owned a 1949 Beetle we visited the first meeting of what is now called KCN which was hosted at PON in Leusden.

Our Beetle in the picture is a 1946 model, built 27th November 1946, almost two years to the date before me!!

 

[Lebowski]

Dang, that's a unique vehicle being from 1946! How many are still in active service that were produced up to 1946?