In line winch for a W907 Sprinter & ECB Bullbar

 In-line Winch Concept

I have long held an idea of using an in-line winch for my sprinter rather than mounting one permanently up front on my ECB bullbar. The key drivers for this idea were fourfold:

1. The location of the W907 forward seeking radar in the centre of the ECB bullbar.
2. Routing lengthy heavy gauge 12v wiring from the vehicle battery in the passenger foot well.
3. Having an option to winch from the rear.
4. Using 240v low current power from the inverter rather than 12v high current power.

The intent was to have a winch available as a contingency rather than using it regularly.

My concept combined a winch mounted on a steel plate anchored back to the tow points on the bullbar via slings and shackles. The power supply would be via a simple extension lead from an inverter GPO and the control via either hard wiring or remote control. The winch would be limited to approximately 1600W. I had had difficulty finding a suitable existing 240v hoist winch.

During my ongoing searching I recently came across a 12v portable ATV winch made by Vevor which is intended to act in-line. The power input requirement was 1650W. I must admit that I had doubts about the componentry but the price was compelling and the opportunity to give it a try seemed inevitable.

The winch unit case weighs 15kg

Two anchor webbing straps inside the case as well as the free wheel clutch control

Winch anchor point shackles

Drum layer rated line pull

I have purchased a unit and made some power input and control line modifications and had an opportunity recently to conduct a test. It works! It pulled 1143kg on the third layer and peaked at 1500kg on the second layer. Not massive but may help get me out of trouble especially if I use a snatch block to achieve ~3000kg. The rope is only 10m long but that’s sufficient to get me out of a ‘situation’ even if it has to be done stepwise. I also have a 15kg land anchor available just in case.

Third layer

Second layer

Land anchor in transit mode

Land anchor in ready mode

Modifications

Power Input

The original 12v input was via short jump start leads with alligator clips to a 50A Anderson plug. The main problem, of course, being that to drive the 1650W motor the current needs to be in the order of 1650/13=126.923 amp so I purchased 6m long 2awg jumper leads, added an in-line 150A midi fuse block in the positive lead and replaced the alligator clips at the other end with a 120A Anderson plug. The extra length allowed sufficient offset from the under-hood vehicle battery connection points to the in-line winch location (~3m ahead of the vehicle. I also made up a short lead for the winch unit to allow a 120A Anderson plug connection.

Supplemental 120A connector

Modified jumper leads

Jumper leads and control cable packed away

Standard battery jump start terminals

Control lead

The original lead was 1m long which wouldn't reach the driver’s location so I extended it by 6m. The unit has a remote control unit but I disliked the associated lag whereas the hard line control has immediate effect.

Power leads and control lead supported by the bullbar

Hard wire control at driver’s door

Rigging Arrangement 

Single Part

The winch includes two 2000kg webbing straps which anchor back to the bullbar using 3.25t bow shackles.

Bullbar tow point

Two Part

I double up the supplied webbing straps at the rear of the winch and add 2t shackles at the front of the winch to attach two 2t polyround slings and a 3.25t bow shackle to connect the hook to.

Vertical separation of the winch rope

Vertical separation of the winch rope at the snatch block

This arrangement negates the tendency for the winch to twist under load which occurred when I tried anchoring the winch to one side of the bullbar and the hook to the other. The twisting made the drum spooling problematic. Yet another example of the value of function testing.

Induced twisting

Conclusion

I have always been a bit nervous of venturing into soft ground as a predominantly solo traveller. Having a mechanism to provide some supplementary motive force without standing in line (hand tirfor or chain block) eases my mind a bit. The recovery board method worked well last time crossing the loose gravel Gascoyne river bed but you never know.

Addendum

Mundatharrda 2026 post script

 Hi folks,

An update on La Bestia engine light issue:

She ran just fine all the 450km back to Perth so I wasn’t too concerned but didn’t want to switch her off just in case. Got her booked into my local Mercedes Service centre straight away, next day in fact. They performed the diagnosis and found a faulty NOx sensor so replaced it. All good.

I also asked them to perform a Active Brake Assist software patch that I had found out about on a US Sprinter forum:

• Please quote the following Service Measure when booking in the Sprinter for service at the Dealer: TIPS GI54.71-N-075662 

This ABA issue has existed since delivery. Ironically, the forward seeking radar shuts itself off after distance/time not seeing a vehicle in front. Rather silly for a 4x4 vehicle in Australia. No one here could tell me why. Even more silly was the fact that it would wake up again automatically after detecting a few vehicles in front but not if you just ‘turned the vehicle off and on again’. Fortunately I had chosen not to have adaptive cruise control fitted so my cruise control remained unaffected. Those with ACC however lost that function as well. Clearly someone/group in the US stomped up and down enough to get a software fix. 

The service centre here knew nothing of this fix even though, to my mind, it deserved a safety recall. Anyway they found the reference and have loaded it. I will only truly find if the problem has been rectified on my next remote adventure. Let’s hope so.

In addition to the service work they did a quick clean of a vehicle that had just come back from the very red Pilbara region of WA. Not a deep clean but certainly saved me some effort. They also provided an Uber each way from home 9km away. Quite handy for someone who lives alone.

Now for the big shoutout… ALL the above was carried out Free Of Charge even though the vehicle warranty lapsed in January 2026. Why you may ask? Because I had done extra services there before and after my big loop in 2025 and had spent a significant sum with them to date (Vito and Sprinter) and they agreed that the ABA should’ve been a safety recall.

Well done Mercedes Benz Perth!

PS Back to Vittoria and my motoaddict stuff this weekend

Headliner shelf - La Bestia

 I saw another member of a sprinter 4x4 group post about installation of a headliner shelf inside the cabin. I reckoned that was a great idea so I purchased one from eBay. It was a bit slow arriving but was quite quick to install (no drilling). I decided to cover the underside with bootliner to help deaden echoes. It comes with a top liner. 

Got my shelf back from the autotrimmer today and it’s all fitted up. It was a bit tricky fitting the fasteners above the driver’s seat due to the proximity of the ensuite but a spanner extension took care of that.

Now I have to decide what to put on it. Mostly soft stuff like towels, pillows, blankets to avoid rattles. I will fossick around to find a small clip on cargo net to retain items on rough/steep tracks. Pretty sure I’ll bang my head a few times before I learn but it’s not that bad at 164cm off the floor for me (173cm). I decided not to put a reflector strip on it (yet).

Underside

Was a bit tricky getting to the fasteners above the driver’s seat 

Update 28/6/2026

Cargo net added

La Bestia house to vehicle

 Hi guys, this engineer never stops!

One of the annoying issues with campervan/RVs is the parasitic drain modern electrical systems place on the vehicle battery. Mercedes Sprinters are notorious for this and to date I have been juggling a small 10W solar panel connected directly to the vehicle battery.

Necessarily, the only connection between the house batteries (LiFePO) and the vehicle battery (AGM) is one direction so that the vehicle alternator can charge the house batteries but power cannot go the other way.

This is not a big problem if the vehicle is being run every few days on a trip. I actually carry a small regulated solar blanket for trips where I am likely to stay in one position for a week or so.

The real problem occurs when the vehicle is parked up in my yard. The little solar panel is not enough over an extended period so I open the door to a loud warning ‘bing’ and “start the engine” message on the dash.

Enter the engineer… why can’t I use the solar panel on the roof somehow?

The solar panel feeds the house batteries via a DCDC converter and they are perpetually full as nothing is being used while parked up. All I need is another smaller DCDC converter between the house batteries and the vehicle battery.

So I did some online research and found a reasonably priced smaller sized unit at itechworld where I bought my house batteries and ACDC charger. Went to have a chat and totally confused the salesperson as I was attempting to use the product for a novel purpose. In the end the critical number was how many volts it required to initialise. House batteries are at 13.4v when full and the trigger point was 13.1v. 

After some discussion on being able to return it jic I bit the bullet and bought one. I already had anderson connectors for both the vehicle and house batteries beside the passenger seat so it took 2 minutes to connect for a trial run.

Well… it works perfectly. No more ‘BING’🙂

Follow me for more useful advice with your Mercedes campervan/RV (this one applies to most makes)

Comes with 50A Anderson connectors plus a lighter plug as an option

Trial connection to existing access points ‘H’ for house 

Up and running 

La Bestia davit

 One consequence of getting the second spare out of the boot was how to lift the wheel on/off the frame. I’m neither tall nor strong and generally travel solo. I used to use a ramp to roll it out of the boot.

My engineering brain kicked in and came up with a ‘drop in davit’ concept. The Weldbeat frames have a hollow upright as the primary member so I reckoned a steel tube would drop inside. All I needed to do was run some numbers on diameter and wall thickness to find a suitable tube.

Anyway it turns out 38mm OD exhaust pipe met the criteria with a safe working load of 40kg. The wheel weighs 25kg. I engaged an exhaust specialist to bend a section of pipe. I then fitted back to back exhaust clamps to provide the depth stopper and two eye bolts to hang a four part tackle arrangement. No welding required.

It works well and only weighs 5kg all up. I’m chuffed as it helps with the fuel can on the other side.

PS: I proof load tested it by hanging off it myself (78kg)

PPS: I centred the wheel lift by adding a soft sling threaded through the rim holes rather than hooking the carabiner to them.

#sprinter4x4 #rockwallaby

Full rig

Rig in place on cargo side

Wheel lift

Fuel can lift

La Bestia 28/1/26

 Yo there dear followers. As most of you know summer is my ‘other passion time’ 🏍️

That doesn’t stop me continuing to rearrange, improve or reinforce stuff in La Bestia. In fact having such a vehicle is a continuous improvement program. Always thinking of making it better for next time…

Indeed that has been happening in the background since my return in November.

Modification #1

Install a turnbuckle arrangement to support the microwave which decided to sag during the Big Loop (after a barrage of hyper corrugated roads).

Modification #2

Add tyre and cargo racks to the rear end. I bought these on line while in Katherine after seeing another Sprinter with them fitted at Pentecost River xing. A little bit nerve wracking having to drill through the door panels but turned out well in the end.

The tyre rack gets the second spare out of the boot and is more accessible in times of need. The cargo rack is a base unit to which I have fitted a truck lock box and a fuel carrier. The truck box carries the bits and pieces required to perform a wheel change without having to dig around inside the boot. 

I have both single and twin fuel can carriers that can be installed. This gets fuel out of the boot space. In addition I can fit a carrier for a spare 4kg lpg bottle above the fuel can for really remote longer duration trips. Mind you I only use lpg for hot water as I am up to speed with induction cooking powered by the sun/batteries.

I’m quite pleased at how it has turned out. The extra space in the boot is welcome. First test will be a short trip around the Murchison/Gascoyne with my daughter in April/May.

PS: I have also developed a bike rack to get it out of the boot as well.

#sprinter4x4

Turnbuckle supporting the microwave 

Weldbeat frames in place, wheel mounted

Truck lockbox in place

Single fuel can carrier in place

Dirty bag & spare lpg fitted

Wheel change gear in the lockbox

Bike rack fitted

La Bestia 14/12/23

 Let’s talk electricals for remote off grid travel.

The two most influential questions are:

1 Do I need / want the functionality?

2 What power source?

I had decided on lpg for hot water and cooking although I’ve ended up using the induction cooktop supplemented by butane cookers as they are more versatile for outdoor cooking and the spin off is that the lpg is saved for hot water duties. This is important as the gas bottle is limited to 3.7kg. The induction cooktop is fantastic in the wind.

12v, 18v or inverter driven 240v?

12v

All lighting,

Fridge,

Diesel heater fan,

Cooking area exhaust fan,

Ensuite exhaust fan/light & toilet,

House cooling fan,

Water pump,

Bar fridge,

HEPA filter,

Vacuum sealer,

Electric blanket,

Fuel transfer pump,

Water transfer pump,

Back up compressor,

TV (rarely carried).

18v Ozito

Chainsaw,

Hammer drill,

Impact wrench,

Reciprocating saw,

Blower,

Side grinder,

Vacuum,

Spotlight.

240v via 1600/1800W inverter (twin 120Ah LiFePo batteries each capable of 150A continuous discharge)

Air compressor, 550W

Ozito battery charger, 70W

Microwave, 1000W

Pizza oven, 2*650W switchable elements

Induction cooktop, 1100-1350W 

Kettle, 1000W

Toaster 750W

Mini air fryer 900W

Heat gun, 1600W (electrical repairs)

Stick mixer, 200W

Soldering iron, 40W

My DCDC charger can take up to 600W of solar input with 200W fixed panel on the roof plus two direct input points on the outside of the van. This means I can bypass the panel controller and feed raw power into my central DCDC charger. 

I carry:

2x100W Voltech fixed panels the same as the roof panel to which I added fold out legs. These run high voltage and are very efficient,

120W Kings fold up mat c/w regulator to charge the vehicle battery on long stays

NB I have tried quite a few portable fold out units but most run max voltage of 18.6V whereas the Voltech run at 23.4v and the Kings mats 19.2v. It’s best to match voltages for efficiency therefore my Voltech gets used the most. It’s also the lightest and easiest to set up.

As always, questions welcome.

#vanlife #rockwallaby #sprinter4x4

12v HEPA filter

12v Brass monkey 15L bar fridge

18v Ozito tools

240v compressor 

240v pizza oven

240v Ozito charger

240v microwave 

240v induction hot plate

240v kettle

240v soldering iron

240v stick mixer

240v heat gun