Build: Making a 2006 Sportsmobile RB30 into my dream overlander

owlicks

Member
My build is in progress, but I figured better late than never with starting a build thread.

As was the case for many others, I was bitten by the overland mid-pandemic after being cooped up in the house for about a year. At first, I had my sights set on a VW Syncro. Although cool, I learned that a good one was a lot of money for a relatively old, small, and underpowered vehicle. Once I learned about Sportsmobiles, I realized that they are everything that's great about the Syncro, times ten. After many months searching, I found my unicorn: a 2006 RB30 diesel with 68k miles and all manuals/records:

DSCF0991.JPGDSCF1065.JPG

Original specs:
  • E350 6.0 diesel XLT trim passenger van (includes some nice touches like temp/compass gauge, cruise control, rear heat/A/C, and rear LSD)
  • RB30 layout with pop top, side gaucho, fridge, microwave, and rear sink
  • Front & rear Aluminess bumpers
  • Air compressor
  • 12,000 lbs Warn winch
  • Sportsmobile designed Dynatrac 4x4 setup with Atlas transfer case
  • Rear shower
Previous owner upgrades:
  • Rear airbags with second, dedicated air compressor
  • Tekonsha trailer brake controller
  • Edge digital gauge monitor
  • Bulletproof EGR cooler
  • BD turbo
  • Amsoil bypass oil filtration system
After flying down to LA to pick it up, the first stop was at Vantage Optics for some new HID headlights:

Photo_May_11,_7_56_05_PM.jpg

These were well worth the price and are one of my favorite upgrades to the vehicle.

Next, we headed out to Sequoia. After some beautiful sightseeing, we headed to Fresno, en route to Yosemite. While in Fresno though, we ran into our first bit of classic E350 6.0 trouble: the van just shut down in the middle of the road. No power, no lights, no nothing:

Photo May 11, 2 03 53 PM.jpg

I called up Peter at SMB West (now at Field Van) and he recommended taking it to J's Performance Automotive. They did some fast diagnostic work, determined a dead FICM was the issue, and happened to have a Bulletproof FICM in stock. This was another very worth while upgrade.

The rest of the trip was without incident. When I got home, I continued with more upgrades: a black billet grill, 35x12.5r17 Toyo M/T tires, and 17x9 Pro Comp 69 Series (nice) wheels:

Photo_Jun_04,_8_36_36_PM.jpg

Running tally of upgrades:
  • Rear airbags with second, dedicated air compressor
  • Tekonsha trailer brake controller
  • Edge digital gauge monitor
  • Bulletproof EGR cooler
  • BD turbo
  • Amsoil bypass oil filtration system
  • Vantage Optics HID headlights & LED signals
  • Bulletproof FICM
  • Black billet grill
  • 35x12.5r17 Toyo M/T tires
  • 17x9 Pro Comp 69 Series wheels
For my next installment: more problems, more upgrades...
 
Last edited:

owlicks

Member
Being a musician, my next set of upgrades included improving the stereo. The van still had the stock Kenwood unit from the 2006 build. Although very nice at the time (built in DVD player!), it was very outdated. Fortunately, the install was great and the original huge JBL amp still worked. I had the head unit upgraded to a Stinger Elev8 UN1880 and the front speakers upgraded to Morel Tempo Ultra 692 6"x9" components. The system now sounds great and the original 8" JBL subwoofer even blends perfectly with the new speakers:

DSCF1067.JPG

Next, I took care of some tidying up of worn parts. I had the front headliner reupholstered to get rid of some sagging that occurred from sitting in the hot southern California sun for many years. I also replaced the faded front cowl, faded windshield wiper arms, and faded towing mirrors:

Photo_Jun_04,_8_35_29_PM.jpg

From there, I added one of my favorite accessories -- a McLean Metalworks hammock stand:

Photo_Aug_08,_5_16_06_PM.jpg

After that, all was good until right after I journeyed to Canada for a pre-wedding photoshoot with my then-fiancée (now wife -- she didn't leave me over the van... yet):

Photo Sep 16, 12 59 36 PM.jpg

Just after the photo shoot, the van began spewing coolant like there was no tomorrow. Luckily, I was able to get it into a shop that could replace the water pump right away. The van continued leaking, but less. The shop determined it was leaking from multiple spots. Because the van had sat in the hot California sun for so many years, the hoses had become quite old and cracked by this point. I decided to just go all in and have the shop replace all hoses in the coolant system. When all was said and done, they replaced 14 or 15 hoses total. It took a few weeks before the problems were fixed, but thus far, everything seems to be back to normal...

Running tally of upgrades:
  • Rear airbags with second, dedicated air compressor
  • Tekonsha trailer brake controller
  • Edge digital gauge monitor
  • Bulletproof EGR cooler
  • BD turbo
  • Amsoil bypass oil filtration system
  • Vantage Optics HID headlights & LED signals
  • Bulletproof FICM
  • Black billet grill
  • 35x12.5r17 Toyo M/T tires
  • 17x9 Pro Comp 69 Series wheels
  • Stinger Elev8 UN1880 head unit
  • Morel Tempo Ultra 692 6"x9" front component speakers
  • Reupholstered front headliner
  • Replaced front cowl
  • Replaced windshield wiper arms
  • Replaced towing mirrors
  • McLean Metalworks hammock stand
  • Replaced all coolant system hoses
Next installment, upgrades that have been five months in the works...
 
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86scotty

Cynic
I'd agree that it's a unicorn, perhaps for different reasons than you meant.

Very cool color, definitely rare.

Also very rare for SMB to convert a passenger van. Pretty weird that they would gut a Chateau instead of a regular passenger model since the interior is all that makes a Chateau a Chateau, but whatever the customer wants I suppose. Perhaps this van was taken to SMB by the original owner later for conversion and not converted by them as new like a majority of SMB's?

Also, pretty unicorn-ish floor plan with the sink in the way back like that. I've only seen a couple of those ever.

I really dig the stance/wheel/tire combo. Absolutely spot on.

Enjoy your new toy. It might be a tad more reliable than a Syncro but I would keep my checkbook handy with any 6.0 until you go completely through it.

Congrats!
 

marret

Active member
Congrats and it looks great. Really like the looks with the changes. Deferred maintenance is always a possible issue on used vehicles a decade plus old.

+1 on Eric’s comments.
 

deserteagle56

Adventurer
My goodness. I've always loved driving a diesel but after reading this post I'm so glad I found my rig with the V10. Places I take this thing, no tow truck would come after me. It's a 2007, so in 14 years all I've ever had to do to it is change out a brake sensor that was causing intermittent cruise control problems.
P1001236r.jpg
 

owlicks

Member
I'd agree that it's a unicorn, perhaps for different reasons than you meant.

Very cool color, definitely rare.

Also very rare for SMB to convert a passenger van. Pretty weird that they would gut a Chateau instead of a regular passenger model since the interior is all that makes a Chateau a Chateau, but whatever the customer wants I suppose. Perhaps this van was taken to SMB by the original owner later for conversion and not converted by them as new like a majority of SMB's?

Also, pretty unicorn-ish floor plan with the sink in the way back like that. I've only seen a couple of those ever.

I really dig the stance/wheel/tire combo. Absolutely spot on.

Enjoy your new toy. It might be a tad more reliable than a Syncro but I would keep my checkbook handy with any 6.0 until you go completely through it.

Congrats!

I was curious about the trim after reading your comment! So I went and dug up the window sticker for the van which I actually have with all the paperwork! It turns out it's a well-optioned XLT which makes more sense. I do know the original owner bought it specifically to have it converted -- it was converted straight from the dealership.

It is indeed an oddball floor pattern, I haven't seen one like it. I have the original build sheets from the first owner. They crossed out some things and had some very specific extras added. I guess they knew exactly what they wanted! I'm really happy with how the wheels/tires turned out too -- it's super important to me and they are exactly what I wanted!

LOL you aren't kidding when you say to keep an open checkbook... I'll post my next update soon, but there are definitely some large ticket items that happened recently. All part of the journey though. I want this thing to be as reliable as possible before my wife and I head out to some really remote terrain!

Here's the window sticker:

window-sticker.jpg
 

owlicks

Member
Congrats and it looks great. Really like the looks with the changes. Deferred maintenance is always a possible issue on used vehicles a decade plus old.

+1 on Eric’s comments.

Thanks! It absolutely is -- it's par for the course on a vehicle with this many systems. I'm getting through all of them one at a time!
 

owlicks

Member
My goodness. I've always loved driving a diesel but after reading this post I'm so glad I found my rig with the V10. Places I take this thing, no tow truck would come after me. It's a 2007, so in 14 years all I've ever had to do to it is change out a brake sensor that was causing intermittent cruise control problems.
View attachment 690940

Ha ha! Glad your reliability has been solid. I think the main issue with mine is that it was likely mostly sitting for a few years or so before I bought it. I think any vehicle just needs regular use to reveal the kinks and what needs to be worked out. I've owned it since May and have driven about 7,000 miles, so I'm putting it through the rounds to make sure the reliability is improved.
 

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