Hi All,
Our ability to travel since our last post has been interrupted while we tend to business. It is this time of year that we must train our new staff so that we can take regular time off this summer. So I have had the time to tend to minor details that make the travel easier.
Anyone who has driven a Sprinter or been in the passenger seat on a long trip quickly finds that the European idea of drink holders just does not jive with the American use of large mugs. The door cavities designed for drinks are large (not large enough) yet they require a certain amount of agility to insert and extract a drink while driving. The dash drink holders work great if you have a small cup but don't fit anything large. Don't even get me started on the silly design of the ash tray / drink holder!
Well, I have designed and fabricated my own solution.
First, here is the ash tray. This is easily removed with a thin trim tool along both sides of the tray to release the catches and pulling the tray out, one side at a time.
Our ability to travel since our last post has been interrupted while we tend to business. It is this time of year that we must train our new staff so that we can take regular time off this summer. So I have had the time to tend to minor details that make the travel easier.
Anyone who has driven a Sprinter or been in the passenger seat on a long trip quickly finds that the European idea of drink holders just does not jive with the American use of large mugs. The door cavities designed for drinks are large (not large enough) yet they require a certain amount of agility to insert and extract a drink while driving. The dash drink holders work great if you have a small cup but don't fit anything large. Don't even get me started on the silly design of the ash tray / drink holder!
Well, I have designed and fabricated my own solution.
First, here is the ash tray. This is easily removed with a thin trim tool along both sides of the tray to release the catches and pulling the tray out, one side at a time.
Once I had the ash tray in hand, I fabricated a plywood box of the same size with an extended shelf on the top. To this shelf I attached a dual adjustable drink holder purchased from Autozone.
This is what the box looks like (sorry for the blurred photo)
Now I inserted the box into the cavity and used one sheet metal screw to secure it to the dash structure and here is the result! You will also notice that I just happened to find a small pail to use as a trash receptacle.
Now we can cruise down the road with our drinks handy!
JIM
