for the Mercedes Benz sprinter van that has no rails I looked up a bunch of options.

oem sale is 300+.

I opted to do it myself with an 8020.net product..

What are the dimensions others use as rails? Here is what I found:

to start we need some measurements.

i put the wood strip there as a sample that is 1.5 inch to see potential curves on the vehicle and how 1.5 inch would look like.

wondering if 1 inch or 1.5 would be better…

• for the 2 sides I decided to go with 1.50” X 1.50” Smooth Surface T-Slotted Profile – Four Open T-Slots https://8020.net/1515-s.html

using the entire length of 163 inch at $.45 cents comes out to around $85 per side.

the length actually of some of the aftermarket systems suggests the following length for the 170wb sprinter:

40″ Rear (C), 52.0″ Middle (B), 70.00″ Front (A)
40″ Rear (C), 60.5″ Middle (B), 61.75″ Front (A)

Shipping these things is horrendous…. pick up locally. found a distributor: https://www.grainger.com/

how to get the factory pins out?

Method 1

technique to remove the factory “caps,”.

using pliers to break the caps from the underside, and then use a thin tipped flat-head screwdriver to unseat the top side from the sealant. The razor blade option suggested was much more difficult, and it could easily scratch more of the paint than necessary. also drilling the ends, and using nut-certs to lock them down.

see also the installation guide that describes this method.