After having my van broken into and losing a lot of my personal belongings, all why I slept 50' away, I decided to install an alarm system. After a bit of research, I went with the Viper 5706 (around $250) which I purchased through Amazon (https://amzn.to/3DmCpmA). I went with them because they are a known car alarm company that has been around for a while, and I liked the slimmer remotes. Here are the key reasons I chose this system:
-1 mile range on a two-way remote (remote tell you status/temperature of the van).
-Comes with shock sensor and siren.
-Lots of people have used it and there is plenty of information online.
-Rechargeable remote
Although this system is a remote start system, I have no intention of hooking that part up. A remote start in a diesel vehicle seems somewhat silly to me, I could idle it for 30 minutes in winter and it will still not be warm. I plan to install a diesel heater in the van that will operate by remote to warm up the van quicker than a remote start would. Also, I want to interface/interfere with the sensitive factory wiring on my 2004 Dodge Sprinter as little as I can, less interface the less chance of some electrical gremlins down the line. The alarm will function correctly with the remote start system not installed.
The only interface with the van (minus power and ground) will be to lock and unlock the doors. Luckily SkyDiver007 made a really awesome discovery and posted it on the SprinterSource Forum (https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/21410/) which outlines a method he discovered which involves opening a circuit board under the driver seat and soldering the negative triggered lines from the alarm system to two points on the circuit board which allows the alarm system to lock and unlock the doors while not interrupting any existing factory wiring.
Onto the install:
First thing I did was disconnect power to the vehicle. If you are running two electrical systems make sure both are isolated from this circuit. Next, I removed the driver seat to access the electronics underneath.
Once in there I removed the CTM to access the circuit board inside.
The CTM is easily removed after removing two wires and two screws.
Once removed from the vehicle you can open the CTM by popping the two tabs on either side and sliding the circuit board out.
Luckily my wires were similarly colored to SkyDiver007's (as I am assuming most alarms systems are). So, I was able to carefully drill a hole in the plastic and solder the wires in. Doing this I knew that there was a chance lock and unlock would be reversed and I would have to redo it. However, this connection worked fine.
After the wires were connected, I reinstalled the CTM into the van. Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of the rest of the install, but the steps were pretty simple.
I ran two wires form under the driver seat to the engine bay:
12v+ power
Siren 12v+ Supply
I also had to run the included wire harness to the dash which has the antenna module and indicator light which simply is attached anywhere on the dash with adhesive. I placed my in the bottom left near the windshield.
The sired was attached to the wiper bracket arm and wired to the 12v+ supply from the Viper module under the driver seat and the negative supply went straight to the engine battery.
The Viper module received its 12v+ supply from the engine battery directly and was grounded to the driver seat frame.
I attached the Viper control module to the metal brackets under the driver seat and ran the shock sensor to the rear of the driver seat. I left this exposed so that I can adjust the shock settings till I am happy with the results. Then I will affix it inside the driver seat stand.
I connected the battery back up and tested it. It worked great!
The only issue I noticed, which is due to the way this van locks its doors and deals with an unlocked doors, is if the lock button on the remote is pressed and a door is ajar. The remote and alarm system will indicate the van is locked and arm the alarm; however the van unlocks its doors. This is usually managed by clicking the lock button again on the factory remote, however with the Viper alarm with the two way remote it will not "resend" the lock negative signal to the CTM as it believed the van is already locked. Due to this you cannot guarantee all doors to the van are locked. That being said the alarm is still armed and will activate if anyone were to open a door (based on the shock sensors sensitivity). If I find a better way to deal with this, I will post back.
UPDATE:
As of February 2024, this alarm setup is still working great!