I'll share the electrical system design shortly - basically it's self-sufficient so shouldn't need to ever plug the van in anywhere. So beyond electrical power, the next hardest resource to acquire on the road is fresh water. So we want plenty of it. And
Inevitable I suppose, but slightly scary that ChatGPT has now contributed to my van build. I'm installing the Air Lift Loadlifter 5000 Ultimate air bags and their WirelessAir on board compressor system with 2 gallon air tank. These allow us to adjust the stiffness of the rear suspension
Added some weatherproof, rugged LED lights to the van. Not thrilled at drilling mounting and wiring holes in the van for a specific light that might change in the future if it dies and is no longer available. Attaching them to the rack instead is a better solution. Two Rigid
The floor does not get proper respect in van builds. It seems like a "yeah, whatever, move on" thing other than perhaps the final choice of color or finish flooring choice. It's an area wildly underestimated in time & labor needed. Let me remind the reader
We finally decided the layout enough to feel confident buying windows (sizes, location, type, brand, vendor). Arctic Tern by Tern Overland makes really nice double pane acrylic windows that are awning style with shade + screen built in. Our past two camping trailers taught us that we really value awning windows
Once the floor 'sandwich' (1/2" minicel + 1" polyiso insulation + 3/4" baltic birch plywood) was done (but still removable), we moved the rough 3D Sketchup model to physical cardboard + 2x2 furring strips for a prototype build out. The floor has to be in so
Another day, another hole in the van. There's plenty of items on the roof that require wiring to come inside the van somehow: 1. Solar panels 2. Exterior lighting on the sides and rear of the van 3. Camera and power to the digital rear view mirror camera
Reason #6 on why we built our own van was modern DC air conditioning so that we could power it without being tied to an electric campsite that needs a scheduling restricting reservation 9+ months ahead of time. DC powered AC is still pretty new so I expect that at
After the seat swivels, the next task is adding the roof rack. Seems odd so early in the build out, but the earliest items are anything that needs to penetrate the exterior of the van. The roof vent, air conditioner, and all the solar and other misc wiring need that.
A key requirement which pushed us into a custom van build was proper bike storage. We didn't want an exterior rack for many reasons: 1. Adds another 2 feet or more to the length of the vehicle. We're already a few feet longer than the short
All of us dream of a killer, large workbench with a great vise, tons of clamping options, integrated electrical outlets, plenty of drawers and trays, and a little mobility for repositioning. I've wanted one for 30 years, but never got around to building one or had a big
The driver and passenger seats in our van are pretty comfy - leather and power adjustable in many ways (even heated). But if you want to swivel them 180 degrees to be useful as La-Z-Boy recliners when not driving, you're relegated to manual, less adjustable, non-heated,