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Van conversation

I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
I put a solar panel on my camper, and it's the best thing ever. The battery is always topped off and I never have to plug it into charge.
If you're driving the van daily it's probably not as big of a deal...but if it sits at all the batteries will bleed charge to some degree. They will last longer if they're not allowed to discharge, too. (total life span, I mean)
 
Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
Yeah +1 also for solar. Keep those batteries topped. I'm dealing with dead batteries at my cabin right now and I hate to think I'm going to have to go drop $2k-$3K in batteries soon if I can't get these ones happy again.

That's cool to see your son in to it. Nothing gets me more excited to work on a project than seeing my son dig it and starts getting in to it.
 
LJTim

LJTim

Active Member
Location
Herriman, UT
I've never been a van guy, but a couple weeks ago, my son and his friends asked me to chauffeur them around to their different activities for the day of prom. They all pitched in and I rented a 15 passenger van. I found a 2017 Ford Transit 350 EcoBoost, and I fell in love with it. It was fun to drive, and the thing had power. I got thinking it would be an awesome Jeep hauler/camper, but they are not cheap.

I'm loving where you are taking your build, and looking forward to seeing the progress continue.
 
Gawynz

Gawynz

Active Member
Location
Ogden, UT
I own a 2017 Ford Transit 350 that I use to shuttle coworkers back and forth to work and I love the thing. I drove the EcoBoost and I'd rather have that but I couldn't justify the cost for just a people mover. This thread has me thinking the same thing as @LJTim, trade in my van for the EcoBoost and build a camper/hauler.
 
Hickey

Hickey

Burn-barrel enthusiast
Supporting Member
Location
Grantsville, Utah
That new stereo bezel has a sweet place to store you checkbook! SWEET!

But seriously, keep me updated on that stereo. Boss is low end, but sometimes they hit a sweet spot with their products. Their mono sub amps are pretty hard to beat. I've got 3 of them.
 
anderson750

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
I traded in my 2013 Raptor for a 2018 Ram ProMaster in December of 2017 for racing. I would have preferred to get an EcoBoost Transit, but did not want to have a loan on the van, so the Ram ended up being a straight across trade. While the Pentastar V6 doesn't have the power of the EcoBoost, I have been very happy with it. I put over 25K miles on it in 2018 racing and just as the vehicle I preferred to drive on a daily basis.
 
J

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
Hickey said:
That new stereo bezel has a sweet place to store you checkbook! SWEET!

But seriously, keep me updated on that stereo. Boss is low end, but sometimes they hit a sweet spot with their products. Their mono sub amps are pretty hard to beat. I've got 3 of them.
Click to expand...

I have one in my old truck just like it for over year. The Bluetooth connects fast and never has issues but it’s a headphone Bluetooth chip so no music data to the dash. It’s super basic but it powers speakers and lets me listen to my music and was $30 so I’m completely happy with the stereo for what it is.

BOSS Audio 616UAB Multimedia Car Stereo – Single Din LCD, Bluetooth Audio/Calling, Built-in Microphone, MP3/USB, Aux-in, AM/FM Radio Receiver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CG8N0H8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Y5v4CbK45C619
 
J

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
120031
well I’m to the point everything has been dry fitted so now I’m going to pull out everything finish the shelves doors latches stain and lacquer everything then finish insulating and running electrical and button it all up hopefully a week or so and it will be good enough to go.
 
J

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
So looking for a 3 place bike rack the will work with the barn door opening. Any suggestions? I’m tempted to just pull the panel weld in some supports and make on as part of the door.
 
Gawynz

Gawynz

Active Member
Location
Ogden, UT
Looking great!

What about something like this, hinged at the rear corner but during transit is pinned at the hitch. Go to ~1:03 of this video:
Also, here is the short article on the same van: https://www.tetongravity.com/story/...van-conversion-for-under-6k-including-the-van. Looks like your door hinges on the drivers side; you could hinged the bike rack from the passengers side and build a little fold down table/counter or something from the forward face of the bike rack that you could use when camping making food or whatever... if that makes sense. Here's some PowerPoint Engineering to help explain the table idea.

120230

Here are some similar concepts via the Google machine.

120231

120232

Enjoying the thread!
 
J

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
We we put in some good hours this weekend and everything but one cushion is finished up. Of course we had to test out the tv by ordering van pizza and watching the incredibles in the drive way last night. These batteries are just silly good. I have 3 of them in. I had the fridge running all day, the boys watched at least 2 movies and ran about 5 gallons of water through the pump playing with that. They dropped from 13.7 to 13.4 yesterday. I know solar would be killer but it’s probably not going to happen for a bit.

I did decide I want to build a roof rack or at least a couple cross bars to throw a couple paddle boards on and mount an awning.

120369120370120371
 
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