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Hows your wife doing OP? She called me a few times last night and woke me up.. Now I am here sitting with her and she is sleeping! Lol As for the van... On the plus side.... It got down to 36 last night. The van stayed pretty comfy without any heat. I still have to insulate the rear doors. When I opened the divider to go in the front of the van there was a big temp difference. So.. I think I am on the right track with the van. |
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Sorry for not updating the thread in a while. Between rain and ordering a few electrical components and waiting for them. I have been too lazy to work on it when it is not raining. I will hopefully finish the bulkhead and start on the fuse and breaker panel next. |
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Got some motivation today.
Headache rack is done... Attached File |
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Got some motivation today. Headache rack is done... https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/0525191616_jpg-957744.JPG Is the wife home, and doing better I hope? I tried to get my van camping last weekend but the rear brake line gave out. 
1994 Ram conversion. Freebie from Alaska. She has made the drive to Virginia and back a few times. Slowly been working on her. Drove her to Wisconsin last summer. 
Those God awful wheels and low profile tires are gone now. 
(Not pictured) I put in a 24" TV and Roku with SD card in the old TV location. 
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Looks awesome! Is the wife home, and doing better I hope? I tried to get my van camping last weekend but the rear brake line gave out.
1994 Ram conversion. Freebie from Alaska. She has made the drive to Virginia and back a few times. Slowly been working on her. Drove her to Wisconsin last summer. https://i.imgur.com/zVTL6X6.jpg?1 Those God awful wheels and low profile tires are gone now. https://i.imgur.com/vLxSL4B.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/hmk7IMh.jpg?1 (Not pictured) I put in a 24" TV and Roku with SD card in the old TV location. https://i.imgur.com/z33WP6q.jpg?1 That is a nice van! Put some new brake lines in it and get back to it! I have been looking at a tv for my van. Probably in the 19 inch range. But I also want it to be a smart tv so I can stream when it's available. Wife is home. She is doing much better. They cut her from her belly button nearly to her breast plate. |
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Got some motivation today. Headache rack is done... https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/0525191616_jpg-957744.JPG |
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That looks really good. Quoted:
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Got some motivation today. Headache rack is done... https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/0525191616_jpg-957744.JPG It's not perfect. But it is coming around pretty well. There is still a few things I am trying to figure out in my head. |
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Very happy to hear the Mrs. is doing better.
Your van is looking great. I just got in from swizzling beer, and planning out the location of my expandable ladder, shovel, ax and Fire Extinguisher. Going to complete that tomorrow. I did not go camping this weekend, but went up to ranch that I play at today, to cut trees and open the road. My saw crapped out before I could make the cabin, but did manage a couple hours of cutting. Feeling a little guilty about not doing a big camp this weekend, but I have a few items that I want to get finished in my van before a big get together in July up at the ranch. For those pondering vans in general, man oh man, the best thing I have ever done for myself. We have a big Motorcycle rally near me this weekend, and between that and the opening of local campgrounds, and today I passed a lot of fancy rigs, Toyotas, Jeeps, you name it. I have a work Toyota truck, and an Avalanche 1500 for cruising. But for camping, I do not even begin to miss my Jeep, and the trucks are pretty lacking compared to my van. You do not have to go crazy on a build, I am doing mine slowly, unlike many. You can go balls to the walls like the OP, or stay simple, toss your gear in tubs, and go camping. There is a great youtube channel, CheapRVliving, that addresses so much about van living, camping and mods. Worth a look for anyone van pondering. |
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This leaked out of the social media guy for a Dodge dealer here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4vlhG_pkNMQuoted:
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Murder van?  I call it my roadtrip/camper van. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4vlhG_pkNM |
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Its a dajiban! That is a nice van! Put some new brake lines in it and get back to it! I have been looking at a tv for my van. Probably in the 19 inch range. But I also want it to be a smart tv so I can stream when it's available. Wife is home. She is doing much better. They cut her from her belly button nearly to her breast plate. Quoted:
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Looks awesome! Is the wife home, and doing better I hope? I tried to get my van camping last weekend but the rear brake line gave out.
1994 Ram conversion. Freebie from Alaska. She has made the drive to Virginia and back a few times. Slowly been working on her. Drove her to Wisconsin last summer. https://i.imgur.com/zVTL6X6.jpg?1 Those God awful wheels and low profile tires are gone now. https://i.imgur.com/vLxSL4B.jpg?1 https://i.imgur.com/hmk7IMh.jpg?1 (Not pictured) I put in a 24" TV and Roku with SD card in the old TV location. https://i.imgur.com/z33WP6q.jpg?1 That is a nice van! Put some new brake lines in it and get back to it! I have been looking at a tv for my van. Probably in the 19 inch range. But I also want it to be a smart tv so I can stream when it's available. Wife is home. She is doing much better. They cut her from her belly button nearly to her breast plate. The TV is good for the kids/passengers when driving, and having the Roku with SD slot means I can load up tons of movies. I already have a Plex library with over 400 movies. But when we aren't running the engine, something on battery would probably be better. The Winnebago Revel sports an Ipad cradle, which is an interesting idea. (Except I hate Apple products) But a large tablet might work well, or even my Dell XPS 13 laptop can get close to 21 hours on battery, and can sit upright by itself. Paired with a Bluetooth speaker might be a good idea. Glad to hear the wife is home. Sounds painful! 
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Got a little motivation again today. Made a battery box/tray and did some framing work and just sat and let my brain think a little about some things. Attached File Attached File Attached File This was given to me in a non working condition on Friday. I know it is a cheapo. Probably not worth the effort. But it was a good time waster to trouble shoot it. I took it home and did some probing around. They said it didnt work. A couple diodes and a transistor brought it to life. Maybe I will find a use for it in the van. Maybe not. But it was fun to tinker with. Attached File |
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Battery box looks good.
I’ve always liked these diy drawer sliders if you need any more ideas for storage.  Homemade Truck Bed Drawers |
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Making use of the dead space between the bed and the doors..
Attached File I will have a little sanding and final file work But... Attached File |
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Build looks like it's coming along great. Keep up the good work! Its slowly coming along. Attached File |
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Quoted: Thanks. Its slowly coming along. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_182131_jpg-973286.JPG
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I would do the same thing |
Installed some outlets and USB charge ports.
Attached File I like this nifty thing! Push top and pull up! Attached File |
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Installed some outlets and USB charge ports. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_211041_jpg-973483.JPG I like this nifty thing! Push top and pull up! https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_211054_jpg-973484.JPG |
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My AGM batteries are taking a charge! Yay! This is important because I bought them as is at core cost due to them being new old stock in the warehouse at work. I have to make links to wire them parallel yet. I scrounged up some 1/0 gauge wire from in my garage and got my inverter wired in and installed. I still have to do some wire organizing and send some 12 volt runs for USB charging stations. Attached File I also have a 400 watt inverter that is wired to the van power. I intentionally left that and some led strings connected to it on all night. Van started with no issue at all this morning. That makes me feel good. |
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For whomever is still interested in this thing. I spent some time on the wiring and finding possible locations for the battery charger. I settled on here in the left side of the shelving unit. Attached File Then spent a bit of time insulating and covering the doors. Attached File The thought... What the hell, I will make picture frames and make felt inserts for them. Just to be a bit different. Sorry about the shitty picture.. Light went away and the phone just didn't really cut it. Attached File |
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Are you going to do a curtain of some type on the back windows? Or is the tint dark enough? Seems like it isn't all that dark in the photos but that just could be the picture. I will figure something out in the near future. There are a few things I have in mind. But like everything else in this build. Plans go out the window once things get rolling and the switch tracks in my head change the train of thought to another path. LOL |
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Installed some outlets and USB charge ports. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_211041_jpg-973483.JPG I like this nifty thing! Push top and pull up! https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_211054_jpg-973484.JPG |
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Never seen those where can I find? Quoted:
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Installed some outlets and USB charge ports. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_211041_jpg-973483.JPG I like this nifty thing! Push top and pull up! https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/183526/20190608_211054_jpg-973484.JPG They make automatic pop ups and manual ones. The one I bought is manual. Type in Pop-up outlet in Amazon. |
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This is awesome OP. Is heat/ventilation a concern around your battery setup? I have a 14 inch roof vent to install if need be. I will also bore a 3 inch hole in the floor and install a vent under the bed near the batteries. Though the batteries are AGM sealed type. But they do have pop vents in the event of an internal issue. |
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This is awesome OP. Is heat/ventilation a concern around your battery setup? |
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Quoted: AGM's should be sealed so there is no venting under normal use. They will vent under catastrophic failure though. Doesn't seem to be a lot he could do in this case to allow that unexpected gas to vent out of the van without also creating a permanent escape for head/cold from the "living" area. IMO, not really worth worrying about. |
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Quoted: AGM's should be sealed so there is no venting under normal use. They will vent under catastrophic failure though. Doesn't seem to be a lot he could do in this case to allow that unexpected gas to vent out of the van without also creating a permanent escape for head/cold from the "living" area. IMO, not really worth worrying about. |
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Kickass OP. I just got caught up on this thread and you have done a fantastic job. I've been wanting to do something like this forever, but time and money are never on my side. Lots of labor. Materials were relatively cheap. There is less than 1000 dollars in the materials (without looking at receipts.. Probably more like 800). That's including the batteries and charger. But... I got the batteries at core cost and the inverter for free and repaired it. So. 3000 for the van and under 1000 for the materials. |
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@Goodn looks great! nice work so far, I'm following. I'm trying to get my wife into the idea of a smaller RV. We like RV travel but with 2 young kids and a dog I'm thinking we're going to need a bigger van than this kind of thing. I wanted a Sprinter sized so we could still do some tight spaces and stealth camp but I'm losing ground there. otherwise I see that as a great space for the following: Gun rack beer/liquor bungied in place mounted cooking equipment/tools water just storage (in the bottom) tents and folding camp chair storage outdoor game stuff storage to play whilst camping idk just spitballing |
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@Goodn looks great! nice work so far, I'm following. I'm trying to get my wife into the idea of a smaller RV. We like RV travel but with 2 young kids and a dog I'm thinking we're going to need a bigger van than this kind of thing. I wanted a Sprinter sized so we could still do some tight spaces and stealth camp but I'm losing ground there. otherwise I see that as a great space for the following: Gun rack beer/liquor bungied in place mounted cooking equipment/tools water just storage (in the bottom) tents and folding camp chair storage outdoor game stuff storage to play whilst camping idk just spitballing Quoted:
@Goodn looks great! nice work so far, I'm following. I'm trying to get my wife into the idea of a smaller RV. We like RV travel but with 2 young kids and a dog I'm thinking we're going to need a bigger van than this kind of thing. I wanted a Sprinter sized so we could still do some tight spaces and stealth camp but I'm losing ground there. otherwise I see that as a great space for the following: Gun rack beer/liquor bungied in place mounted cooking equipment/tools water just storage (in the bottom) tents and folding camp chair storage outdoor game stuff storage to play whilst camping idk just spitballing Maybe the next build in the future will be in a box van. 
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After buying a 5th wheel camper, I will never buy another. It’s been a maintenance nightmare. My plan is get a used Uhaul at some point and trick it out.
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