Orton DIY - Overhead Cabinets

[mean_in_green]

Something will fall off the Ducato each time you look at it, the Transit won't last as long as a Sprinter.

[Graphite Dave]

After several more trips, I am very satisfied with the "open" overhead cabinets. Sure glad I do not have doors. Much easier to put stuff in and out of the cabinets. The 3" high railings work very well as handholds when getting in and out of bed. Wish I could say the handholds were planned but had not even thought about it.

[GeorgeRa]

Thank you for your update and I am glad that you are satisfied with your work. A couple of questions:
1. I will be attaching my overhead cabinets with the passenger headliner in place. Cabinets will be self-supported with 3 long extrusions (versus 2 in your design), the upper one, and 2 lower ones. With that self-supporting structure I am thinking about using 1” extrusions instead of 1.5” – do you think that 1” will be OK?

2. You designed 58” long cabinets. I don’t have the van yet but from the on line available drawing it seems that a 66" long cabinet would fit on the passenger side and 2 five footers on the driver’s side. Would you share why you designed 58” on the passenger side?

Thank you,

George.

[d_bertko]

George,

A subtle point about the passenger side overhead shelf length is that stopping short of the rear door by some inches may be worthwhile. It is much easier to enter/exit the back door if there is some clear headroom there.

I open just one back door about half the time. Your use may vary. More important for those of us that do not dedicate the van to camping.

Dan

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by d_bertko

George,

A subtle point about the passenger side overhead shelf length is that stopping short of the rear door by some inches may be worthwhile. It is much easier to enter/exit the back door if there is some clear headroom there.

I open just one back door about half the time. Your use may vary. More important for those of us that do not dedicate the van to camping.

Dan

Do you think that 60" or Dave's 58" is just right?

George.

[Graphite Dave]

The 58" dimension was driven by the location of one of the 80/20 extrusions that bolts to the floor. Since I used a aluminum angle bolted between the existing D-ring tapped holes in the floor and the side of the extrusion, the location was determined by the D-ring bolt hole locations. Measuring forward from the back edge of the original Sprinter plywood floor at the rear doors to the back edge of that floor extrusion I get 63 7/8". I then bolted vertical 80/20 back corner of the refrigerator cabinet to the top of that 80/20 floor extrusion. That located the front end of the overhead cabinets. With the front of the overhead cabinets located I just measured back to the rear doors and determined the 58" length was about right to allow room for the Sprinter plastic wireways that are on the rear Sprinter wall. My cabinets are actually 59" long with the two 1/2" plywood end caps. The rear end of the cabinets end up being about 8" from the door. The bottom of the cabinet is 13 3/4" from the Sprinter side steel window surround. That depth works very well so I do not bump my head when I get out of bed. That depth also is not a problem entering/exiting through the rear door. The front of the passenger side cabinet could be longer but I made both sides the same length. Also the front edge of the passenger cabinet about lines up with the back edge of the sink. Did not want cabinet over the sink opening. One thing I did that helped determine the height and depth of the overhead cabinets, was to string a rope where the bottom inside of the cabinet would be located. Moved rope until I found the best compromise between storage and head bumping.

1" 80/20 would work for the overhead cabinets. I used all 1 1/2" to use the same size bolts and the ability to use up short lengths of extrusions. I also used a few 80/20 handles bolted to the extrusion for hand holds and for a clothes hanger. The handles are designed for 5/16" bolts. I also wanted to be able to use my 5/16" tie down hoops anywhere on the extrusions.

[d_bertko]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Do you think that 60" or Dave's 58" is just right?

George.

The minimal clearance to use a single rear door is likely only a foot or so but your "comfort zone" may be considerably longer. Best to mock it up yourself to see what tradeoff is ideal for you.

My overhead shelves are atv ramps with small lips to hold a plywood shelf. I cut a 1/4" ply shelf but found that I preferred the open laddered bottom over the solid wood. Better light and felt more open inside the van. Mostly psychological. But it is actually easier to reach through the bottom when loading/unloading and I get a lot of use strapping paddles or other long objects to the underside of the racks. We use a combo of plastic bins for the kitchen area and soft luggage bags for clothes. Comforter, pillows, bike cover, shower rods and shower curtains fit well into undivided terrain up there.

The minimal weight/utilitarian look is not for everybody but it sure is versatile.

Dan

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by Graphite Dave

The 58" dimension was driven by the location of one of the 80/20 extrusions that bolts to the floor. Since I used a aluminum angle bolted between the existing D-ring tapped holes in the floor and the side of the extrusion, the location was determined by the D-ring bolt hole locations. Measuring forward from the back edge of the original Sprinter plywood floor at the rear doors to the back edge of that floor extrusion I get 63 7/8". I then bolted vertical 80/20 back corner of the refrigerator cabinet to the top of that 80/20 floor extrusion. That located the front end of the overhead cabinets. With the front of the overhead cabinets located I just measured back to the rear doors and determined the 58" length was about right to allow room for the Sprinter plastic wireways that are on the rear Sprinter wall. My cabinets are actually 59" long with the two 1/2" plywood end caps. The rear end of the cabinets end up being about 8" from the door. The bottom of the cabinet is 13 3/4" from the Sprinter side steel window surround. That depth works very well so I do not bump my head when I get out of bed. That depth also is not a problem entering/exiting through the rear door. The front of the passenger side cabinet could be longer but I made both sides the same length. Also the front edge of the passenger cabinet about lines up with the back edge of the sink. Did not want cabinet over the sink opening. One thing I did that helped determine the height and depth of the overhead cabinets, was to string a rope where the bottom inside of the cabinet would be located. Moved rope until I found the best compromise between storage and head bumping.

1" 80/20 would work for the overhead cabinets. I used all 1 1/2" to use the same size bolts and the ability to use up short lengths of extrusions. I also used a few 80/20 handles bolted to the extrusion for hand holds and for a clothes hanger. The handles are designed for 5/16" bolts. I also wanted to be able to use my 5/16" tie down hoops anywhere on the extrusions.

Thank you, I will use the same 59" dimension for all 3 cabinets.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by d_bertko

The minimal clearance to use a single rear door is likely only a foot or so but your "comfort zone" may be considerably longer. Best to mock it up yourself to see what tradeoff is ideal for you.

My overhead shelves are atv ramps with small lips to hold a plywood shelf. I cut a 1/4" ply shelf but found that I preferred the open laddered bottom over the solid wood. Better light and felt more open inside the van. Mostly psychological. But it is actually easier to reach through the bottom when loading/unloading and I get a lot of use strapping paddles or other long objects to the underside of the racks. We use a combo of plastic bins for the kitchen area and soft luggage bags for clothes. Comforter, pillows, bike cover, shower rods and shower curtains fit well into undivided terrain up there.

The minimal weight/utilitarian look is not for everybody but it sure is versatile.

Dan

Thank you Dan. I a still in EU and will be back home in 2 weeks so I can finely order a Sprinter.
George.