Our rolling toy box and pony hauler DIY converstion

We have gotten an amazing amount of tips and ideas from the forum and are now begining our conversion process.

Starting out we grabbed up a new '08 170" tall cargo unit for what I'm going to think of as an amazing deal. Nicely equiped cab area and a rear step, nothing else. We got to ride the train up to get it and the dealer was awesome, even picked us up at the station.

So far we have replaced the head unit, installed a backup cam, received the fantastic fans, and ordered the new windows.

After a false start with a wan-to-be disappearing welder, we may have found a potential solid welder that is ready to get to work on the steel work. In parallel the aux battery will be placed and put on-line.

As to where we want to end up, I'm including the specs for our vision and a few of the rough drawings. Much of the spec includes expectations to subs that may be hiried to do various parts. i.e. bus and break box present if I hire out the battery system, then we will finish out from that point.

Feedback is always welcome and our plan is to chronical the progress with pics as we go.




Electrical:
1) AGM Battery: Min 200AH - Prefer 300AH -Ideal 400 AH
2) Battery monitoring capabilities must be present including percent of potential remaining. Gage should be viewable from the bed area.
3) All customary fusing on main battery feed lines
4) Battery overcharge protection will be provided. Any charging will be by a 3 stage device.
5) TBD Battery cutoffs switches?
6) Battery placement options – dependent on battery availability and price. (current option is I install myself an interior mounted 4D 12V 200AH ( L= 19.5 , W = 8 5/16, H= 9 7/8 top of post) Optionally stacked with a second 4D. This would require a secure steel rack which would be mounted underneath the bed allowing for removal of either battery for service as well as access to wiring. Batteries will be secured to rack and more than sheet metal. The battery weight is approx 150# each and must remain stationary should an accident occur.
i) Undercarriage –
ii) Interior – mounted directly in front of the passenger rear wheel well. (if this option is selected converter / inverter could be mounted forward of the battery bank towards the slider or over the rear passenger wheel well. Rear wheel well will be covered with sound deadening materials.
7) External audio amp will be mounted under passenger seat. Power to be supplied by aux batteries only
8) Head unit will be normally powered by main van battery allowing for switched power through the van ignition. When stopped, a manual switch will be available on the dash allowing for the head to be optionally powered directly by the aux battery. Head memory power will always be connected to van cranking battery.
9) 12V fused bus will be present
10) All interior lighting will be 12V LED. A subset of the cargo area lighting must be controllable from the driver’s position.
11) Cargo garage external entrance will provide switchable lighting to the cargo area
12) Some portion of center section lighting must be controllable from the slider area without having to enter the van.
13) 120V must be provided for TV, computer and camera battery recharging from the aux battery. Requires Pure sine wave inverter. Estimate of 600W for TV and charging else 1000 - 1500W if personal items also connected. Future expansion may include a 120V point of use water heater.
14) Limited 120V should be available for personal care appliances.
15) 120V breaker box with minimum (3) circuits provided
16) External 120V will be available from the exterior rear of the van in a completely hidden way. Potentially underbody all weather cover. Usage includes field use of photography studio lighting and limited power tool operation.
17) Optionally, shore power connection may be available to support a 2000W external generator which would be stored in the van garage area. This connection should support battery recharge and direct power of significant appliances such as air conditioning or microwave. The shore power connection must not be visible from outside the van and the van must be able to be fully closed and secured while shore powered. Potential solution is an all weather underbody connection.
18) Future addition of a solar panel for battery charging should be allowed for with wiring prior to interior placement.


Bed:
1. Queen sized Tempur-Pedic mattress resting on ¾” plywood
2. Frame must be able to move forward and back. Planned to slide on rail passenger side
3. Ideally lowest frame point allows for 2 plastic storage tubs to be stacked below
4. Frame must be stable and not deflect in forward / rear directions when weighted in moving
5. Frame must be secured so that it cannot move forward in case of an accident.
6. Bed sliding should be possible with minor hand tools and accomplished in 10 minutes.
7. Ideally powder coated , including rail
8. Any supporting legs must allow for a 4x8 sheet to be stowed underneath without removing bed
9. Front face of legs must be recessed from front of bed a couple of inches. This will allow heels not to impact whatever facing maybe applied to dress under bed storage.

Ventilation:
Fantastic fans front and rear. 3 speed reversible, power opening, with rain sensor
Slider door and forward driver side windows will be added. CRL factory look glass with bottom vents

Water:
Currently no allowance for mounted water is being made. In the future a standalone kitchen module may be added which will mount within the rear area of the slider step (cabinet bottom formed to fit step and floor heights). This unit would measure no more than 2.5” in width and be able to stay in position with the slider closed.
If a kitchen module is added included it would contain:
1) Self contained water and waste water tanks
2) Fresh water pump
3) Point of use electric heater

Cooking:
1) Single burner portable butane stove, stowable
2) Charcoal portable grill, stored in air tight container beneath bed or in garage
3) Coleman type portable, gas bottles

Headboard:
1. Must be bolted on attachment to headboard. Must stay in place with bed in case of accident
2. Must move with bed when bed is repositioned
3. Ideally powder coated
4. Ideally only requires (1) person to place or remove. Maybe a mounting shelf behind bed that headboard rests on when not bolted
5. Back side (toward rear cargo area), may be used for hanging storage, therefore frame should be strong enough to hold 100# of future mounted cargo
6. Height should all 6”+ of clearance with inside finished ceiling
7. Headboard will not be lower than the bottom of the bed frame.
8. Headboard must clear cabinets on both sides when bed repositioned.

Cabinets
(All):
1. Wood veneer applied over metal frame
2. Painted with rust resistant material
3. Should be removable with hand tools such as a socket set
4. 1/8” steel mounting plates securely attached to the van body frame. Wood furring strips (1/8” Mahogany) will be attached to van body frame to provide an even mounting surface. 1/8” Mahogany paneling (covered with material or carpet good) will be applied over the first layer. Cabinets will mount over wall coverings with screws or bolts.

Overhead cabinets:

1) Soft end on cabinet just behind driver seat and overhead just to the rear of the slider.
2) Cabinet behind driver seat will start at the seam of the cargo area just behind the 1st cargo window.
3) Passenger side overhead will mirror the rear edge of the floor to ceiling cabinet edge. The forward edge of the passenger side overhead will allow for a soft edge so that people entering through the slider will not impact their head. Possible solution is that the front face of the cabinet ends before the back allowing for a rounded outer corner when veneered.

Driver side forward cabinet: Future addition
1) Mounting plate below the forward window only.

Full height cabinet:
1) Profile should follow the line of the van. i.e. bend at the waist point of the van body. This point will be just above the bed height.
2) Cabinet doors will be hinged toward the rear of the van, allowing access from the front.
3) Rear ¼ of cabinet will allow for hanging clothing. This section will go down to the top of the rear wheel well.
4) Mid section of cabinet will allow for variable storage either by door, shelf , or drawer. Lowest section will allow for placement of a future diesel air heater. This heater will draft room air from the top of the van through this cabinet and expel heated air forward of the bed position at floor level.
5) Forward section of cabinet will allow for a flat panel display to be mounted and stored. Viewing should be adjustable for the bed or front seating positions.
6) Cabinet structure should allow for additional veneer attachment points forward of the hanging clothes section and behind the tv storage area. A Steel mounting plate must be present behind the TV mounting position. A horizontal member should be present to allow veneer attachment near the bed height. Cabinet facing below the bed is optional; however, it is expected that the diesel heater will require significant sound deadening around.
7) Width of cabinet will be dictated by the final finished bed frame size. When finished there will be enough room on either side of the bed for sheeting of the bed and a personal comfort space. TBD: what personal space dimension is.

Cargo Garage:
1) Steel mounting plates will be placed high on van sides for attachment of bikes. Bikes will be attached using over-the-counter mounts which will attach to the forks. Front wheels will be stored elsewhere.
2) Steel mounting plate waist high on both sides.

Floor:
a) Non- skid surface
b) Easy to clean
c) Scratch resistant
d) Will not be damage if wet
e) Friendly to bare feet

Misc:
Swivel mounts under both front seats.

pretty through plan,will you be sound proofing and insulating it.

Even with writing it all this out, I've come up with items I left off the requirements.

As for sound proofing, the flooring material I ordered today will really cut down on the road noise and provide great thermal protection also. We are going with ½ natural rubber engineered flooring, Same sort of material you find in commercial gyms. Turns out there is a manufacturing site within driving distance and they are being great to work with. As for the walls and ceiling, I’m still researching options. The wall and roof panels already have pretty good damping ( for low frequency) already. Wheel wells are lacking and will be dealt with.

The wall and roof materials need to not retain water, this actually rules many materials out. Cold is not our friend’ therefore we are looking for the highest R-value we can get. Potentially, we may got with one of the paint on sound deadening / insulation materials. Foam insulation for the areas which are hard to access, and closed cell or other material for the open wall space.

I had originally planned to build a full size mockup of the general plan, but decided to skip this step. After visiting with a member of this site over the weekend and walking through his mockup, I’ve seen the value in this. Although the basic plan worked well after we did our full size mockup, several issues did come up which would have been difficult to correct after the welding was complete.
I’m hoping to get the floor in this weekend and will post pictures as the progress continues.

Keith

Hikinginpdx said:

Even with writing it all this out, I've come up with items I left off the requirements.

As for sound proofing, the flooring material I ordered today will really cut down on the road noise and provide great thermal protection also. We are going with ½ natural rubber engineered flooring, Same sort of material you find in commercial gyms. Turns out there is a manufacturing site within driving distance and they are being great to work with. As for the walls and ceiling, I’m still researching options. The wall and roof panels already have pretty good damping ( for low frequency) already. Wheel wells are lacking and will be dealt with.

The wall and roof materials need to not retain water, this actually rules many materials out. Cold is not our friend’ therefore we are looking for the highest R-value we can get. Potentially, we may got with one of the paint on sound deadening / insulation materials. Foam insulation for the areas which are hard to access, and closed cell or other material for the open wall space.
Keith

Click to expand...

Hi Keith!

May I suggest insulating similar to this long/tall 2008 I completed last year...

keith,

hi there. I am in portland too. i just got a 170 2008 cargo sprinter. I am planning a conversion and was wandering what/where flooring material you are using? where is the distributor?

thanks

Ben

Ben,

The RB Rubber plant is down in McMinnville, I'm heading down during lunch to pick the mats up in will call. That drive is going to save me over $170 in shipping.

The sales office is in Eugene, check them out at ncnwest.com. They quoted me a price that was about half what other online sites wanted for single piece and a bit less than large (like 50 - 100+ piece ) volumn orders.

Gordon is the guy I spoke with at New Century, nice guy and really understood what I was using them for. I was going to go with the 3/8" rolled but he pointed out why that was a bad choice for this application.

I should be getting the floor cut and laid this weekend, I post details on that soon.

If your interested, we can get togther and compare notes. I've been able to do that with a few folks for here and its been enlightening.

Keith

I went down to the plant Thursday to pick up the floor. Nice to see the durability in action. Forklifts and freight trucks driving over over this stuff in the rain. Didn't phase it in the least. It was a pleasure watching a, rather impressed with the Sprinter cargo ability, forklift operator load 288#s of pallet in seconds. Moments later I'm back on the road to work.



It took about 4 hours to cut and place the mats. A few nice benifits are that it blends well with the slightly raised cockpit floor.




After final triming this morning, I went out for the final step, the Belle road test. I got 2 paws up! As Lise ran across it in her socks she giggled, I got wins all around.



Overall I'm extreamly pleased, the sound deading is amazing, Belle loves the traction and comfort. The floor can be removed in just a few minutes and I'm back to a cargo floor with all the original tie downs. This material matched all of the requirements I had. Only drawback is a very light rubber smell which I am told will diminish quickly.

I'm gonna take my second done stamp for the project and look towards the next phase. Installing the inverter and combiner I picked up Friday


Keith

looks good man!

what was the turnaround time from ordering to pick up? how is priced, by the square foot? price?

I will be back in pdx nov 1st. lets catch up in early november. are you in town?
cheers

ben

Ben,

It is avalible the next day and I paid $160 for (4) 4x6. That left me enough scrape for a 2' x 6' entrance mat. Only change I am going to have to make is to put get longer screws for the trim piece that currently comes factory between the cab and cargo area. I'm getting a slight amount of drift when I stop, moving the trim peice up one level with resolve that.

I just Dyanmated the cab floor and rear wheel wells. Going back to work and I'll see how it does on the freeway.

When you get back, give me a shout.

Later

Keith

Your flooring looks very nice!

That should definitely absorb sound and probably very comfortable to walk on.

Next step in keeping the sound out.

A friend at work gave me some left over dynamat, turns out it was almost a full 36' box. Right now I'm focusing on the flooring. I was able to cover the cockpit floor, some of the interior firewall and the rear wheel wells. The change was dramatic, although there are a number of new noises that are now noticable. I was surprised to see just how many holes there were in the floor. I covered all but 2 with the Dynamat. The wire feedthrough boot under the drivers seat and a transmission feedthrough just to the right of the fuel peddle. The seats still need to come out and I'll cover those areas at that time. When I find the type of material OrioN used to fill his holes, I do the same.

As the van is now, the most noticable noise now is the gaspy breath that tends to be associated with deisels. Surprisingly Lise feels that even with the cargo walls and ceiling totally barren, the Sprinter has about the same level of noise of her Outback.

More to come,

Keith

Today the Espar heater was mounted and plumbed.

First I split off a piece of the flooring I put down. This will allow sound damping within the heater cabinet and still allow the major portion of the floor mats to remain easily removable.
Then using a sawsall I removed a section of the factory floor exposing the metal van floor.

Rather than cut the 4” x 5” hole recommended by the manual, I opted to make the needed pass through’s using a hole saw. After creating all pass thoughs and the pilot holes for the (4) mounting screws, the area was then treated with rust resistant paint from inside and outside the cutouts.

I then cut the floor mat to fit outside the supplied foam gasket material.




Next I attached the mounting plate, input and exhaust lines and the short fuel line connector to the underside of the Espar while it was still on the workbench.

Once back in the Sprinter the lines feed through the opening and the mounting screws were installed.

After mounting the Espar topside, I began work underneath the Sprinter

1st I routed the air intake and attached it to the undercarriage. This picture looks forward, note the end of the intake is pointed toward the back of the van in order to keep it from filling with water and road debris while in motion. The clamp is secured with a supplied self taping screw. I drilled a pilot hole and then wet set the screw using rust resistant paint.

The fuel pump is visible in the far lower right corner. The fuel line from the pump is shown coming through the frame and was placed within a wiring loom to protect from abrasion where it passes through a frame member. The fuel line is also tywraped to the intake as it passes near the next support. The fuel line was routed later, however, I’ve describing now while we are looking at that area.



After the Intake was routed, the exhust line was cut and mounted.





Now the Sprinter has a pee pee... so Lise likes to say

Moving forward, I mounted the fuel pump just behind the fuel fill tube. The Sprinter is pre-plumbed with an aux fuel tap which comes down just in front of the fill tube. The cap on the aux line unclipped easily and using the rubber fuel line which was supplied I connected the pump to the fuel tank. I was unsure if anything needed to be done to enable the tap so using a turkey baster, I was able to draw fuel on the line with only about 2 pumps. Which completely answered my question. Using tywraps the fuel line was attached to the fill tube.




The clear fuel line connected to the output of the pump and was routed along the top of the fuel tank to the rear and connected to the input of the Espar.

Sunday the Sprinter is off to the welder for the undercarriage battery holder and the interior framing. Estimates are that the work will be complete by Friday.

I created a mock up of the Espar cabinet and layed out placement of the inverter and 12V / 120V fuse center. Part of the welders tasks will be to create a frame over the driver’s side rear wheel well area. The Espar return will draw air from the rear of the van. Until the bed and headboard are mounted, I’m unsure if I will be able to draw air from the roof area or limited to drawing from just behind the wheel well. (All plans are firm until they need to change right???)



The mockup shows the clearances needed when the cabinet is framed. Additionally the frame will be extended to enclose the fuse center and inverter. The Espar output will pass under the inverter and exit facing the slider to the forward edge of the inverter. A heat shield will be placed under the inverter to deflect the radiant heat generated from the Espar's heated air hose from the inverter and 12V lines which will be nearby.




The placement of these components will still allow for 4x8 sheets to be carried without interfering with the hardwired facilities being added to the van. The inverter orientation is not ideal for getting to the front panel controls, especially being that the bed is able to slide over the inverter. I was able to find a great deal on the remote control panel which will be mounted on the passenger side along with the 12V switches.

Batteries are now mounted under the carriage. A cross brace will go across the exposed battery face. Using a floor jack one end of the battery carrier is lowered. The batteries are then slid into place. Using the floor jack the carrier is then raised and bolted to the carriage underside. I’m very pleased with how this worked out and very happy I ran the Espar fuel line prior to this step. It would have been next to difficult to mount and now the batteries protect the light weight fuel line supplied by Espar.




The upper cabinets are framed and temporarily located. The frame on the drivers side floor runs over the Espar. The rails that will support the sliding bed are temporary mounted. They will come down to be painted and polished with a teflon wax to aid in sliding the bed in the future. Next steps are to mount the inverter and build the protective vented cage. Then the bed frame , which is already cut, will be welded and placed.




Estimates are that the Sprinter will be ready for pickup on Wednesday with all the steel work complete, longer than originally planed, but Brad has a number of little tasks, head board, under carriage storage boxes, etc still to go and he is really spending the time to do it right.

Keith

Keith,

Why did they recommend you go with the 1/2 inch over the 3/8 rolled? I like the idea, but most of what I find online is either 3/8 rolled or 2x2 1/2 inch tiles...

C

Hey Clark,

I left the final material choices up to Brad after seeing some of his other work. I was a bit unsure of his choice of angle iron over square tube like other fabricators quoted or my original drawings showed. One advantage of this choice is that for the cabinet bottoms, I'm going to be able to drop in plywood into the pockets created. There is less weight to this the tubing and it opens a tad bit more interior space.

As for strenght, his recomendation was based on the individual place he was working with. To my surprise, his helper was able to do pull ups from the overhead frame without any noticable deflection in the frame. Thats way more then I would ever load into an upper cabinet. I have confidence these are going to stay in place even when loaded.

The bed frame and sidewall rails are a whole different story. Massive siderails and the bed is never going to bow. The front rail of the bed frame is substancial, as the requirement was that it restrict an forward movement of the mattress should there be a sudden stop.

Estimates of the total weight for all of the steel work is 200# which I feel is reasonable. The wood sheating will be very lightweight as I don't need anything structural in the way of wood and this should offset the weight of the steel.

Part of our arrangement was that I was purchasing all materials at cost from his supplier. The options there are significant greater compared to what I saw when I went pricing myself.

I'm not an expert regarding steel or steel fabrication, so I'm count on the expertise of others and from what I saw today I'm pretty pleased.

Do you have any thoughts on why this material would be used rather than the ones you mentioned? If I had made the decision based upon what I know, I would have gone with a heavier product for these uppers. However, it would have been based upon emotions and preconceptions of what my eye felt comfortable with not with valid knowledge of the product's behavior or capibilites.

Opps, I was asking about the rubber flooring...

Sorry I wasn't very clear about that.

Did the rubber guy feel the 1/2 inch would give you better sound control?

C

OOH K I got it.

Nice I ran on and on about the steel, sorry about that.

I was originally looking at doing the rolled flooring and approached him looking for that.

His response was that the rolled flooring would not lay flat in this application without glue or something else to hold it down. Not sure I'm totally on board with that.

Drawbacks I found with the rolled flooring were that the only widths I could find were 4'. This left me with seams same as I have now. These things are heavy! Adding a bit more mass with a thicker material wouldn't help with sound. The weight of the floor I have dampens the sprinter well. To kill any more sound, I would need to decouple the floor materials from each other.

I find that I actually have the mats in and out a bit, plus I want to take out sections at a time. 4' x 6' is about all I would want to drag around. Also, with the conversion I'm doing I want to be able to go back to cargo in just a few minutes. The Espar and inverter cabinets are designed to be permanent. I ended up cutting these sections off from the rest of the main floor material so that I still got dampening under those cabinets and the main flooring could still be removed. If I had started with a long roll, I would have ended up cutting it into sections anyway.

The way it is now, I can pull the rear piece out and have a hard cargo floor with tie downs and still have the front section fully converted. Ever want to haul a fridge? I will be able with just a few minutes work, empty the rear garage and pull the mat. Bag of cement bust open, pull the rear mat and hose it off and I'm set. Spill some OJ which runs down the seams, now pull the front mat at the next fuel spot hose it off, plus clean up that underlayment without having to empty the whole van.


Adding mass to the flooring (thicker material) will not dampen it anymore and offers little addition acoustic help. If less noise from the floor is desired, then I'm left with decoupling. One option I might go with is some 1/8" closed cell pads that Home Depot sells. That layer between the mats and the plywood cargo bed would work wonders. Other option is to lift the plywood and add material between the steel and plywood. Lots of work there. Another option I've heard about but not seem is to spray the undercarraige.

I got to tell you that just with the mats, still acoustically coupled, and the Dynamat on the rear wheel wells gives a phenomenally quieter ride.

Once I get the back walls insulated, especially the rear doors, I expect another huge step towards quite.

Next week I should be able to dampen the hood and the rest of the firewall. After that I'm going to add a bit of dampener to the cab roof and front doors. If I can find mass loaded vinyl with a light layer of closed cell foam bonded, I'll add that to the doors and cab ceiling. I want to get the vinyl without foam for the cab floor. If I were in the bay area, I would already have it but I'm running into the same issue with the floor, shipping is almost as much as the floor! Still searching for the material up here, but suspect that I'll either have to wait until a trip south or pay the shipping.

Hope I actually answered your question this time.

Keith

Just picked up the van from the welder tonight. Lise and I are pretty happy with the way the plans turned into reality. Still a couple of items which will be addressed later in the week. Next step is to strip it down and gets some paint on the steel. I’ll be clock watching at work waiting to get home and starting tomorrow.

The inverter will fit inside the cage then mounted to the side body. Tons of ventalation through the protective mess front. Wood wrap will be applied to the sides and the Espar output will be cut into the lower front face.


Espar heater can be seen in the background. The breaker panel will be mounted above the Espar. This will leave a long and protected storage area above below the bed.


The bed is shown in the normal position. This gives us a couple of feet behind the headboard for the storage garage.



The headboard frame can be seen in the background with its dog eared tops.



What was scheduled to be a floor to ceiling cabinets has been changed to an above the bed to ceiling. This will be mounted after the final ceiling and wall overlays are in place.