PAV Adventure 4x4 Build

kcshoots

VanTripping.com
I did order a van with the F01 swivel seat option. It's a fleet option but your dealer can place the order without this option and then the dealer gets an approval to add it to the order.
 

ddunaway

Active member
Did you do anything to waterproof your garage? I am thinking of making my bike garage in the back of the van waterproofed to be able to contain mud from bikes and snow from skis, as well as take an occasional shower. Essentially a large shower/waterproofed garage that can drain out.
I did not do anything special to waterproof the floor....just the rubber crew floor. I was worried about snow and skis but in the end in actual use the amount of water on the skis is insignificant. I do put the skis in a ski bag mostly. A shower would be a different thing though.
 

ddunaway

Active member
Prepping for upper cabinet attachment above mid ship window

  • On the wall above the window I attached L-track spaced out from the wall by ½ in HDPE. In this position, the L-track lies just beneath the headliner (see pic).
  • Cut rectangular holes with rounded ends in headliner (2X hole saw holes connected with utility knife) then trimmed with plastic pieces from Inertiaman (see pic of his van).
  • On 2 of the ceiling ribs, I installed a ¼-20 rivnut and drilled thru the headliner to expose (see pic...a bit blurry).

Other improvements

  • Another few strips of LED lights in the middle headliner section…now that it is back up. These lights are on a separate dimmer from the strip lights in back.
  • More loops of aircraft cable in the front rib for hanging items.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
Upper cabinets

  • Made from ¾ prefinished birch. I went with this thickness because the hinges I found and Kreg screw system (hidden screws) worked best with ¾ material.
  • Attachment to the L-track was via angle Aluminum (1.75”x 1.25”x0.125”), a bunch of washers for spacers, and an L-track lug (the stronger one…it’s a little longer than the normal one). I replaced the nut with a thin lock nut.
  • Attachment to the ceiling was (2) ¼-20 bolts thru another Aluminum angle 1”x1”x0.125”. A ½” spacer was used between the rivnut and angle.
  • The vertical door hinges lock at ~70 degrees open. I might add a gas spring later too to make the door stay open more fully.
  • The back of the cabinet is lined with grey plastic to keep the headliner clean.
  • For holding the door closed a Southco latch was used.
  • I ran power too in case I want lights inside or under the cabinets, or in case I want some 12 V or USB charging …..good place to leave devices charging out of sight.

    I think the cabinets turned out nicely. In the end the ¾ ply may be heavier than it needs to be but the space is used efficiently without the need for larger structural members at edges and corners. I was temped to hollow out the doors to lighten them or maybe put a thin clear section in the center but I am leaving it as is and moving on for now. The whole crafty effort took a number of weeks.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
Very professional! Do you have a link for those trim rings?
Thx. Inertiaman ordered a bunch for his van initially. I just got a few leftovers. They came from Seagate Plastics. Very cheap but $100 minimum order. Alas, I do not have a part number and there seems to be a lot of options of plastic widgets on the site:drool:
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
Great looking cabinets, congratulations. I also used headliner as a rear cabinets wall which saved some weight. I extracted some old info regarding the decision about my cabinets. I opted for the heavy 15 series and HDPE due to simplicity of using 15 series throughout my built and no need to finish of HDPE. Original design included heavy aluminum corners but opted out of this option.

Do you know the weight of your cabinet?

George.
 

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Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
My overhead cabinets are 67 1/2" long x 13" tall.

They do not have doors. I use baskets. Did not want doors.

The cabinet consists of a 1503LS 80/20 front framework that has three 10" x 21 1/2" openings. Frame is hung from the roof ribs in three places with 15/32" plywood tabs. The floor is 15/32" plywood bolted to the front frame and glued to a wood header on van wall. The plywood tabs and the plywood floor provide thermal insulation from the van steel. The floor is flush with bottom of the 80/20 to provide a 1 1/32" lip to prevent baskets from coming out. There will be LED string lights in the bottom slot actuated by the black switch shown at middle front of the cabinet bottom.

They weigh about 35.9 lbs each including the 15/32" plywood end panels which are not installed yet. (Not counting the 6 baskets/side at about 1 lb. ea.)
 

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ddunaway

Active member
George and Dave,

Thanks for supplying the weight info. I estimated the weight of my cabinet (~24.7 lbs) without the L-track, which I would have used for any cabinet design. Comparing weight/length of cabinets, the plywood design was very much in the same ballpark….closer to Dave’s….. I do not think I could hang a hammock from it like George but it should be strong enough.

lbs/in
George 0.64
Dave 0.53
ddunaway 0.51

PS: the pdf says lbs/ft but it should be lbs/in
 

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FourWheelers1987

A 2017 2500 144” Crew 4x4 High
ddunaway Looks like you have a great build there. Are you a Fleet of one? How can I become my own fleet of one too? I'd like to put in my order in to get the whole heated, swiveling, suspended seats up front as well . . .

Safe Travels,
Marcus I.
 

ddunaway

Active member
Rear seat project

Long time no update. I have been working away at this one for a year! There are a lot of requirements/configurations that I wanted to have, so it took a lot of thought…..plus I never really want to completely finish. Key requirements:

  • Box seat mode
  • 1 seat mode with access to back
  • Bench seat mode
  • Seat belts

I built the box first using the Kreg screw system, and attaching it to the floor via the factory seat lugs and some L-track mounted to the wall. The box and cover are cut with a 2.5 degree tilt, so it can either be flat in box mode or canted by 5 degrees in seat mode. This box makes for great storage being shielded from hot cold and critters.

Next came a prototype seat back to check the ergonomics……used that for ~6 months. We just used a foam sleeping pad for cushion. A lap belt attached to the L-track and another Factory seat lug behind. Last time I had the floor up I drilled thru to all the holes in both the sheet metal corrugated floor and in the plywood floor, so I could access all holes M12 when needed.

I built another removable seat portion at 5 degree cant to fill in the other part of the bench. Then I covered the seats with 2 in foam and a waterproof synthetic Suede.

The back was the most complicated bit…..requiring the most thought. I wanted it to support either 1 or 2 seats, and allow straight access into the back in 1 seat mode. A bar across the bed supports would have been easy but I got a suggestion from one of Inertiaman’s friends to build a triangular support off the angle bed support on the wall. That worked pretty good, and can quickly disassemble or assemble with 3 pins.

The back is 2 pieces of plywood connected by some piano hinges. 1 seat mode just has it folded onto itself. The mid section on one side is supported by the angle triangle. The bottom edge plugs into a C channel at 15 degrees on the box seat. And the third side rests in a groove on a piece of wood on the other side of the van.

A few more lap belts for the second seat attached to more L-track and factory seat lugs in
the floor.

There are still a few finishing touches but it’s 95% done now. This was the last feature in my original list to get completed.
 

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I had a question about your insulation using Thinsulate. I just visited a professional conversion company and they gave me a tour of their shop. They also use thinsulate but bond the black side to the skin of the van, so the white side is what you see from the inside of the van. Looks like you did it the opposite way. Can you please share why you chose to put the black-side-out?

Thanks
 

ddunaway

Active member
I had a question about your insulation using Thinsulate. I just visited a professional conversion company and they gave me a tour of their shop. They also use thinsulate but bond the black side to the skin of the van, so the white side is what you see from the inside of the van. Looks like you did it the opposite way. Can you please share why you chose to put the black-side-out?

Thanks

Well, I believe that was how Hein recommended. Also, The material backing essentially gives you an additional barrier....sort of trapping the colder or hotter air (depending on winter or summer) inside the thinsulate between black barrier material and vehicle wall. Then you have another air gap between the interior wall and black barrier.

The white stuff glues to the vehicle wall easily with M90.....just spray it on the insulation...wait briefly and push against wall. I am trying to remember if you need to spray the wall too (in addition to the insulation) but cannot remember if I did. I do however remember that I did it one way and Inertiaman did the other way. He used ~ 6 cans and I used 1 can for the whole van. I must have just done the insulation only.

This is also the way I have seen others do it....black side away from glued surface.
 
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ddunaway

Active member
Rear seat project

Long time no update. I have been working away at this one for a year! There are a lot of requirements/configurations that I wanted to have, so it took a lot of thought…..plus I never really want to completely finish. Key requirements:

  • Box seat mode
  • 1 seat mode with access to back
  • Bench seat mode
  • Seat belts

I built the box first using the Kreg screw system, and attaching it to the floor via the factory seat lugs and some L-track mounted to the wall. The box and cover are cut with a 2.5 degree tilt, so it can either be flat in box mode or canted by 5 degrees in seat mode. This box makes for great storage being shielded from hot cold and critters.

Next came a prototype seat back to check the ergonomics……used that for ~6 months. We just used a foam sleeping pad for cushion. A lap belt attached to the L-track and another Factory seat lug behind. Last time I had the floor up I drilled thru to all the holes in both the sheet metal corrugated floor and in the plywood floor, so I could access all holes M12 when needed.

I built another removable seat portion at 5 degree cant to fill in the other part of the bench. Then I covered the seats with 2 in foam and a waterproof synthetic Suede.

The back was the most complicated bit…..requiring the most thought. I wanted it to support either 1 or 2 seats, and allow straight access into the back in 1 seat mode. A bar across the bed supports would have been easy but I got a suggestion from one of Inertiaman’s friends to build a triangular support off the angle bed support on the wall. That worked pretty good, and can quickly disassemble or assemble with 3 pins.

The back is 2 pieces of plywood connected by some piano hinges. 1 seat mode just has it folded onto itself. The mid section on one side is supported by the angle triangle. The bottom edge plugs into a C channel at 15 degrees on the box seat. And the third side rests in a groove on a piece of wood on the other side of the van.

A few more lap belts for the second seat attached to more L-track and factory seat lugs in
the floor.

There are still a few finishing touches but it’s 95% done now. This was the last feature in my original list to get completed.
I have to say after using this seat for more than a year now that it is an engineering marvel. Box, 1 seat, or 2 seats -- all parts are easily stored in the van. Conversion between modes is fast. Seat belts are incorporated. Storage below. Access to back. It only took 1 year but is probably one of my most crafty ventures.

Wish the van needed more stuff. Only thing left now I can convince myself I need is more venting....
 

ddunaway

Active member
Slider door well vent

I have a crew can with a MaxAir fan. My venting options are: front windows, slider door, or rear door. To leave the van in the heat I usually install some metal vents in the front windows. That works OK but is a bit tedious and bugs get in the large screen.

To improve venting I installed a vent in the slider door.

The main opening/closing feature comes from the “Euro Vent” from Fisheries supply.

https://www.fisheriessupply.com/heater-craft-h-5401-euro-vent-h5041b

To install, I drilled first with a 4 in hole saw in the plastic of the well, then with a 3 in hole saw. The 3 in hole pilot walked around a bit due to the uneven depths but it worked out.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
The Euro Vent fitting has holes for screws that go through the van into a tube assembly under the van.

I used some 3” ABS sewer fittings go onto the 3” Euro Vent fitting under the van. A 3”female tube to female pipe thread fitting, a small piece of 3” ABS, and a metal screen are the main pieces. The screen to keep the critters out is sandwiched between the pipe thread and the small piece of cutoff 3”. ABS cement holds these together. Cut out a step to allow for the uneven van surface underneath, and tapped holes for threads. The 3” ABS piece fits over the Euro vent fitting that goes into the hole. RTV and screws hold it together. Then the front piece with the open-close mechanism snaps on.

With the thread on the fitting under the van I have the option to put on an additional bug screen fitting or block it completely off with a plug.

I may do another one of these to get even more airflow if needed. Seems to work pretty well so far and I like that the air come from down low.
 

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ddunaway

Active member
Venting for winter

For winter, I like to have air coming in far from the Espar exhaust next to the drivers side rear wheel well. The best place seems to be the passenger side window in front. To keep the snow out when it is open I added on a stick on cowl on that window. Just putting one side on for now.

You have to have good airflow to dry out clothes in those wet borderline temperature days in the northwest. With the Espar, a window open, and the fan on you can dry a drenched ski suit by the AM.

https://www.sprinterworld.com/rainguards.html
 

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zmelms

New member
Hi Ddunaway! I was wondering if you have had any issues since installing the heater with extended exhaust? I've talked with Heatso about doing this same thing and they were against extending the exhaust saying it would lead to suiting issues in the combustion chamber due to the extra backpressure. Thanks!
 

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