144" Van for two and toys

P

pdxkid

currently vanless :-(
jmvan said:
Floor

For a weekend project, we pulled everything out of the van and insulated the floor. For the layers we went with Van metal -> 3/8 minicell filler strips -> 1/4 minicell sheet spanning the floor -> 1" polyfoam -> original wood floor (with floor pucks from Hein to cover the seat holes). We used a few 1" wood strips to support loading points on the floors and protect the foam. They were located at the doors, behind the front seats and where the floor pieces meet. We have noticed no floor softness.
Click to expand...
How did you attach all of the flooring to the van? Particularly, how do you attach the final wood layer. I understand that spray adhesives were likely used to attach the various foam layers, but I'm always wondering how people attach flooring that they then intend to attach cabinetry to. I've read through several build threads and it seems like this detail is often omitted.

Our van builder unfortunately screwed our plywood floor to the van floor resulting in several holes in the van floor and ultimately a punctured fuel tank. Good lesson. Our next van will be far more dialed. I'm thinking the best way to attach a floor might be to use the existing cargo tie-down points and fab some sort of bracket that would then attach to plywood. My goal for our next van is to only cut one hole in it for the Maxxfan.

Thanks
 
J

jmvan

2017 144 Crew DIY
I reused the plywood floor that came in the van. It is attached using the existing tie-down hooks and screws into my wood raisers. There are four wood raisers (front edge, sliding door edge, back door edge, middle joint b/w plywood panels). The raisers are bolted into rivnuts.

My cabinetry is bolted down to the existing tie-downs, rivnuts in the walls, and t-nuts in the plywood floor (I use these purely for alignment so I don't think they will hold anything).
 
S

SweetPotato

New member
Your cabinet design is super simple and clean. Kudos!

I'm interested in that baby whale foot pump for my build as well but my main concern is that, if there is a leak or a failure in the foot pump, that the whole water tank will drain out onto the floor. This wouldn't happen if the water tank was positioned underneath the van or at least below the foot pump but it seems that it would drain out like a syphon if there is an issue.

I just received a 2.3 gpm shurflo pump in the mail and I was overwhelmed with how big and heavy it is. Seems like overkill to fill a water bottle and do a few dishes each day. Thoughts, Concerns? How's the foot pump working for ya?
 
G

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
SweetPotato said:
Your cabinet design is super simple and clean. Kudos!

I'm interested in that baby whale foot pump for my build as well but my main concern is that, if there is a leak or a failure in the foot pump, that the whole water tank will drain out onto the floor. This wouldn't happen if the water tank was positioned underneath the van or at least below the foot pump but it seems that it would drain out like a syphon if there is an issue.

I just received a 2.3 gpm shurflo pump in the mail and I was overwhelmed with how big and heavy it is. Seems like overkill to fill a water bottle and do a few dishes each day. Thoughts, Concerns? How's the foot pump working for ya?
Click to expand...
I had a normal RV pump installed in the slider step area in the sold Sprinter that was noisy and required a lot of space. In Transit I used a small solar centrifugal pump. Requires 1/4 the space and is quiet. System is never pressurized so no chance of a water leak. Disadvantage is you use a switch for on/off water to the sink. Pump must be below the water tank and I return a small volume of water to the tank so pump does not overheat if I forget to turn off the pump.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=500247&postcount=101
 
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J

jmvan

2017 144 Crew DIY
SweetPotato said:
Your cabinet design is super simple and clean. Kudos!

I'm interested in that baby whale foot pump for my build as well but my main concern is that, if there is a leak or a failure in the foot pump, that the whole water tank will drain out onto the floor. This wouldn't happen if the water tank was positioned underneath the van or at least below the foot pump but it seems that it would drain out like a syphon if there is an issue.

I just received a 2.3 gpm shurflo pump in the mail and I was overwhelmed with how big and heavy it is. Seems like overkill to fill a water bottle and do a few dishes each day. Thoughts, Concerns? How's the foot pump working for ya?
Click to expand...
Thanks SweetPotato.

We have had no issues with the whale foot pump. That said we have only used it for 10 months for weekend trips. The reason I went with foot pump was to limit water usage. It is much harder to leave the faucet on and waste water when you meter it out with your foot. The baby whale is great for dishes and teeth but a bit slow for bottles of water or the tea pot. It takes like 20 pumps to fill a nalgene.

I would get the baby whale again.
 
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