Insulation and paneling

I've been exploring the site reading about how to insulate and panel my truck. I don't want to do something that may trap moisture and facilitate rust. I followed one link to the Prodex product which they say is recommended for steel buildings. That sounds promising. It would aslo be smart to use materials that don't burn easily.
Any comments?

I haven't tried it yet but lots of other expediters are using a product called "Reflectix". It's an aluminum bubble type of stuff that comes in rolls. It is very light and won't hold moisture. You can but the stuff at Lowes or Home Depot.

I've insulated my ceiling using "Reflectix" (easy to find at Home Depot, comes in various sizes, easy to use). Attached it simply by using 3M outdoor type 2 sided tape (thick & red color). The ceiling panels were a pain to remove & re-install (mine is a passenger).

In the walls I used bats of insulation, looks similar to fiberglass (also from Home Depot) but is not fiberglass. The label claims that this insulation will not absorb moisture. Easy to work with & not irritating to skin.

So far so good.

As soon as warm temps come, I'm going to have my van sprayed with rigid urethane. I'm hoping to get a minimum 2" layer of foam on all walls and the roof. At that thickness, it becomes a vapor barrier. You have to love this, the spray outfit is in a Sprinter:
http://www.ufovermont.com/
I will do all electrical work before hand. Still working on a layout, as I know that this will be a permanent installation.

As far as paneling, I have seen many options on this site. I plan on using a thin (1/8" or 1/4", haven't decided) plywood for my interior. I haul mostly boxes, so I'll also have z-track with wooden rub rails on the side walls.

I did mine with this stuff: http://www.lobucrod.com/Got it shipped to BC from Texas, still cheaper than paying higher starting price and shipped from the Toronto dealer, who didn't return calls anyway. Closed-cell foam with reflective barrier both sides. I put it on with 3M 76 (I think) spray adhesive, it has worked well so far. Noticeably warmer and quieter, but I'd go with spray foam if I'd had the $$. I put one layer on and still have lots of room, I could put another whole layer on if I had the material; but that made me realize I could have got cheaper and locally available material coated just the one side, glued that shiney-side to the van, then glued another layer shiney-side in, and had twice the foam and still two-sides of aluminum radiant barrier.

My van had the factory headliner, which took a bit of fussing with to remove, but then became easy to work with. I put a layer of Reflectix against the top, added a layer of closed cell upholstery foam (actually as much as i could stuff in in places, there's lot's of void in there) and then another layer of Reflectix on top of the headliner. The sides have all the factory glass, but where there is no glass i used the same procedure, Reflectix, foam, Reflectix. None of this was glued to the body, i felt that might be a trap for moisture against the metal and could potentially pull the paint from the skin and expose bare metal.

All of this has helped to a point. It's easier to heat and stays cool longer, and it's a lot quieter all around. The most noise now comes from the still unfinished floor and rear wheel housings.

What i do notice is that the large amounts of metal forming the body transfer the heat faster than the insulation can stop it. Unless you build another wall inside the body to separate the interior from the outside thermally, it's an uphill battle to keep up with extremes of hot and cold. Cold outside sucks the heat out, and hot outside heats the inside. Between that and the glass doing the same thing, it seems the only use the insulation is really good for was the sound deadening qualities.

But i'm really glad i did it all, and would do it again.

Jef

I had some folding shelving and some ABS liner installed on the interior of my cargo bay by Al-Van in Seattle. I asked that they glue reflectix to the back side of all the ABS liner before tacking up the panels; reflectix facing the vehicle skin. The ABS is robust enough to have save my Sprinter's skin from a flying wrench that surely would have malformed the skin of my truck a few weeks ago. If you're curious, I grabbed a bag too quickly and sent a wrench flying into an ABS panel.

Eventually, I'll surprise Bruce (bblessing) in the summer time with a visit just to see if there's any significant difference between the interior temperatures of our Sprinters in the sunlight.

For now, it's just a feel-good measure. We'll see in a few months if it actually makes enough of a difference to provide reasonable doubt that it's not the just the Line-X on the roof and/or my gray paint vs his black paint.

-Jon