2016 144" 4x4 high bed MTB-carrier build

Midwestdrifter said:

Looks good. One suggestion. Do not rely on that ratchet strap to hold the batteries in an accident. The same goes for those screwed down right angle brackets. That battery will shear those right off, and snap that strap.

I don't know how your cabinets are secured, but sheetmetal screws into the floor and walls are not sufficient by themselves if you have anything besides clothing and lightweight items in the cabinets.

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Thanks for your input. I have been contemplating how to secure the batteries. I have plenty of angle steel on hand but attachment is still limited to the 3/4" plywood they're sitting on and shear strength of the fasteners. The ratchet strap is rated for 5k lbs but maybe I'm giving it too much credit.

The cabinet is secured to the van wall with eight 1/4-20 bolts into rivnuts as well as eight screws into the floor. I can also screw into the 1/2" plywood panels bolted to the van walls if needed, but it seems solid as mounted. I could attach to at least one factory tie down in the floor, I will take another look at that. There will be a fridge in the middle bay.

radair603 said:

Some rewarding progress lately. I got both lower side panels (garage area) installed after tidying up the wiring. Built a box over the wheelwell to give the batteries a place to sit. Then installed both fuse blocks and connected the DC wires. Still have battery cables, positive buss and fuses to do. Also will be securing the batteries much more solidly and boxing them in. Looks like my passenger side fuse block pic is upside down, oops.

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Where and how is this wheel well box attached to the metal of the van?

I would suggest drilling through the floor or wheel well, and using a through bolt with large backing washer.

The strap may be able to handle 5klbs ( I doubt it though). It can't absorb and dissipate much energy in an accident, and the tight radius where it runs over the batteries would cut its breaking strength in half. Basically the strap layout you have would triple the point loading on the strap. So 150lbs time 10G times 3. For reference, seatbelts are rated at around 4k lbs pull out strength.

Adding a metal or heavy nylon strap around the side and bolted/rivnut to the wall would be a good addition. Replacing the wood screw and thin angle brackets with 1/8 steel or aluminum angle stock, and using #10 or 1/4" through bolts with backing washers, or using a good sized T-nut would also be a good improvement.

2016 144" 4x4 high bed MTB-carrier build

Midwestdrifter said:

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The strap may be able to handle 5klbs ( I doubt it though). It can't absorb and dissipate much energy in an accident, and the tight radius where it runs over the batteries would cut its breaking strength in half. Basically the strap layout you have would triple the point loading on the strap. So 150lbs time 10G times 3. For reference, seatbelts are rated at around 4k lbs pull out strength.
....
Adding a metal or heavy nylon strap around the side and bolted/rivnut to the wall would be a good addition.

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I was thinking the webbing would do well at energy absorption. Assuming the side strap is added, my first approximation was that the batteries would shatter and come to rest inside the kitchen cabinet at 20G.

What about building a strong battery box with lid, strapping it to the wall, and rounding the edges of the box where the existing strap crosses?



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Re: 2016 144" 4x4 high bed MTB-carrier build

Gski said:

I was thinking the webbing would do well at energy absorption. Assuming the side strap is added, my first approximation was that the batteries would shatter and come to rest inside the kitchen cabinet at 20G.

What about building a strong battery box with lid, strapping it to the wall, and rounding the edges of the box where the existing strap crosses?



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Could be workable. In an off angle impact, the batteries will tend to rotate, and could come free of a single strap.

I appreciate your replies. I gave this a lot of thought today and have figured out what I think is a good solution. I’m going to pull off the temporary wood and L-brackets and make a 3-sided steel frame. There will be vertical steel angles on each battery corner with welded horizontals top and bottom. The 2 vertical angles near the inside of the garage will wrap around the battery corners and the 2 vertical angles against the wall will be oriented to have flats that can be screwed to the walls. The long bottom horizontal will be similarly flanged to screw into the top of the wheel well box where the L-brackets are now. This should give me a couple dozen screws into the wall panel/wheel well assembly. Then I can replace the ratchet strap with steel pieces front and rear bolted into the factory tie downs. I will post pics when I get it together.

The 3/4” thick wheel well box has about fifteen 2” screws run through the back of the wall panel into the box so it’s integral with the 1/2” plywood wall panel. The wall panel is attached to the van wall with sixteen 1/4-20 stainless machine screws into rivnuts.

Look forward to pics because I can’t really follow that.
I understand you built the wheel covers in place. Good.

I can visualize about half that. It sounds sturdy enough though.

When constructing cabinets that can be disassembled, I generally prefer L brackets and T nuts (with bolts) as they can be taken apart several times without detriment, and the connections are many times tougher than regular wood screws, as they will bend and absorb energy instead of pulling out and/or shearing.

Ratchet strap material or nylon webbing is not very dynamic and will definitely fail before stretching much at all. Sounds like you're on the right path. As an arborist, we use nylon webbing only in static loading situations, not dynamic loading situations.

Aren’t seat belts nylon webbing?

Not your typical Espar D2 installation

I completed installation of my Espar D2 heater yesterday. This has the high altitude kit (HAK) and EasyStart Remote+ controller. Opening the box with the 3-headed monster of a wiring harness was a bit daunting but piece by piece it's a fairly straightforward installation. Digging up the correct wiring schematic is key.

I wanted to save the space under the passenger seat for other storage and didn't like running exhaust and fuel across the vehicle (and definitely did not want the exhaust coming out under the sliding door). My driver's seat swivels around to my desk and i needed a box for proper floor height while sitting. It made perfect sense to put the heater there, since it's right above the fuel tap, easy access to my electrical and puts the exhaust on the driver's side away from the big door. It surprised me not to find use of this location documented anywhere as it makes for a relatively simple installation.

Shout out to SprinterVanDiaries, Traipsing About and RadVanAdventures for some fine photos and details on their installs. Some of the videos and blogs I found address installing the D2 furnace but skip the wiring and/or fuel line, and quite honestly putting in the furnace and intake/exhaust is the easy part.

I will let the photos tell the story. I had many dreams or nightmares over the last week or so, especially after learning about another builder's horror story with his Remote+ controller. My last dream had it all ending well so I was encouraged. In the end it fired up after a few starts to get fuel to the furnace. I was SO excited to hear the furnace fire up the first time.

More pics of the furnace location and floor penetrations:

A couple pics of the inside - still working on boxing the furnace in. This cabinet end wall will be mostly hidden by the counter/desk top. The gadgets from left to right: D2 heater on/off button, inverter remote on/off, charge controller bluetooth dongle, D2 high altitude kit, D2 controller.

Good looking install. A quick note. You need to support that long section of exhaust tubing. Anything more than 12" really. The tubing will vibrate with bumps/wind. This will inevitably cause it to crack. A riser made from some bend aluminum or steel bar stock, and a P clamp would work fine.

Midwestdrifter said:

Good looking install. A quick note. You need to support that long section of exhaust tubing. Anything more than 12" really. The tubing will vibrate with bumps/wind. This will inevitably cause it to crack. A riser made from some bend aluminum or steel bar stock, and a P clamp would work fine.

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Thanks! I will take care of that. Appreciate your input.

Bed rails

I went with the Live Like Pete IKEA bed rails and made some brackets from L2 x 1/8" angles. It's a high bed so we can leave front wheels on our bikes. We are OK with giving up some headroom for the convenience. We are small enough to sleep sideways and although I had four rails, after testing deflection of 1/2" birch plywood on an 18" spacing decided to go with just 3. Nothing too exciting but happy with the results.

I still need to scribe the plywood to the rear doors' curve and cut the foam to shape. We went with 4" of medium density "Ultra Foam" from Albany Foam. I called to order it and the guy said they don't really do retail sales, then proceeded to take my order and ship it the same day!

Love the location for the D2 install!

Got the furnace boxed in and will likely put rubber mat on top and aluminum angles around the exposed edges.

This shot also shows the Isotherm Cruise 85 fridge. I look forward to the day when the protective sheet comes off. I put a ventilation space below and behind the fridge for cooling. Used perforated sheet metal below the unit to keep crud out.

I am very stoked on this fridge and the diesel heater. Game changers, both of them

How is your D2 getting its return air? Is that box vented sufficiently? Just hard to tell from the photos.

Those shiny steel fridges are nice.

Midwestdrifter said:

How is your D2 getting its return air? Is that box vented sufficiently? Just hard to tell from the photos.

Those shiny steel fridges are nice.

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I left the right side rear open so there's a good intake air opening.