BJ's Adventure Van

I've had my van for a year now, so I thought I'd document how I used it over the last year, and how I'd like to upgrade it.

My van:
2012 144" HR Passenger
Purchased February 2019 for with 86k miles on it. It replaced my truck as a daily driver, but I tend to ride a motorcycle 10 months a year as long as its not raining.

How I ended up with a Sprinter:
I like to road race motorcycles and some of the races are 10+ hours away. So, I really wanted something where I could pull over on the way home and sleep, without unloading my bike. I also haul dirt bikes and mountain bikes, but usually more locally. My trips with the Sprinter tend to be weekend trips, so we don't need something we can live out of, but just an enclosure to sleep in and carry my gear. I really wanted to be able to carry multiple friends, so having the bench makes that possible.

Version 1:
Soon after I bought my van last year, I had a race weekend planned so I kind of rushed a cheap bed solution together after looking at many options on this forum. I really wanted a bed that could be raised up high when I had a bike under it, but could be lowered to be more comfortable to get in and out of when empty. I also wanted it to be quick and easy to take the bed in and out, as I don't want a bed in there full time. Here's what I came up with:


Mounted to the walls of the van are vertical pieces of steel unistrut. Yes, I would have preferred aluminum for ease of cutting and weight, but Lowes had steel in stock. Plus it is cheap. The horizontal side rails are a simple 1x6 that are screwed to a custom made block of wood that slides inside of the unistrut track. To set the height of the side rails I insert a pin through drilled holes in that custom block of wood and the unistrut. The main bed supports are Skorva rails from IKEA. Since I took the above picture, I have screwed them to plywood, making two bed panels that I can take in an out by myself and adjust in width as I raise/lower the bed. Here's one of my panels:


Most common bed designs utilize 3 bed panels instead of 2, like I chose. I had this idea that with two, I could convert them into a couch or a single bed, if turned 90 degrees to how they are installed now. I haven't had much drive to do that since my initial build though. With bed panels in place, I can fit a queen mattress and I went with the following:
https://www.amazon.com/LUCID-Inch-Memory-Foam-Mattress/dp/B00NX8G4LK

Here's the finished product with my Yamaha R6 race bike underneath (and attack dog on top):


The only other permanent change I've made was installing a Pit Bull Trailer Restraint on the driver's side. I chose that side because it was easiest to get in and out of the van when I had a bike in it, with no bed, since the passenger side rear door opens first.

1 year assessment:

Toy Hauling
Racebike: Great. This would be better if handlebar wasn’t at risk to go through rear side window.
Dirt Bikes: Good. Would be nice if bed fit easier above these. Now, bed panels have to be stacked and mattress just rests on handlebars. This would be fixed if I simply drilled more holes in the unistrut to raise bed higher.
Other motorcycles: Good. I have to use straps, since Pit Bull pins are bike specific.
MTB: Good. I can use straps, or put the bike width wise and hold handlebar down with bench headrest. Would be much nicer to have a more secure setup that puts bike out of the way.

Roadracing
Everything is just in totes on the floor. Would be much more efficient with built in storage. So much stuff piled around bike, we have to unload, then take out bike, then lower bed, then reload back into van.

Bed
Only 2 positions that work currently - mid and low. I drilled holes for a high position and I can't use because wood guide in unistrut hits the top mounting bolt. I simply did not take the time to change this last year. Metal plates for rails are too squeaky. I didn't know how to get Skorva rail mounts from IKEA, since they aren't an off the shelf item. Instead, I took some plate steel and cut it to length and bent to a similar shape to hold rails. It has been plenty strong and easy to use, but the noise can get annoying. Also, I can't remove the bed rails without removing the unistrut mounting bolts. Once I put the headliner back in, the upper bolts will be covered, so this is an issue.

General
Driving a van everyday is awesome. I love this thing. I always have a set of tools, a bicycle/motorycle and other stuff with me at the ready. If I'm tired at work, I can catch a 20 minute nap in my hammock strung from corner to corner. I've put the 3 rows of benches on it to take on group camping trips or tailgating. I really do love it.

So, now I want to improve the build. I'd like to make it more easily usable and a little "prettier". I'd also like to insulate it, even though I don't really feel like I need it insulated. We have zero plans to camp in the winter. In the summer, we've been okay sleeping at night with a portable AC in the passenger seat and the exhaust hose plumbed out the window. But, one day, my wife was sick and she stayed in bed while I left to go somewhere. As the day heated up, the AC just couldn't keep up with the sun beating on the roof. I'm hoping insulation will fix that, even though it's a rare need. Also, I typically have power, but it would be nice to leave the radio and/or lights on indefinitely, so I'd like to add a second battery with a charging solenoid. The last idea is to get more permanent storage, and remove the middle bench except for when I need it, just so I have more walking around room.

Rear Side Window Area
In my current design, if I don't lower the bed rails to a certain height, I run the risk of hitting the rear side windows with my handlebars if I drop my bike that direction. My idea is to attach a piece of plywood to the back of the unistrut and create a simple wall that covers the full rear window. I'd also like to use this wall to have L-track or other mounting ideas for getting stuff up and off the floor. Here's a sketch of the idea I had:


In this design, I put in the Ikea bed mounts, because I was able to ask the spare parts department for them. Not shown, I have designed external bracket to ride along the outside of the unistrut, rather than the internal piece I had made of wood. This will use the same pins I currently use to hold the vertical position, but now will allow me to remove the bed rails without taking the unistrut mounts out. Behind the plywood, towards the window, I will have some insulation. I'm also thinking about mounting something like this for storing gear, as I think it will help air out my nasty gloves, helmets etc...
Lowes Geartrack Basket

Not seeing any pictures

can anyone else see the pictures? I checked on my wife's laptop, who's not logged into my picture account, and she can see them just fine. I'm hosting on google images.

cbjr said:

can anyone else see the pictures? I checked on my wife's laptop, who's not logged into my picture account, and she can see them just fine. I'm hosting on google images.

Click to expand...

No photos here! All 'No entry' signs.

They are posted as IMG which do not work on the forum, use the paperclip icon icon to attach instead.

Keith.

We use our van for bike hauling (road race, supermoto and dirt bike) so I'm keen to see your set-up, I can't see the pics either.

Can’t see pics


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interested in seeing your design also. look forward to the pictures.

Sorry all for the slow response. Here's the pics that aren't showing above:

To use the unistrut on a curved wall, I had to bend the ends to match the walls where I bolted it. In order to be able to bend it, I had to cut the side walls, leaving only a tab on each end. In the van, I drilled holes and installed rivnuts to attach the unistrut. Actually, for the rear lower bolts, I used the seat belt mounting points that are there from the factory.

Here's a pic of the pit bull restraint in use with my r6.

thumbs up on unistrut ,bolt it on and then bolt it off to get back to stock