Hodakaguy's 4x4 Sprinter Conversion - Pic heavy!

RVBarry

RVBarry

2023 AWD 170 DIY CamperVan
4milesurfer said:
I shot an email to the Switch-Pro folks. They confirmed that the unit is able to control the Hi/Low function of the Baja LP9 Pros. However, the 9100 don't have multiple position switches you’ll need to put the high and low beams on separate switches. It seems like that *could* cause an issue if you forget to turn one switch off before turning the other on.
Click to expand...
Hi,
Switch A turns on the power to the light (low) via a SPDT relay (which is 'off').
Switch B flips the relay to 'high' output.
1612840794138.png
Switch A would be at the bottom before 'T'.
Switch B would be at far left on +12V.

What kind of relays do the lights come with?

It's also possible there's only one LED driver in each light, and that it's smart enough to deal with both signals on at once. Ask BD?
 
Last edited:
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
goinoregon said:
I went back and looked at your use of powerlet. good info. but i could not find how you are anchoring fridge. if its back there, just tell me and i will keep looking :)
Click to expand...
Good eye, I actually haven't built the hold down for the fridge yet....I know not the safest way to travel. I'll be making that in the near future though.

Hodakaguy
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
4milesurfer said:
I shot an email to the Switch-Pro folks. They confirmed that the unit is able to control the Hi/Low function of the Baja LP9 Pros. However, the 9100 don't have multiple position switches you’ll need to put the high and low beams on separate switches. It seems like that *could* cause an issue if you forget to turn one switch off before turning the other on.
Click to expand...
I was going to suggest installing a relay to handle this but RvBarry beat me to it....Thanks Barry. You will want to make sure that both power sources cannot be engaged at the same time or it will damage the light, there is a warning in the BD paperwork about that.

Hodakaguy
 
4

4milesurfer

Member
Hodakaguy said:
I was going to suggest installing a relay to handle this but RvBarry beat me to it....Thanks Barry. You will want to make sure that both power sources cannot be engaged at the same time or it will damage the light, there is a warning in the BD paperwork about that.

Hodakaguy
Click to expand...
I got another email from the Switch Pro team. They recommend using the single pole double throw section of the app to make it so when one switch is turned on it will turn off the other switch. Apparently, one can go into the SPDT section and simply choose the two switches being used with the SP9.
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
4milesurfer said:
I got another email from the Switch Pro team. They recommend using the single pole double throw section of the app to make it so when one switch is turned on it will turn off the other switch. Apparently, one can go into the SPDT section and simply choose the two switches being used with the SP9.
Click to expand...
That's great to know that option exists....the Switch Pro is one sweet piece of kit!

Hodakaguy
 
W

w15p

2019 144 HR 4x4
Hodakaguy said:
Time to get started on the bed frame.

The whole family decided to take a day trip with me to get out of the house and pick up some telescoping aluminum tubing for the bed frame fabrication. I picked up enough for myself and Mike as he is going to fabricate a frame for his van as well.

Supplies loaded up in the van....Sweet!




Starting to lay out the bed frame, I'm using a sheet of wood as a Jig. Since the walls of the van are curved the bed frame will need to extend and contract to allow mounting in different positions depending on the height of the items your carrying below the bed. I like the way the Adventure Wagon MOAB bed uses a gas strut to lock the bed into the side rails so I decided to add a strut to mine as well. The strut should also prevent any rattles while driving by keeping the entire assembly under tension.

...

Fabricating the mounts for the 20" x 20lb gas strut.



Continued Below....
Click to expand...

Hodakaguy said:
...


...

Hodakaguy
Click to expand...
Your bed frame is awesome (I know I'm a little late to the party).

I had a couple of questions on sourcing materials as I am looking to shamelessly copy you...
You look to have sourced the telescoping tubing locally. Whereabouts are you? I've called a couple places in the SF bay area and they all tell me to get it online, which I can - McMaster has 3/4" and 1, but I'd rather avoid the shipping cost if possible. What size tubing did you use? and what wall thickness, if you recall?

Also, do you have a source for the gas strut? I've looked at them several times and they all seem to have these cheesy ball-end joints instead of just a through-bolt connection like yours, or are stupid expensive and have like 500lbs of force (my google-foo is failing me)

Thanks! awesome build all around.
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
w15p said:
Your bed frame is awesome (I know I'm a little late to the party).

I had a couple of questions on sourcing materials as I am looking to shamelessly copy you...
You look to have sourced the telescoping tubing locally. Whereabouts are you? I've called a couple places in the SF bay area and they all tell me to get it online, which I can - McMaster has 3/4" and 1, but I'd rather avoid the shipping cost if possible. What size tubing did you use? and what wall thickness, if you recall?

Also, do you have a source for the gas strut? I've looked at them several times and they all seem to have these cheesy ball-end joints instead of just a through-bolt connection like yours, or are stupid expensive and have like 500lbs of force (my google-foo is failing me)

Thanks! awesome build all around.
Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply. I used aluminum telescoping tubing from Alcobra Metals...Link here: CLICK HERE

On the struts just pick the length and the psi that you want for your application then purchses some extra fittings to allow you to bolt the struts into place. The ends on the struts screw off and you can install the fitting of your choice to match your application. Here's one example of an end fitting that will work (my amazon affiliate link): CLICK HERE

Hope this helps...
Hodakaguy
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
Mobility and fun on the go! I've been looking at options for a personal EV's to take with us on trips and keep coming back to Onewheels. A Onewheel is basically a single wheel electric "Skateboard" that is capable of traveling on dirt, gravel, pavement, etc. Two of the smaller Onewheel Pints will take up little space and provide a ton of fun while on the road.

Here's a youtube video (Not Mine) that shows a Onewheel Pint in action:



Link to the official Onewheel site here: https://onewheel.com/?msclkid=f3f18617e4b01a1e7585e6546de409c4


Our two Pints fresh out of the Box and ready for fun.




20 minutes or practicing and my son and I were cruising around the neighborhood, they are very intuitive to operate. Here's a shot down at the park putting on miles :)




Now to figure out how to haul the two Pint's in the van. There is only one spot that is "open" where the boards can be stored and out of the way, that's the rear passenger side corner.




Next up.....stare at the space and figure out a design that will keep the boards secure and take up as little space as possible. After a while of staring and with a plan in my head it was time to start cutting metal.

I have some left over aluminum and Birch ply from my bed project which will work perfectly for this mount and match the bed system in the process. Here I'm starting to cut metal and assemble the rack.




Still practicing/learning welding aluminum, starting to get a bit better at it. Aluminum is really fun to weld.








Here I'm using scrap pieces of foam to figure out the correct spacing and height for the wheel mount.








Temporarily setting the assembly in place to check for clearances to make sure the door still closes etc. I had measured all that ahead of time but better to find out now if there is an issue :)






Rubber caps will make the open ends look a tad more finished.






Next up it's over to my buddy Mike's place. Mike runs a sweet van up fitting business called Vanlab and made quick work on cutting out the base and back plates from my scrap birch on his sweet CNC router. We decided to cut a Onewheel Pint image into the back board for an extra touch. Thanks Mike!












Continued Below.....
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
Continued from above.....

Back to work on the frame. Drilling and inserting Tric nuts (Similar to Rivet Nuts) into the frame to hold the base and backboards on.












Sealing the boards with OSMO....great stuff.








Adding some extra height to the ends to lock in the boards.






Here I'm cutting down some rubber floor mat panels to install in the carrier. All surfaces that touch the boards will be foam padded. The base foam panels are held in place by compression, the side pieces are applied with Gorilla glue.




The notched areas are for the bolts that will bolt the base of the carrier into the OEM floor tie down points.










Next up I'm making foam rails that will attach to the back board. The rails are comprised of aluminum strap cut to size and foam strips glued to the aluminum, then the whole assembly is screwed onto the back board.

Here I'm using the optical center punch to mark out the hole locations on the aluminum strap.










Continued Below.....
 
Hodakaguy

Hodakaguy

Well-known member
Continued from above....

Getting there....








Now to make the upper mount/brace that will tie the carrier into the vans L-track. I'll be making a removable mount that will bolt to the upper bar on the rack, that way if I want to use the rack in the house when it's not needed in the van I can remove the upper brace.






The upper brace bolts on via rivet nuts on the top and rear.




And here is what happens when you get in a hurry and drill holes for the rivet nuts in the wrong location....extra holes lol. Luckily they were on the back side and I was able to just move the holes inboard a bit so the two rivet nuts wouldn't hit each other. Oops....lol.




Using these L-track studs to attach the upper brace to the L-track. These are genius and have sooooo many uses.






Removing the OEM bolts out of the tie down points, the rack will mount in these locations using longer bolts.




Installing the longer bolts through the rack and into the tie down locations.




And here the rack is fully bolted into position. The rack is super solid and keeps the whole assembly away from the wall panel so nothing will rub/wear on the tweed fabric.




















These are going to be a blast!

Hodakaguy
 
W

w15p

2019 144 HR 4x4
Hodakaguy said:
Sorry for the late reply. I used aluminum telescoping tubing from Alcobra Metals...Link here: CLICK HERE

On the struts just pick the length and the psi that you want for your application then purchses some extra fittings to allow you to bolt the struts into place. The ends on the struts screw off and you can install the fitting of your choice to match your application. Here's one example of an end fitting that will work (my amazon affiliate link): CLICK HERE

Hope this helps...
Hodakaguy
Click to expand...
Hey - really appreciate the info. What sizes of tubing did you use?
3/4" and 1"?
1" and 1 1/4"?

any issue with sag?

I'm assuming the thicker wall (0.110") for weldability and strength.

I have looked at the one-wheel so many times... but if I bought a one-wheel, I would ride and run less. I continue to resist.
 
knobVANture

knobVANture

Member
LOVE YOUR BUILD!

looking for ideas to mount my 1W as well, I’m in very beginning stage of my build.


Hodakaguy said:
Continued from above....

Getting there....








Now to make the upper mount/brace that will tie the carrier into the vans L-track. I'll be making a removable mount that will bolt to the upper bar on the rack, that way if I want to use the rack in the house when it's not needed in the van I can remove the upper brace.






The upper brace bolts on via rivet nuts on the top and rear.




And here is what happens when you get in a hurry and drill holes for the rivet nuts in the wrong location....extra holes lol. Luckily they were on the back side and I was able to just move the holes inboard a bit so the two rivet nuts wouldn't hit each other. Oops....lol.




Using these L-track studs to attach the upper brace to the L-track. These are genius and have sooooo many uses.






Removing the OEM bolts out of the tie down points, the rack will mount in these locations using longer bolts.




Installing the longer bolts through the rack and into the tie down locations.




And here the rack is fully bolted into position. The rack is super solid and keeps the whole assembly away from the wall panel so nothing will rub/wear on the tweed fabric.




















These are going to be a blast!

Hodakaguy
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom