Graphite Dave
Dave Orton
You are very welcome to come look at the van. The current version has worked out very well so I will not make any revisions to the layout. Doing my homework in CAD before I cut parts was the correct method. Helped that I had the CAD experience from many years of designing and building conveyors. You are correct about the weight. I am still about 1000 lbs. under the vans capacity but can now see a number of places I can use lighter material. If I build another van, the conversion will probably weigh 400 to 500 lbs less. Helps to build one to learn how to do it right the next time. The 80/20 is definitely overkill as far as strength is concerned. The only change I would make is to use the lighter extrusion that has become available after I bought mine. 80/20 is not expensive compared to alternates. Higher material costs but much lower labor costs. It also happens to fit my fabricating capabilities. The trick is to make most of the connectors out of angle and flatbar and buy hardware from a industrial wholesaler to reduce the material costs. It is not what I would use if I was building a thousand units but is the correct choice for a one off.
I did figure out where to cut the 20' lengths so I did not waste material. That was why they were cut into 8' & 12' pieces instead of in half.
I did figure out where to cut the 20' lengths so I did not waste material. That was why they were cut into 8' & 12' pieces instead of in half.