hilld's slow roll build

hilld

Well-known member
In the past few weeks, I have made a bit more progress, not much, but some.

MOAB bed test fitting. This is the lower of the 2 beds.

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And a MOAB bunk bed to add sleeping for the 3rd person. Was missing a a couple of brackets, but a quick trip to AdVan in Tualatin and Hailey hooked me up with the right parts and while I was there, I ended up getting a couple of mule bags as well.

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And of course another trip hauling a bunch of stuff to my new construction site. Covered behind the seat is a full size tool box, behind the seat a miller XMT welder and wirefeeder on a cart and a bunch of other stuff in the van. I love the smart floor and how you can properly secure your cargo.

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hilld

Well-known member
As I mentioned before and others have probably found out for themselves, AdVan won't just sell the L-track and A-Frame kits by themselves, that is all I really wanted. They do sell the V2 Bed Rail kit, which I did purchase and installed in the posts above. I am not sure if I mentioned, but Esplori Van in Bend, OR installed my smart floor and while I was there I looked at some of their vans they were working on and they had contracted with a local manufacturer to build them a kit of brackets to hold the top L-Track to the ceiling. I convinced them to sell me the kit and the 2 L-tracks as they were almost 14' long and fit perfect. The kit did require some shimming and I had to elongate a couple of the predrilled L-track holes to get it all to work, but overall it is nicely done.

First some insulation.

A rotary cutter and a drywall T-square on top of a sheet of plywood makes a great cutting surface.

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A silver sharpie to mark the lines makes them highly visible.

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Some 2" strips for the ribs in the ceiling. I used fish sticks to push them into place.

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Fold the edge over and tape it to make a small pocket for the fish stick

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hilld

Well-known member
Once they are in place, simply pull the fish stick back, remove the tape and move onto the next one.

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Measure all the spaces between the ribs for your ceiling insulation. I wrote the size on the scrim side of each cut piece to help me later during the installation. I ended up using 3M 90 glue to hold them in place. It was nice working in a heated garage for a bit, vs. 35*F outside temp in the van. Now if the van only fit in the garage. 1614185547477.png

Here is the final pile before taking it out to the van.

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First test fitting of the Esplori rails and the insulation. The insulation is not yet glued in this pic.

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After permanently installing the ceiling brackets and rails and the insulation glued in. Note that I didn't quite glue the long ends as I will probably end up trimming them a bit. I plan on using some electrical knockout carbide cutters to cut some strategic holes into the brackets and use electrical knockout bushings to prevent chafing of the wires once I decide on light, outlets, etc locations. My plan is to have all of my electrical behind the rear wheel on the drivers side of the van.
 
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Roamers

2020 4X4 170 Crew
Hild, If your roof is still open, could you do me a big favor? I have a crew with factory ceiling and I need to know where the ribs are (currently in planning stage). Several are obviously 2' on centers since the ceiling panels are that size, but the front most cover is 61" and the last is 35", so something different than 24 in those areas.

Perhaps distance between centers starting at B-Pillar? Thanks!
 

hilld

Well-known member
I can get the measurements between the ribs or do you want them center to center. I think I still have the size of the various panels written in silver sharpie on my insulation.

I will update the post when I have them in a bit.

Here are the widths of the pieces I cut between the ribs, I will call them bays, with bay 1, being the first one behind the drivers cab area. Mine is a 170 NON EXT, so if yours is a different size, all bets are off.

Bay 1: 20.5"
Bay 2: 19.5"
Bay 3: 14.5"
Bay 4: 21.5"
Bay 5 - 7: 21.75"
Bay 8: 9"
 
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Roamers

2020 4X4 170 Crew
I can get the measurements between the ribs or do you want them center to center. I think I still have the size of the various panels written in silver sharpie on my insulation.

I will update the post when I have them in a bit.
Center to center would help; looking for mounting points for upper shelves.
 

hilld

Well-known member
Hmm, for some reason, I am having posts disappear, so I will try to recreate what I had posted earlier.

here is the insulation glued up against the ceiling using 3M 90 high strength adhesive. I have also finished mounting the Esplori rails and the L-track onto the ceiling.

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Since the brackets prevent any sort of wiring runs inside the bays (that is what I am calling the space between the ribs), I plan on using some 1/2" carbide knockout cutters and 1/2" knockout bushings to create a channel to pass the wires from side to side.

Cutter: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-7-8-in-Carbide-Hole-Cutter-31875/202868661
Bushing: https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-2-in-Snap-In-Bushing-10-Pack-27251/202077082

Hopefully the weather will co-operate a bit and allow me to work in the van without freezing too much. After finishing up the insulation and the remaining L-tracks, the electrical system will be tackled next.
 
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RVBarry

2023 AWD 170 DIY CamperVan
I am not sure if I mentioned, but Esplori Van's in Bend, OR installed my smart floor and while I was there I looked at some of their vans they were working on and they had contracted with a local manufacturer to build them a kit of brackets to hold the top L-Track to the ceiling. I convinced them to sell me the kit and the 2 L-tracks as they were almost 14' long and fit perfect. The kit did require some shimming and I had to elongate a couple of the predrilled L-track holes to get it all to work, but overall it is nicely done.
Hi, do you know if they want to sell more?
Thanks!
 

SION1771

Member
Which seats did you get? I see SF offers these four styles: Austin, Grey artificial leather, Carmat Code, and MB Maturin.
Their website shows lots of styles but doesn't call out which is which.

How do you like them? Do they have the fold down feature? Do they recline? Do you know how the price for what you got compares to the other options?

I just posted the same question over at @drodio 's build thread, in case someone in the future is trying to triangulate for their own installation.


Update for this week. My smart floor and 2 seats are installed as well as the Maxxair fan. Parts are still piling up, did pickup up the Adventure Wagon Bunk and MOAB beds today from their warehouse. Some of the Black Friday purchases from Battle Born are also arriving. I also received some items from Van Compass, but was missing some shims, those arrived today as well. Guess I will be busy going forward.

In any case, here are some pics.

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hilld

Well-known member
Which seats did you get? I see SF offers these four styles: Austin, Grey artificial leather, Carmat Code, and MB Maturin.
Their website shows lots of styles but doesn't call out which is which.

How do you like them? Do they have the fold down feature? Do they recline? Do you know how the price for what you got compares to the other options?

I just posted the same question over at @drodio 's build thread, in case someone in the future is trying to triangulate for their own installation.
Mine are the XL smart seats. One with the ISO Fix latch system and the other without. Mine have some reclining, but not fold down. I chose not to have arm rests, but those are certainly an option. https://www.amfbrunsamerica.com/products/seating-solutions/easy-xl/
 

hilld

Well-known member
Spent about 12 hours this weekend working on the van and it seems like I don't have much to show for it, but I digress.

Yesterday, I had a chance to replace the rear shocks again. I had installed a set of Van Compass supplied Falcons shocks, and while the ride was great, the noise from the shocks was awful and annoying. In any case, the ride won out and I was learning to live with it. I think I hit my breaking point, put the factory shocks back in and the noise was gone. So it was 100% coming from the shocks. Fired off an email to Van Compass and they told me that the Falcon shocks now have a new piston design to address this exact issue. Ok, send me a pair, which they did. Perfect.

Installed them and the the noise is gone. Yeah.


Ok, now for some actual progress. I had been toying around with Plus-Nuts vs RivNuts after installing the top brackets and L-track and decided that I would use some Plus-Nuts on the side rails, the only problem was that I only had 20 of them -- did place another order from McMaster and should have them on Wednesday, but that didn't stop me from drilling holes, deburring, painting, etc and I even got to install one L-Track.

When I was working on the ceiling brackets, I was at my remote location and didn't have my full tool set, I was missing the drill stops, and almost put a dent in the roof when the drill bit broke through and hit the roof. Luckily no damage or even a mark. I got lucky, so today I made sure I had the drill stop.

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Even fits in the L-Track. Perfect

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Some M6 plus nuts -- those are hard to find. Amazon has 1/4", 5/16", 3/8", but not much in the area of metric. Didn't feel like introducing imperial fasteners to my European vehicle. Keeping it all metric.....mostly.

I sourced them from McMaster Carr. https://www.mcmaster.com/97217A444/ - $6.50 for a bags of 10.

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I know some people have mentioned that the standard RivNut setting tools won't set the Plus-Nuts, but my Astro PRN1, does the job, but you have to do it 3 times. Set, tighten the mandrel till it bottoms out, set, tighten again, set and back out the mandrel. A bit slower, but it gets the job done.

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Don't forget to debur your holes and put some rust preventive touch up paint after drilling and deburring.

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hilld

Well-known member
Temporary hold the 8' pieces of L-track in place using clamps. Always fun when your driveway is somewhat steep, but that is what tape measures are for. Measure twice, but once, in my case drill once -- just repeat a bunch of times for all the holes.

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And the first (and only) track installed until my resupply of Plus-Nuts arrives on Wednesday. Drilled more holes for the other rails, but not yet installed. Onto some insulation then.

Sliding door, upper section.

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And install the factory panel.

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And glue in some insulation where the factory window locations would be, bay 2 and 3. Still going to be installing windows in the slider and behind the driver......that job is being farmed out though as the windows are glue in.

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hilld

Well-known member
The rear doors were next on my list. They didn't get any of the sound proofing (other than the exposed compartment where the speakers are) you see in the cargo area of the van as I never bothered to pull off the door panels until I was ready to add some insulation. Today was the day.

The door panels are only held in by push pins and a few magnets, no screws whatsoever. I was surprised. The door on the passenger side is also held in by the inside door handle (sort of), you just have to pry around it.

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Installing some Kill Mat, want that German door thud, not the Toyota tinny sound.

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Followed by some Thinsulate

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Also had to fish some insulation on the side of the windows, but some of the wires were making the job harder than it needed to be. So I ended up removing the wires for the heated rear glass and the connector from the body to the door. Made it a bit easier.

Repeat the process for the other door.

Doors back together.

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hilld

Well-known member
The weather is decent this week so working on the van in the afternoons is actually kinda pleasant. Still working on the insulation. I managed to cut up some origami pieces for the upper sections of the walls but I didn't take any pictures as that wasn't too exciting. I also decided to drop the headliner, put some sound proofing and insulation up there. Here are some of the pics of that progress.

Drop the overhead trays, the sun visor, the rear trim, the coat hooks, the A and B pillar trim (don't have to remove, just loosen the top pieces) and unhook the sides that contain the airbags, kinda ingenious, unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the hooks.
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That is a lot of sheet metal with just 3 pieces of sound proofing, needless to say, we will fix that.
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The removed headliner
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As you can tell, I am a believer in a bit of overkilmat. :)

I apply where I think it needs to go and then test the resonance by knocking on the panel. I am looking for a thud, not a twang. If I hear twang, I apply some more until it is a thud.
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hilld

Well-known member
Now time for some insulation. The big piece in the middle was a simple 60 x 38" piece with a slit in the middle to clear the antenna wires.

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Cut pieces to fit in the corners

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actually, if you look closely, you can see the side curtain airbags and the hooks that are used to attach them to the bracket.

Headliner back in
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I rolled up some 17" square pieces and placed them in the open space for 2 reasons, to hold the side pieces in place and to also add some insulation.

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and the other side
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That takes care of today's update.
 

johnplyler

2020 4x4
Did you glue up all the thinsulate with 3M 90 spray?
About how long did it take for it to get tacky? I don't want to wait too long.
Was cutting the thinsulate with scissors the best way?
I guess you want to insulate first, plumbing second, and wiring third since you want the plumbing and wiring on the insulated side?
Thanks, I will be doing this real soon.
 

hilld

Well-known member
I only glue when I have to, just in case I need to remove the stuff later. So that being said, all pieces that are on the ceiling are glued and a few of the side pieces. I also use felt tape and some of the origami patterns that were posted in another thread. As far as the 3M 90 spray glue, the first few pieces on the ceiling, I sprayed the insulation and the metal surfaces and waited a few minutes then stuck them. Later I got lazy and just sprayed the metal, waited perhaps 10 seconds and the insulation stuck. So, I don't think you have to wait too long.

I plan on running all of the electrical and plumbing on the warm side, except where I can't. I am purposely leaving out the insulation below the window line as that is where the largest cavities are and I want to be able to see all the factory penetrations and use those to my advantage. I will fill in the voids later with insulation, hopefully I will have enough left or I have to make another trip out to Hood River and visit @hein for some thinsulate.

Most of the cutting was done using a rotary cutter (posted a picture several posts back), but inside the van when I am fitting the pieces, I am using a quality fabric shear. The cutting is pretty straight forward, but you have to make sure you cut all the way through with every stroke.
 

johnplyler

2020 4x4
Have you decided on your cabinets. Since I see a welder in your very nice garage you may be interested in this idea??

My plan is to build everything as light as I can and still make it look good. 80/20 is too heavy in my option. I am thinking of using 3/4-inch aluminum angle for all my frames. This will be mainly used to hold everything together cabinet wise. It will be welded, so no loose bolts. I then plan to add something like maybe 1-inch x 1 1/2-inch fir lumber to the inside of this aluminum frame build. This will give it rigidity and something to attach my drawer slides, walls, top, etc. to. I will probably use 1-inch dry wall screws to attach the two.

For the upper cabinets I want to use the same framing system and borrow an idea Humble Road gave out for the back. George uses some type of plexiglass material for the back that will curve around from the bottom wall side to the top front side. This piece of plastic will be flexible enough that you can bend it and remove it for access to this area if you should ever want to get there. It will also cleanup the problem of coming up with some type of cover for all the wiring running down the top corner side behind the driver's seat.

For my garage walls I plan to cover the insulation with probably a black Tyvek type material for looks and then screw in expanded aluminum over that for ventilation. I also plan to enclose my electrical on the driver's wall with the same expanded aluminum. I may add a very small like 4 x 4 fan to blow across the electrical area and have air flow in the garage.

Since the fuel tank is on the driver's side, I plan to put the wheel well 24 gallon water on the passenger's side along with all my other plumbing- water tank, strainer, pump, UV purifier, charcoal filter sink and shower. I will cage this all off with expanded aluminum as well.

For the bed (this may be too light but) I plan to try 1 1/2-inch aluminum angle for rails connected with a 1 x 6-inch facial board for strength and to hold the mattress in place. Aluminum angle bolted to the van walls for the head and foot and expanded aluminum welded in for the mattress to set on.

I would appreciate any ideas or thoughts!
John
 

hilld

Well-known member
Right now the plan is to have this be a modular build, meaning the cabinets will be self contained and removable. The only cabinet(s) that will be a semi permanent install is for the fridge and electrical monitoring and switches and one containing the plumbing components that are on the inside. It will be on the drivers side in front of the wheel well. Water tank and any associated with plumbing will be on the passenger side.

Yes, I plan on making the cabinet framing out of some sort of square tubing, be it steel or aluminum, not 100% decided yet. It is a work in progress with ideas bouncing around in my head. For uppers, I have purchased 2 of the 4' mule bags from Adventure Wagon, hopefully that will be enough and keep the weight down and meet the goal of modular (out when not camping).

As soon as I am done with the insulation, my plan is to start working on the electrical system, initially laying it all out in the garage / house and then transferring it to the van. I am still using my plywood template as a cutting board at the moment. As much as plywood actually all lumber prices have climbed in the past 3 months, I am not wasting any.

I find the thought of using extruded AL interesting, hadn't thought of that, my thought was to perhaps use some diamond plate for the lower section of the van and then some sort of 1/4" paneling for the upper and ceiling. Still looking at options here. I want to stay relatively light both in terms of weight and color.
 

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