The Vansion

I am currently in the process of building a van to live out of for the next few years. My GF and I have been traveling for the last three out of a Ford Edge, so we are quite used to living on the road and have our systems dialed.

The van we decided to go with is a 2014 Dodge Promaster. We got the smaller roof height and wheel base. There are many reasons we went with this but in a nutshell we could get this brand new with the 100,000 bumper to bumper relatively easy. The Sprinter is the most used and if your not familiar, this is Dodges version of a Sprinter.

I am an expierenced carpenter and general tradesman so this build is not out of the realm of my capabilities.(not a speller...)

I looked long and hard at just getting a small RV instead of taking on the job of building my own, but in the end the RV/ Sportsmobiles are not suited for our specific needs. While researching other people who live/travel out of their vans I noticed that most people are doing it generally in persuit of one specific hobby. Our situation is kind of unique becuase we not only climb but dive as well as ride so the amount of gear we have to orginize and store is enormous.

So this brings me to my question, does anyone who has expierence living out of or building a van have any tips or suggestions, or anyone have a dream idea they would like to share? Here is what Ive got so far-

Stand alone 12v and 110v systems.
2000w inverter
2nd isolated battery
Solar trickle charger
full stereo and sub wiring
several interior/exterior lights
backup camera

Living-

full cabinets front to back on drivers side 18" deep. queen sized bed splitting cabin in half with ample storage underneath. bikes on top along with skybox.

that's a rad van! just curious, but is it 4wd or awd by any chance?

my gf and i also live out of a van (albeit for only a few weeks at a time in between jobs). our set up is a bit smaller in a chevy express. having said that, we still have a full size mattress and comfortably store two mondo crash pads as well as our trad gear and clothes, etc etc.

i would definitely add some sort of roof top ventilation and consider a swivel passenger seat -- i've been told the driver swivel chair is a waste as it is just not used very often. both are relatively cheap modifications.

unlike many van campers, we opted not to build a kitchen set up into the middle of the van (ie behind the drivers seat) because of a lack of room. instead, we have a system for cooking out of the rear of the van, and i have an optional fold out table if need arises.

of course, if it rains, we are hosed save for a shoddy tarp set up.

i met this guy in squamish and he has a rad trailer rig: vimeo.com/53799053

i've been thinking about putting something like this together sans the bed. essentially a big storage/cooking/eating area.

good luck!

As I understand it, the ella-troll works contract type nursing gigs.

Why you two don't just do the small pull-trailer gig and do short terms in rv/trailer parks is a mystery to me. More room, easier to store toys, no long term commitments, etc. I've had a few partners who did the contract bouncing gig and they all eventually went the trailer or fifth wheel route, or in-bed truck camper that can stand alone at a min. The flexibility is way better and the rent is usually offset by the gas you save by not constantly driving around.

Small storage unit is the other route. I did that when living out of a VW Westy and mixing mtn and road biking, fishing, climbing caving and photography (i.e. lots of gear). Nothing like getting your bike stolen off your rig, or mangled when someone tries unsuccessfully to steal it. Storage units can he had super cheap in most places, like $20/mo for a small one.

Tanner it's a fwd 6cyl. We are going to put a vent on just not sure what kind yet powered or not (I ran wires and switch for it)

Will part of living this lifestyle efficiently is being able to be mobile with nothing holding you back. We literally know days before we need to be places sometimes 1000 miles away. Having this setup is huge compared to what we had yet this is still good on mpg (18 so far) and very easy to drive in city and park.

You should get a small bubble type trailer for the scuba gear. They cost about $1000 and weigh a couple hundred pounds. Or get a big hitch mounted box for it.

If you try to devise a spot to store it all inside with your climbing and camping gear, it'll be a big stinky mess.

Thought about the trailer. We have slimmed down quite a bit for this adventure so our stuff should fit. The messy nature of the scuba gear is going to be a problem I admit.

Ryan N wrote: yet this is still good on mpg (18 so far) a

When wiring your electric, put in 2 switches up front. One to disengage door and overhead lights from the vehicle battery and one to disengage house lights and electric from the house battery. Never worry about not starting due to having the door open or spacing some fan left on ect...Also, I have found cabinets to be somewhat inferior to just using tubs for bulk storage. Some cabinets=good. All cabinets=not so good.

Oh yeah, and my van has a hose attachment/sink sprayer set up out the back door. This is nice for cleaning off bikes, dishes, dirty climbers, coolers, etc...Need a pump operated water system though and not sure if that's in your plans.

Ed good idea. I am planning on having an auxiliary battery to power systems when engine is off it will be isolated from the main starter battery. I do like the idea of a light kill switch though.

How and where did you mount your tank and pump for the water? I'd love the ability to wash diving gear.

When you're ready to do electrical stuff , the first thing I'd do is add an auxiliary fuse box .

Blusea makes an excellent 12 circuit box, I've had one in my 4x4 for awhile, no complaints.

bluesea.com/products/5026/S…

You don't want to start hooking up all your extra circuits to the battery. Other than that , you can never have enough lights . I'd switch and relay lights up front , on the sides , and in the back . I use these , pretty low draw , VERY bright , and pretty cheap on Amazon

amazon.com/Tuff-LED-Lights-…

You probably already know of the sportsmobileforum.com forums but if not there are some good ideas over there in the homebuild section.

Thanks for the links.

For the people who expressed interest in the building process, here is the van as she sits today. Everything structural is done. Some interior finishes like cabinet doors and paint will come soon. She's on the road now...

Looking good. Keep posting.

The flagstone looks great ... just curious why you'd want to add all that extra weight , or if it even weighs as much as it appears .

I went back and forth on the stone. It's a faux stone so not as heavy as regular stone. I figure that I have between 50 to 100 lbs in stone glue and grout (which I used very little of just for the looks). I had to put something on the walls and being that it's an adventure mobile I thought rock would be nice. It's also my home now so I wanted something I would enjoy looking at (I have an extensive background in VERY custom home construction). I also have a thread going on sprinter forum and they are split 50/50 on the stone idea. Other than that nothing but good feedback, especially when seen in person.

The floor is a synthetic kind of wood so we can hose it out so it's not heavy at all and only about 1/8 inch thick. It does have a tongue and groove type of assembly that's glued down. So my justification is I saved weight on floor, so I added some to the walls.

looks amazing , I'm surprised you didn't put a fireplace in there !

The Van Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CArfaGmYuGM

Thanks for posting this thread...I'm looking to buy a van to live in full-time towards the end of this summer. I'm currently living in my Mitsubishi Sport, and have live in my vehicle for several years. I'd like to have a bit more room...cooking, bathing, sleeping, changing clothes, and especially doing yoga is a little tight, especially with outdoor gear and everything I own in the world traveling with me... I would need high clearance for dirt roads in Utah, and would like 4WD, but might have to settle for AWD. If anyone hears of a van for sale, please let me know. Reliability is more important than anything, as I'm not a mechanic, and don't want to put a ton of money into repairs. However, ready to move into would also be nice, even if only with the basics.

Roxy, unless you've got 50-100 grand to drop you probably won't find a 4wd for less than that and if you do they will have high mileage=repairs sooner or later. Also they don't make any AWD vans that I know of? The promaster is definitely not for going off road. Because it's fwd the back axle has only 6.5 inches of clearance.

With that being said, I love our promaster. 18 mpg fully loaded. Tons of space and there are two of us living in this.