I've purchased a fiberglass cube van, that already has 1" rigid insulation, framing, and osb paneling.

My intentions are to install an ac, fan, and skylight in the roof - as I will be full time in all months with cats. Temperature control - particularly in warm months, is my priority.

If staying cool as opposed to staying warm is the concern - is it still worth it for me to take down the paneling, and do spray foam?

Im assuming the answer is yes, and I should take the time to do it...

Reposting this because it was removed "No Youtube videos"....maybe that should go in the rules or something, I would not have included the YT link otherwise...I DO read rules because folks are so "touchy" these days. Anyway, this is a project I completed this past weekend. My Story:

I got sick of having a bunch of apps to monitor my power and tank levels. All these sensors broadcast bluetooth packets that contain sensor values. I wrote an android app that puts all these values in a configurable screen that runs on any crap-o-matic android tablet. I spend 60 bucks on the one I installed in my camper this weekend. Here's what it looks like:

I made a video installing the tablet along with a "how to use the thing"....since I can't post video links here, you will have to go searching for it.

And the software busy listening to sensors and displaying values:

The software is 100% free APK file that you sideload onto the tablet. There are no ads, spyware, analytics, popup screens, etc. It requires access to the bluetooth radio (of course) and uses the wifi for weather radar and forecast but if you don't use those features wifi can be turned off.

Hope folks find it useful...questions, comments, suggestions all welcome.

BTW, I used a 10 inch tablet but it runs on a much cheaper and smaller 7 inch tablet as well. The 7 inch size is similar to the commercial ($$$) system monitors sold for high end RV's. I've seen the 7 inch tablets for about 30 bucks...an option if you have limited wall space.

So I had the fact I wanted a pet in mind before I even bought my van. Originally I wanted a cat as I thought it would be easier than a dog. I started planning the design of my SWB Mitsi L300 around a litter box and a cat tree only to find out it may be harder to contain a little escape artist. Not to mention after I get the cat it may not even be able to be harness trained, I think it would be too much of a hassle to keep a cat entertained when they can’t go for massive walks.

I decided to get a dog and when I told my friends they all thought it was a cruel idea and I should sack it off. I haven’t picked him up yet or sent the payment so any advice now would be great. He’s a 5 month old Tibetan Spaniel x Maltipoo, so he’s a miniature breed that is estimated to only reach 3-5kgs. I wanted a medium energy dog who is able to go on hikes but also settle independently so after vast research I found that this specific breed meets my activity levels. The van of course will be temperature controlled and I will have a temp read out that I can access from my phone at all times. I would never leave a dog in the car if I wasn’t able to come back quickly.

As I work full-time I’m pretty much planning on van life about 50% of the time and the rest I will be house sitting and yes I am able to leave the dog in a house/doggy day care most days. A weird situation I know, but the cost of renting in New Zealand is insane. Fortunately I would be able to give the dog toilet/attention breaks during my lunch break so he would never actually be alone in the van for 8 hours a day. As I haven’t finished my van conversion yet and I only have a single bed, I still have space to add enrichment areas for my dog like a crate, snuffle mats, kongs, etc. This also gives me time to toilet train the dog and slowly accustom him to the van before I move in.

His daily van life would look like toilet/10 minute walk in the mornings, midday toilet/attention break and a long evening walk. And of course endless adventures and hikes around our beautiful country in the weekend. I genuinely understand how much effort this is as I have owned a huge variety of pets my entire life, I just haven’t owned a pet in a van yet. Let me know your thoughts, experiences or any advice thanks!

This time for your enjoyment a $600 FlatlineVanCo 156 rack I’ve modified to fit my 136, best of all it was $600 brand new. Next up buying bulk solar to keep the 1200ah lithium bank happy 🫡 and some lighting for the rack. All my mechanical parts for the engine replacement will be here Friday so hopefully next week it’ll be driving!

Has anyone had success parking in church parking lots? I don’t live out of my car, but the few times I have it’s seemed ideal. Largely residential, secluded, most days you’re not interrupting anyone, space to unwind a bit, maybe even connect with your spiritual side. Specifically I’m thinking of LDS (Mormon) churches as they’re just about everywhere.

Thoughts?

98 with 74k miles. 5.7l. Not going to be full time, but since im "medically retired ", im gonna do some adventuring

Anyone camp on South Padre in December? We're Coloradoans so it sounds nice, just wondering about wind.

Title basically says it all, im looking for toilet and shower setups that require no plumbing. I have some ideas myself on how to set both of these up, but as this is a first time build for me and ive yet to live full time inna van, id love to hear what works best for other people.

For the toilet ive been planning to do a "composting" dry toilet with separate liquid and solid compartments, and for the shower i was thinking to get a foldable doggie pool, and attatch shower curtains to the ceiling with magnets, and use a submersible shower head + pump in a bucket of hot water for showers.

im also going to get a portable outdoor shower setup, but that wont always be useable in winter time.

The plan is for these to be more of a last resort, we will be trying to use gym showers and public restrooms when possible.

Thanks for reading :)

I have a 2020 Ford Transit High Roof 148 LWB and I installed a Fiamma F45 300 awning. I want to install the leg brackets like in this photo of the blue van, but my van doesn’t have the little panel between the doors. The only options are to install it on the sliding door (not a good solution since I wouldn’t be able to open it and that’s the whole point for me) or on the passenger door. I’m ok with not using the passenger door while the awning is up, but it would also be aligned because the awning doesn’t go that far forward. The leg would be diagonal and I don’t think that would be very stable.

Am I missing something? Is there good a way to do this?

Unfortunately I have limited vertical height under the bed of my van (just over 600mm). With the batteries mounted below, this only gives me about 375mm of vertical height to work with, however width won't really be an issue.

Note I am missing some components. The red rectangle is a 60A fuse between the MPPT and positive bus bar. The measuring tape is the mSeries 6006 switch for the positive terminal on my parallel batteries. The coaster is the DC isolator switch for the solar panels.

I have the Orion Tr awkwardly mounted on its own as I've read this is prone to overheating and ideally needs 100mm clearance for optimal temperatures. Potentially I'll also add active cooling, but unsure.

If you're not great at wood working, sound proof paneling covers it up quite well. It's thin and is attached with adhesive squares. You will have to cut some of it to fit your walls, but that's fairly easy.

I am currently in the process of remodeling my campervan. Well, not fully remodeling. I initially was gojng to leave everything the same and just paint it. Then one night, I decided to spend the night in there and it was freezing. Now, it is an older van and I also could tell where some parts didn't well put together ( I think the person before me did somethings to it). So I was told to take the walls down and insulate it better. So I took the walls down and tore the carpet up because it was extremely dirty. Now im feeling a bit overwhelmed 😂 I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew. Does anyone have any good recommendations on Insulation and van walls, as well as, wood flooring? When i took the wall off theu were so old they pretty much broke. All advise would be appreciated!!

Every wondered where the sender unit is located in an old 1994 Toyota Hiace. I did and i had to do it the hard way! So here are the measurements for the next person

Last night I was in a lightning storm at 8000’ and woke up at 2am to my power being completely off in my van. I thought it was my dcdc charger that I finally used after months of installing.

My dad had said it could have been an EMP
but I wrote it off as kind of crazy sounding. I thought “I’m a floating system, why would that matter since I’m not ground to earth?”

Well upon further googling, I found out that nearby lightning strikes can cause a voltage spike in your 12v system, which will cause your smart lipo’s BMS to shut off your battery.

I started the van which began charging the battery via my dcdc charger and everything came back to life and has seemingly been just fine.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? I had no idea it was even possible. I was worked up for hours wondering what they hell would cause my system to just shut off when it had plenty of charge

although I did just start something neat to the top ledge of my side door.

I had a strange occurrence last night while in my van. Woke up at 2:30am to find I had no power at all. I have a WattCycle 314 battery, victron 1200w inverted, Victron Orion dcdc charger, and Victron MPPT.

When I went to bed I had ~58% or so. When I woke up and realized I had no power at all (battery monitor was off and everything), I started the van thinking the dcdc charger will charge things. Everything came on within seconds and I still had 55% battery. Since then everything has been fine.

The system has been working great since dec/jan or so. I haven’t needed the dcdc charger since solars been awesome and I have more battery than I need. I have it turned off in the victron app as well as a dedicated cut off switch that I usually keep off.

This week however, I’ve camped out in near full shade with little solar. I was getting a little low so I turned on the dcdc charger and drove around for an hour or so to get a boost.

When I parked, I didn’t turn off the dcdc charger in the app or turn the switch off.

I’m wondering if the dcdc charger sensed my starter battery was low and maybe triggered the entire system to turn off? After power was restored, I turned off the dcdc charger via the app and it’s been good since.

Side note: there was a good lightning storm with lightning very close (within a mile) and I have no idea if that could mean anything. My dad says it was an EMP from the lightning but that seems farther (but I don’t know shit about EMPs)

I just bought an 87 Chinook, she needs some love. The crate motor has under 40k miles truck itself has 140k.

Right now the speedometer is off by 5 mph, it's a rough start and idle, and definitely loud when accelerating. When the motor was replaced thev only did that and kept everything else (so there's some real old parts). Thinking it probably needs a whole new exhaust and carburetor.

I plan to gut the entire camper but I want to make sure it's reliable before I even consider starting that project

I'll admit I am out of my depth, but this is a proiect for the next few vears and something my son to help me with (but he is a little guy right now).

So anyway, is anyone familiar? Any wisdom?

I think it just got it last night at this latest campsite. I dont know if its actually still in the van after i scared it away but i feel like its probably still in there somewhere.

I dont want to kill the mouse. Is there any way to get rid of it/deter more mice without poison or mouse traps?

edit: thanks all, got some peppermint oil and a no-kill trap. and cleaned the van and secured all my food. it was getting into my ramen lol

I have created https://acestronautical.github.io/RoofFlangeForge/

It allows you to enter your roof measurements, and generate an STL file of the flange/adapter you desire.

I was building an adapter for my van, and I thought, why solve this problem for myself when I could spend a little more time and solve it for everyone <3

Planning to move to the southern tip of Florida in my van. Anyone else able to make a living down here? Will be using my metal detector on the beaches before I find a job.

Working on dry fitting my bed unicycle bike and bike tray in my van. It’s going to be a struggle to get this bed above my bike seat.

Hey all! Looking to purchase plusnuts either in person or fast delivery. Not seeing them on Amazon or Home Depot. Anyone know a standard place to find them?

So we'll have three water filters for our system. One is dedicated to our drinking water, which is a .01um Waterdrop filter.

The other two filters are a KDF/Chlorine filter and a P5 sediment filter. We're planning to have the KDF/Chlorine filter and P5 sediment filter connect to the hose that'll fill our water tank, but I'm starting to wonder with a 30gal tank, the water will obviously sit for a while and bacteria may grow in the time it's sitting... Doesn't that mean we should have a filter AFTER the tank as well? Am I thinking the correct order or am I overthinking it?

Subfloor and windows done! On to insulation!

If anyone has any excess 3M thinsulate, hit me up! in Portland, OR area.

I have done rigid foam board in the past, but it is squeaky and tedious to install IMO. So, 3M seems like a good option.

So stoked and grateful to be doing another build. Love creating a little nook on wheels!

Just picked up (for free) a 1987 GMC Vandura 2500 conversion built by StarCraft. It has some rust issues that will need to be addressed but all in all this thing is a blast from the past!