Ulysses the Uhaul - Strategic Surf Assault Vehicle project build

[mexicanfooddude]

Hey everyone, been lurking around here for a long time gleaning inspiration and information from all of you guys for my own build. Been meaning to put a thread together for it for a while now, and finally getting around to it.

First off, just want to say a huge thanks to sarconcepts (Bullet XV), Carlyle (Alaskan Camper), a few of the cool cats from pirate4x4, like MT4Runner and IDASHO, and many more of you whose builds I’ve found particularly inspiring and helpful. Mine is nowhere near as gnarly as theirs and most others on here… but it’s a fun project.

I was looking for a surf expedition vehicle that could comfortable house the lady, myself, our black lab, and plenty of surfboards/fishing gear/etc for long period trips (6 months was our first trip planned). Some other criteria: able to be slept in some urban-ish areas without raising too much suspicion, able to convert to run on WVO, some off-road capability.

I first considered custom builds of either a sprinter or ford van, and a prefabbed RV. Sprinters and ford vans somewhat satisfied the under the radar criteria (although pretty common in the surf world), but didn’t really have enough storage/living space for a long trip, although we could have made it work. Prefabbed RV fails miserably in the under the radar and off-road categories. Plus, I’m a DIY kinda guy, and I wanted something custom…

Enter a 1994 E-350 17’ UHaul. 7.3 IDI, N/A, E40D auto trans, 185,000 miles. 60,000 as moving truck, 60,000 as a company truck for Merrill Lynch, and 60,000 as a transporter for custom-built dune buggies. Dune buggy company knew their way around engines, and took pretty good care of this thing…

With the goal of under-the-radar in mind, I kept the street side clear of windows and doors, and have left the roll up door on (thus far). So it just looks like a parked moving truck when driving by. I bought some surplus RV windows and a door and put em on the curb side, and installed some fold-out steps underneath. Put two RV-type roof vents through the aluminum roof skin. Here’s what else I’ve done…

• Custom cabinets: kitchen counter, closets, bed extension from cab-over (sits on closets, extends from cab-over 30” to fit a queen bed), base for a futon, and bathroom
• Installed two-burner cooktop + 10# propane tank
• Installed Engel 12V fridge/freezer
• Installed 40 gallon water tank (mounted under truck) + pump, plumbed to kitchen sink and exterior shower.
• 2x 6-volt Costco golf cart batteries, charged by 100 watt solar and (rarely) PD4045 converter/charger.
• LED strip lighting on dimmers installed on wooden “L” brackets down length of box cast indirect lighting on ceiling.
• Built a compost toilet with urine diverter; no blackwater tank required.
• Put rigid foam insulation between roof supports and used ¼” plywood for ceiling – no other part of vehicle insulated (yet)
• Lend-a-hand door handle, occupancy-sensor controlled LED porch light.

We completed this in time to do a 3-month trip through the western US and Canada last summer. Trip only 3-mos instead of 6 because we found out we had a daughter on the way and wanted to be back home for the birth, not in the middle of BFN Here are some build and trip photos:

So far I’m pretty happy with it, I still want to do a lot to improve the aesthetics of the vehicle though, inside and out, and improve the ride and durability. It’s a tough balance of keeping it under the radar, but also wanting to make it look ************. Any suggestions/input is highly appreciated!!!

Here’s what’s on the cards for phase 2:
• Remove faring below the box floor (along sides of box) and replace with underbed boxes. I’m thinking I’ll have these built from galvanized sheet metal, as they won’t carry a ton of weight and I really can’t afford some crazy stainless steel boxes from Northern Tool. Any other suggestions?
• Bus flooring/insulation on top of aluminum floor (best heat sink ever, it’ll suck every ounce of heat out of the box within 5 minutes of the sun going down) – ½” rigid foam + ½” plywood + cork or wood laminate. The cabinets are all already in of course, so I’m trying to figure out if I should go through the royal PITA of removing cabinets and doing this to the whole floor, or leave the cabinets in place and just do this to the exposed areas. Leaning towards the latter…
• Rigid foam insulation + plywood paneling on walls. Same issue as above, do it around cabinets on exposed areas, or pull all the cabinets out?
• Replace the “living room” roof vent/fan with a fantastic fan
• Remove poorly-insulated and drafty roll-up door, build out plywood rear wall with horse-trailer style swing-out doors.
• Install WVO dual-tank system (hoping to add second tank in between frame rails near diesel tank, haven’t looked that closely down there yet). Going to do a FPHE + final stage electric heater. We’re warm weather people… freezing surf doesn’t get me too excited.
• Do a better job with the ceiling panels.
• Install a new kitchen countertop. I used ¾”x8” maple lumber, glued together laterally, to build a 30” x 80” counter… well, apparently I wasn’t sealing it frequently enough with mineral oil, because after only a year it has split lengthwise in several places. A carpenter friend of mine said my theory was sound in principal, but I’m trying to weigh trying it again over just buying a laminate countertop.
• Install a water heater. Think I might do solar hot water panels + 6 gallon tank.
• Install a shower in the bathroom. This will require some fiberglass work in the bathroom.
• Rear cargo rack mounted to bumper + spare tire.
• LED flood lights on each side and rear, + back up camera.

I’d also really like to make this thing do better offroad. I don’t want to do anything crazy, but being able to handle some dirt roads in Baja would be nice. My strong suit is not suspension though, so is it even logistically/economically feasible to improve this?

Thanks for checking it out. As mentioned, ANY input/suggestions/constructive criticisms much appreciated. I really wish I had started this thread when I started the project… probably would have saved a lot of time and done a much better job. Better late than never though. I’ll be detailing future work/progress here.

 

[IdaSHO]

Proud to be one of the few included within your list of inspiration!

It looks like you are on a good track.

And as it be, it looks like you are already far better off than I, as I have yet to spend less than a week in my camper.
Someday i may be able to cash in the 8 weeks (and growing) of vacation I have accumulated. But for now Im nearly to busy with work to breath!


I dont know where you are from, but it does look like youve already made it to my old stomping ground. I grew up in Lone Pine, right at the foot of the mighty Mt Whitney and the Sierra Nevada range.

Im envious of your travels.


My only suggestions are go overboard with solar and battery, insulate more than you think you need, and if you intend to do any kind of winter traveling, you need to address the lack of insulation on the water tank.

beyond that, have fun, and please feel free to ask questions!

 

[mexicanfooddude]

Thanks IdaSHO! I'm from the central coast of CA... alabama hills was the first stop on our trip last summer The Sierra Nevadas are incredible.

We're not too keen on doing much cold weather camping, but it would definitely be nice to have that option. Beefing up that water tank situation is part of the grand plan, I was just trying to rig something up last minute before the trip started.

Definitely wanting to insulate more. Trying to decide whether to leave the cabinets in and insulate/panel around them or pull everything out...

Appreciate the input!

 

[IdaSHO]

With all of the walls being so flat, I think it would be far easier and better to remove everything to insulate.

What insulation are you looking at using?

 

[Darwin]

Looks good, great exacution, tons of space to chill out in. It also looks like you have a nice shop to do just about anything you want to it. My only other comment is a warning about WVO, I would seriously consider not doing it. I have had two trucks converted to WVO a 92 Ford IDI that spent 5 months in Mexico with, and a 95 Dodge that I drove to Costa Rica and back on WVO. WVO is way more trouble than it is worth. I could on and on about it, but if for some reason you still decide to convert it to WVO, one, make sure the electric heater is on a switch so you can pre warm the diesel before you switch over, the weak injection pump in those motors will snap the shaft with cold diesel running through it and then adding the hot WVO shock loads the shaft in the pump. I fried two, one within 40 miles before I replumbed my system, second, build and install the system yourself, so when it does break down, and it will, you know how to trouble shoot it.

 

[mexicanfooddude]

@idasho, was thinking about 1/2" or 3/4" polyiso rigid foam insulation.... the stuff at Home Depot with the foil on one side. 1/4"- 1/8" plywood panels on top of that. Thoughts?

@joaquin I'm in SLO! Hey neighbor!

@darwin noted, thanks for the input. Was definitely planning on incorporating all of those. The idea of driving around on free gas is so enticing... especially because this sucker gets ~11 mpg. What other sort of trouble did you run into with your vehicles that weren't design-related? And I wish that shop was mine... I get to utilize it when I visit my parents though!

 

[Healeyjet]

Congrats!! Nice build.
Ward

 

[IdaSHO]

@idasho, was thinking about 1/2" or 3/4" polyiso rigid foam insulation.... the stuff at Home Depot with the foil on one side. 1/4"- 1/8" plywood panels on top of that. Thoughts?

While the foil face R-max has great R-values, IMO it should not be used.
I know a LOT of people do, but I personally feel XPS foam is much more appropriate in a vehicle.

It is very fragile.

The stuff just crumbles when hit or dented, and trying to bond anything like an interior panel to it is asking for problems.
If you can get a good bond to the foil face, all it takes is a few good smacks and foam crumbles, and the foil separates from the foam.
Used in a vehicle that is literally vibrating and bouncing down the road, and the stuff has the potential to turn to dust.

To add to it, it is also also very flammable.


Id go with 3/4" or 1" XPS foam, bonded to the exterior and your 1/8 skins bonded to the foam.

 

[Darwin]

@darwin noted, thanks for the input. Was definitely planning on incorporating all of those. The idea of driving around on free gas is so enticing... especially because this sucker gets ~11 mpg. What other sort of trouble did you run into with your vehicles that weren't design-related? And I wish that shop was mine... I get to utilize it when I visit my parents though!

The restaurant owners somehow got it in their head about 5 years ago that WVO was worth the same as gold, large "green" companies came in and swooped up all the WVO. You can still find it if your resourceful and put in the time, but as I get older I consider my time the same as money, and when I realistically sat down and looked at it, I wasn't saving anything. I still do it, but not as much since I have two trucks now and my daily driver Dodge runs on regular old diesel, I like that the fuel system is not all hacked to ****, and it's much more reliable. I met a local guy who chatted with me and he said he would sell me WVO at $3.50 gallon! this was literally weeks before the price of diesel dropped, around here it's 2.60 a gallon. I imagine with the price of diesel going down you might have better luck finding WVO, however not really sure about in CA. It doesn't seem to be as popular as it once was. With my Dodge I am getting close to 22 mpg. unloaded and with a 2000 lb slide in camper that even has a cassette toilet I can get a solid 17-19 mpg if I am trying. I am happy with that. WVO is a fun hobby, I called it extreme recycling because it's a lot of work, and very dirty, just ask my girlfriends! If you have any more questions about it let me.

 

[southpier]

any consideration accessing the truck cab from the box? would seem like a plus to cut a pass-through if structure will support.

cowabunga!

 

[matthewp]

Nice work! It shows a relatively un-modified U-haul truck can be a very nice RV with a bit of work! You did very well!

 

[mexicanfooddude]

Id go with 3/4" or 1" XPS foam, bonded to the exterior and your 1/8 skins bonded to the foam.

Great call... I think I'll go with your suggestion. What do you suggest for bonding the XPS to FRP exterior wall, and plywood to insulation? Glued with something like a 3M spray adhesive, or sandwiched between furring strips and held in place by the plywood screwed to the furring strips, or something else?

As far as then screwing the cabinets back in, and this is a bit of a dummy check - I'll need to outline some furring strips between the plywood skin and FRP where my cabinets screw in, it's not advised to just use screws for the cabinets long enough to go through plywood and insulation due to the compression of the XPS correct? I don't know how dense that XPS is (and I should, considering several of my surfboards are made from it).

Thanks for the input.

 

[mexicanfooddude]

@southpier, definitely considered that, until the baby showed up on the radar and I realized we'd need the middle seat in that regular cab Structure would definitely support. Perhaps a couple of years down the line though when she can hang out in the box though.

@matthewp thanks, your MuTTT is amazing. I hope to have enough fabrication skills to do something really custom like yours one day.

 

[westyss]

Welcome to the forum, I dont have much to add other than a comment about how your water tank is mounted, it looks like there are strips of plywood holding it up?? Water is heavy and in a tank it will get moving and have some considerable momentum, if that is what I see maybe some beefing up might be a consideration.

 

[DetroitDiesel]

Hey everyone, been lurking around here for a long time gleaning inspiration and information from all of you guys for my own build. Been meaning to put a thread together for it for a while now, and finally getting around to it.

First off, just want to say a huge thanks to sarconcepts (Bullet XV), Carlyle (Alaskan Camper), a few of the cool cats from pirate4x4, like MT4Runner and IDASHO, and many more of you whose builds I’ve found particularly inspiring and helpful. Mine is nowhere near as gnarly as theirs and most others on here… but it’s a fun project.

I was looking for a surf expedition vehicle that could comfortable house the lady, myself, our black lab, and plenty of surfboards/fishing gear/etc for long period trips (6 months was our first trip planned). Some other criteria: able to be slept in some urban-ish areas without raising too much suspicion, able to convert to run on WVO, some off-road capability.

I first considered custom builds of either a sprinter or ford van, and a prefabbed RV. Sprinters and ford vans somewhat satisfied the under the radar criteria (although pretty common in the surf world), but didn’t really have enough storage/living space for a long trip, although we could have made it work. Prefabbed RV fails miserably in the under the radar and off-road categories. Plus, I’m a DIY kinda guy, and I wanted something custom…

Enter a 1994 E-350 17’ UHaul. 7.3 IDI, N/A, E40D auto trans, 185,000 miles. 60,000 as moving truck, 60,000 as a company truck for Merrill Lynch, and 60,000 as a transporter for custom-built dune buggies. Dune buggy company knew their way around engines, and took pretty good care of this thing…

With the goal of under-the-radar in mind, I kept the street side clear of windows and doors, and have left the roll up door on (thus far). So it just looks like a parked moving truck when driving by. I bought some surplus RV windows and a door and put em on the curb side, and installed some fold-out steps underneath. Put two RV-type roof vents through the aluminum roof skin. Here’s what else I’ve done…

• Custom cabinets: kitchen counter, closets, bed extension from cab-over (sits on closets, extends from cab-over 30” to fit a queen bed), base for a futon, and bathroom
• Installed two-burner cooktop + 10# propane tank
• Installed Engel 12V fridge/freezer
• Installed 40 gallon water tank (mounted under truck) + pump, plumbed to kitchen sink and exterior shower.
• 2x 6-volt Costco golf cart batteries, charged by 100 watt solar and (rarely) PD4045 converter/charger.
• LED strip lighting on dimmers installed on wooden “L” brackets down length of box cast indirect lighting on ceiling.
• Built a compost toilet with urine diverter; no blackwater tank required.
• Put rigid foam insulation between roof supports and used ¼” plywood for ceiling – no other part of vehicle insulated (yet)
• Lend-a-hand door handle, occupancy-sensor controlled LED porch light.

We completed this in time to do a 3-month trip through the western US and Canada last summer. Trip only 3-mos instead of 6 because we found out we had a daughter on the way and wanted to be back home for the birth, not in the middle of BFN Here are some build and trip photos:

So far I’m pretty happy with it, I still want to do a lot to improve the aesthetics of the vehicle though, inside and out, and improve the ride and durability. It’s a tough balance of keeping it under the radar, but also wanting to make it look ************. Any suggestions/input is highly appreciated!!!

Here’s what’s on the cards for phase 2:
• Remove faring below the box floor (along sides of box) and replace with underbed boxes. I’m thinking I’ll have these built from galvanized sheet metal, as they won’t carry a ton of weight and I really can’t afford some crazy stainless steel boxes from Northern Tool. Any other suggestions?
• Bus flooring/insulation on top of aluminum floor (best heat sink ever, it’ll suck every ounce of heat out of the box within 5 minutes of the sun going down) – ½” rigid foam + ½” plywood + cork or wood laminate. The cabinets are all already in of course, so I’m trying to figure out if I should go through the royal PITA of removing cabinets and doing this to the whole floor, or leave the cabinets in place and just do this to the exposed areas. Leaning towards the latter…
• Rigid foam insulation + plywood paneling on walls. Same issue as above, do it around cabinets on exposed areas, or pull all the cabinets out?
• Replace the “living room” roof vent/fan with a fantastic fan
• Remove poorly-insulated and drafty roll-up door, build out plywood rear wall with horse-trailer style swing-out doors.
• Install WVO dual-tank system (hoping to add second tank in between frame rails near diesel tank, haven’t looked that closely down there yet). Going to do a FPHE + final stage electric heater. We’re warm weather people… freezing surf doesn’t get me too excited.
• Do a better job with the ceiling panels.
• Install a new kitchen countertop. I used ¾”x8” maple lumber, glued together laterally, to build a 30” x 80” counter… well, apparently I wasn’t sealing it frequently enough with mineral oil, because after only a year it has split lengthwise in several places. A carpenter friend of mine said my theory was sound in principal, but I’m trying to weigh trying it again over just buying a laminate countertop.
• Install a water heater. Think I might do solar hot water panels + 6 gallon tank.
• Install a shower in the bathroom. This will require some fiberglass work in the bathroom.
• Rear cargo rack mounted to bumper + spare tire.
• LED flood lights on each side and rear, + back up camera.

I’d also really like to make this thing do better offroad. I don’t want to do anything crazy, but being able to handle some dirt roads in Baja would be nice. My strong suit is not suspension though, so is it even logistically/economically feasible to improve this?

Thanks for checking it out. As mentioned, ANY input/suggestions/constructive criticisms much appreciated. I really wish I had started this thread when I started the project… probably would have saved a lot of time and done a much better job. Better late than never though. I’ll be detailing future work/progress here.

Awesome build. Truly! I'm thinking about some type of large truck, bus, cargo van, deuce. This is a great idea. Can stand up here. Thanks for sharing.