Another E350 build thread

[CrabbyMcNab]

I like te way the fridge is installed. Do you have latch system to hold it in place?

[witt]

Thanks! It's mounted on a tembotusk slide-out tray, which has a latch that locks it in place in both the fully open and retracted positions. You can see it in the pictures; it's the little yellow tab looking thing. The fridge is secured to the tray with cam straps.

[witt]

The van has been at Derek's for the past month or so getting more stuff done to it. The list is pretty long this time:

• Re-build of the driver's side cabinetry - see pics below
• Install 28 gallon fresh water tank
• Webasto dual-top furnace/hot water heater
• Webasto diesel cooktop
• Install awning
• Shower and plumbing with a filtered water tap
• ~46 gallon replacement fuel tank - decided to go ahead with this because installing the diesel appliances requires dropping the tank anyway.
• Install 100Ah lithium ion house battery
• Install split-charge system

The lithium ion battery is pretty new to the RV scene, and I'm definitely playing with an unproven technology for this market. Here's the one I bought: http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/...on-battery.php. They claim it has 100Ah of usable capacity, so it's replacing two 100Ah AGMs. It's about twice the price of the two AGMs, weighs 120lbs less (which is why I went with it) and takes up less space.

I've got a permit for the white rim trail in early November; can't wait to try out all the new stuff! Chances are we'll get to try out the furnace overnight, and we'll see how well a hot outdoor shower works in cold weather!

Here are some pictures of the nearly completed but not yet installed cabinet that will go on the driver's side. No idea how Derek is planning to get this into the van now that it's all put together - but I'm sure he's thought of that!

Forward in the van is to the right in this picture. We have a third seat installed between the driver/passenger seats, and although we tried to get it as far forward as we could, it still left a big area behind the driver's seat that was inaccessible. We agonized for a long time over how to use that space. The two holes that you see are open cubbies, and below that will be a 28 gallon fresh water tank.
IMG_0368.JPG

Diesel cooktop will go on the left, sink on the right
IMG_0364.JPG

Cabinet doors will have space for spice-bottle sized stuff
IMG_0365.JPG

Thanks to Sportsmobile for the idea for the slide out pantry (although I saw one just like it in a home-depot kitchen display the other day)
IMG_0366.JPG

IMG_0367.JPG

[notmiller]

Wow, those cabinets look great!!! I think you came up with a good way to use the dead space next to that 3rd seat. You definitely have to get creative about where to package things in these vans.

And where did you get the 46gal tank?? Jealous minds want to know!

[witt]

Thanks!

I read someone's comment recently who said you have to build 2 or 3 vans to get it right. We don't have the time (or the budget or the patience) for that so hopefully our first attempt will be useable!

The bigger fuel tank is a custom build by Colorado camper van. It occupies the same location as the stock tank but uses more of the available space. Sportsmobile offers something very similar on their vans.

[Snowgeek135]

Witt, I dropped my van off with Derek today and got a good look at your van, the thing looks amazing! I like the layout and the finished cabinets look great. The new aluminess rear bumper is amazing, i doubt they will ever start making bumpers for Astro's but it would be great if they did. I will be excited to see how the new integrated bike rack works out.

Ryan

[witt]

Cool, thanks Ryan! Glad to hear the bumper is in.

We'll be giving the bike rack a workout on the white rim trail in a couple of weeks. I've never had much luck with bike racks on rough roads - broken forks, broken bike racks - but this seems about as solid as you could make one.

congrats on the poptop - we love ours! We're going up to pick up our van next weekend so we'll be able to check out yours - possibly with a giant hole cut in the top of it!

[BIGVAN]

Looking Good!

[witt]

When plans meet reality...

So it turns out that you can only fit the 46 gal tank in if the 4x4 conversion was done by replacing the transmission bell housing with one from an F-series. Some conversions (including ours) use an adapter to mate up the original bell housing to the transfer case. Or something like that. Not exactly sure of the details. In any case, there's not enough room to get a significantly larger tank in place of the stock tank.

So Derek is building us an aux tank that will mount behind the rear axle with a pump that will transfer fuel to the main tank. It should be somewhere between 25-30 gallons. The appliances will run off the aux tank.

So that meant that we had to move the spare tire out from under the van and put it on the Aluminess bumper that Ryan mentioned. So behind the rear axle, we have the fuel tank, then the dual top, then a small storage area accessible through the floor inside the van.

Going to pick it up on Saturday. Can't wait to see it!!!

[Snowgeek135]

Did yu get yur van today Witt? Mine was in and out in 5 days.... No interior work just the pop top... We camped in it on the way home this week and it was great. I will be working on the interior myself and possibaly returning it to Derek next year to do some stuff that i can't.

The trap door storage in the floor board is super cool....kind of inaccessible when loaded but none the less great use of space... It kind of got me thinking about what other little nooks and cranies i could use on my van.

Can't wait to see pics of it out on the white rim!

Ryan