FamilyFive Camper E350, Ujoint, CCV.....

fudge

Member
The truth is I always loved 4wd vans, I just couldn't justify the expense until our third kid came around. I went to a commercial van dealer to test drive an 08 e350 with 100k+ miles and right next to it was a 97 with 50k miles and half the price. We had found our van, a '97 e350 5.4 former daycare bus! All in all we've just made it into a slightly cooler daycare bus!

After a year and a half of staring at this site and drinking way to much coffee, I've finally reached a stoping point. Or I should say, I've reached my goal of having a functional camper for a family of 5. There will be plenty of fine tuning and coffee to come.

Step 1- U-joint 6" (progressive springs, crossover steering, custom tie rod, brand new everything)
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Massive thanks to Chris at U-joint! None of this would have been possible without him. Seriously! His thousands of hours spent building vans and dialing parts passed down to the DIY guys is a huge blessing to the community! There's no telling how many times a day he answers the same questions from us. It's very clear where his passion is!

Step 2- Pop-top at Colorado Camper Van along with final interior build out.

Super happy with the top. Overall my experience with CCV was very positive. They did exactly what I asked in the time that was agreed to. No issues with communication, they were prompt to respond to any questions I had.

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Interior Build out (drawers, bed, Transit seats)

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So that's that! What should I do next?
 

Bbasso

Expedition Leader
Fantastic start and good to hear all the positive reviews.
I do have some odd questions about your setup though, why would you want a pop top if you have fixed seats and a refrigerator that appears to be very hard to get to unless the back doors open?
Second and last question are you building it to camp in or building it to get to the camping spot? Okay one more question... Are you building a indoor kitchen or will be cooking outdoors only?
 

DudeAbides

Observer
Awesome! More info on the transit seats please. That is the direction I'll likely take. Did you figure out a way to tie into the bench mounting points or just drill new holes? How is the fit on the three seat bench? I think the transit three seaters come in two widths, do you know which one you have?
 

ujoint

Supporting Sponsor
Awesome van, thanks for posting and the nice words. Last time the van was here all of the guys agreed it was damn near perfect.

I like the white tint on the rear windows.
 

Jsweezy

Explorer
Looks amazing, and I'm happy to see transit seats in the van, I always wondered. Are the headrests off just because or are they too tall with them on?
 

fudge

Member
Thanks for all the kind responses!

On how I arrived with the current interior layout. There is only so much space to work with when you include 3 kids all in car seats, the options definitely narrow. The answer was to move the kitchen outside. I like cooking and was never ok with the potential countertop space inside. The plan is to use a light weight folding camp table for cooking space and maybe ad an awning to the side for rainy days. I never had the intention to use the interior as a living room anyways. I installed the Transit seats (3 seater is 55"L btw) utilizing factory Transit seat brackets drilled and bolted through to the existing seat crossmembers. They easily unclip from the brackets so I guess I could remove if I wanted to. As far as accessing drawers/fridge from the inside, I will more than likely add some swing up doors with cam locks. The platform bed is 67"L x 65"W which works great for my kids and just fine for me if I sleep at a bit of an angle. My goal was to keep it simple, functional and clean. The beauty of these vans is that nothing has to be set in stone, test out one idea and see what you like and dislike then change it around if you want.
 

fudge

Member
Looks amazing, and I'm happy to see transit seats in the van, I always wondered. Are the headrests off just because or are they too tall with them on?

The headrest work fine, there are no clearance issues. Just removed for the time being. I searched forever trying to find Sienna seats without much luck. The Transits were on Craigslist locally, brand new factory take outs with brackets. The was nice enough to let me test fit before I committed to the purchases.
 
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idc

New member
I have three kids as well and your layout makes perfect sense. I love it. Quick question. With the EB how long is the bed platform? Strong work, love it.
 

Jsweezy

Explorer
The headrest work fine, there are no clearance issues. Just removed for the time being. I searched forever trying to find Sienna seats without much luck. The Transits were on Craigslist locally, brand new factory take outs with brackets. The was nice enough to let me test fit before I committed to the purchases.

That was nice of them. I also like the sienna seats but want a bench rather than 2 buckets so I can always give someone a ride if I need to. Now I just have to hope they come in tan...
 

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