Project Excursion RV

[turboale]

Ok,
So my buddy Mark and I have been busy on the box. There have been a few updates to the design for several reasons. The biggest change is that we found a way to better use the space behind the 2nd row of seats and now the entire system fits behind the 2nd row of seats. This will make the box setup much more useful when going on camping trips down the road where I will be needing more people moving space than just two seats. We could have taken the 2nd row out as originally planned but after we discovered this new arrangement we decided that it would be ridiculous for my needs. Not only this trip, but any other I might take in the future. Needless to say, we canned the 3rd box and stuck to the current two with the new design. Right now I have room for 6 of the "under bed" style bins, a full size suit case, two sets of shelves, two golf cart batteries, inverter, camping stove, Pelican 160 for all my video equipment and last but not least the single mattress with enough room to sleep. This will all fit in the back with full use of the 2nd row of seats! :victory: We still need to carpet everything and get the electronics in tomorrow but here are some preliminary pictures. I didn't snap any after we built the shelf system to lift the two sets of shelves up but I'll get some tomorrow after we get some carpet down and tidy things up a bit. I am extremely happy with the way this came together. I had one thing after another magically fit perfectly and I am very excited we got everything in behind the 2nd row. I now have plenty of room for a cooler, water storage etc on top of the 2nd row when folded down. Anyway, off to bed... big day tomorrow!:xxrotflma I will hopefully have all the electronics in and wired with the carpet down so I can get the truck mods taken care of over the weekend: gauges, sway-bar, trans cooler, pre-wire the Light Forces, hard install the CB and last but not least... hardwire the ValentineOne. Its going to be a long weekend...

:victory:
I'm out.


Preliminary Pics:

3rd Row Mode:

RV Mode:

 

[91xlt]

looking good..have not seen a real matress in vehicle before. moving ahead nice. lol :exclaim:

 

[robert]

If I could make a suggestion- curtains. It sucks to get woken up by the sun after a long night but probably the best reason is stealth camping. With decent curtains (especially coupled with tinted windows) you can camp darn near anywhere without attracting too much attention. For best results, hang a blanket or another curtain behind the driver's seats so folks can see that there's no one in the front and they tend to ignore it- I do this in my VW a good bit.

 

[turboale]

Thanks 91,
I'm liking the progress we made this week as well!

Robert,
That is a great idea. There are two grab handles that are positioned right behind the front seats on the ceiling that will work perfectly. I really want to get the truck re-tinted before heading out because the tint they used in the front sucks and needs to be replaced anyway.

I first need to thank Mark (zman2day) for all of his help and expertise! I would not have been able to do this without him and his trusty tools. He used part of his vacation to come up to NC and help me out and I can't express enough how much he has done to make this project a success! :clapsmile

As far as progress goes all of the box construction is complete. The stove, inverter, outlets, batteries and storage are all in and ready to go. I'm still waiting on my _____'n battery switch which was suppose to be here this past Wednesday . :campfire: Besides that all that is left is the carpeting and the rear portion is complete. As far as the drivers section the only modifications I will be doing will be the laptop/cell/CB mount which should be here this week.

Picture Gallery:Click Here

 

[turboale]

Update:
Yesterday I got almost everything finished up! I got the lightbar and lights from Outback Off Road Gear on and those 240 Blitz's are BRIGHT! I'm still figuring out the best way to aim them but Primarily spotted seems to be best so far.

Pics:

I also got the dual battery setup 12voltguy.com in and running. So far so good! I didn't like the mounting plate he supplied so we just flush mounted the switch and LED into the dash next to my chip's "flip switch". The batteries that I used are Interstate 6v golf cart batteries put in series for 12v. I will let everyone know how they hold up, but the guy I ordered them for has two electric boats and a golf cart and he uses the same batteries in all of them and it is what he recommended. I have yet to fully cycle them so I'll just have to see how long they last powering the 1200w inverter. For more info on the deepcycle batteries interstate offers Click Here . I ended up with two U2200s, is that major overkill? Like I said, I don't know much about batteries and was blindly accepting his advice (family friend, boss etc etc)

Pics:

 

[Ric]

any word when the DVD will be done ?

 

[flywgn]

Any reports about the trip????


Allen R:ylsmoke:

 

[kcowyo]

I read on another board Allen, that he's finished the trip but backed up with second semester demands.

Sounds like he'll have something put together soon.

 

[flywgn]

Thanks KC, I'll watch for updates.

Allen R