[wbullivant]

After two years on on & off effort I have 'pretty much' finished our Promaster LWB Ext conversion. It is complete with wet bath, 70 gal combo tank, 40 gal fresh tank, & 40 liter motoraid HWT. It has 654 watts of PV on roof and two Maxxair vent fans. A 5kbtu AC under the bed. Four GCB's make a 460 amp battery bank. 80" Twin beds in the rear with fill cushions when needed. All cabinets built from 3/4" plywood & solid maple & floor is 3/4" OSB. Two weeks ago we took it to Smokey MNP for a few nights and just about everything worked the way it was supposed to. Last week I took it to the local landfill and the net weight with full tank of gas & bed cushions was 7,410 lbs not counting driver or passenger. Pretty much nothing else in the van except maybe 50 lbs of unattached stuff. Original curb weight was 5,070 & GVWR is 9,350.

Curious about where the weight of other conversions is coming in.
Thanks, Bill

 

[SteveSS]

... net weight with full tank of gas & bed cushions was 7,410 lbs not counting driver or passenger. Pretty much nothing else in the van except maybe 50 lbs of unattached stuff. Original curb weight was 5,070 & GVWR is 9,350.

It looks really good, Bill! Do you mean gross scale weight was 7410? Gross would mean your conversion added 2340 lbs (7410-5070). That's still 2000 lbs under the van's payload capacity. Were your fresh and HW tanks full? Does it ride noticeably better?

 

[captainrob]

From that list and sizes of tanks etc,,, plus the 3/4" wood and large cabinets I see I'd say you are in the heavyweight class of us. I guess I thought the vans themselves started off heavier so your weight doesn't seem bad to me and we'll below payload as he said. Your van ticks every box of what one could want. Impressive list.

I'll have to get a weight of mine when finished, but I'll be in the lightweight or straw weight class probably.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[wbullivant]

It looks really good, Bill! Do you mean gross scale weight was 7410? Gross would mean your conversion added 2340 lbs (7410-5070). That's still 2000 lbs under the van's payload capacity. Were your fresh and HW tanks full? Does it ride noticeably better?

Steve
I subtracted my weight from the actual scale weight to get 7410. The fresh & HWT were empty. If full that would add about 400 lbs but I wouldn't drive long distances that way. Forgot to mention that my fresh & combo tanks are built of 3/4' OSB and lined with FG & epoxy resin (and are above the floor in insulated space). The van is noticeably more level than when I started and the ride perhaps a little smoother. From the start I've felt the ride, handling, and general ease of driving was far superior to my previous 07 Sprinter van.
Bill

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Someday I will get mine weighed and I plan to be on the other end of the scale so to speak. 1/2 inch floor and cabinets, 2 golf cart batteries, one fantastic vent, super lightweight IKEA slat bed, NO bed frame at all, no plywood on walls or ceiling, 200 watts, 2.5 gal porta-pottee and 5 gal of water fresh/gray. 4 cyl diesel 1500 136 HT and I even took the second leaf springs out. I’d guess I'd weigh in at <5500# if my fat ass were not in it. If anyone has a full conversion and wants to bet I’ll get it weighed next time I go to PHX just to beat you. Suggest a prize.

 

[GaryBIS]

Hi,
On our 136 WB high roof, the before convesion weight was 4730 lbs.

Conversion added 1034 lbs (154 lbs on front axle, and 880 lbs on rear) For total of 5764 lbs.


Driver + passenger, full tanks, propane, supplies ... add 970 lbs bringing our total all-up on the road weight to 6734 lbs.

There is a breakdown on what went into the conversion weight here: http://www.buildagreenrv.com/our-conversion/our-promaster-conversion-weight-of-conversion/

Ours is a pretty simple conversion and is probably near the low end of 136 WB conversion weights.

Gary

 

[Zyzzyx]

159 Ext diesel. IIRC, the original empty weight was ~5600. Last times I've weighed at a truck scale I was 7100-7200. I probably have another 2-300 to add.

 

[Phranc]

159 Ext gasser... full build with wetbath, 25/18/17 gal fresh/gray/black tanks, 3/4” flooring and 1/2” cabinets, 400w solar with 400 Ahr AGM battery bank, fully outfitted with topped off fresh water tanks, consumables, and kayaks. Estimated built out weight (not including driver) was approx 7300lbs... actual scale weight was 7640lbs (including driver). I used a spreadsheet to estimate and balance R/L weight distribution... also to estimate Front/Rear distro later in the build... spreadsheet can be found here:
https://vancave.wordpress.com/cargo-van-overview/cargo-van-miscellaneous/

The Vancave rode well for a 3.8 ton vehicle, but I have to admit that extended 6% downhill grades certainly caused me some consternation. Around town, Vancave was a comfortable driver, but certainly not a sprinter.... she let me know that uphill twisties were not her preferred venue.

A couple of months ago, I stripped Vancave down to the frame for a complete rebuild and was amazed how “peppy” she drove... I’m focusing on a lighter/simpler build for Vancave2, even though reducing weight wasn’t the primary driver for the rebuild... it will be interesting to see how much weight I’m able to keep off.

 

[buck]

My conversion was ~1,580lbs.

2017 159 2500 high roof weighing 6,460lbs now.

Items that contribute the most weight in my build:

- wood panel ceiling
- 3/4" cabinet faces
- a wood panel accent wall
- 240lbs of batteries
- 7gal water
- fridge, sink, stove, oven, shower, compost toilet, partition front and rear, paneling on all doors, fully insulated and all surfaces finished
- 3000w pure sine inverter

 

[akrogers]

Our build is a 3500 Ext. Diesel tips the scale at 7,957 with fuel tank full and water tank empty. I was pleased to see the front rear axle distribution was almost equal. The build includes 300 watt solar, 4 x 6V 224 amp AGM, overhead cabinets, partial lower cabinets, platform bed, 3.8 cf fridge, microwave, so quite a bit of heavier stuff. And then there are the toys, not included in the weight.

 

[wbullivant]

Our build is a 3500 Ext. Diesel tips the scale at 7,957 with fuel tank full and water tank empty. I was pleased to see the front rear axle distribution was almost equal. The build includes 300 watt solar, 4 x 6V 224 amp AGM, overhead cabinets, partial lower cabinets, platform bed, 3.8 cf fridge, microwave, so quite a bit of heavier stuff. And then there are the toys, not included in the weight.

Hi AK

Are the weight of driver & passenger included in your 7,957 total? I wasn't able to get the front and rear split when I weighed mine but the floor of the van is almost level now with the rear less than an inch higher. Bill