I like the simplicity & function of your storage wall. No doors is my preferance too. A van gets messy when you use all the stuff we travel with so spacious & accessible storage is golden.
I like the simplicity & function of your storage wall. No doors is my preferance too. A van gets messy when you use all the stuff we travel with so spacious & accessible storage is golden.
The light wood units & plastic bins are from Ikea ( trofast is the name under storage bins ). I have several thousand miles on the Van now with those bins & they don’t slide out around corners.
Some More Photos; Our Parameters were; 2 People Travel Machine / Keep it Simple / Queen Bed “Permanent & Comfortable” / Stealth Exterior Look / Electric 12v & 120v / Few Holes Penetrating the Van / Self Contained Toilet / Sink / Storage “easy to grab & take outside / Fridge “electric only & efficient” / Cooking Outside “primarily” / Serviceability / Efficiency
Things we think we learned DIY; How Batteries Work 12DC & 120AC (limitations) / What we would do differently if starting again (or the next one) / Less is More
Now take no offense as I am going to be humorous here.
My bed supports are 2 one half inch X 54”X26” pieces of plywood on edge and attached to the wheel wells with bolts/rivnuts. Thats it! They also form two cabinets fore of the wheel wells and storage behind. Your steel framing bed support is as different from mine as any two minds could devise. Either I’m nutz or you are, probably me. But in my defense it has worked super well to both support the bed, allow it to collapse into a single bed/couch and has withstood every possible road condition/panic stop and has provided countless nights of bed comfort as a double bed and many nights as a single.
You certainly build a skookum van conversion! I like the idea it comes out easily too. Have fun!
Now take no offense as I am going to be humorous here.
My bed supports are 2 one half inch X 54”X26” pieces of plywood on edge and attached to the wheel wells with bolts/rivnuts. Thats it! They also form two cabinets fore of the wheel wells and storage behind. Your steel framing bed support is as different from mine as any two minds could devise. Either I’m nutz or you are, probably me. But in my defense it has worked super well to both support the bed, allow it to collapse into a single bed/couch and has withstood every possible road condition/panic stop and has provided countless nights of bed comfort as a double bed and many nights as a single.
You certainly build a skookum van conversion! I like the idea it comes out easily too. Have fun!
Im guessing the truth is we are probably both nuts as we are DIY van camper converters :nerd:
Im a recent member as I joined this forum in fall of 2018, but “did not read the manual” thus my posts did not get posted (my bad >). Anyway I have seen your posts & I think you know what you are doing with regards to van conversions. I appreciate your interest & comments/feedback (thanks for taking the time to look at my thread). I think this forum is a fantastic site for us DIYers to share ideas & help each other out.
The older I get, the more “Design” seems to be important to me. I believe your & my design approach is so different due to very different design parameters. My bed system is focused & designed to be down & permanent - no convertible into a couch & no need to use my van to transport materials or bikes etc inside. Like you wrote, it is built to be skookum, & not to be taken apart. The reason it can be dismantled in 20mins is for “serviceability” of underbed systems (I don’t like to work on things in tight spaces on my back)
Im very novice @ internet forums & may screw things up here on my ability to post etc, but I will endeavor to get better at it
The sink & tap are both Blanco & both were purchased @ Lowes. They were approximately $400 each. Really a central point aesthetically so I decided to spend a bit more here than I normally would
Looking forward to seeing your build & sharing ideas. The “skookum” building technique is probably coming from life experiences where I haven't “over built” & it bit me
We bought a memory foam mattress 60” wide by 80” long
We then trimmer off about 7” off the 80” length to 73” so the mattress would fit between the walls of the van. We have had a total of 20 nights on it over the past months & find it to be very comfortable. I am 70” tall & do not feel cramped at all sleeping with 73” of bed length
No flares; my build has about 73.5” to 74” wall to wall
So I just cleaned out 18 months of photos from my phone and put all my van build photos into on folder so I can actually show some of the build on this tread.
I will add to this thread as time allows in blocks of TASKS
OK, here we go. Read on to follow my journey of trials and tribulations as we attempt our first ever van build! I am excited to share the process and finally give back to this community, as I have learned so much from everyone else contributing here.
For continuity's sake, here are the links to...
This spring, my father and I both purchased used Promasters and I am finally getting around to putting a build thread together and learning how to post pictures of the process. We are by no means finished with our builds, and each of us has different needs for our vans, so each approach will be...
Hello DIYers
Due to a rather large topic & one of many opinions, I have started this thread in hopes to create logical conversations, sharing ideas, & amicable debate concerning the Van Build Envelope
Has anybody considered or had installed something like this?
https://cicionisprinter.com/promaster/
I'm interested in seeing how it taps into the gas tank of the PM and how much energy/gas it guzzles. I would be game to give up the headliner space for an integrated heater/ac solution if its...
I'm looking to build my Promaster 159" Highroof window van with a loft bed that will sit above a bike storage area as seen on many builds.
But my wheels are now turning about possibly making the bed somehow height adjustable to move it way up to also allow a motorcycle to be loaded or making it...
. No Offense taken
RV8R · updated 
