sweet build. whereabouts you from? jon from idaho said you were in or near simi valley

 

When I'm not living in my Van I'm in either the San Fernando Valley or the Santa Clarita Valley. Can't really say I live there though since I sold whatever properties I had there.

 

ahhhh gotcha. ya im in simi valley off sycamore

 

That is one bad *** van you've built. Im jealous!

 

cool van and alot of nice work, but i gotta ask. Do you still own your truck?

 

Yup, just haven't really touched it in a while. After I moved out of my place a year and a half ago I parked it in a friends garage and haven't touched it but on a few rare occasion. But as soon as I find a new place to live I plan on working on it again.

 

Love this thread. It just makes my picking the next project vehicle harder lol. Was dead set on another truck, now thinking of another van lol.

Subscribed.

 

I always wanted a van with the duramax like a Kodiak van here is pic of my van diesel

[QUOTE=Shortbedguy;1767234]
here's a picture of a kodiak van I drew on the computer

 

VERY well done on the HID retrofit, Spoolin! I'm glad to see it worked out so well for you. It gave you another highly-rewarding project for the van, too. It looks like I'm going to be switching trucks here shortly, I may investigate doing it in the next one. I should retrofit the bike for Christmas

 

Update time: I've been working and overseas the last few weeks so nothing been done on the Van but while I was gone I had something made for the VAN!! It's less for Camping as it is for Hauling, but in conjunction with my Conversion Van I think they make a pretty neat little combo. But first, reason I had this built was because I needed something to two truck and a few Motorcycles around, however at the same time I was in need of a RV that had some of the basic functions that my Conversion Van couldn't fill such as full Kitchen and Bathroom. So, only logical solution was to get a Custom Toy Hauler made!!

Most Toy Haulers out there are built for toys which weight a max of 2000lbs and the garages aren't big enough for full size toys, so I basically built a Car Hauler with some living quarters built in the front.

Trailer specs are:
-28' trailer w/ 4' tongue (32' total)
-Triple 5200lb axle (15,600 Gross towing capable)
-Hidden Dove Tail
-A/C
-Full Kitchen (Fridge, Oven, Microwave, etc...)
-Full bathroom with stand-up shower.
-45 gallon Fresh water tank
-35 gallon Grey water tank
-35 gallon Black water tank
-6 gallon water heater
-18' x 8' garage w/ loading ramps
-Rhino Lined Garage


Here's a couple pics of the build...

Framing:


Interior paneling:


Exterior siding:


And here are some exterior pics of it finished. I picked it up this morning and spent a good part of the day getting it all sorted out towing equipment wise and mating it with my Conversion Van. Most of these pics were taken with the wrong hitch receiver, I had to go buy an adjustable one that raised the ball about 9-10". So if you see that the front of the trailer seems low, it's because it is.












Interior shots:

Here's the Garage, again 18' x 8' with multiple tie-downs and loading ramps over the wheel wells.













And here's a couple pics with the Awning out:





Propane tanks which operate the hot water heater, oven/cook top, and fridge. There's also a battery rack right in front for some Deep Cycle batteries which I plan to install there in the future.




And here the adjustable Hitch that I had to buy, but I have a feeling I'm gonna be buying another one here in the near future that has tow-bars on it.




So a couple notes about the set-up, like I said I'm gonna look into getting some Tow-bars installed. Driving on the Freeway was fine unless I got passed or passed some big rigs and then the trailer would sway some. Enough for me to want to look into getting that fixed. Power wise I had plenty of power, never was left lacking/wanting for more power despite the trailer being portly. Couple times I had to pass some Big-rigs and what not and it was not an issue. I actually don't think I ever gave more than 50% throttle at any time and still accelerated at a good enough clip to merge with faster traffic. I do need to monitor tranny temps though, I think that is the current weak link with the set-up.

Trailer currently has no house batteries but I found out that that is not really an issue. Turns out that while plugged into my Van, the 7-pin wiring harness powers the whole Trailer! Granted I need to address the batteries on my Van and add to the two batteries that I already have, but it makes things easier for how I want to set things up. Basically all I need is a Honda 2000 to power the A/C, and aside from that, I would think two 12V AGM Deep Cycle batteries on the Van should power the trailer sufficiently since the Oven, Fridge and water Heater are propane powered. And when not connected to the Trailer, those extra batteries will power the fridge and microwave that I will have in the Conversion Van. The only thing the Batteries would need to power on the Trailer would be the interior lights, the water pump and any accessories I would have plugged in.

Tomorrow I have to load my truck into it, should see if this was all worth it. Hope it fits, I only measured it once!!