Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-09-2017, 08:18 PM   #31
Senior Member
 
Glider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 601
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty View Post
What I'm proposing here is a slide in rack, essentially, that might be able to also be a shower platform as mentioned above, but one that would completely slide under the van, either breaking down or just hidden away, when not in use.
That would be very cool. Firewood rack, bench, shower platform, BBQ platform, table--multipurpose horizontal space that disappears when you don't want it around.

__________________
OMG, the Silver Streak is Sold!
2006 SMB EB45ish.
5.4L, QuadVan 4x4
Ready to Rumble!
Glider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 01:57 AM   #32
Senior Member
 
Otter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,186
Garage
I'd love to see a brush guard design that doesn't impede my front trailer hitch. Or a bumper, for that matter. My hitch is actually for moving heavy boats and trailers around the yard, not just for carrying bicycles and such. Everything I see out there either doesn't allow for the presence of a hitch or replaces it with a lightweight "accessory" hitch, integral to the bumper.
__________________
"PhoTo" - 2014 Ford E350 5.4L RB - Agile 4x4 - CCV Poptop
Otter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 07:08 AM   #33
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,220
Can anyone remember who had a slide out platform on the back of their van? I might have to do this. Integrated skid plate, shower platform and firewood rack. Someone posted some pics a few years ago.

TIA
86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 07:32 AM   #34
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 64
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty View Post
Can anyone remember who had a slide out platform on the back of their van? I might have to do this. Integrated skid plate, shower platform and firewood rack. Someone posted some pics a few years ago.

TIA
Pretty sure you are thinking of Bajasportsmobile's build.
fw500a is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 07:35 AM   #35
Senior Member
 
boywonder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,036
Quote:
Originally Posted by fw500a View Post
Pretty sure you are thinking of Bajasportsmobile's build.
Yup.....one of Ramsey's vans

Here it is...that took a while to find....

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...+01-page6.html
__________________
2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
boywonder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 09:25 AM   #36
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA
Posts: 108
The "flip down brush guard/bike and MX rack" idea is one that I've been kicking around for a couple years, and it seemed like a natural one to share with boywonder yesterday as we kicked around what might be truly unique and worth pursuing. It was borne of my frustration with realizing that the front of the van is a great place to store bikes (with front-hitch-mounted fold-down, hitch-mounted bike racks like the Yakima Holdup), but that on bouncy off-road runs, the racks just aren't up to the task of securing bikes well.



So (as has already been getting discussed since boywonder got this going already today) ---- I've always thought: why not design a rad-looking brush guard that just also happens to be a fold-down (and bomb-proof) bike/MX/customizable storage tray?

This idea in particular seems like it could really shake things up for bumper/rack/brush guard design and function. As it sits now, those brush guards are mostly just for show (and occasional grille/headlamp protective duty --- but why not make the whole thing (or part of it) flip down and forward 90 degrees (like a quality bike hitch-mount bike rack does) and get some real variable/modular storage-platform function out of it.)


Awesome idea! I used to have that same T2 bike rack on the front before I had to cut off my front receiver. It just lived there permanently and was awesome. Now I'm thinking of getting a front bumper with receiver but I'd feel compelled to put the bike rack on and off each time I used it. But this idea, if done well, would be seriously awesome. I hope you guys chase it. Be sure to get a patent on the concept because it seems like one of those things that could take off.
kccourtney is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 09:43 AM   #37
Senior Member
 
Glider's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 601
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by boywonder View Post
Yup.....one of Ramsey's vans

Here it is...that took a while to find....

Sportsmobile Forum - BajaSportsmobile's Album: BajaSportsmobile 01
That is very slick.
Attached Thumbnails
Rear_Slide_Platform_Ramsey.jpg  
__________________
OMG, the Silver Streak is Sold!
2006 SMB EB45ish.
5.4L, QuadVan 4x4
Ready to Rumble!
Glider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 09:45 AM   #38
Senior Member
 
MountainBikeRoamer's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: OrangeCounty, CA
Posts: 1,275
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86Scotty View Post
Can anyone remember who had a slide out platform on the back of their van? I might have to do this. Integrated skid plate, shower platform and firewood rack. Someone posted some pics a few years ago.

TIA
Quote:
Originally Posted by boywonder View Post
Yup.....one of Ramsey's vans

Here it is...that took a while to find....

Sportsmobile Forum - BajaSportsmobile's Album: BajaSportsmobile 01
Very very cool!!! Man, Ramsey made cool stuff.

Another take on using that space:

I ***really*** like the idea of utilizing the area underneath the van where the "dirty spare tire" would have resided (that doesn't get used anymore once you install some sort of rear tire carrier)....

....and having some sort of multi-purpose "dirty storage" tray/bin/rack that either slid in/out, or up/down into that space, from either behind or directly below....perhaps it could be integrated into the bumper design, perhaps its just something built on its own.

But man! What a cool place it would be to store something like a "portable fire bowl" (and that fire bowl filled up with logs of course, when you're on the way to the campsite....and then that same fire bowl totally filthy with remnants of ashes/cooking drippings on the way back.) Maybe the drop-down tray could actually do *double duty* as both a fire bowl (when needed) and also be a storage bin when you wanted otherwise. If it looked like this firebowl I just found online, but that somehow winched up (or simply hooked in place beneath the van), it would be pretty rad.



Great spot for leveling blocks and the like too. Out of sight. Usually those are pretty yucky after a camp session too.

So this idea could just be labeled/viewed as "multi-purpose dirty storage" rack/bin. It could be either a completely sealed-up tray/box or simply a rugged framed bin with heavy-gauge mesh closures.

Personally, I'd rather utilize that liberated under-van space in that fashion, than have the often-installed "smugglers compartment storage box" installed that's only accessible from inside the rear of the van, through the trap-door in the floor....because IMHO, there's certain messy camp/van-related things that *at no point* have any right to be inside the van, or even set foot through the door....

Haha:
I'm kinda thinking that those perpetually-filthy items/gear are somewhat akin to the always-dusty/dirty-and-burdock-ridden (but super happy) "farm dogs" that my grandmother used to have on her rural property......those dogs were absolutely *never* (seriously!) allowed inside the house, hahah.....they slept in the barn, chased woodchucks with my uncle during hunting season, ate out of a tin can behind the farmhouse, roamed free....in complete fairness and honesty, they looked like they didn't even WANT to come inside the house.



So I'm picturing the cozy-but-always-only-outdoors under-the-rear-of-the-van storage nook/rack for the big dirty "farm dogs" of camping gear, lol. You know, the gear that's just like the farm dogs. Fun but always-irreconcilably-dirty stuff. You want 'em along on every trip with you....you just don't ever want them inside the van with you.

(btw....I aspire to be a bit more like those farm dogs myself, lol....(RIP, Chip and Sandy*! )


*disclaimer: these photos are not either Chip or Sandy. I don't know if any photos of those rad farm buddies exist anywhere. But they looked quite a bit like these happy/filthy guys.
__________________
Mike T
___________________
'95 Ford E250 RB30 PH
MountainBikeRoamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 09:50 AM   #39
Senior Member
 
MountainBikeRoamer's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: OrangeCounty, CA
Posts: 1,275
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by kccourtney View Post
The "flip down brush guard/bike and MX rack" idea is one that I've been kicking around for a couple years, and it seemed like a natural one to share with boywonder yesterday as we kicked around what might be truly unique and worth pursuing. It was borne of my frustration with realizing that the front of the van is a great place to store bikes (with front-hitch-mounted fold-down, hitch-mounted bike racks like the Yakima Holdup), but that on bouncy off-road runs, the racks just aren't up to the task of securing bikes well.



So (as has already been getting discussed since boywonder got this going already today) ---- I've always thought: why not design a rad-looking brush guard that just also happens to be a fold-down (and bomb-proof) bike/MX/customizable storage tray?

This idea in particular seems like it could really shake things up for bumper/rack/brush guard design and function. As it sits now, those brush guards are mostly just for show (and occasional grille/headlamp protective duty --- but why not make the whole thing (or part of it) flip down and forward 90 degrees (like a quality bike hitch-mount bike rack does) and get some real variable/modular storage-platform function out of it.)


Awesome idea! I used to have that same T2 bike rack on the front before I had to cut off my front receiver. It just lived there permanently and was awesome. Now I'm thinking of getting a front bumper with receiver but I'd feel compelled to put the bike rack on and off each time I used it. But this idea, if done well, would be seriously awesome. I hope you guys chase it. Be sure to get a patent on the concept because it seems like one of those things that could take off.
Hey. Patents.
Hmmm. Interesting/good point. Maybe we should indeed be pursuing that.

We've already spilled this particular good idea out onto the web for group digestion with this thread, so it's tough to "put that one back in the barn" at this point, but maybe!
__________________
Mike T
___________________
'95 Ford E250 RB30 PH
MountainBikeRoamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2017, 11:15 AM   #40
Senior Member
 
86Scotty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 10,220
Thanks for the link Scott. I'll be making some iteration of that out of my 3 pt. rack, but hopefully not cutting the whole length of the side tubes like his was.

As for the fire pit/ring/bbq/etc. John and Mandi have theirs integrated into a rear spare cover. It's pretty nifty.

86Scotty is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Sportsmobile Registry

Vandemic

Charliesmom

Agnes

ranchero
Add your Sportsmobile
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:07 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.