Name TBD: AWD Express / CCV Poptop - Page 4

**daveb** · 05-23-2015, 01:13 PM

That is some nice work you're getting done. The cabinets look fantastic. I agree that if you're getting 14.8+ volts at the batteries it will cook them. I had an electrical issue at the first of the year and just found I have the same problem. I just ordered a new alternator and will send in the old one to be rebuilt. I'm hoping I didn't jack up my batteries.

rockbender · 06-02-2015, 01:00 AM

This weekend will be the inaugural camping trip for the new van, so I've been plugging away trying to cross off items on my to do list.

Electrical stuff: I got an AGM starting battery on order that will be in on Thursday, so I will be a bit more at ease linking everything together. The old one had a resting voltage of 12.2V, so something wasn't right. Also, thanks again for the battery wiring info, Viva - I got it corrected:

I may or may not get the solar panel mounted before this trip. If not it is no big deal as we are only out for two nights.

Interior: I finally got the rear trim panel/wire chase built so I could template for my upholstery guy to build the rear bed section. Here it is all done:

Also noteworthy in the above photo, you can see the 2'x4' folding table in it's slot under the rear bed section. I also got the passenger side C pillar and rear window trimmed. The bad news here is that I did my trim piece a little different here than the driver side windows so will now likely redo those so they look better... later.

Here is a fun little detail inspired by some magnet use that Paul Jensen did over on Expo:

See the magnet countersunk in the cutting board on the left side? There is a matching one underneath the counter.

When you push the cutting board in, the magnets hold the cutting board in place:

Cornering tests so far have had it holding fine with the single pair of magnets. If it starts coming out, I'll add another pair.

Flooring. What a pain this has been. I finally decided to try some vinyl planks that I saw in the local big box store a few months ago. Of course when I went in to purchase they are now online only. I went ahead and ordered two boxes up online, and about 2 weeks later they finally showed up. I installed the first box and then decided to give it a day to determine if I really liked it or not. When we decided that we would just move forward with it since the hard part was done, I popped open the second box to find... a totally different pattern!

At this point, I went and purchased a couple boxes of our second choice pergo pattern. The gray vinyl definitely shows more footprints/dust, but the pergo grain pattern in my opinion just didn't quite mesh like I thought it would. Here are the two options next to each other:

At the end of the day, I finally found another store that could ship a box of the gray vinyl plank material before the weekend. I'm not sure if it is what we will ultimately go with, but it will get us by for this season anyway.

Major items left that may or may not happen soon are:
Seat swivel (passenger to start with, but hopefully driver too)
Awning Brackets & mounting
Solar Panel
Water system

86Scotty · 06-02-2015, 08:45 AM

Looking really nice man! I strongly suggest a few more of those frosty pints when dealing with van flooring. It's just not ever as easy as it ought to be. I did the pergo stuff in the last van and managed to get it looking good, but I was never satisfied as it shifted a little here and there after. I'm pretty convinced that the solid coin flooring stuff is about the only way to go. I plan to redo mine as soon as I have enough frosty pints to feel like pulling my cabinets. I can definitely tell you black indoor/outdoor carpet is a really sh*tty idea. Perhaps it was too many pints that day.

mikracer · 06-02-2015, 10:17 AM

I'd like to call dibs on your van if and when you ever sell it.

rockbender · 06-05-2015, 11:41 AM

I finally got the correct box of flooring to get that wrapped up. I like the way the pattern and color turned out, especially since we have a lighter colored throw rug that we put it. Time will tell on the durability of the actual vinyl floor product. A lot of other RV folks have done their floors with this so I am hoping that is a good sign. I kind of wanted to do the vinyl coin style floor this time, but my wife isn't a fan.

Floor, all the same material now:

We worked on packing up for the inaugeral trip last night. Let me give you a little idea of where the CCV top shines - packing! Up front you'll see we have a 2 gallon water jug (empty for travel), handful of towels, roll of paper towels, and a small basket that has some headlamps and miscellaneous charging cords. Obviously care will need to be taken to make sure there are not any projectiles while in motion:

In our old SMB penthouse, about all we could fit on the bed with the top down was two light down sleeping bags. Here is a pic of the CCV bed with four sleeping bags and a guitar. After this photo, we added 3 pillows, a couple blankets and a small duffel bag. In the past we would have to stack this stuff behind the seat on the bed platform. It is so cool to have this extra space for bedding and to keep the lower van uncluttered for travel:

More feedback on what works and what doesn't after this trip. Have a great weekend!

Viva · 06-05-2015, 11:46 AM

I like the flooring. But what really looks super-cool are those drawer fronts, with their sleek curves. Nice work!

86Scotty · 06-05-2015, 12:26 PM

Looks amazing!

2horsegarage · 06-05-2015, 04:15 PM

I agree with the usefulness of that space up front on the CCV top. Everything looks great. Enjoy the trip!

rockbender · 06-26-2015, 05:33 PM

Thanks for the kind words guys! We have two weekend trips under our belts so far and the van is doing great.

Some quotes from my 5 year old help sum up their experience:
About an hour into our drive on the first weekend trip she is busy coloring, playing on her leappad, or who knows what and exclaims "whoa! I forgot I was even in the van!"

Sunday night tucking her in at home after a weekend of camping, "I wish I was still sleeping in the van."

We rolled over the scales all loaded up and were right about 7300# (3300 front, 4000 rear). This is pretty much right at the GVWR for the 1500 Express. I consider myself to be fairly conscious of weight during the build, but it is always amazing how everything ads up. The Express drives very car-like compared to the old E350 for sure. I may have to examine the rear springs and switch to a 3/4 leaf pack, but will start out with adding a rear sway bar I think.

I've been tinkering away at some awning brackets and ended up with something that should work:

Pro/con: on the really nice ones that folks have had made, the clamping piece has more of a foot that sits in the gutter. I thought about doing that, but in the end decided to keep a skinny profile so that my poptop rim and gasket slide past the bracket instead of sitting on top. I won't get as much load distribution like the ones with the foot though. For you Ford guys I think the Z brackets are a no brainer - they look really nice. My Chevy gutter has quite a bit more adhesive in the gutter track edge and I would have likely had to modify the Z's to fit.

I was first planning on putting a rivnut through the body to secure the bottom of the bracket. After putting them on finger tight I decided I would just start with a rivet since it is a smaller hole and felt it would suffice. Once I actually snugged the brackets down I realized that they are pretty dang secure, so I think I will omit the physical anchor into the body and see how it wears.

Trial fit of the screen room. Arguably one of my wife's favorite add-ons to the van.

I'll get the brackets painted up and maybe put a thin piece of rubber at the locations that interface the body and then get everything mounted up this weekend.

rockbender · 06-28-2015, 04:52 PM

I got the awning brackets all painted up and put some inner tube strips in key locations where the brackets touched the body. It is now all mounted up and ready to go:

I also jumped in and mounted my solar panel this weekend. I was first contemplating VHB tape or Velcro mounts, but ended up just utilizing the 6 grommet holes on the Renogy 100W flexible panel and used screws to mount it. In the corners I used self tapping screws, and in the two middle holes used small nuts/bolts. I ran a strip of butyl across the leading edge to help prevent any small air gaps between the roof and panel that may cause the panel to vibrate or flutter while driving.

In the middle of the day I was seeing 5A, so I am more than pleased with that output. I was originally going to put 200w of solar on, but I think that with the battery bank we have the single 100W panel may be enough to extend our stays. I'm going to charge the battery up 100% on shore power and then run the fridge for a few days this week to see where I am sitting.