E350 spare tire storage area.

[SkyJumper]

I heard about the storage box that is being made by one of the members here. Can someone point me in the direction of this person?

Thanks,

Eric

[shenrie]

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...-x32-6108.html

[SkyJumper]

Thanks for the info!

[GAR]

Is he still making them?

Gar

[boywonder]

Member 1der has been developing a plastic underfloor storage box. We installed one in his van, came out great.

They are thick-walled rotomolded boxes.

Send him a PM if you are interested....

[MountainBikeRoamer]

Originally Posted by boywonder

Member 1der has been developing a plastic underfloor storage box. We installed one in his van, came out great.

They are thick-walled rotomolded boxes.

Send him a PM if you are interested....

Hey nice!!!!!
I've been chatting with another forum member about doing the sub-floor storage box install (there's a couple options I think we've seen that are fabbed either out of steel or possibly also aluminum --- ?)

I've been personally a little reluctant to install a steel version, only because of future rust concerns. Was starting to think that it would be a good idea to treat it somehow (or possibly have it powder-coated) before installing one of those....but the costs all start to add up and look like a less attractive "return on the investment" for all the money and installation effort.

Plastic for a box material sounds great. Thick and rust-proof. Are there pictures or a thread that gives more info yet?

Somewhere recently on the forum I saw what looked like a robust, gasketed plastic lid for accessing the sub-floor storage area (one of the forum member pictures that popped up randomly along the top of the home page) and it looked pretty nice.

EDIT:
These are links to images from SMBF member teeots in his albums of the storage lid I thought looked interesting.

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ture13439.html
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ture13440.html
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ture13442.html

[1der]

Here are some pics of the plastic box. I wanted to get s mold made to have a direct fit unit. The problem is the vapor recovery addy is located differently on different models and years. The plastic box (tank) can be modified to gig nicely with some cutting and channeling.

I am up for working with anyone to see if a universal mold can be made.

The unit boywonder helped me install is awesome. Started as a 55 gal tank modified to clear the frame and body cross members in the spare tire space. Amazing amount of added space. 14+ inches deep and goes frame to frame front to back and side to side.

[ATTACH]

[/ATTACH]

[boywonder]

Even has a drain plug!!

Ray, do you have the pic with you standing in the box?? It's beefy.

...and...note to self.....it's way easier to install one of these boxes before you lay down the floor/build out the interior...less stressful too...

[DrewMoto]

Has anyone ever used one of these underfloor storage boxes as a shower pan? I've been trying to poke holes in the idea...seems like it would be great to stand in, run a curtain rod around it, and have a nice in-van shower.

Drainage into a grey water tank would be a problem, but let's face it, if the alternative is showering outdoors, what's the problem with just letting the water drain straight onto the ground?

[1der]

DrewMoto: I have given this thought in the past. Main issues are going to be comfort in cutting body cross members and how large a hole in the floor can be opened up.

In the EB body there is a "body" cross member about 17 inches in from the back. Trying to stand in a 15 x 28 shower well would be sketchy. The RB is different and may not have the body cross member. This is the lateral channel welded to the bottom of the van floor. The space between frame member sis fine since the spare tire was occupying that space.

Showering inside - The humidity generated by a shower inside should be managed via overhead vent or some other ventilation. Shower curtain is solvable. Draining the pan is as you stated, personal preference, but draining into a gray water tank would require the pan to be higher than the gray water tank and the van would have to be level enough to allow proper draining.

Storage vs shower - the underfloor space is great for storage. If used as a shower, then the question is how often for showering vs need for storage space and using an outside shower.