Hello,
Just wanted post up our Quadvan build out that was completed this summer.
We started with a 2009 E350EB PS Diesel we found in north eastern Washington. The van was used by an electrical contractor for a short time and only had 14k miles on the clock. The van was nicely equipped with upgraded wheels/tires, shocks, 4" lift, factory LSD out back, tow package, bush whacker flairs, tinted windows. Asking price was very reasonable, so we drove out immediately, and cam home with Her.
This is what we started with:
I gutted the interior of all the work shelves and got rid of the (heavy!) roof rack, and we kept it bare until we had time to plan our build.
In June 2012, we drove from Portland OR to SMB in Fresno Ca (in two days, passing through Yosemite) to have the pop-top added. We hunkered down in Fresno while we waited for the top to be installed. Two days later, we headed back to Oregon, taking our time and camping in various sites in Calif and Oregon.
This is how She looked on our way back:
Stanislaus National Forest, just outside Yosemite
Richardson Grove, Northern Ca, on the Eel river
The stripped interior, just home after installing the top:
The remainder of the year we worked out the details of the build and in November 2012, we dropped our rig off at Van Specialities to start the build. We spec'd a simpler build, with many nice touches: Espar heat and hot water using diesel and alcohol stove means no on-board explosive gases, non-glass insulation.
Some build highlights:
* Interweave fabric covered walls
* Dynamat sound deadening
* Reflectix throughout
* Enguard glass free insulation throughout
* 3/4 Foam insulation boards on the floor
* 1/2 Marine plywood floor
* Split, tip-out window on drivers side
* LED lighting
* Aux battery system with:
- 30 AMP shore power hookup
- 4 stage abttery charger
- 2000 watt inverter
- 2 AGM batteries
* Espar heat with hot water capability
* Gaucho seat/bed
* removable table with TODD marine fittings
* Galley and cabinets
* 2 burner Dometic alcohol stove
* Dometic fridge, 3.8 cu ft
* Captain chairs, passenger swivels
* Pre-wired for solar
* 22 galons on-board waster system, under the gaucho seating/bed
Here are some images to give you an idea of how our build turned out. As you can see we only built storage on the passenger side of the van as part of the galley. We've left the remainder of the space open and generally use plastic storage bins, as needed. In the future, I might build platform in the back, with storage underneath, and space on-top for our two dogs, 28 lbs and 95 lbs, respectively.
So far, we've not camped as much as we'd like, but did manage a 5 day trip for some dispersed camping in southern Oregon. The van was awesome and allowed 4 adults and two dogs to camp quite comfortably! Can not wait for a longer trip!
Cheers,
DJM