My wife and I decided to sell off the Honda Element and move to something a bit bigger that would satisfy our needs a bit more. We found a new Quigley on the local Ford lot. It was a year old and was a pretty good price. We had it for 1 week when the transmission took a crap and they had to do a complete rebuild. Not very confidence inspiring.
The van was empty and a blank slate for us to decide how we wanted to use it. We are avid bicyclists and I also ride/race motorcycles so it would make for a great trackday rig and bicycle race rig. Mrs. Tupelo races mountain bikes all over the western states so we travel to far off places to race in the woods. I like going to crazy backroad areas to ride my road bikes. I'm not that good of a mountain biker.
Mrs. Tupelo took it to races all last year and got a feel for how it could be used. Then we were able to design the space the way that we thought would best suit us. We had requirements. Bicycles had to be stored inside. Too many bikes get ripped off racks. We did not need all the water and plumbing stuff. We could manage with a small porta-potty. We used it all last summer and it works great. We didn't want the pop up. Although it would have been a huge benefit, it was a big expense and I did not feel comfortable cutting into the roof like that. I'm sure it's fine, but...
So we had Rob at Van Specialties build it for us. Huge list of stuff. LED lights, Kenwood stereo, Inverter, 200W solar, Webasto unleaded heater, Aluminess rack and ladder. We will add a rear bumper at some time, just not yet. We have to lick our wounds for awhile. It's fully insulated and sound deadening. This van is quiet.
The rollover couch/bed allows my wife to sleep on it as is. It is 66in long, but we have a 9 in fold out that will hold a cushion for when I need to sleep there and fit my 74in frame.
We have yet to take it on an overnight. Still getting some other things fluffed out on it. I will post more pictures as I get other things mounted up and we take it out into the great wide open.
Van Specialties does some really good work. Rob and Sean worked it all out. Stereo King does a great install too. Dave and Tyson worked some magic. I still have a couple of other things I want to do from the electronics side.
I'll post up more photos as I take them.
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