Hot weather insulation recommendations wanted

[ShuttlePilot]

arctictraveller, I understand what your experiencing and I too would think, "man, I've been parked here for hours with the windows open and the exhaust fan on, why is it still so warm in here?" I don't have much experince with products you could place under the carpet but I'll share the three things that made a huge difference for me to cool down after driving. Disclaimer, these may sound obvious here but it is my experience to have helped the most. Also this may only apply to a 6.0 van.

Eleven years ago when I installed the now gratuitous to SMBs transmission cooler. Having 5 gallons of ATF and metal under the floor at 165 degrees vs 220 degrees made a huge difference to the heat soak situation.

Bedliner the roof white. Not really a heat soak issue but it made a big difference in the overall heating up of the van.

Finally, this is a no duh, open the hood for the first hour after stopping for the day. Even with hood louvers on my van I still open the hood for the first hour or so to get the heat out, unless it's fairly cold out. It dose attract the good sanitarians to ask if I'm broken down if I'm in an area where people don't open hoods overnight. I've been in many areas where folks open their hoods overnight to prevent wildlife from spending the night or chewing things up. On this same note, if I'm able, I will park with the nose into the prevailing wind to help with the cool down, even if I have to briefly restart to reposition for the night.

- Eric

[saline]

I have had success with using Thermozite thermal acoustic insulation under the front carpet and as a layer in the doghouse. Also, in the warmer months I often open the hood when I arrive at camp. It lets a lot of heat out instead of being transmitted into the cab.

[BW3340]

It was time consuming but I did a layer of Kilmat, a layer of mixed insulation (spray foam and hard insulaton, and then a layer of 1/2 inch ply as the subfloor. overkill but it works really well.

[arctictraveller]

Thanks for all the recommendations. I hadn’t thought about opening the hood, that’s a great suggestion. Next I think I’ll paint the roof over the cab with some Dicor cool coat made for fiberglass rv’s since the majority of the roof is already shaded by three solar panels. After that, a layer of aluminized insulation under the carpet. Most effective of all though is staying as far North as possible to avoid the heat to begin with.