Hey SMBForum! I have been visiting this site for awhile but haven't posted much. I have been dreaming of a SMB style van since I saw one mountain biking at Northstar in 2011. Like most people I couldn't afford one.
I had a truck already to haul motos, so we bought a small overland-ish travel trailer. The Nobo 10.6 and it was really fun. We wanted to stand up and change clothes so we sold it and upgraded to a Nobo 16.8. That towed amazing and we could take it anywhere but climbing over each other in the middle of the night really sucks (east-west bed). So we sold that and bought a Nobo 19.5 and everything was great.
We spent 3 months in it traveling around with the cats and did a few thousand miles. Oregon Coast, Northern CA, San Diego, Sedona, Oak Creek, Moab, etc. It was amazing but along the trip we keep seeing people in vans pull in, set up camp in two minutes, make a fire, eat and make some drinks. Then they were gone in the morning!
We also got into a lot of sketchy places trying to find turn arounds, smoking the front brakes along a downhill cliff edge near Jerome. Plus every time a semi would pass us on the freeway you have to aggressively countersteer. I just got tired of the stress of towing a trailer and decided to downsize.
We also really wanted to be able to bring our motos anytime we travel. I want to jump out grab the dual sport and let my GF drive the van on good moto roads : ) So, I found this 2nd owner 2011 E350 15 passenger that was really clean minus a few dents and scrapes. Mechanically I had to have the front end ujoints replaced but otherwise not a single thing was wrong. It has taken us 1000s of miles already without complaint.
Ugly ass van that handles like a brick
First mobile office setup! Yes I have an extension cord running through the window
Pacific City, OR
Off to WeldTec in San Diego to get the party started.
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