3 Year Campervan Review
It has been over 3 years since my last post on this build. I thought I would give an update/review what has worked well and what changes I have made.
Since we finished the build in October 2019, we have driven about 37,000 miles and spent over 255 nights camping. This includes storing the rig in our garage for 18 months while we were living out of the country. Our longest trip was 49 days in Baja. It was also our longest drive of ~4600 miles.
Here are my comments on the major systems. There are details on the build in the preceding posts or ask if you have any questions. Sorry, it is a long read.
2012 Ford E-350 EB V10
I think everyone know how great this platform is. We haven’t had a single problem with the engine or the rest of the vehicle. Plenty of power but it does drive and ride like a heavy van.
I have weighed it twice, fully loaded for a long trip. We are about 9700 lbs, just slightly over the GVWR of 9500 lbs. Front axle weight was 3680 lbs and rear axle weight was 6060 lbs, just below capacity for both.
After driving the White Rim Trail and bouncing around Baja for thousands of miles, I found a broken rear leaf spring on the driver’s rear side. We replace the broken leaf spring and then added an additional leaf on both sides. This made a great improvement in the ride. Much more stable when making turns and it really reduced the “top heavy wobble” when going through an angled dip or hitting a hole on one side.
Based on the trip computer, we get between 11-14 mpg, many of our trips are about 50/50 highway/dirt road and we generally average around 12 mpg.
Agile Off-Road 4x4
I have been very happy with the 4x4 conversion. We have used the 4x4 on most trips, but usually to get through a muddy spot, across some sand and up/down rocky hills. In Baja there were a lot of rough, rocky trails where we used the 4x4 for miles. We were able to keep up with the Jeeps and Tacomas. They were impressed with the capabilities of the van. The only problem we had was when a brake caliper bolt came out while in Baja. It was obviously not torqued properly when it was installed.
Colorado CamperVan Poptop
We love the pop-top. However, it does take a while to get use to the looks. When the top is down, it is almost high enough that I can stand up. With the top up, there is plenty of head room above the bed. Raising and lowering the top has been easy. Before lowering the top we turn on the overhead fan, so it sucks air out. This draws the fabric sides in as the top lowers.
The build quality has been good. No real problems. After probably 5-700 actuation, the roller wheels on one side failed a few months ago. It wasn’t too hard to replace the rollers on both sides.
The only other problem is the remote control for raising/lowering the top has never really work, but we never use it.
Bed in pop-top
We love the bed. I made the modifications to the bed platform, so we can keep the bed made all the time. The wood slat platform and 6” foam mattress makes it almost as comfortable as our bed at home.
Solar/Battery
We have 400 watts of solar and 200 amp/hrs of LiFePO4 battery. We have never had an issue with battery storage capacity. We rarely drop below 60% capacity and after a couple of hours of morning sun it is fully recharged. We also normally drive somewhere every day, so the alternator keeps the battery bank full.
Electric Hot Water Heater
This has worked great. Our setup is a 2-gallon electric HW heater, with a 12 V heating element. The HW heater is controlled by a three position switch; OFF, SOLAR or BATTERY. In the BATTERY position the energy all comes from the battery, in the SOLAR position, a relay only allows the power to the HW heater when the battery is above 95% SOC. We normally keep it in SOLAR mode. The water is kept hot during the day and unless the weather is really cold, we still have hot water the next morning. We wrapped the tank with insulation to hold the heat in the tank.
Water system
Instead of a fixed water tank, we use two 5-gallon plastic jerry cans. The water pump pulls concurrently from both cans. The 10-gallon capacity will last us 3-4 days and I have space for two additional 5-gallon cans if we are worried about access to potable water. We like the portable tanks because it allows us to fill up water at any water source. We are also able to completely empty and dry the tanks between trips.
Layout/Floor plan
The floor plan has worked well for us. Our favorite place to sit is on the couch with the barn doors open. We also usually rotate the passenger seat towards the back and that gives us plenty of room to relax when we stay inside.
The center isle configuration gives us good access to the back of the van and allows storage on both sides.
AMP PowerSteps
These running boards have worked great without any issues. They are rock-solid. It makes entering and exiting the van much easier and more convenient. My wife loves the easy access to the high clearance vehicle.
Changes/Improvements
There is not a lot that we would change. The only design problem is the microwave door opens the wrong way. I thought I could get microwaves with doors opening both ways, but that is not correct for this size of microwave.
I have had to change out a few switches that failed. I also changed out the electric dump valve on the gray water tank. I went to a valve with a larger port and more positive actuation.
Overall Impressions
We love the van and the ability to get to remote campgrounds. We boondock 90% of the time and never have concern about any of the systems. After the bed upgrades, we have always had a good sleep.
MCSporty
2008 GMC 3500 SMB
Vandiesel II
Linear Mode
