2WD, High Top Go-Anywhere Van Build

[Seattle350]

We're neighbors... I'm on N 138th right off Greenwood ave. I think I've seen your van on IG or around town maybe.

[nyyankees588]

Originally Posted by Brianf7028

Sweet build and thank you for posting all the info. I am about to take the plunge myself. Any pro or cons to getting a handicap van?

Pros:
- often cheaper and already have a high top installed compared to buying a normal van and adding a high top or finding a normal van with a high top (be very aware of how tall the high top is and whether that means you'll be able to fully stand inside or just barely have your head hit the ceiling, as is my case)
- they're often the extended wheelbase format (mine isnt). This can be a pro if you want more room or a con if you prefer manouverability

Cons:
- removing the handicap lift can be a hassle (although very doable) from what I've heard
- build quality can be interesting (aka questionable). The front 2/3rds of my van's floor was lowered 2" to accommodate the wheelchair stuff. The body was put on a 2" lift to regain stock clearance. The gas tank was moved from the center of the vehicle to the rear, dur to all of this. As a result, my rear axle is consistently close to its max weight (full interior build + 25 gallons of fuel on the rear axle). I didnt really figure all of this out until after I bought the van. Be aware of this and know to look for it so you know what you're getting.

[nyyankees588]

Originally Posted by Seattle350

We're neighbors... I'm on N 138th right off Greenwood ave. I think I've seen your van on IG or around town maybe.

Awesome! I'll shoot you a message when I'm back in town after burning man and we'll see about linking up. Probabaly seen it around town, I'm not very active on social (but the lady is)

[ConnieKat]

Great job! I’ve been saving to do some of the things you have ( though my 2005 Express SMB is finished
Inside and out). Some things just aren’t that great. So
alterations and solar are on my list.....the trouble is finding anyone to do any of it, or help me to get it done! Kudo’s on all your great work!
ConnieKat

[nyyankees588]

Originally Posted by ConnieKat

Great job! I’ve been saving to do some of the things you have ( though my 2005 Express SMB is finished
Inside and out). Some things just aren’t that great. So
alterations and solar are on my list.....the trouble is finding anyone to do any of it, or help me to get it done! Kudo’s on all your great work!
ConnieKat

mop

Thanks! Google "Far Out Ride" and "GnomadHome". They both have excellent guides for solar and all sorts of other build processes. I went in to the process with no prior knowledge, but both of their guides were super helpful in getting me comfortable and capable with all the steps.

[campism]

Originally Posted by Brianf7028

Sweet build and thank you for posting all the info. I am about to take the plunge myself. Any pro or cons to getting a handicap van?

We bought one with the lift already removed by the previous owner who was using the van for his delivery business. There's a lot of ancillary equipment still installed that will probably need to come out when our actual build begins; things like the backup beeper that drives my wife nuts, lots of wiring and interlocks that were probably required for wheelchair vans, and some other stuff. I think it also has dual batteries underneath that will stay.

You see all kinds of rooflines and heights. See my van to the left with its FGME roof that is +30" (measured from the drip rails so it's technically a bit less than that). Most you'll find are 20-24" over, or even less, and that might not be tall enough for you. At 5'10" I have a couple of inches clearance and would probably have to spend Sprinter or Promaster money to get that height elsewhere. This van was cheap.

Also, handicap vans can have some weird looking door configurations, like bus doors on the passenger side. FGME makes (or did make back in the day) those, or ones with tall rear doors and normal side doors as mine has and which was exactly what I wanted, or tall doors on the side only, or tall side and rear, etc. Make sure you see the van and its door setup from all sides before making the plunge. I wanted taller rear doors for ease of motorcycle loading.

[Wickedwagens]

Originally Posted by nyyankees588

15k miles, 8 months and a lot of incredible

We managed to only pay for a campsite twice (I think) the entire time. Lot’s of dispersed camping on BLM and Forest Service land (thanks to the iOverlander app) until we got to the coast of california where we spent a lot more time stealth camping (not by choice).

Post continued again below...

I'm just down the hill from Lake Tahoe. Have fun at Burning Man. Thanks for the App suggestion. Lots of great places to camp on there.

[nyyankees588]

I was afraid that I'd neglect to post updates when I made this build threads... and here we are a month later and I'm being that guy. Not much in the realm of modifications to the van since burning man, but a few updates below.

Burning man was incredible. To spare everybody a long, rambling post about it, here's a few photos that I managed to snag.

One of our favorite camp spots outside of Bend, OR. We've stopped here countless times going north and south and stopped again on our way down.


The BM setup. Threw in an extra tarp at the last minute and very fortunate that I did for the added shade. The DIY $30 awning completely held it's own, dust storms and all. We're still finding dust in random places in the van.


Not the best pic, but the art cars at BM are insane and will make any DIYer drool. This was one of a trio of completely chrome, mad max-esque dune buggies


Random pic in the middle of a dust storm.


More recently we made a couple trips up to the Northern Cascades when a friend and family member came to visit. Beautiful time of the year to visit.

Backcountry camping sunrise


Hard to tell, but the road down to this campsite was about as narrow/overgrown as we can manage. Thankfully I don't mind the added pinstripes of the shrubs


Campsite next to a stream. Based on FS maps, this road once crossed the stream and continued on for a few miles up the mountain. Looks like it hasn't been passable beyond here for a few years.

[nyyankees588]

I also forgot to mention - the 265/75/16 General Grabber AT2s performed admirably on the long trip from Seattle down to Nevada. Additional road noise is only really noticeable when going ~20-40mph. Anything faster and it's nothing more than the normal econoline noise. Went down a pretty steep path with some decent ruts and softer sand/dirt for camping outside of Tahoe and managed to get back up the next morning with zero issues (aired down to ~40psi). Fuel economy wise, there has been no change. In fact I actually saw marginally better mpg at points in the trip. I think that this is due to the fact that the larger tires altered the gearing ratio, which makes the van less inclined to rev higher to reach 65+mph. With the stock tires, it cruised pretty easily at ~75mph, now it is much happier right around 65mph. I honestly don't mind this, especially if it means no additional hit to the fuel economy.

[nyyankees588]

Some pictures of the latest van projects. Hopefully the google photo links work.

New roof box that will have solar panel mounted on top. This will replace the existing roof box and allow for paddleboards/surfboards/other things to be carried on the roof. Currently the roof box and the solar panel take up the entire roof space.

• Mockup of panel/mounting setup with wood
• Solar panel on top of roof box (not yet mounted, waiting to get correct strength replacement gas struts so that roof box will open & stay open with solar panel on top

Updated sink area: plan is to redo this entire area. 16 gallon water container will move here from underneath the bed; grey water will go outside of the van to 3" PVC "tank" (like the solar shower); counter will cover fridge (fridge will be accessible via sliding out on heavy duty drawer slides)

• Painted window black - we never used this window, so I painted it and will insulate over it and cover it with finish plywood so that it's a solid wall.

New ceiling panels: I made these in to three pieces running the length of the van, which gave me ~1" of added head room in the middle. In hindsight, probably not the best reward to time spent project... but it works. Also completely reinsulated the ceiling with wool. There were lots of air gaps from the shittly installed rigid foam insulation.

• New insulation, first panel up
• End result

New upper storage: super happy with how this turned out. Looks a lot nicer and opened up a lot more space for storage. Figured out how to make a great template for the cut openings - was able to pin nail it to the back of the 1/4" faces and use a router to cut the exact same shape every time. I'll use the same template to redo the driver-side upper storage section as well.

• Insulation & wood spaces glued to metal supports to mount storage face to.
• Upper storage piece once finished, before install. The faces are attached to 1/2" on the bottom that create the lower shelf that attaches to the frame of the van.
• Finished product - the storage area currently runs the entire length of the van. Once we've used it and figured out what works best, I'll add dividers and some of the bungee cargo netting to better hold things (spices/food items in the sink area; clothes in the rear area