Cabinet construction

[ecotyps]

I have a 2013 Sportsmobile with popup roof. Mercedes Sprinter. Purchased new.

At least then, the options did include good cabinet tops -- mine are indestructible.

The cabinets themselves were well made and well installed, but the materials have water issues. In particular, stray water (in my case, from a leaking container of water), did cause blistering.

I climb the cabinetry to get "up top" -- the width of the bed is wider than suggested in previous posts and should work well for 2. But, the height is inadequate for sitting up. Overall, comfortable.

As an older adult, I'm finding that the climb up is becoming more difficult and a climb down at 2 am is not appealing. I'd encourage investigating all options that will fit your lifestyle for at least 10 years. I did design my van so that sleeping down is an option, but the "sofa" is not comfortable as a bed (is a good legal seat).

I'm pondering long-term options and would love to see more updates on potential contractors. I have concerns that Sportsmobile has been changing in terms of ownership, focus, and skills since I acquired my van.

That said, I had a 30 day trip in March (camping a big loop in the US Sw) and watching the world go bonkers), and I leave tomorrow on a 10-day camping trip (mostly a couple of Florida state parks).

Good luck with your investigation. Just make sure your solutions will fit your needs until the van is beyond your current tolerance of old.

[racer_rr]

Like everyone else, I found RV interior materials and construction absolute garbage for no reason other than because they can.
Look at the European camper vans for refreshing designs, efficiency, and materials.
Personally if I had the time I'd redo ours in rounded aluminum extrusions with 1/8" plastics panels. Heck even 1/8" foam board is enough rigidity to close off a space considering the extrusions take the load. On a whim you could literally recut all new panels in a different color in a weekend.
ATC Trailers have this 'industrial' cabinetry feel using boxed alum panels. Way cooler then fake MDF with oak vinyl veneer. gag.

https://images.app.goo.gl/BWg9rUEyz7sDCv3r6
https://images.app.goo.gl/TujNRLeASfo4YA22A

[BrianW]

Euro camper vans are far ahead in terms of design, construction, and livability. Some of the newer US class Bs are better, but the prices are absurd.

[AndrewInSeattle]

Another data point, from SMB-West, 2017...

Our cabinetry is mostly good, but there were some glitches that I assume were from rushing the work, bringing on new workers, etc., as #vanlife was heating up. The storage cabinets, shelves, countertops are all fine and have given us no problems in 3+ years. The T-molding isn't a perfect fit everywhere, especially around the corners, but it's minor.

Our galley drawers, however, gave persistent problems. They rattled, didn't latch well enough to stay closed on hard-right turns after a year of break-in, and every time I removed something for the first time I found all sorts of construction debris -- sawdust, loose screws, a pencil. We ordered a triple-height drawer for pots and pans which, in retrospect, might have been a mistake, as it gets out of true too easily. We ended up replacing all the sliders, and adding a second pair of sliders for the tall drawer, but they still feel hinky.

The most unforgivable problem was that both piano hinges for our counter extensions started rusting. We had those replaced with stainless steel, but come on, that's such a trivial place to pinch pennies, and can't be blamed on a new hire.

[Beached]

When I toured SMB West in 2016 I was surprised by how “slapped together” the cabinets seemed. I got the penthouse installed in my sprinter but decided not to use them for the interior work. The pictures below from almost finished builds help explain my opinion;
Small L-brackets held all panels together with no mitering or other connection at joints, and the L-brackets seemed randomly spaced. I sort of expected a strong box frame to support drawers, and maybe prefabing for popular cabinet sections, but didn’t see that. Hard to imagine this construction maintaining its integrity in a crash.

[jrobe]

To be fair, our SMB North cabinets have held up well in terms of their structural integrity even with a lot of those “L” brackets. That is even with a fair amount of off road use. The only issue we have had is with a some cosmetic water bubbling issues on the face.

As an avid wood worker, you could do dovetail and other fancy joinery on the cabinets and they still won’t withstand a crash. I also think that SMB cabinetry is better than the vast majority of the junk you will see in 90%+ of all commercial RV’s on the market. It wouldn’t take much though for SMB to get that number to 95-98% without raising the price too much. Maybe most people though aren’t willing to pay it.

[BrianW]

Agree it’s not fine cabinetry work, but very few rvs have anything better IMO. My previous 22-year-old SMB was built the same way (L brackets and such) and the cabinets were still in very good shape when I sold it earlier this year. And we used it fairly heavily, including three people living/traveling in it for up to five weeks each summer.