BobBski's Prep for launch

[BobBski]

nice fuse block,  Blue Sea?   haha fuse block porn,  lol.   highdesertranger

LOL, yes Blue Sea

 

[BobBski]

The bed meets the girls approval.

 

[Tussah]

Thanks for sharing your build, Bob!  You're driving my dream van, and your build has a lot of similarities to the one I envision.   I hadn't thought of building a 'garage' at the back, and am intrigued with your plan for storage,and for the generator and the air conditioner.    Are you planning to provide more details about this?  Where and how will the air conditioner vent?    Will you have to always open the back doors in order to get to your clothes, or to start or stop the generator?    You mentioned sealing this off from the rest of the van.   Is this to prevent generator fumes from coming forward?  Does the generator need to be vented outside to prevent asphyxiation?

I've really been worrying about whether to build in an air conditioner, since I hope to buy it a few years before I retire, and I live in Phoenix, AZ.  Till I saw your build, I hadn't really considered the possibility of adding a small generator to power it.   I hope you will share your feedback on that, both pros and cons.

 

[BobBski]

Tussah...thanks for the kind words. Here's some short answers to your questions.
1). No clothes in garage area all in living portion. Garage has fishing equipment, propane, tools, generator etc.

2). Generator gets taken out and set on ground to run.

3). Garage and living area are kept air tight from each other to prevent the heat generated by the AC from entering the living area. Until I can find some windows that will open and install them on rear doors to vent out the heat the doors will have to be cracked and a fan blowing.

4). Don't foresee really having to use it often but having lived in the cab of a tractor trailer rig for 20+ years....I've done enough hot n humid nights

Will definitely provide feedback... but we're past AC weather now til next summer.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Read the whole thing. Awesome!

 

[BobBski]

Read the whole thing. Awesome!

Thanks.  I'm a long time follower of your YouTube channel, enjoy it very much; great job.

 

[BobBski]

This will be my last post on this thread except to answer any questions. Any other build additions or trip reports will be in the thread "BobBski 2016". https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-BobBski-2016?pid=225807#pid225807

It was fun getting rid of all my possessions, including house, and doing this build. The biggest tip I can think to give someone doing it their first time is... Make a complete packing list of everything you want to take in your vehicle...then buy them. I'm talking everything...clothes, toiletries, kitchen stuff, frig, generator, tools, propane bottle etc etc. All this before you even start your build. Then take all that stuff out to your vehicle...put things in place and build to store them. Don't build first then get your stuff. Hope this stuff helps someone the way other folks posts here helped me.

 

[Tussah]

This will be my last post on this thread except to answer any questions.  Any other build additions or trip reports will be in the thread "BobBski 2016".   https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-BobBski-2016?pid=225807#pid225807

It was fun getting rid of all my possessions, including house, and doing this build.  The biggest tip I can think to give someone doing it their first time is...  Make a complete packing list of everything you want to take in your vehicle...then buy them.  I'm talking everything...clothes, toiletries, kitchen stuff, frig, generator, tools, propane bottle etc etc.  All this before you even start your build.  Then take all that stuff out to your vehicle...put things in place and build to store them.  Don't build first then get your stuff.  Hope this stuff helps someone the way other folks posts here helped me.

Awesome tip!    I've already purchased my travel wok and my bucket, and last weekend Zonie/Chris gave me some wonderful foam for my mattress, so I'm making a good start.   I have a rug that is pretty close to the same size as my van interior will be, so I'm planning to do some staging on it.

I see you are keeping your propane tank in a milk crate, inside your shelf.  Have you bolted that down, or is it all loose?  How is that working out?  Do you run the propane cable across the van to the stove when you want to cook?   How/where are you storing your water?

I've been looking for a metal propane mount that I could bolt to the floor, but haven't found one.  Does such a thing exist, or would that have to be custom built? I've seen them on the front of trailers.  I worry about a flying propane tank in the event of a sudden stop or crash.

Also, you said your mattress is 70 inches long and it fits across the width of your Transit.   How much width did you lose when you insulated/covered your side walls?   I'm finishing my mattress today, and dithering between making it 70 inches and 69 inches.  Would love to have the extra inch, but worry that it'll be too tight to fit.  Can you advise?  

Finally, how high is your bed off the floor?  How much headroom clearance do you have when you sit up in bed?  I'm thinking that a higher bed will provide better storage, but wonder what the sweet spot is in the medium roof Transit.

Thanks,  

Lisa

 

[BobBski]

I see you are keeping your propane tank in a milk crate, inside your shelf.  Have you bolted that down, or is it all loose?  How is that working out?  Do you run the propane cable across the van to the stove when you want to cook?   How/where are you storing your water?

Also, you said your mattress is 70 inches long and it fits across the width of your Transit.   How much width did you lose when you insulated/covered your side walls?   I'm finishing my mattress today, and dithering between making it 70 inches and 69 inches.  Would love to have the extra inch, but worry that it'll be too tight to fit.  Can you advise?  

Finally, how high is your bed off the floor?  How much headroom clearance do you have when you sit up in bed?  I'm thinking that a higher bed will provide better storage, but wonder what the sweet spot is in the medium roof Transit.

Thanks,  

Lisa

Propane tank in milk carton in the back/garage section and placed in properly sized cabinet.  No bolting.  That enables easy refills.  To get to me in a crash it would have to go through one 1" wall and two 3/4" walls.  I routed the the hose through the wall, under the bunk to the cooking station.  The cooking station is also where my Mr Buddy will go when needed, so hose is permanent and out of sight.

Water.  I keep 4 gallons in a milk crate store in a shelf. In the refrigerator is another gallon.  For longer stays I have a collapsible 5 gallon container in the hitch carrier that I can fill.

From floor to bottom of bed is 11", then 1" plywood and 9" of mattress.  This allows me to sit as if on a couch in a living room.  Head height left, over 2'.  I'm 5'8" and van interior height is 6'...walk erect very easily.

I lost 4" combined on the walls.  I had 69" left and put in a 70" mattress.  Fits great.

 

[BobBski]

On the water, I'd rather lug around a one gallon container when filled than a 5 gallon container.  Easy to see how much water you have and easy to top off a 1 gallon container in more places than a larger container. The crate goes in the shelf above the batteries