Converting my Kia Soul

[microRV]

Hello! Starting a thread here to document/get advice on my Kia Soul conversion. I've made quite a few trips in this baby, and have made quite a few useful mods to it to make it more livable, but about to really move in more or less full time for the forseeable future--with my two large dogs   I would LOVE to hear of other experiences living out of a Soul, especially if you've removed seats or built it out into a tiny van like I'm planning to, and what has worked/hasn't. I've spotted a few of RetiredNomad's threads but wonder if there are others. I'm in Anchorage now and heading down the AlCan here in the next month or so. Looking forward to finding and sharing lots of great info on this forum!

 

[WriterMs]

With two large dogs? You are quite brave. Probably won't ever need a heater in your rig for cold nights. LOL

This should be a fun thread to watch. There are a couple of threads on building out the Transit Connect that show some very neat ideas. You can do a search on the forum and likely find those if interested.

 

[microRV]

With two large dogs?   You are quite brave. Probably won't ever need a heater in your rig for cold nights. LOL

This should be a fun thread to watch. There are a couple of threads on building out the Transit Connect that show some very neat ideas. You can do a search on the forum and likely find those if interested.

Haha, yes, not worried about the cold at all really! Heat is a different story....

I would love a Transit Connect or something just a bit bigger, but the Soul is what I have so it's what I'm workin' with.  :shy:

 

[sephson]

Here's my thread for the conversion I did on my Kia Soul. I'm not a full timer, more of a road tripper, but there may still be some ideas you might find useful.

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-My-Future-Road-Tripper

 

[microRV]

AWESOME thread Sephson!! Lots of great ideas there. Love the accordion shelf to extend the sleeping area. I have played around with a lot of different things to fill the gap and that one is very smart. I'm going to attempt to remove the seats this time, but if it turns out to be too much of a pain I'll try that! I also am playing with the idea of if it's somehow possible to rig up a hammock. It seems impossible with the existing structure without compromising the weatherstripping but I wonder if an anchor point couldn't be rigged up from one of the back cargo net hooks? The Soul certainly encourages one to be creative!