is this illegal???

[survivorman1982]

<P>ok so im building my camper van and was thinking about removing the front passenger seat and building a small kitchen area that goes from floor to cieling but it obstructs my view of the passenger side mirror a bit is that legal?</P>

 

[akrvbob]

It probably is illegal, but you will have to check with the DMV of your state. But more important, I would definitely consider it unsafe. You need to be able to see out the passenger window. Just as bad, it draws attention to you and screams out that someone is living in the van. In an Astro you need to get all the space you can, but I wouldn't build anything higher than window in the front passenger area. Bob<br>

 

[Guest]

My friend Jon who attended the RTR with me had a Caravan that he took the passenger seat out of and built a cabinet in place of it....the top was below the window sill and he had all his electronics....radio, invertor, etc. mounted on the top and there was a niche lined with aluminum for his Buddy heater...the rest was storage space. The driver's seat was on a swivel and he left enough space to be able to get in and out of the seat. He had it that way for a number of years and drove it many miles all over the country.<br>&nbsp;<br>I totally agree with Bob in that I think it is imperative to have side window vision as well as vision out&nbsp; the side door in the rear. JMHO<br><br>Bri <br><br>

 

[survivorman1982]

<P>yes i agree i said it impaired my vision a bit meaning i can still see the mirror but its slighty obstructed by two 1 inch metal poles</P>

 

[butterfly]

<p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="3" face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Along the lines of safe exits......I access things under the bed&nbsp;by opening the rear doors from the outside.&nbsp; More than once I've brushed against&nbsp;the childlock feature&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;un knowingly flipped&nbsp;it to the ON position.&nbsp; I don't&nbsp;normally&nbsp;open those doors from the inside so it's a long time before I realize the child lock is on.&nbsp; That is something to check ocassionally to be sure you have a working rear exit in an emergency.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="3" face="Tahoma"></font>&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;"><font size="3" face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">&nbsp;</font></p>

 

[VanTramp]

IMO, Maintain the clearest views possible every time it is up to you. About the time you go against that and even slightly block vision in one window is when you will have a child on a bike or guy on a motorcycle hidden by that obstruction. Murphy is always at play...It just isn't worth it.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>On that note, this is just an opportunity to consider the design a little more and maybe even come up with a more elegant and functional end result. Always happens that way when I am trying to come up with the right solution. When you get the right answer, it will usually be one of those "Ah Ha!" moments.</div>

 

[Instead]

<font size="3" face="Georgia"><span title="Offline">Not for nothin' hippiegypsy420, but my wife and I spent all of January in our Astro and are about to go full time and we barely used our camp stove at all. I plan to still bring it and stow it, but we used a raptor burner (pictured) almost daily for heating water for coffee, oatmeal, noodles, ect</span> and that thing took up almost no room at all.<br><br></font> <div align="left"><font size="3" face="Georgia">Just my opinion, I would assign that space another use.<br><br><img src="http://slipfrog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Just-Camping.jpg"><br></font></div>

 

[karl]

Instead-<br>&nbsp;I see another very useful item next to the burner- Bag Balm, made a few miles from my childhood homestead, good stuff in 1899 and today. It's not just for cows any more <img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br>

 

[Instead]

Yep Karl, that's great stuff!!<br>