Looking for new RV friends to talk to while I convert my truck

[angelmander]

I've been working on this 2001 freightliner MT-55 stepvan for a few weeks now. It's got a 5.9 liter in line 6 cummins diesel and an allison 5 speed tranny. Gross vehicle weight 29,000 pounds.  14 foot cargo area, plenty of cab room. It was an old DOT truck, bought it pretty cheap. It's got 62000 miles on it. Now for the juicy part

I already know what im doing with the conversion. I'm a mechanic and I know my carpentry and plumbing and electrical. i've already ran wiring and plumbing in the back area, put up wooden studs and started with insulation. So far i've spent about 9000 dollars working on it and im pretty much done with the cost and it's really just putting in the hours to get it done now. When I'm finished its going to have everything a regular RV does. I wanted to learn how to do all this stuff from scratch rather than simply buy an RV with everything already included, so I bought this box truck with nothing inside it.

I'm doing this because all of my old friends have moved away or stopped talking to me and I live in a rural area. I'm lonely and bored every day and I need to get the hell out of here, and I cant afford to pick a spot on earth and make my stake so I'm doing this RV so i can travel around and see different places and decide where, if anywhere, I want to stop.

I have lots of pictures of my conversion process so far and i'm happy to talk about it. Anyone who wants to hear more details about my conversion feel free to message me, I dont have many people to share my hard work with and I'm really excited to be able to talk to someone else who is mechanically minded like me and can appreciate the work im doing. Cheers

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome angelmander to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

to get the conversation going why don't you post up some pics and explain your build.

highdesertranger

 

[angelmander]

I dont really feel like uploading all forty or so of my images so far to imgur to show you guys but basically, I've got a big white semi transparent 50 gallon drum with a 12v pump attached to it, it pumps water up and out to the toilet, sink, and showerhead. I have a propane water heater for my hot water in the shower, ive got a set of wires in the walls running 110 volts for appliances and bedside phone charger and a series of 12 volt wires for running the light circuits and pump. I decided it would be easier to run both rather than multiple step down inverters.
I'm using 12 and 14 gauge romex for the wires, just what I had laying around. One of my father's friends sold me a huge 80 gallon aluminum tank which will be my waste tank. I'm going to drill holes in the floor for the pipes to take water to the waste tank and I've already got the leader pipes for all three water sources so far. I've installed close to 40 2x4's as frame to hold the 3/8 inch plywood im going to use on the walls.

There is going to be a couch, an AC unit, four 6 volt 200 amp hour batteries, a generator, a 75 amp battery charger supplemented by the truck's built in 150 amp alternator which im going to connect to the four batteries through a diode to provide charging for the batteries without the batteries being used to start the truck. I've got plans for a cabinet above the sink, a bathroom with a nice shower space and toilet, speaking of which I already picked up an old RV toilet which i will install. A 12 volt to 110 inverter to power the 110 circuit of course. I'm going to have built in accent lighting in the ceiling, ive already run the wires for that and im looking at nice light fixtures to plug into them now.

everything so far is going pretty well. and of course, theres plenty of space for me to store all my tools. I'm a mechanic and i can work with just about anything. I like to think of myself as a big of a maguyver type. I'm doing it all by myself so when im done i have the privilege of saying I did it all by myself

 

[wildbill]

Shoot, you could travel around and help or do builds....just a thought.

 

[angelmander]

Shoot, you could travel around and help or do builds....just a thought.

I might do something like that. I'm going to have to make money somehow after all.

 

[angelmander]

I ended up uploading some of the images to imgur. They’re not in any particular order

 

[maki2]

You are doing very nicely crafted work. It is nice to have a vehicle that can handle the weight of all that water and stud framing.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Looks like it will be a nice unit when you are done....I like that 'city-door' on the side...you could box-in the interior and have a cabinet door inside also. It would be handy for supplies and what-not.

 

[angelmander]

Another 10 hours of work later and I've got most of the insulating done. I have the electrical and plumbing run too, its coming along fast. I've spent 5-6 hours a day working on it for a few weeks, officially clocked 49 hours now.

Pictures are kinda borked so here

 

[ssminnow]

It looks like a really nice build you are doing there! I would make sure that water barrel is very secure!
  Is that right behind the drivers seat? I would be very worried about having that right behind me if I got into a front impact accident. That 425 pounds of of water will kill you or injure you severely if it is not secured.
You are going to have very nice home there!! :thumbsup:

 

[angelmander]

When i'm done it will be secured. And unless I hit an immovable object, my unstoppable force of a van will not be slowing down so quickly as to cause my water to crush me XD

 

[ssminnow]

Yea i didn't remember the 29,000 lb GVW. That thing is a beast. My bad! My car wouldn't move that water barrel if you hit me head on in my camry!
I can't wait to see it when you finish it.
Keep on truckin !!!