New Urban Van Rat!

[Freelander]

 (I have a rather round and awkward friend).

Sounds like you're talking about me!!  

 

[vanpocalyptic]

- Has there been any instance at all in which it seemed inconvenient to have the doors blocked?

- Is the set up such that you can access things via opening of those doors from outside, or put things inside via those doors from the outside?

- How easy of hard is it to go past the front seats to get into the cargo space?

Hey Treesprite!

Nope, never really miss the side door. One thing to keep in mind is I am full-time in the city and only get out of town on weekends - so I am never just chilling with my doors open like one may be doing at a campground. Also, I never wear shoes in the back and entering through the front is like my mudroom. Did have my cabinets across the front when I started with side door access, but hated climbing over cabinets to go to bed and never wanted to enter in side due to stealth concerns.

My sidedoor has some storage you can see in the pic and I have a spare space heater and Mr. Buddy jammed in there. Essentially though, it is to access my utilities and through the side door I can refill diesel for my heater, throw in a fresh water jug, replace my propane tank, access my greywater tank, and also access my sink and stove from outside the vehicle. I will also sometimes place items like groceries on my sink/stove if I need to load them into back of vehicle through those doors.

It is pretty easy for me to crawl into the back... but I am 152 pounds soaking wet and pretty nimble, lol. A larger person may want to just have a curtain and not deal with a door. I live in Canada and wanted a proper insulated bulkhead, but a curtain would allow not only access to be easier, but also open the space up and make swivel seats a possibility.

The bed is fixed, but has a ton of storage underneath accessable from the rear doors.

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[treesprite]

Thank you so much for the details! It's really helpful.

 

[treesprite]

Really, thank you. The mud room idea just put the image of a dirty cab in my head, then I didn't give the term much other thought. Until I started messing with my design to allow for using the space in front of the side door. Then I had an epiphany that I don't think I would have had if you hadn't mentioned using your cab as a mud room. LOL. This is why we need web forums, to inspire each other! I feel a lot more enthusiastic about my build now than I did before you shared your build.

 

[vanpocalyptic]

Really glad to hear that and look forward to seeing where your design goes!

To be perfectly honest, while the living area of my van is kept really clean, my cab is usually pretty messy with snowy boots, jackets, and random tools, lol.

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