Extras

Awning

We had a 6' ARB awning from our trial van (Toyota Sienna) and it bolted easily onto 1/4" twist nuts on the superstrut roof rails.

• Brackets
• Awning

Side Step

An expensive after market option. I think these are $175 when you order the van and about $800 with shipping from Mopar.com.

• https://store.mopar.com/accessories/2021-ram-ram_promaster-exterior_accessories-cargo_steps/cargo_side_step_82214884.html

Window Coverings

Front windows: We ordered the front 3 window coverings from heatshield, they were inexpensive and really easy to put in and store when driving.

• https://www.heatshieldstore.com/

Side Window Coverings: 

We ordered 2 side window shades from strawfoot.

• https://strawfoothandmade.com/products/window-covers-ram-promaster-van

Door Panels

Two rear panels and one side door panel, 1/4 inch with black screws & washers. I used #8 u nuts on the rear. These are clips that can move a little, making it easier to line up the holes on the panels.

Kitchen counter top and sink

Countertop

We bought a Slate-P paperstone remant 60x23. Its recycled paper and resin, very tough and easy to work with, with wood tools. Although I used up 4 blades on the sink cutout. To anchor the panel I used wood inserts and I'll bolt from underneath with corner brackets on the kitchen frame.

Parts

• https://www.greencountertopsdirect.com/product-category/panels/budget-panels/
• 10-24 Hex Wood insert nuts from a local hardware store
• Maroon Scotch-brite (320 grit)
• 30 minute Epoxy for the backsplash
• Paperstone finish

Sink

We picked out the Ruvati 15x15 sink. It has a drain basket so we should be able to use it for dish and pan storage. We will strap it into the kitchen frame.

Parts:

• Ruvati 15x15 top mount marine grade sink
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y3XV9YS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Plumbing

This site from VanLifeCustoms in CO is a good tutorial. 

https://vanlifecustoms.com/blog/diysink

• Camco flexible camper drain (from Amazon)

Tools and parts

Having a full shop of tools and room to work would of course be great. But if you don't have this here is a list of must have tools for a build.

Tools:

• Rivnut setter - used throughout the van build
• Astro Pneumatic 1442 from Amazon
• FASTENPRO 3-In-1 Riveter Kit from Harbor Freight
• Scissors - used to cut everything, insulation, fabric, foam, flooring
• Drill - A drill is needed at various times, but mostly for rivnuts
• 2" hole saw for lights
• 1/4" Forstner bit, for cutting plywood with little tear-out
• Screwdriver set 
• Jig Saw
• fine metal blades to cut super strut etc.
• fine wood blade to cut plywood and templates
• Circular saw - pre-cutting panels to size
• Wiring
• Wire Cutter and Stripper, for 8-20 AWG Solid and 10-22 AWG Stranded Electrical Wire Klein Tools 11063W
• Titan 11477 Ratcheting Wire Terminal Crimper
• Wire snips

• Shop Knife - wire stripping, cutting fabric, etc.

• Saw horses - bringing the work up to standing height makes a huge difference
• A low RPM cold cut saw
• Evolution Power Tools RAGE2 Multi Purpose Cutting Chop Saw, 14-Inch
• Aluminum specific blade
• DEWALT DWA7889 100 Teeth Aluminum Cutting 1-Inch Arbor, 14-Inch

Extras:

• Tarps
• Blue tape
• Floor cover
• Fabric glue
• Electric heater
• Extension cords

Panels and pillars

Pillars

We wrapped the pillars and upper horizontal pieces with fabric. It covers up much of the open space and holes.

Parts: 

• Oat tweed
• https://www.perfectfit.com/15994/157084/Upholstery-Fabrics/Marathon-Tweed-Fabric-54.html
• 3M 90 spray contact cement

Panels

More baltic birch 1/4" plywood and 10-24 rivnuts

The panels in the back are CDX plywood with fabric over.

• Fabric upholstery from https://www.sailrite.com/
• Carpet is Home Depot Traffic Master Sky Grey
• Contact cement 3M 90
• L-Track from Amazon, to both secure the panels and versatile storage

Kitchen drawers and doors

Drawers

We ordered drawers from barkerdrawer.com, since the cost of the unassembled drawers (5/8" baltic birch) was less than the material cost. I'll assemble, polyurethane them and install the drawer slides. We are going with side mount drawer slides.

It took about an hour to assemble 5 drawers. And they are square! 

We used a 5/8" baltic birch cut into cabinet fronts and those will go on the drawers and the sink door.

Parts:

• We used smaller bolts to mount the slides, hinges and catches
• 80/20 8-32 slide in nuts with 8-32 3/8" flat and machine head bolts
• https://8020.net/3275.html
• the same as weld nuts at the local hardware store
• Knape and Vogt Slow Close Drawer Slides 18" with 19" drawers.
• Blum 110 straight hinge, with 1/2" face-frame mounting plates
• Rev-a-shelf tip out tray for the sink false front 
• Southco M1-64 black 2" push-close latches

Kitchen frame and fridge

We decided to go with an extruded aluminum cabinet because it sounded fun to work with and I don't have access to a large table saw so making a square plywood cabinet would have been impossible for me.

80/20
Ourkaravan has a good video on using Series 15. I decided to go with 1 inch Series 10. The carriage bolt method did NOT work since there was not enough space between the nylon lock nuts for 2 to fit. I made the mistake of ordering the "lite" series 10 inside brackets and found that these need the 3/8 inch bolts.

https://ourkaravan.com/8020-extruded-aluminum-van-cabinets/

Parts (amazon or directly from 80/20)

• 6 - 4 sided Series 10 96"
• 4 - 3 sided Series 10 96"
• 50 brackets
• 80/20 Inc, 4108, 10 Series 2 Hole LITE Inside Corner Bracket
• 100 bolt assemblies recommended for the LITE brackets
• 3386, 10 Series, 1/4-20 x .375"
• 20 roll in bolts
• 6 slotted inside brackets for the drawer slides
• 6 2 hole bars, allowing space for the drawers
• https://8020.net/4107.html
• 4 T-Brackets for stability
• 4 Slotted corner brackets to mount to the wall
• 25-4250, 25 Series 3 Hole Slotted Inside Corner Bracket

Tools

• A low RPM cold cut saw
• Evolution Power Tools RAGE2 Multi Purpose Cutting Chop Saw, 14-Inch
• Aluminum specific blade
• DEWALT DWA7889 100 Teeth Aluminum Cutting 1-Inch Arbor, 14-Inch

Note about 80/20, while it is very versatile and you can build with it without special tools, the connectors are expensive and it requires some planning to get everything ordered. Use the catalog to get the proper part numbers and recommended parts for the series you are using.

http://catalogs.8020.net/80-20-Inc-Catalog-23/66/

Fridge

We went with an Isotherm Cruise Elegance 85, an 85 liter or 3 cubic feet with a small freezer.

• https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=3860746

Roof Rack and Solar

After our trip we decided we needed cabinets since the plastic bins, bags and boxes were chaotic after a few days. A kitchen was first but before that solar to power the fridge. To be fair, solar is not necessary since the Yeti 12v car charging cable was enough, provided you run the engine at least 30 minutes a day. We decided to add solar for boondocking and just parking the van in the driveway for longer periods.

Rack

The promaster has T mounts on the roof to mount a rack so no holes were needed. We got 6 of the roof adapters and used 14 gauge Superstrut lengthwise and 2 5ft pieces across. The superstrut is anodized, very rust proof. We decided to get it powdercoated black anyway so it would look better. 

Time: 4 hours

Parts

• 6 Roof adapters promaster
•  https://vantech.us/product/promaster-stainless-steel-adaptor
• 3 10 ft 14 gauge superstrut channel strut (home depot)
• 4 3/8 nylon cone nuts for the cross pieces

Solar 

Goal Zero customer support was super helpful with details. They suggested 2 boulder 100 watt panels, rather than the 200 watt suitcase panels, and the combiner cable with the APP (anderson) extension cable. The anderson cable is coax so splicing it would be complicated.

FarOutRide has a great solar calculator. With a fridge we estimated we needed at least 45 amp hours and 240 watts of solar. The solar calculation has a lot of factors, like mounting angle, time of year, latitude and how clean they are (or covered with snow!!) So, living in the north we decided to go with 2 160 watt renogy panels for easier mounting and a little more power just in case it snowed.

https://faroutride.com/van-electrical-calculator/

• 2 Renogy 160 watt panels
• 2 sets of renogy panel mounts
• Renogy branch connectors (for parallel connection to maintain 12v)
• A Link solar double entry gland 2mm (amazon)
• A pair of renogy 10ft extension cables
• An MC4 to APP (anderson) conversion cable
• in hindsight I could have easily put anderson connectors on the renogy cables
• Titebond polyurethane glue (local hardware) for the cable entry
• Roof sealant (silicone)
• 16 1/4 nylon cone nuts for the solar panels
• 16 1/4 bolts, washers and lock washers

Note: I would do this step first with the fan install to simplify running the cables etc.

• Goal Zero MPPT solar charging optimization module for the Yeti 1400
• Increases efficiency by 40%
• https://www.goalzero.com/shop/yeti-accessories/yeti-lithium-mppt-solar-charging-optimization-module/

Floor insulation and Vinyl

Trying to keep the floor as thin as possible for headroom, we used closed cell foam and vinyl flooring with the 1/2" plywood from Van Works. The sheets were shiplapped together.

Time: 8 hours

FarOutRide has a great diagram of layers. https://faroutride.com/floor-installation/


Parts:

• XLPE closed cell foam, 2 lb.
• https://www.foambymail.com/
• 2 4x6 sheets of 3/8" between the ribs
• 3 4x6 sheets of 1/4" glued to the back of the floor
• 3M 77 glue for the foam
• Lonseal vinyl is really great stuff, we got Madera Caramel
• https://lonseal.com/products/?f=SpecialtyVehicles
• Lonseal epoxy
• GE Silicone 2 - window and door

Note: We purchased the floor and epoxy online from Ameriteak

https://ameriteakstore.com/collections/lonseal-vinyl-flooring-options-that-can-be-installed-in-specialty-vehicles

Finally we put a bead of silicone around the egde of the floor to prevent water from getting under it.

First Trip

With the van about 25% done we loaded it up and hit the road. While on the road we wired up some reading lights each has a built in usb charger. These were great and made the van really comfortable.

• Reading lights, 12v RV

Power and wiring

We chose a goal zero 1400 lithium for a house battery. So far this has been a really great piece of equipment. It has anderson connectors which I wired to the fuse box. And it comes with a wall charger. We picked up a 12v car charger, which is 5 and 10 amps. Basically we only needed to drive 30 minutes a day to recharge what power we used on the road.

Optionally we could have gotten a battery, charger, cutoff switch, usb outlets, fuse, and inverter and built system. 

Bed Platform

Borrowing from a van kit company, we used channel strut for the bed frame cross supports and wall supports. Plywood over the top with a water based polyurethane finish. 

I'm planning on rebuilding the plywood, extending it to the back doors. This will give room for an extra wide mattress or a nightstand shelf for phone, books, etc.

Time: 8 hours


Parts

• Superstrut from home depot
• 8mm rivnuts into the van side
• Baltic birch 1/2" plywood

Ceiling and Lights

We wanted to preserve the headroom in the van so we chose a 1/4" baltic birch plywood bolted directly to the ceiling ribs of the van. The 1/4" plywood bent to the shape of the roof. We used rivnuts to attach the panels. This was easier said than done. I had to create a cardboard template and 2 scrap wood panel templates before cutting the plywood. It then took about 5 tries to get them to fit. 

Time 14 hours over a weeks time.


Parts:

• 2 sheets of 1/4" baltic birch plywood
• 10-24 rivnuts
• rivnut tool (amazon and harbor freight)
• acegoo 12v recessed led lights (amazon)
• American Technology 12v led dimmer (amazon)

Rough wiring

We wanted ceiling lights, reading lights, usb chargers, a light in the garage and over the kitchen, a water pump, a fridge, solar and maybe a screen at the foot of the bed. So I ran marine grade wire to a fuse box with wire loom where the wire went around sharp edges of the van.

Blue Sea has a good chart for wire selection https://www.bluesea.com/resources/1437

Time: about 8 hours


Parts:

• Ancor Marine Grade Duplex 16 gauge for most and 12 gauge for the fridge and screen.
• Blue Sea Systems ST Blade ATO/ATC Fuse Blocks
• A good wire stripper and crimper

Insulation and sound dampening

We started, during a warm day we used sound dampening and 3M Thinsulate, which went in very easily with 3M 90 spray contact cement. You can cut the thinsulate with scissors. 

Parts:

• Noico 80 mill, we used 36 sqft and another 18 sqft
• 3M Thinsulate Acoustic/Thermal Insulation SM600L (40' x 60")
• 3M 90 spray contact cement, 3 cans

Van Selection

We chose the Promaster 1500 132 WB since its 17'11" and will fit in a regular parking spot. It has an interior height of 6'2" and a width of about 79" so a full size bed can go sideways. 

Also, it was recommended by Wayfarer in Colorado Springs. The original idea was to drive it to Wayfarer and have them install the kit, string some lights, add a hot plate and be done. But after looking at the specifics of what they offer, while its pretty nice, we wanted something more custom and a little better quality. Specifically the wool insulation and snap on panels.

We picked up the van in the Denver area, since we couldn't find one locally.

We selected one with the RV Prep Package, swivel seats, tow package, interior upgrade and exterior upgrade. We had Van Works in Fort Collins put in 2 T-vent windows, a roof van and a wood floor (just the cut out). They did a great job especially with the sealant around the fan, but had screwed the floor down to the van.

Total estimate conversion cost is about $8500 and 180 hours of work.

This van is our inspiration https://vanlifecustoms.com/ponderosa

This site has a full set of instructions and videos that gave us hope we could do this ourselves. https://ourkaravan.com/vanbuild/