32 replies to this topic

[VanGoOutdoors]

To bring it up current.

 

Wanted to start the fridge/cabinet base for the door opening, so built out the base!

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Boom.  fits perfect

 

Then finished trimming out the interior of the flares, and also made the rest of the walls.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

I used more screws than needed, but i like the look, so there is that.

 

Today after work ill be framing out the driver side cabinet.  Ill be doing the kitchen on that side in front of the window this time, with storage and all that stuff on the passenger door side as well.

 

 

Building the kitchen cabinet.  Will contain two doors and three drawers.

Dometic stove and sink on the right in front of the window. Water jug under the sink, storage on the left, with the vertical cabinet on top on the left, like the last van, except this one is a two piece unit instead of a single unit.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

welded in drawer slide rails, lagun table mount rails, and skinned the sides

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

[VanGoOutdoors]

covering some of the panels, more fabric on theway

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Skinned and cut out the bed

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

router shavings suck

 

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

color code ac cover

 

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

and she sits like this now.

 

covering some of the panels, more fabric on theway

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Skinned and cut out the bed

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

router shavings suck

 

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

color code ac cover

 

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

and she sits like this now.

 

[VanGoOutdoors]

Making moves!

Started out building the vertical cabinet.  I decided to do it as a separate unit because last time it was all one unit.  I couldn't make it as tall as I wanted to in order to fit it in.  This way, it fits much better.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Then I needed to build the upper cabinet over the kitchen

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

9 degree angle on the cut on the back wall fits perfect

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Gotta make the other end upper cabinet over the bed, then ill skin the sides, lowers, and cover them with fabric.  I will be getting all the doors and drawers made once i finish it all, and the van will be pretty much done!

 

And more progress!

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Needed to build the unit above the fridge

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

actually used the slide itself to mount half the unit, saves about an inch and a half of walkway space by doing this.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

shane back there working on his stuff for something

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

not my best work, and i have to take a half an inch out of the side not welded to the slide because im a dipshit.  Or raise the slide platform up 1/2 an inch (most likely the way im going)

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

this is the upper wall above the window.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

since part of this assembly is visible when it is all installed (door and surround around the door), took it into the polishing room and make it pretty

[VanGoOutdoors]

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

All assembled and ready to go in

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Installed into the van

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

also covered the wire wall

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

covering the galley unit

 

 

And some 80% build pics!

Went to a van show in orlando today, thrashed 22 hours between friday at 12pm to saturday at 1am to get it from a bare shell to what you see.  Had to take i tall apart to do some more wiring nad fabrication, so the time was the crunch!

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

[VanGoOutdoors]

Lights work finally!  Couldn't finish the wiring and stuff until i did the panels on the fridge enclosure.

Now everything is all wired up and good to go.  110v is golden, switch for the hot water heater to come on, inverter panel, ignitors on the stove and all that jazz.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Note the super cool aluminum backsplash thing for the countertop that i polished out.  Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

when your overlanding helinox chair sinks into the sand, you use your bedslide as a porch....duh

 

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Also installed the forward maxxair fan finally, wired it up and trimmed it out

 

Last but not least, installed the winch mount (winch will be here tomorrow) and finished up the air system with the tank and horn

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

[VanGoOutdoors]

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Got the winch mount and winch all installed and spooled up.  E brake works great for keeping tension while doing the KiKi chalenge

 

Then modified my bike carrier so it sits 4 inches higher for better approach angles

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

May be some headlight impact? Big ass roof lights going on says it should be okay

 

We also decided to start making our own line of sprinter racks.  Modular, with a front, middle and rear, an extension piece or 170wb vans and cool light tab options and modular cross bars so you can put them wherever you want.  First prototype is in work now as you can see.  we decided it was about 4" too wide at 60"

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

more to come

[VanGoOutdoors]

Pretty good progress again.

Made a loop to hold recovery gear (straps and rope etc on the van left side.  will have one on top and bottom to keep tension.  Some webbing, a buckle and a pull tab

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Simple yet effective.  Keeps from carrying a bunch of bags, when i have plenty of visible and unused storage to use it on. 

 

Also got pretty far on the rack.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Dont like my knockoffs? Send me real ones.  Come at me bro

Either way, gonna suck if you cut me off

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Our patent pending modular rack.  Never worry about "if i put a fan on will it fit?"  Just move your damn crossbars

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Also. Curtains finally came in!  Insulated, reflective lining and super cool.  Makes it feel like a home and not a cave like some of the grey and black inners do

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Should have the rack done today and mounted. New version will be a slip together not bolt together, but other than that, relatively the same.  Expect production availability within the next few weeks at a sub 1600 tag

[VanGoOutdoors]

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

weld joins from where we have been playing with different front end lengths

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Pretty happy how our rack turned out.  Some final tweaks and ready for production

 

While waiting for final cabinets to be finished so i can do one last blow apart of the interior for finishing work, I decided to work on a rear tire swingout.

 

The series of pictures here are the building process of the main structure.  It will mount via either welding, or drilling and tapping the hitch frame itself to mount it using the hitch as the mount, similar to aluminess, but without all the overhang and rock dragging.

 

I used the 4x innovations kit to put it together, and 2x2x1/4" rec tube.

We did a radius bend at around 56 to get close to matching the rear without sticking too far out.

Then welded it up.  This is the main base structure.  Saturday i should have enough time to make the mounts for the hitch, tire and when the generator box gets here thursday, add that too.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

[VanGoOutdoors]

 

Tire will be very close to the pivot, and generator right next to it, with blank space further out.

 

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

SO here is the theory behind this

Aluminess makes basically what amounts to this exact situation, with a dual swingout.  The mounting, forces, etc are all the same pretty much.

only difference is i did a single arm, with less weight planned to be used.

 

The swingarm is welded to the hitch both to the cross tube, and the actual thick side plates as well.

There is some rotational flex, with 200lbs on the end.  So what i will do, so go from the mounts to the corners with 2x2x1/4 and should fix that.

[VanGoOutdoors]

Got the tire on.  Not as much movement as i was expecting, but enough to put some diagonal supports out to the hinge in and triangulate the extra hinge above and below the 2x2.  Its perfectly usable as is honestly, but i want to make it better, so gonna try.

 

Put just enough preload in the hinge so it doesn't sag and needs an ever so slight downward push to get it to latch.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

110% happier with it now.

There is still a bit of movement, but when compared to a CBI rear bumper on a tacoma (friend has one), its right at the exact same amount of movement.  So I can live with that

Added some gussets, and a diagonal support to help with the twisting, moved the whole arm over about 2.5 inches to clear the door correctly (yes we all **** up some times or the other), and added some welds to hidden spots on the hitch while it was all off.

 

The box arrived last night, so I will install the frame for that friday most likely, then drop it all off for powdercoat friday afternoon.  It's nice to have a spare tire again.

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

Untitled by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

Lord i hope my cabinets get finished this weekend. its been going on far too long so i can take it all apart one last time, paint the ceiling and cabinet faces, then put it all back in.  Ready to use it.

Just got a raise at work and 5 weeks vacation extra a year in leiu of the rest of the raise, so i have 7 weeks of vacation now a year. 

 

Winning.