Tubs: My 2004 E350 Build

[RememberTheFallen]

About done with the bed platform. It is made of out 1" square tubing and made tall enough for the lugaloo and my chuckbox to slide under.



Need to clean up welds and paint the frame. Then carpet the wood bed bases sections. Right now I have a twin mattress that rest in top but plan on buying the froli sleep system to install. The bed size is 76" long by 50" wide. A cabinet at bed height in front of the bed and behind the drivers seat will allow me to stretch out when needed for my 6'6" height.

The passenger side in the back will have the fridge sitting beside the bed at the side doors and a cabinet behind it to the back door. The cabinet will stay below the window until the last 2ft then go straight up to the ceiling.

I have ordered all of the parts from the $50 Dual Battery thread and waiting on their arrival. Mounting a Optima yellow top to the passenger frame rails.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Still have several things planned in the near future including a Maxxair roof vent some overhead lights.

Anyone know if it is possible to hack into the factory rear overhead lights? As is they shut off after 10 mins or so and won't turn back on unless I open the door.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Decided that the fancy lift will have to wait as I bought an "accessory" for the van that will give me more smiles! Lol



Still want to add stiffer springs, shocks, and add a leaf to give me some height for some AT tires and a better ride.

 

[SBF351]

Looks good!
My wife and I just purchased a similar van and building it out for a very similar trip this summer.
When are you guys taking off on you adventure?

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Looks good!
My wife and I just purchased a similar van and building it out for a very similar trip this summer.
When are you guys taking off on you adventure?

We have delayed on our long adventure until next year. I have a Tacoma that I am cleaning up to sell and it has taken up a lot of my Van time and money. We are also working on paying off all of our debt before we leave. Wasn't gonna be possible to do before it got too late in the season this year. We still plan on many short weekend trips and a week long trip or two this summer.

This Van is my daily driver, moto hauler, furniture mover, and trip cruiser. Very happy with it!

 

[SCBrian]

Nice start with the van. Looks great.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Nice start with the van. Looks great.

Thanks!

I am really enjoying this build and the van in general! Definitely not as "cool" as a lifted Tacoma but way more practical.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

We took the Van on a small road trip up to see my wife's mom and take some extra crap we had for her to store. It sure was nice to pull up in a rest area, climb in the back in bed, and be asleep within a couple minutes. 6 hours of good sleep later we were fully refreshed to continue. Took a side trip to take a break from I-81 and went through Shenandoah NP. Nothing too exciting. We did manage to get around 15.5 MPG over the whole 600 mile trip. I was pretty impressed.


Discovered the sleep platform was uncomfortable as high as it was. Cut it down so we could sit up on edge of bed without bending over too much. I will either cut the Chuck box to fit or may get rid of it altogether.

After cutting 3 inches of the legs I got it primered and painted. Sure looks a lot nicer painted.

I then carpeted the plywood to make it look a little nicer.

I had originally planned on getting fancy and using the Froli Sleep System as my mattress but their bed sizes are kind strict and also spendy. Right now I am leaning towards cutting up a 6" Spa Sensations mattress from Walmart to fit my odd size platform.

 

[350outrage]

" Right now I am leaning towards cutting up a 6" Spa Sensations mattress from Walmart to fit my odd size platform. "
Now you're speaking my language! That frame looks really nice BTW.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

" Right now I am leaning towards cutting up a 6" Spa Sensations mattress from Walmart to fit my odd size platform. "
Now you're speaking my language! That frame looks really nice BTW.

Thanks!

I got pretty lucky today and found an 8" Spa Sensations Queen at a local close out store. They do scratch and dent Walmart reject stuff. This one had a tear in the box but no damage at all to the mattress. I wanted the 6" mattress but for $89 I couldn't pass on the deal. Ordered a cheap electric bread knife from Amazon to cut it to match my 78"x50" platform.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Cut the foam mattress down to 50" wide so it will fit my platform. Crap Black and Decker electric bread knife worked ten seconds before screwing up. Had to hold one blade still with my thumb so the other one could go back and forth to finish the job. No cuts or lost thumbs!

Very comfortable but afraid it is gonna be warm. Next plans are too finish up insulation and add a roof vent before 5 days camping on the Florida pan handle at the end of June.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Gonna update the thread on the van as I have done quite a bit and this build as fallen way behind.

The trip to Florida last year was horribly hot due to lack of air flow, even with a Maxx Air roof vent, and having to have everything closed up due to swarms of Mosquitos at the state park at Cape San Blas.

Cutting the hole for the vent was a bit nerve racking! Measure 100x and cut twice!

As soon as I got home I installed a small 12v fan in front of the barn door pop out window.

(Glow in the dark paint didn't hold up very well on blades. Thank goodness they are soft plastic!)

Then the wife sewed up some black out curtains.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

I have redesigned the interior as the bed was taking up way too much room!

The new interior is based loosely on this design I put together on Google Sketchup.

The slide out bed is an exact copy of the one Cornelius made for his van other than the fact that I used round tubing to his square.

It is 78" long to accommodate my height and pulls out to a snug 44" for the wife and I.

The 8" memory foam mattress we have been using has been sliced up again and now sports a nice cover with Velcro to keep it in futon mode until bedtime.





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[Railvan]

Not only does the region suit us philosophically, it suits our needs well. Where else can you have desert, rain forest, mountains, alpine regions and ocean within about a 2-3 hour drive in any direction from home?

Oh wait, I forgot. It rains 367 days a year, stay away, you'll hate it here :lol: Gotta keep up appearances

Both true... Love it here in the PNW, but keep it quiet...

 

[RememberTheFallen]

I wanted a little more lift and to escape the church van vibe so I added Moog cc880 could to the front and Bilstein shocks on all for corners.

Everything was wonderfully rusted up and I managed to break both coil spring retainer bolts!


While installing the shocks I took the time to clean the stock steel wheels of all rust and paint them black.

Finally a new set of BFG All terrains in 235/85r16 completed the package. No scrubbing and haven't even trimmed the wheel openings.

I think the added height and new aggressive tires really helps the "look".


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