Four seat SMB?

[stevenmd]

I am currently working on my layout for my EB van. I am trying to set it up so that the two middle benches can stay in the van. There will be a rear bed platform where the rear bench was that will go fold over the now rear most bench. The front bench will be removed and I will have a pod similar to the one SMB uses but with and ARB fridge and no microwave.

With this layout I can transport 8 people and camp 4 in the van (with the popup). So far I have been having problems figuring out how to make the rear bed platform work and still keep the second to last bench. They just don't make many bench seats that fold forward.

Mark

Mark - do you have any pics? What year van are you working with? Perhaps you can start a new thread or email me: stevenmsw at yahoo dot com. I am very interested in all set ups in my quest to find the right one that will work with my family. We have 5 kids, ranging from 9 months old to 14 years old.

 

[ChuckB]

I have been lurking around the SMB forums and love all these ideas, keep 'em coming!!

 

[beernutmark]

Mark - do you have any pics? What year van are you working with? [cut] I am very interested in all set ups in my quest to find the right one that will work with my family.

Sadly no pics or really any buildup yet. I have a 2005 Ford E350 Gas V10 that has a SK 4x4 conversion. Love the van so far. No interior work so far. This economic slow down has been a mixed blessing as far as the van is concerned. Biz has slowed down enough that I can't do the build yet but the delay has given me lots of extra time to figure out my needs/wants. I am keeping a spreadsheet on google docs to keep track of costs, priorities and vendors. Feel free to check it out. I'll try to keep it up to date.

Since this isn't really a thread hijack since my goals are similar to yours, here is my current plan:

As said before I am working on a transformer type layout with a removable bed platform at rear of van that can be swapped with the rear bench as desired. It has yet to be determined if the second to last bench will stay in the van. Taking it out makes building the rear platform significantly easier and will yeild lots more space but I envision sometimes wanting to haul a few more people than my four person family.

I will have SMB put a penthouse in the van (yes they will do this for used vans).

The interior equipment/appliances will be (links to dealers and/or interesting threads about them):

Espar D2 heater with an aux tank for it. Going to run Kerosene since that seems to provide the best results for the heater with no carbon buildup and very little extra expense.

This thread gives you a good idea on how easy it is to hook one up. My tank will hopefully be under the van though. Do a google search on "Espar Kerosene" and you will see why I want to run it that way.

ARB 50 Qt Fridge This will be mounted behind the drivers seat either on the floor with a slider to pull in/out of the cabinet or up at counter height mounted above a cabinet. I will have a DC outlet accessible from the outside of the van to use the fridge in the camp kitchen.

Small Transformer Pod to hold a few goodies, contain DC and possibly AC outlets, potentially a diesel single-burner stove that I will power off the same kerosene tank used for the Espar.

A Stumptaco's style camp kitchen I am going to build my own kitchen boxes which will pull out from the rear area under the bed. I really like outdoor cooking and camping and think that this will be deluxe.

120 Qt Marine Cooler space. I wan't space for my giant marine cooler for long trips. When using the cooler I would use the ARB as a freezer and keep freezing 2L bottles to keep the cooler cold. This will either go in the rear of the van or right behind the front passenger with tie downs connected to the van floor.

House Battery and Seperator Not sure if I am adding a big AGM 4D or going to add two 27's. The 27's will be easier to install and lift by myself. Also Ford has battery trays designed to hold batteries that size on the passenger frame rail so no fabrication. However, there is tons of space under the van just behind the rear axle and in front of the current spare location to mount either the 4d's or the 27's.

After all that I will add some 4x4 goodies like lockers, extreme aire compressor, aluminess bumpers and superwinch etc...

The nice thing about going homebuilt is I can get parts as I feel I can afford them and not have to go into debt building this thing.

I'll start a real build thread when I actually start. Right now it's all planning.

Mark

 

[Adventurerider]

SMB Build

Steve & Mark,

M wife and I are right in the middle of doing our van and we to have kids (4) so I've been working on this same problem for the last year. I know it sound like a lot of time but I only want to do this once and even when your doing it yourself to save on some duckets, but it still costs an awful lot regardless.

We thought about doing a Transformer from SMB, and at one point even sent in our deposit back in 06, things right after that starting changing for us (financially) and we had to for go building our van, or so we thought.

I happen for find a van that was in great shape and only a little over a year old that had a Quigley set up done and was a blank canvas to boot, so we took the plunge and decided to build our van on our own. Sometimes things have a funny way of working out, I'll be sure to let ya know when they do, ha ha...

Anyway, so I to used Blackeye van (SMB forum screen name) as a templet to work off of, just like 1 leg Lance.

So far we have met some great people along the way in this build and with out there help a lot of this would not have been possible or should I say, we would not be as far along as we are without them. If I can be of any assistance to you or anyone on this forum who is building a van, please by all means ask away. I have spend well over year researching things, finding deals, better way to do things / go, and we are finely almost there, all we have left to do is our interior & rear bumper. I've come up with some different Idea's on how to save wait, space for the gear, the kids, etc. I have contacted the guys who are behind the guy's at www.outsidevan.com which is www.vanspecialties.com/, these guys are really helpful and do some great work.

If I had the plans in the computer I would post them for everyone to check out, but this should give you the basic idea:
We have decided to try and make everything somewhat removable so we can use the van in several different ways, so keep that in mind with our design. We will have the two front capt. chairs the swivel around, then one more capt. chair behind the front passenger that will also swivel, then a bench behind that, but it will be more like a U shaped sectional where you will be able have two kids facing one another from across a table, while three are seated strait ahead, all with seat belts. As for the Fridge, Stove/Cook Top, Microwave & Sink they will run along the drivers side of the van in a design that is still in the works. This way we will be able to seat 8 and sleep 6 with no problem, got to have room for the kids to have a few friends to come along, right!

I have found a few places where you can get a Groucho frame and have had a lot of luck with items like this in the local pick a pull yards, so if your only looking for a normal bench that coverts into a bed, I would go and look, I have found several out there and they sell for as little as $50.

Let me know if I can help, and good luck, I'll post pictures as they become available!

Cheers All

 

[DragRag]

There are very nice used 4x4 vans out there with seating. I just picked up this one in the bay area a short while ago. It has seating for 8, and has a bed in the back with plenty of storage space pretty much everywhere. It is not the newer body style, but I am very happy with it. Here are a couple pics. Don't be afraid of the older iron, as long it was maintained like this rig was. It is a 6.9l Turbo diesel, with banks, engine brake, and gearvendor O.D.

I am going to take some better pics of the Van here pretty quick, and will post when I do.