The Gnarhauler: Another white cargo van.

[i bike]

Chipping away at the electrical interconnects. Got mostly everything connected at this point, still need to handle the solar. Got the stereo working, took an initial pass at tuning. Need to fiddle with it some more.

Added a fuse for the inverter and a disconnect relay for the solar.

A better look at the standoffs and cable management channel

Control panel 2.0. I’m redoing both wheel well boxes, need more storage. Thinking I’ll use the empty spot in the lower right for a 120v outlet.

 

[i bike]

Solar installed and connected, 180w Renogy panel putting out a respectable 6a around mid-day.

I had this panel in mind when I assembled the roof rack. Nice clean fit.

 

[i bike]

Out using the van over the holiday weekend. House power system worked well. I may add a folding solar panel to the mix that I can move throughout the day. Cooler temps up north helped get ~10a out of the single solar panel at mid day. I’m making lists of stuff to work on as I use the van. Finding the need for more integrated storage. I’m wanting to get a spare tire carrier and reclaim the unused space with one of the aluminum boxes made by a member on this forum, maybe two if I can squeeze them in there.

 

[another_mike]

Interconnects installed

I used desk grommets to allow cable to pass thru the distribution panel, PVC conduit clamps to manage cables on the backside.

Routing cabling from under hood, ground and house battery location along frame rails and into the cabin. Used some hi temp wrap where I crossed the frame rail and passed under the exhaust manifold.

FYI, I can't see any of the photos in this post, but I can see them in all the other following posts.. Don't know if its just me or not....

 

[i bike]

FYI, I can't see any of the photos in this post, but I can see them in all the other following posts.. Don't know if its just me or not....

Interesting..... I linked them from another forum. I’ll try and host them locally and see if that fixes it. Thanks for the heads up.


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[dickieale]

I am just starting a build out of a 2006 E250 (not extended) and I have many of the same wish list items as you so it has been great to see the progress you have made over the past couple of years. One of the first items on my list is to address my worn out front seats. I noticed you had "09+ front seats w/swivels" on your wish list. Is there a reason you were looking for 09+? What did you end up with for your front seats?

 

[i bike]

I am just starting a build out of a 2006 E250 (not extended) and I have many of the same wish list items as you so it has been great to see the progress you have made over the past couple of years. One of the first items on my list is to address my worn out front seats. I noticed you had "09+ front seats w/swivels" on your wish list. Is there a reason you were looking for 09+? What did you end up with for your front seats?

They went to more of a high back captains chair when they redid the interior in 2009 vs the buckets in the previous generations including mine. I did end up picking up a set from the salvage yard earlier this year. They’re a little more blown out than I’d hoped for, but long term plan is to have heaters added, reupholster and get the foam built back up.

I also went with the OEM because it’s a direct swap from year to year, and way cheaper than going with Sienna seats or the Scheelmans.


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[i bike]

Made some progress on the floor storage box project. Found a local fabricator to make them for me. He’s building them based off a pair of marine deck hatches I picked up.

CAD (cardboard aided design) for box and lid layouts. I’m planning on cutting back the l-track and adding a few perpendicular strips near the box lids. You can see I got my house battery moved inside as well to make room under the van. It was soon replaced with a BattleBorn shortly after the Cyber Monday sale

Making space under the van. Tire winch removed. I drilled and punched out all the rivets. In hindsight I’d probably just cut the mounting ears off flush with the frame. It was a LOT of work getting those rivets out. I ended up having to cut one ear off the winch to get it free from the frame rails anyway....

Relocated the forward crossmember and re-mounted the emissions canister.

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[i bike]

Swapping in the new Battleborn lithium battery. Super light compared to the old AGM. It was a Cyber Monday b-stock deal, I can’t find a single blemish on it. When I first installed the AGM battery on the frame I put in an inline Anderson connector to make servicing the battery easier. I repurposed it when I moved the battery inside. Makes the swap super simple.

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[i bike]

Since I ditched the tire winch I needed an alternative way to carry my spare. Timing worked out and I scored a deal on a lightly used Aluminess carrier. Makes a great drying rack for snowboards as well.

I did run into one issue with the studs on the carrier plate. The threading on the lug studs didn’t allow the lug nut to thread on far enough to engage the steel wheels. This wouldn’t be an issue with a thicker aluminum wheel. My solution was grade 8 washers to take up the slack. All good now.

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[i bike]

Back on to the interior. I got 50 linear feet of SM600L Thinsulate from DiyVan and started stuffing, gluing and fishing. I got it installed everywhere I could. Every cavity in the van, fished strips through the window frames of the doors and full sheets against the exterior sheet metal.

I think I stole this idea from Hein at DiyVan specifically for the roof. Cut your section of Thinsulate to the outside dimension of the roof ribs, then remove ~2” of the Thinsulate material from the scrim backing. This allows the material to cover better and offer a little more bite to the metal of the van. Might even help a little with thermal bridging.

I cut my roof sections 2-3” wider than the space between the interior wall pinch weld and was able to stuff the extra over the top into the cavity behind it. Came out nice and clean.

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[i bike]

Templating roof panels. I got some 5x5’ 1/8” birch plywood panels and cut some strips to use to make templates. Similar to what I’ve seen in the construction industry for stone countertops. I held everything in place with some spring clamps and then when I was happy with the positioning I’d put a dab of wood glue where the pieces overlapped and let it dry. I’m using 1/4-20 rivnuts in the roof ribs in conjunction with L-Track pucks to hold the ceiling up. Offers a ton of options for hanging gear as well.

Panels dry fit and LED lights wired up. They’re on a dimmer and look great at night. I ran an individual homerun for each perpendicular pair so I can potentially break them up on different dimmers. I’m think the forward four together with the dimmer inside the barn door and the rear four wired to a dimmer inside the rear door. Jury is still out on that one...

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[i bike]

Added some exterior lighting as well. Picked up some RGB+W weather rated LED strip, aluminum channel and diffused cover and VHB’d in to the perfectly sized channel on the bottom of my awning.

I ran a five conductor cable into the van to support all the channels of the LED strip. Used a WeatherPack connector on the roof out of view. I’m only hooking up the white and red channels for now. Both on their own dimmer inside the side door.

I also added these guys on all four corners of the rack plus one on the rear. These will be wired to the chassis battery via a homemade relay/switch panel setup I’m working on. They’ll mostly be used when setting up camp in the dark or working on repairs etc.

They match the height of the 8020 on my U-Joint roof rack PERFECTLY! I was super happy with the outcome. I got the lights from E-Trailer.com for about $30 a light. They’re bright, but not too bright. I’m a habitual flip-flop wearer and blast my toes on a rock at least once a year walking around the van in the dark. Hopefully these light will help eliminate that.


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[i bike]

Temped up the interior lights to a dimmer last night, really happy with the dimmable range and temperature of the light. I’m going to have the front two lights on their own separate dimmer.

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[Photobug]

I did run into one issue with the studs on the carrier plate. The threading on the lug studs didn’t allow the lug nut to thread on far enough to engage the steel wheels. This wouldn’t be an issue with a thicker aluminum wheel. My solution was grade 8 washers to take up the slack. All good now.

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This is a very cool build and looks way sharp with non white paint job. I am impressed and jealous.


From having just read your entire build I can say for sure you know way more about mechanical stuff than me but just want to check and you can run it by others who know more: but I think the lug nuts are intended to go in and lock the wheel in place. You can see from your first photo there is a male and female taper on the lug nut and wheel to tie it all together? You solution with the washers might put your lugs at risk if the wheel were to slip or move. Maybe you can put the washers behind the wheel, between wheel and hub to get the lug/wheel to mate properly?