2014 Express AWD cargo van PNW 4 season camper

[iridewheelies]

Hello Everybody,

I'm all healed up from my crash and I've been working on the van. I haven't gotten as much done as I'd hoped though, because I've been using it to camp in so much. It's an amazing vehicle and it's only getting better.

I'll answer the questions first:

I haven't seen a drop in MPG. I don't keep detailed records of each tank but On Star is still showing 15 MPG for the life of the van, I'm just over 20,000 miles now.

I don't know how much the top weighs. I don't feel any extra burden on the van or effect on the suspension at all.

I haven't contacted Van Specialties about the swivels. I'm satisfied with my swivel now after all the improvements. If I had to do it over I'd talk to Van Specialties first. It seemed much more robust.

20,000 miles in the first year and I'm super happy with it.

 

[iridewheelies]

I wanted more insulation on the floor so I bought this from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EMTQTY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

I was planning to pull out the rubber mat and glue some insulation to the floor. I had a few plans in mind and ideas about what I'd buy when I had the realization that this is a work van and there are several companies already making products that would work just fine.

I pulled out the factory rubber mat, cleaned the sheet metal, put the bedrug in and then replaced the factory rubber mat. You can't tell it's there but the van is quieter on the road and probably stays cooler or hotter with the added insulation.

 

[iridewheelies]

The next project was to construct a bed/table/storage unit in the rear of the van. I have some ideas for how I'm going build out the van eventually with 8020 aluminum but first I need to get some experience with building this stuff and I need to figure out exactly what I want in there.

I decided to go with a dinette style seating and sleeping area. I put my ideas into Sketchup:





I'm really lucky that my brother built a cmc machine for his business and was happy to let me use it. I've never done any 3d modeling or used a CNC table before. It was really fun and frustrating learning how to use it. I'm hooked! The end product comes out perfect, as long as you design it right. Here is the machine cutting 3/4" ply:


It didn't leave much waste from a 4'x8' sheet





once all the parts were cut they went together like IKEA furniture. Here are a few shots of the initial assembly before I finished them out.







I still need to get the cushions cut and upholstered. There's lots of storage space under the seats and I'm really happy with how sturdy it feels. I'm thinking about the kitchen how.

 

[iridewheelies]

One of my design goals is to keep the van looking stock and as stealth as possible. I'm not hanging anything off the outside. No gas cans, jacks or shovels. Even the skis and snowboards will be mounted inside. Bikes are the only exception.

We go camping probably three times a month. We didn't get many snowboarding trips in this year because of the lack of snow. We made one overnight trip to Mt Batchelor but we didn't sleep at the mountain, we stayed in Bend close to the brewery and coffee shops. One of the best things about this van is that we can park almost anywhere, put up the black out curtains and no one notices us. We've slept in neighborhoods and in front of businesses all over the west this year. Here is a shot of us and a Tiger at the rest stop on Hwy 12 near White Pass. Tigers are nice but no so stealth.


This is how it looks with the black out curtains up. It looks like a van with tinted windows. It might be a contractor van, hard to tell.


with the curtains up we can have the lights on inside and no light escapes. They're made from refletix, glued to black velour fabric with magnets on both sides. In the hot sun we put the reflectix side out to reflect the sun. When we need privacy the black side goes out.

For the windshield we have a Weathertech sunshade with one silver side and one black side. It's cut to fit the windshield perfectly. http://www.weathertech.com/chevrolet/2015/express/techshade/

 

[photogdave]

Hey traitor!

Your build is looking really good. Sorry to read about your crash but happy to read you've recovered well.
Hope to see you out and about in the PNW!

 

[occasionaldirt]

^^^Exactly - I enjoy a stock van on the outside for the exact same reason... stealth. We camp plenty on BLM service road access backcountry, river boat launches, and blm/Nat'l park campgrounds - but, we also sleep everywhere we travel; Aspen Film Fest, T-Ride Bluegrass, small towns near the park & mtn bike trail heads, etc... even downtown or airports of major cities. Even unplanned lay-overs & friend or relative drive-ways - 'we have our own bedroom, just need the head'.

Just another vehicle on the street or parking lot. A weekend in Aspen is $300+ per night, 3-night minimum for a hotel room, and we don't always want to stay 10 miles out of town in the forest... nice to leave a concert after a few drinks & go to sleep - waking to a nice breakfast restaurant down the street. Only once in 10-years have I been hassled late at night by local police... small town & I parked in the town park lot - just had to pull out 20ft & park along the street... Utard.

 

[iridewheelies]

I'm still catching up on my posts but I'll skip ahead to my latest modification. The maxxfan deluxe remote control roof vent. This thing is fantastic for pulling hot or stinky air out of the van.

Install is easy and it comes with good instructions. Just cut a 14"x14" hole in your roof (measure twice!), drop in the base plate with some butyl tape, screw it down, seal with silicone, bolt in the fan and run power to it.

Sounds pretty easy but it still took me half a day to get it done.

Marked out the hole with a sharpie.

Drilled some holes for the saw to start in

Taped it off to protect the paint

I didn't take any photos of cutting the hole. I used my jigsaw. Plan to use several blades, the fiberglass destroys wood blades. I used some leftover 3/4" ply to make a spacer for the trim.

Sealed it up with white silicone. I don't like the clear stuff because it turns brown and looks horrible.

Use the fan to keep the van cool and this guy happy

 

[simple]

Your build is looking great! Nice work on the cabinets.

 

[fog cutter]

....keep the van looking stock and as stealth as possible. ... Bikes are the only exception....

for what it's worth, i find people are less anxious if they see a "reason" for you to be. a clue why you're here. surfboard, fishing rod, bike, all let folks know you're probably not filming a snuff film in the back of your rig.

 

[iridewheelies]

I'm using switches from http://www.otrattw.net for all of my electrical upgrades. They sell carling switches with custom covers. They have hundreds of designs and you can customize the text at no extra charge. I've made two orders with them and both were shipped very fast and the packing was excellent. I highly recommend buying from them.

I went with the new contura 14 style covers. I'm trying to keep the dash looking as factory as possible and the 14 looked best to me. If you go to the site you'll see the other styles.

I ordered several sizes of switch holders because I wasn't sure how they'd fit in my dash. I was super happy to find out that if you put two "ends" together as a two switch bracket it will fit in the factory dash perfectly after you remove the switch blank. Take a look

I went with green led back lighting on the bottom and amber led for the top because it's the closest match to the existing dash lighting.

http://youtu.be/-br6_TwrUso

 

[iridewheelies]

Got my drawers built and had some cushions sewn up for the dinette.

It came out nice. Here's the sketchup drawing.

 

[iridewheelies]

I used soft close drawer slides from Home Depot thinking the drawers should stay closed on windey roads. There's plenty of room for cooking and eating stuff. The bottom one holds the food.

For power there are 2 die hard platinum 31m batteries under the fridge connected to the main battery with a sure power 1314.

I can get several days of fridge and fan power out of them without solar or running the engine.

We're leaving this weekend for a big Canadian road trip. Taking the ferry over to Victoria on Vancouver Island, exploring as much of the island as we can in 5 days then taking another ferry north to Bella Coola. From there we head over to Williams Lake and down to Kamaloops then south to cross the border on Hwy 97 and head back to Olympia via north cascades highway.

Were bringing our mountain bikes and will spend most of our time riding or hiking trails we also have a small inflatable raft for exploring any lakes or rivers we find.

If anyone has recommendations for good camping or knows of good breweries up there I'd love to hear about them!

 

[iridewheelies]

One last upgrade before the trip.

1/4 x20 riv nuts

Stainless steel, and I found it at Home Depot with the hinges!

Plenty of room

 

[rockbender]

Holy Jackpot! I've been wondering where to put the opener on my Express - thanks for sharing that!

FWIW, I've been using the self closing slides on our drawers and they have been keeping the drawers closed just fine. We also use the bottom drawer as a pantry - it is super convenient.

 

[iridewheelies]

We just took delivery of some 2015 express vans at my work. Chevy changed the keys to the internal cut style.