Bob the Campulance. E350 Crestline with Roof Raise. V3 in Progress.

[TheRealPapaK]

This will make you laugh; I initially laid it out with a double bed but was surprised at how much extra room I had. So, why not go with a queen size? I'm a sprawler and my sleep is important! Well.. back to the lots of space thing. I double checked my measurements and I drew my box 10 inches too long! I suspect that bed will be shrunk back to a double after all. Now if I just had a long box like yours.

Space in a bed is paradise. My hanging bed turned out pretty well. Obviously I need to torture test it still but If you're stripping everything out, maybe thing about it. It sounds like you will be raising the roof too?

 

[iggi]

Space in a bed is paradise. My hanging bed turned out pretty well. Obviously I need to torture test it still but If you're stripping everything out, maybe thing about it. It sounds like you will be raising the roof too?

yes, I'm very curious on how your hanging bed will work out. Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to torture test it before I start on mine.
Yes, on the roof raise. Currently planning on taking it up to 74" inside.

 

[Bikersmurf]

This will make you laugh; I initially laid it out with a double bed but was surprised at how much extra room I had. So, why not go with a queen size? I'm a sprawler and my sleep is important! Well.. back to the lots of space thing. I double checked my measurements and I drew my box 10 inches too long! I suspect that bed will be shrunk back to a double after all. Now if I just had a long box like yours.




Yes, definitely have our own needs and preferences. When I started this adventure I hadn't really considered the impact of personality on the design. What's right and reasonable for one person can drive another to the brink of madness. While the full time shower isn't space efficient I know that fussing about with shower curtains or other stuff will annoy me greatly and a large portion of my camping season is not that conducive for outdoor showers.

Thanks for the feedback David!

For you next rig you can get a long box

And for your third you’ll go back to short when you realize the long won’t fit in any parking space. I can see the benefits of the longer box, but for my use I’d be cursing it 363 days of the year.

Happy New Year

 

[iggi]

For you next rig you can get a long box

And for your third you’ll go back to short when you realize the long won’t fit in any parking space. I can see the benefits of the longer box, but for my use I’d be cursing it 363 days of the year.

Happy New Year

Happy new year!
No regrets on the short box at all, I was just teasing that a long box would make up for my weak Sketchup skills.
It is great that it fits (although just barely) into a large parking space.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I regularly park in spots 2’ longer than the rig. Having two backup cameras helps a lot. One is for rear view.., and it flips to the other when I throw it into reverse which allows me to see the back edge of the bumper. It makes parallel parking a breeze

 

[turbodiesel]

Mostly done the interior climbing gear rack. It all fits into what was just hidden space behind the panel above the side seat.
with the industrial carpet padding the gear only rattles enough to be heard on the biggest of bumps, but then everything rattles then so it's no big deal. I will be putting the protective sleeves on the ice screws as they will get dull if left to rattle against each other.

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Nice gear storage. I should fab something up like this for my van. I just pull the bin o' gear from the garage in to van each time. If you're ever in California USA we're have to do a meet up to climb! Funny side note I use the same color combo (red/gold) on my gear but in nail polish.

 

[iggi]

Nice gear storage. I should fab something up like this for my van. I just pull the bin o' gear from the garage in to van each time. If you're ever in California USA we're have to do a meet up to climb! Funny side note I use the same color combo (red/gold) on my gear but in nail polish.

Thanks! Certainly done the big tub of gear plenty of times in the past but much prefer hanging storage, especially for the cams and stuff.
Really wanted to a do a desert trip this winter but denied.. hopefully by the fall things will be settled down enough to do a circuit through Utah, Red Rocks and JT. Be cool to see your rooftop tent in person.

 

[iggi]

After many months of no progress, I had both time and reasonable weather to clean all the camping stuff out and start gutting the interior in preparation for raising the roof. Went faster and easier than expected. It's like a reverse jigsaw puzzle but I haven't had to resort to a sawzall or sledgehammer, yet.

Final pics of my quick and cheap camperization that was great for the first two years but my neck has had enough of the hunching over and if I have to gut the interior to do that then I might as well rebuild it the way I want, instead of compromising around the original cabinets and fixtures.

 

[Bikersmurf]

You’re a much braver man than I... perhaps by the time you and Dave have interior design perfected, I’ll have time to redo mine

I’ll be following along.

Still happy with my Dometic CRX-50 “Kenworth” replacement fridge... in case you don’t already have a fridge.

 

[iggi]

You can wait, watch and learn from both our mistakes.
Braver? Not sure about that. I'm probably just less patient.

Still debating on the fridge. Thanks for reminding me about yours.

You’re a much braver man than I... perhaps by the time you and Dave have interior design perfected, I’ll have time to redo mine

I’ll be following along.

Still happy with my Dometic CRX-50 “Kenworth” replacement fridge... in case you don’t already have a fridge.

 

[Bikersmurf]

David has/had a bigger one. Not sure what he’s going to use on his current one. Power use is essentially the same for both... but bigger = $$$$.

 

[Abitibi]

This time around I bought a 110v bar fridge Energy star rated. Under $200 and good size.

My neighbour has run one in his camper off his inverter for 4yrs without issue and with less batteries than I do.

Price on 12v fridges went up crazy and I can't justify it when those bar fridge work so well. What I loose in efficiency running it off the inverter I probably gain it back with the fridge being energy star rated...

Well well well, nice to see another gutting happening!!! It's a lot of work bit a lot of fun! Looking forward to your progress!!!



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[iggi]

Thanks @Abitibi

I have been debating the 12V fridge vs the bar fridge.
At the current cost of lithium and solar panels it seems to be a better investment to get more electrical capacity than to spend it on a 12V fridge.

Less progress than I wanted today but still got stuff done.

The bolts holding the bench base and the side seat support run through the body and surprisingly were left exposed.
Had to get a big ass locking crescent wrench to keep the bolts from just spinning but ran out of time and light do finish up.

This time around I bought a 110v bar fridge Energy star rated. Under $200 and good size.

My neighbour has run one in his camper off his inverter for 4yrs without issue and with less batteries than I do.

Price on 12v fridges went up crazy and I can't justify it when those bar fridge work so well. What I loose in efficiency running it off the inverter I probably gain it back with the fridge being energy star rated...

Well well well, nice to see another gutting happening!!! It's a lot of work bit a lot of fun! Looking forward to your progress!!!



Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

 

[TheRealPapaK]

Have fun! Be patient! Looking forward to seeing your progress. I’m in a bit of a lull right now as my wife just had some knee surgery but I’m hoping to get back in the groove soon

 

[iggi]

Good progress today. After bashing my knuckles a couple times and literally doing a backwards somersault when the wrench popped off the 3/4 inch bolt I was trying to break free, the grinder with a cutoff wheel became my favorite tool of the day. (Closely followed by the Sawzall).

I was planning to keep the rear lower cabinet but.. it was in the way of other stuff so out it came.

Stoked about all the space. 85 inches wide inside. Those Sprinter van suckers will be jealous! lol
Just have to remove the closet, AC and heater from behind the driver seat and then I'll start prepping for the roof raise.