First Van... ready to do more?

[BSK]

Our family wanted to find and build out a Ford Van as an adventure vehicle. A Subaru gets real small with kids and the F250 gets real full of tools when you have to pay for those kids. We ended up finding a 2000 Dodge 3500 Van with only 27,000 miles on it at a church near my in laws. Not the Van we wanted but it was so cheap we decided to buy it and see how we liked an extended Van as a vehicle.

I decided everything I did to it I would try and make usable for another vehicle if we didn't like the Van and/or if we wanted to upgrade to 4x4. Turns out we really like it and use it a ton. I built a bed platform with pull out drawer/kitchen, added solar for a fridge, built a front receiver for bike racks, roof racks and awning, etc.

I have a few questions about going further into this Van.

1. Does insulating a van full of Windows make a difference in keeping the Van warm? I have reflectix made for the Windows but not sure how much it helps. Thinking I might do it for sound more than anything, hard to hear the kids at freeway speed. Was thinking thinsulate.

2. I need some sort of water storage. I'm kind of looking for something that could be a seat, when parked, as well. Maybe a hand pump on the side. Anyone make something like this? Also looked into a road shower for spraying the kids, and me. I have a helio which is awesome but kind of hard to store when it's full of water.

3. Would like to have a propane tank and don't really want to spend the money to mount under the Van. would love one of those 10lb tanks but not sure where to put it? Would like to hang it off the back but is this safe?

4. I have been searching for a way to swivel the factory passenger seat but haven't found an adaptor anywhere for this Van. Was wondering if anyone knows of a good quality swivel I could maybe use as a blank to fab around? obviously safety is primary concern so if I can't find something I can make stronger than it needs to be I will pass on that. Might build the water storage behind the passenger seat if I can't find a swivel.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Couple pics

 

[dar395]

RV water tanks are cheap off E-bay with many sizes to pick from, before adding LP tank even 10# I'd look at the use of the small green can type, we have changed over to them, it is so easy to transport 6-10 of them and you can refill from a larger tank as needed, this makes all of your appliances portable, use inside or out. Solar and 12v is our choice for power, we now are using 120v refrig with convertor, led lights, water pump, fan, radio, tv, dvd player, coffee maker, micro wave, toaster and on and on off two deep cycle batteries and than three choices to re-charge, plugin power (120v), driving and solar, nice clean and safe. The front seat mount maybe find one at www.Discountvanandtruck.com or just about any van motorhome in a yard, seating makes the van very useful on that rainy day. Seating for the kid's I seen where one builder used a 3rd row seat from a Suburban with the factory mounts, seat belts were attached directly to the seat (factory) and it was removable, look nibe and seemed to work well for him. The longer the van the more enjoyable out on the road, yours looks to be the max!:exclaim::exclaim:

 

[hyperboarder]

RV water tanks are cheap off E-bay with many sizes to pick from, before adding LP tank even 10# I'd look at the use of the small green can type, we have changed over to them, it is so easy to transport 6-10 of them and you can refill from a larger tank as needed, this makes all of your appliances portable, use inside or out. Solar and 12v is our choice for power, we now are using 120v refrig with convertor, led lights, water pump, fan, radio, tv, dvd player, coffee maker, micro wave, toaster and on and on off two deep cycle batteries and than three choices to re-charge, plugin power (120v), driving and solar, nice clean and safe. The front seat mount maybe find one at www.Discountvanandtruck.com or just about any van motorhome in a yard, seating makes the van very useful on that rainy day. Seating for the kid's I seen where one builder used a 3rd row seat from a Suburban with the factory mounts, seat belts were attached directly to the seat (factory) and it was removable, look nibe and seemed to work well for him. The longer the van the more enjoyable out on the road, yours looks to be the max!:exclaim::exclaim:

Mild thread derail, what do you use to refill the small cylinders? Sick of hauling around big ones.

 

[Deleted member 96197]

What a great project you have going there.
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Insulating the windows will absolutely make a difference, the reflectix works great for temp control at the windows, although I don't know how much it would help with the noise. It's a larger job, but makes a huge difference, if you take off the plastic interior panels and use a heavier insulation in there you'll see a reduction in noise and much better insulation.
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The 4x4 conversion is a huge amount of work, but a lot of people are very happy with a rear locker and slightly oversized tires (both of which you'd still be happy to have if you eventually go 4x4).
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Water is heavy, so the only advice i have there is mount it as low as possible to avoid getting top heavy.
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I'll be interested in watching this come along, I'm a fan of vans.

 

[MorrieSugg]

Mild thread derail, what do you use to refill the small cylinders? Sick of hauling around big ones.

When I bought mine a while back, I think there was only one. Now it looks like there's a bunch:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=lawngarden&field-keywords=propane+refill

There are some tricks to research get more propane into the little guys.

 

[Desert Dan]

There is a swivel seat base available for Ford vans. Check with RV and van conversion places for a Dodge version?

The SMB Forum has lots of information and photos for home builds etc.

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/

 

[Pntyrmvr]

Your Dodge van will have factory seats not conversion van seats. Keep that in mind while shopping for seat swivels.

Here's how to refill 1lb propane cylinders cheap: http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/forums/f22/refilling-disposable-propane-cylinders-8086.html

Of course the photos don't show up when accessing by Tapatalk, but will if using a regular web browser. Tapa-crap.

Use the info at your own risk.


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."

 

[BSK]

Thanks for the info.

I do like the idea of being able to refill the 1lb cylinders. I will look into that.

I also haven't found a locker that works with this Van. Eaton does make a trutrac which I've thought about. We love to ski and snowboard so thought that might help for the snow if we were to take the Van. Most likely we would be driving our Subaru but im getting kind of addicted to the extra space of the Van!

 

[dar395]

Mild thread derail, what do you use to refill the small cylinders? Sick of hauling around big ones.

Just a small add=on from e-bay but seems to work well we've filled about 30 or so over the past 2 years.

 

[Bbasso]

Any decent insulation will make a noticeable difference. Don't hesitate to add layers, even over glass.