Grumman the Backcountry Box Van____1997 Ford E450 7.3l Power Stroke diesel

Petrolburner

Explorer
Well, the project is back on. I bought a giant, bi-fold aluminum ramp for getting bikes and trikes in and out. It's a full 8' long and wide enough for even my extended axle ATC 250r to fit. The angle isn't that bad with an 8' long ramp.

I also just bought a door. But not just any door. The first Wildlands door from Tern Overland to come to the USA. It looks really stout, seals well and won't rattle. It's expensive, but it's something I'm going to use a million times going in and out and I've found that high quality items that I use a lot, and like a lot, bring me joy.

Tern Overland
 

Petrolburner

Explorer
My door showed up today. I went home to meet the FedEx truck at my house because it required a signature and after paying bib bucks to have it shipped I really didn't want to have to haul my trailer 45 minutes each way to pick it up.

The good news is that you get what you pay for. This door is really awesome. I love the triple locking system and the screen is really high quality. It has a simple hoop, the silver ring around the door handle, to mate with a plastic piece you attach to the wall to hold the door open. It's a lot like the simple hoops on my big rear doors to hold them open. Now I just need to build a frame on the inside of the aluminum skin and cut a hole.

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java

Expedition Leader
I didn't realize they had a square bottom door now! I will have to look into that. I am not real wild about the "RV" door I have.
 

Petrolburner

Explorer
I didn't realize they had a square bottom door now! I will have to look into that. I am not real wild about the "RV" door I have.

Yeah dude this is the full size wild land door. They should have more this fall, right now this is the only one in the country as far as I know. My motorhome had a really nice door as far as RV doors go and there is no comparison between the two.


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Petrolburner

Explorer
I measured mine..... It's a 28" door.....

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Bummer, tough to put a smaller door in a bigger hole. I'm kind of glad this one is so narrow, because door width just eats up wall and cabinet space. If I need to bring something big inside, I'll just open up one or both of the back doors and have an 8 foot wide doorway.


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java

Expedition Leader
Bummer, tough to put a smaller door in a bigger hole. I'm kind of glad this one is so narrow, because door width just eats up wall and cabinet space. If I need to bring something big inside, I'll just open up one or both of the back doors and have an 8 foot wide doorway.


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Yep hard to fill the hole, but that saves me 900$ too and my door does work fine :D

Plus I'm not sure the Tern door has fixed my biggest pet peeve.... Sweating.

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Petrolburner

Explorer
I don't think it's thick enough to be all that insulated. However, it's going to sweat on the inside of the door, and your blocked from touching it by the screen door so...no big deal to me.


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java

Expedition Leader
I don't think it's thick enough to be all that insulated. However, it's going to sweat on the inside of the door, and your blocked from touching it by the screen door so...no big deal to me.


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Its the frame, not the door. My door doesn't sweat (well the window does) but the frame is aluminum and it sweats a lot....
 

Petrolburner

Explorer
This project is back on the front burner. I plasma cut some 22 ga sheet metal for the wheel wells afterall.


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This is where those sheets will go.

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Glued to the bottom of the first layer of plywood because 22 gauge is way to flimsy to span the gaps on its own.
Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

Removed the pass through and fastened the plywood to the I-beams with trailer decking screws and Sikaflex polyeurethane adhesive.

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

I put up a layer of mass loaded vinyl above the head liner. I also put a layer of foil faced foam against the inner skin. Sound deadening is very important for this project. I did however just learn that the mass loaded vinyl should be decoupled from the roof and the headliner with foam. I'm not sure the plastic push pins will hold the weight of all this over a long term anyway. I might need to fasten the headliner up a little better once it's all done.

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Petrolburner

Explorer
Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr
Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr
Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr

Next I've got some strips of 1/2" plywood to be fastened to the aluminum ribs for additional rigidity in the walls, a thermal break for the inner wall sheet fasteners to screw into, and spacing for another 1/2" of rigid foam. The plywood is getting painted because I have leftover paint and I want more rot resistance.

Untitled by Petrolburner, on Flickr
 

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