Nice work supporting the boxes. I did something similar with unistrut and all thread to support an aluminum box I mounted in the open-bottomed genny compartment on a chinook. Kept thinking about hitting a pothole or speed bump and the fully loaded box trying to keep going down...!
The Gnarhauler: Another white cargo van.
- Thread starter i bike
- Start date
Thanks. That came as a suggestion from the guy who fab’d the boxes. He was apprehensive to hang them with just bolts through the top of the boxes like the other ones I’ve seen on here.
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Thanks for the kind words. I’m honestly getting burnt out, but hearing that someone is getting some inspiration from it is good motivation to keep going. Good luck with your upgrades!
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Haven’t posted updates in a while, but I’ve been hard at work.
Finished framing the wheel well boxes with 8020. The driver side will be the home of a water tank and heater eventually.
Both boxes got skinned in 3/8 birch ply, then covered in the same coin material as the floor.
The aluminum l-metal at the top serves as the foundation for a three panel removable bed system. I had a local fab guy make me three identical frames out of 1” aluminum square tubing.
Each panel has a retractable spring pin on both short sides that index into holes in the aluminum l-metal on the wheel well boxes that keep everything in place.
Next I got a 4” foam mattress topper from Amazon, cut it onto three equal pieces and upholstered to 3/8 plywood panels that got attached to the aluminum frames. I was in the zone and didn’t get any pictures of this step of the process.
Here’s the almost finished, but useable end result.
Panels in place.
Panels stowed. I ended up storing two panels end to end on the driver side as to not eat up to much width in the van.
All the toys with a comfortable bed in tow. Nice to get up off the floor!!
I need to finish the tops for the wheel well boxes and break down the bed panels and l-metal to get it all powder coated, but I’m happy with the outcome. I’ve already got about a dozen nights in the bed so far this summer.
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Finished framing the wheel well boxes with 8020. The driver side will be the home of a water tank and heater eventually.
Both boxes got skinned in 3/8 birch ply, then covered in the same coin material as the floor.
The aluminum l-metal at the top serves as the foundation for a three panel removable bed system. I had a local fab guy make me three identical frames out of 1” aluminum square tubing.
Each panel has a retractable spring pin on both short sides that index into holes in the aluminum l-metal on the wheel well boxes that keep everything in place.
Next I got a 4” foam mattress topper from Amazon, cut it onto three equal pieces and upholstered to 3/8 plywood panels that got attached to the aluminum frames. I was in the zone and didn’t get any pictures of this step of the process.
Here’s the almost finished, but useable end result.
Panels in place.
Panels stowed. I ended up storing two panels end to end on the driver side as to not eat up to much width in the van.
All the toys with a comfortable bed in tow. Nice to get up off the floor!!
I need to finish the tops for the wheel well boxes and break down the bed panels and l-metal to get it all powder coated, but I’m happy with the outcome. I’ve already got about a dozen nights in the bed so far this summer.
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justbecause
perpetually lost
thats real nice stuff
Been chipping away at things.
Got my door panels wrapped up recently.
Made insert boxes out of 1/2” plywood and lined with speaker box carpet
Removed some sheet metal from the door to maximize space. Mounted the box with some 1” aluminum angle, covered the bottom 2/3 of the openings with bungee netting.
Then I made skins out of 1/8” plywood, wrapped in 1/8” foam and covered in marine vinyl.
Finished product
Got my door panels wrapped up recently.
Made insert boxes out of 1/2” plywood and lined with speaker box carpet
Removed some sheet metal from the door to maximize space. Mounted the box with some 1” aluminum angle, covered the bottom 2/3 of the openings with bungee netting.
Then I made skins out of 1/8” plywood, wrapped in 1/8” foam and covered in marine vinyl.
Finished product
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As I’ve used the van I’ve discovered that hauling my gear around in plastic totes isn’t a great long term solution, plus I recently picked up a Thetford cassette toilet I’d like to be able to tuck away. Enter the storage cabinet.
This project has been very much build as I go. I had unused space between my drivers seat and wheel wheel box/bed platform. I decided to use all of it.
Rough carcass of the cabinet. I was working off some rough sketches I had drawn up, making adjustments to fit the available space as I went.
Here’s the concept for the hideaway toilet. Both lower sections will have doors. Above that will be drawers and then some cubbies above that.
Once I had all the pieces cut and and test fit, I got to applying laminate. This is the first proper cabinet I’ve ever built and first time working with laminate. Definitely a learning curve.
This project has been very much build as I go. I had unused space between my drivers seat and wheel wheel box/bed platform. I decided to use all of it.
Rough carcass of the cabinet. I was working off some rough sketches I had drawn up, making adjustments to fit the available space as I went.
Here’s the concept for the hideaway toilet. Both lower sections will have doors. Above that will be drawers and then some cubbies above that.
Once I had all the pieces cut and and test fit, I got to applying laminate. This is the first proper cabinet I’ve ever built and first time working with laminate. Definitely a learning curve.
Cabinets installed in the van. They bolt directly to the l-track with some brackets that are mortised into the cabinet sides and secured with t-nuts and machine screws.
Hidden toilet
Up close view of the drawers. Drawer face is attached to the bottom drawer with a Southco latch, top drawers are on push to open slides. I lined the drawers with some extra trunk liner I had left over from my door cubbies.
Storage cubbies. These have a 2” lip on the front, and a 3” lip on the rear to keep gear from falling into the abyss. The right side was designed to hold a full face dirtbike helmet, the left side will most likely be used for soft items and packing cubes.
Bottom doors open. Toilet on the right, space for dirtbike boots and shoes on the left. Contemplating a waterproof tray for snowboard boots in the winter.
I built my drawer faces and doors a la Sportsmobile with radius corners and t-slot molding.
Hidden toilet
Up close view of the drawers. Drawer face is attached to the bottom drawer with a Southco latch, top drawers are on push to open slides. I lined the drawers with some extra trunk liner I had left over from my door cubbies.
Storage cubbies. These have a 2” lip on the front, and a 3” lip on the rear to keep gear from falling into the abyss. The right side was designed to hold a full face dirtbike helmet, the left side will most likely be used for soft items and packing cubes.
Bottom doors open. Toilet on the right, space for dirtbike boots and shoes on the left. Contemplating a waterproof tray for snowboard boots in the winter.
I built my drawer faces and doors a la Sportsmobile with radius corners and t-slot molding.
I had previously gotten my removable bed system installed, but after using it for a season I realized it needed some tweaking.
Here's the original configuration. Three frames made from aluminum square tubing with a 4" foam mattress cut into thirds and upholstered to plywood that attaches to the frames.
This worked, but the panels were bulky and tough to move around and stow in the van. The cheap 4" foam mattress I used left a lot to be desired. I went back to the drawing board and ditched the foam mattress and decided use a foam core inflatable mattress on top of the existing plywood and aluminum frames. It adds one more step to the bed setup, but it's much more manageable.
I like the look of the finished plywood bed panels, a-la Adventure Wagons Moab bed. I thought this would be a good opportunity to ditch some weight and add some ventilation. I set to work with with a 2 1/2" hole saw and put 216 holes in my existing bed panels
Before and after
After lots of drilling, chamfering, sanding and finishing the wood panels were done. I had also dropped the aluminum frames and the l-metal they rest on off at the powder coater. I went with silver vein and a matte clear. Came out fantastic.
Bed panels in place
With new cabinet.
Here's the detail of the spring loaded plungers that lock the panels into position.
Here's the original configuration. Three frames made from aluminum square tubing with a 4" foam mattress cut into thirds and upholstered to plywood that attaches to the frames.
This worked, but the panels were bulky and tough to move around and stow in the van. The cheap 4" foam mattress I used left a lot to be desired. I went back to the drawing board and ditched the foam mattress and decided use a foam core inflatable mattress on top of the existing plywood and aluminum frames. It adds one more step to the bed setup, but it's much more manageable.
I like the look of the finished plywood bed panels, a-la Adventure Wagons Moab bed. I thought this would be a good opportunity to ditch some weight and add some ventilation. I set to work with with a 2 1/2" hole saw and put 216 holes in my existing bed panels
Before and after
After lots of drilling, chamfering, sanding and finishing the wood panels were done. I had also dropped the aluminum frames and the l-metal they rest on off at the powder coater. I went with silver vein and a matte clear. Came out fantastic.
Bed panels in place
With new cabinet.
Here's the detail of the spring loaded plungers that lock the panels into position.
I'd been brainstorming ideas for a more elegant solution for stowing my bed panels. I knew I needed a way to separate them so they wouldn't rattle and beat themselves up.
The inspiration
After taking some measurements and sketching things up I had one of the two "holders" put together. I whipped these using some leftover 1/2" plywood I had, two pieces glued and pin nailed to make them ~1" thick. I used a templating bit in the router to make the other identical.
Once again, I stopped taking pictures and plowed through the project. After cutting out the blanks, I laminated both sides with extra material I had, added a round over to both faces and added some felt inside the "fingers" to cushion the bed panels. I made a mounting plate for each half to mount to the L-track on the wall.
The "fingers" will support each panel as they're placed inside, so you can stack all three panels without having to strap one by one.
Panels stowed and tied down, I'm using some 12" sections of foam pipe insulation to separate the top of the panels.
Also picked up the big boy Exped mattress
Got some DIY bungee netting to make a place to store bedding, mattress, comforter, pillows etc. Made a little bungee hammock for the ceiling as well, all secured to L-Track pucks.
The inspiration
After taking some measurements and sketching things up I had one of the two "holders" put together. I whipped these using some leftover 1/2" plywood I had, two pieces glued and pin nailed to make them ~1" thick. I used a templating bit in the router to make the other identical.
Once again, I stopped taking pictures and plowed through the project. After cutting out the blanks, I laminated both sides with extra material I had, added a round over to both faces and added some felt inside the "fingers" to cushion the bed panels. I made a mounting plate for each half to mount to the L-track on the wall.
The "fingers" will support each panel as they're placed inside, so you can stack all three panels without having to strap one by one.
Panels stowed and tied down, I'm using some 12" sections of foam pipe insulation to separate the top of the panels.
Also picked up the big boy Exped mattress
Got some DIY bungee netting to make a place to store bedding, mattress, comforter, pillows etc. Made a little bungee hammock for the ceiling as well, all secured to L-Track pucks.
I've had a SMB style galley box on my wish list for a while. After some planing I started rounding up materials and got to work. In the spirit of trying new things, I decided to use 8020s quick frame to make the skeleton of the box.
I ordered all my pieces cut to length and anodized, so all I really had to do was hammer all the pieces together. Some unions fit better than others, so i ended up using epoxy inside the tubes to permanently bond the joints.
I bought a bamboo cutting board to use at the top, I had the idea to make it removable so it could be used on adjacent surfaces.
Installed 1/4-20 threaded inserts into bottom of cutting board
Added rubber feet, these also locate the cutting board on the top of the cabinet.
View from below with thumbscrews holding the cutting board to the frame. You can also see the rivnuts I installed to attach the catches for the slam latches in the doors.
I also buried some strips of plywood in the tubes the piano hinges for the doors would attach too, giving me something more substantial to screw to.
Test fit on door. I originally had the box on hinges, but it didn't feel substantial enough. I ended up bolting it directly to the door with three 5/16 bolts on each side, I put some aluminum angle inside the door with rivnuts for the cabinet to bolt to. It's rock solid now
Doors mounted, I got pre-made coated wire rope sections from McMaster to hold the doors, worked great. The cabinet side has a rivnut in the tube(s), the door sides are threaded inserts CA glued in place. I'd feel good putting 15-20 pounds on them. I made the doors the same way as the cabinets, 3/4 ply, laminated on both sides with t-slot molding. Still figuring out organization.
I ordered all my pieces cut to length and anodized, so all I really had to do was hammer all the pieces together. Some unions fit better than others, so i ended up using epoxy inside the tubes to permanently bond the joints.
I bought a bamboo cutting board to use at the top, I had the idea to make it removable so it could be used on adjacent surfaces.
Installed 1/4-20 threaded inserts into bottom of cutting board
Added rubber feet, these also locate the cutting board on the top of the cabinet.
View from below with thumbscrews holding the cutting board to the frame. You can also see the rivnuts I installed to attach the catches for the slam latches in the doors.
I also buried some strips of plywood in the tubes the piano hinges for the doors would attach too, giving me something more substantial to screw to.
Test fit on door. I originally had the box on hinges, but it didn't feel substantial enough. I ended up bolting it directly to the door with three 5/16 bolts on each side, I put some aluminum angle inside the door with rivnuts for the cabinet to bolt to. It's rock solid now
Doors mounted, I got pre-made coated wire rope sections from McMaster to hold the doors, worked great. The cabinet side has a rivnut in the tube(s), the door sides are threaded inserts CA glued in place. I'd feel good putting 15-20 pounds on them. I made the doors the same way as the cabinets, 3/4 ply, laminated on both sides with t-slot molding. Still figuring out organization.
To clear some floor space, and for the sake of being overland-y, I made a fridge slide that bolts directly to the L-track on the floor. Tolerances were tight, but I did manage to make it fit under the bed platform.
Frame that holds the fridge is some 3/16 steel angle I welded up at a buddies house. The floor side is just 3/16 x3" aluminum angle. Both sides are drilled and tapped so the drawer slides can screw directly to them. I like this setup so much I'm planning on making another slide to sit behind the fridge to hold some bins that can be accessed from the back door.
Frame that holds the fridge is some 3/16 steel angle I welded up at a buddies house. The floor side is just 3/16 x3" aluminum angle. Both sides are drilled and tapped so the drawer slides can screw directly to them. I like this setup so much I'm planning on making another slide to sit behind the fridge to hold some bins that can be accessed from the back door.