Yeti and the Marshmallow

[Basement Yeti]

Yeah, the guy talked me out of the 90 when he saw me deciding between those two, it's like the god of spray adhesive or something.

 

[MrBeast]

oh, and you seriously need to go check out my build too, have made several updates today!

 

[Basement Yeti]

Will do. I was just thinking on my walk, my speakers don't sound too good, first upgrades I'll make in the future is a small sub, and a pre-amp, and in the future I want to get higher quality speakers. Maybe I'll buy that for myself in the summer for my birthday.

 

[MrBeast]

Will do. I was just thinking on my walk, my speakers don't sound too good, first upgrades I'll make in the future is a small sub, and a pre-amp, and in the future I want to get higher quality speakers. Maybe I'll buy that for myself in the summer for my birthday.

All good plans.

I am going to stick another Kenwood KVC 696 in my truck, been a really good unit for the abuse I have put the one in my wrecker through, then probably a pair of 8's behind the seat, 6x9's in the corners behind the seat, and 6" in the kick pannels, and a center speaker in the dash.

Also going to hook up my hands free blue tooth, and the whole cab is getting dynamatted!

 

[Basement Yeti]

All good plans.

I am going to stick another Kenwood KVC 696 in my truck, been a really good unit for the abuse I have put the one in my wrecker through, then probably a pair of 8's behind the seat, 6x9's in the corners behind the seat, and 6" in the kick pannels, and a center speaker in the dash.

Also going to hook up my hands free blue tooth, and the whole cab is getting dynamatted!

I was thinking that while watching your video. It looks really good brother. But if you want my personal opinion, lose the hood scoop, I think it looks cheesy. Especially if beyond cooling which your radiator and fan system will do a fine job of, it's useless. Either way, I love the way that truck looks, can't wait to hear it run.

I wonder. What if I want to listen to music while I am parked and camping without turning my van over, is there any way to install a switch so the radio and speakers draw power from the house batteries vs the truck batteries?

The guy at Car Audio heaven said I would need just a small sub, which I plan on getting a good one of, as well as a good pre-amp. I just don't know what to do for wattage. In the future I want to ditch the pioneers and get better speakers, and also add two channels in the back of my van, since the stock van only has 2 up front.

Any recomendations where to start looking at subs, pre amps, and speakers? I know you like Kenwood, maybe I'll go with some of those one of these days.

My plan is to cut two 6.5" holes in my wood ceiling, and make two small boxes for two new speakers, in the back. I'll stick the sub behind the drivers seat. Speaking of which, there is a bracket there for a fire extinguisher, I want to buy one before I leave.

Maybe this summer when I am back home and my moms boyfriend can help.

 

[MrBeast]

Id hold off on doing much with the stereo other than prewiring until the interior is done, the reason is, in a van with no interior, you have crappy acoustics, you want to make celine dion sounds like rosie odonnel, put her in an uninsulated van...

You will find once you get it insulated that the road noise is severly diminished, that will help a bunch.

I like Kenwood MTX stereo stuff, allthough not doing too much with stereos any more, really I just like it to sound good, I dont need the base to hit hard.

Really if I can listen to Master of puppets and make it sound good im good to go! :wings:

 

[MrBeast]

Oh and on the switch thing, easy job, you will be wiring the switch backwards to select between 2 power sources. you will need a double pole switch, because the yellow wire and the red wire will both have to be switched. I can help you with that job when you are here, wont take but about 10 minutes.

you will want that switch on the dash, it will be a PITA if you put it in the back.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Id hold off on doing much with the stereo other than prewiring until the interior is done, the reason is, in a van with no interior, you have crappy acoustics, you want to make celine dion sounds like rosie odonnel, put her in an uninsulated van...

You will find once you get it insulated that the road noise is severly diminished, that will help a bunch.

I like Kenwood MTX stereo stuff, allthough not doing too much with stereos any more, really I just like it to sound good, I dont need the base to hit hard.

Really if I can listen to Master of puppets and make it sound good im good to go! :wings:

I don't want ear splitting loudness, I just want it to sound smooth through all the ranges. Nothing will happen with the sound system for a while, it was just a thought. I bought the speakers as a temp fix, the stereo will stay. In the mean time I can add stuff to my wish list.:elkgrin:

I hope I don't need to drive the van between now and when it's insulated. When I had my insulation and all my tools in the back while I was driving around the vibration was a lot less. Now, without a headliner and all the stuff in the back it'll shake apart if I have to go anywhere, lol.

It's gonna be so sweet once I get it insulated though, nice and quiet. Psyched.

Cool about the switch, there are a bunch of spaces on my dash for buttons and switches.

Also, when we remove the spare tire, how hard would it be to mount a water tank there?

 

[MrBeast]

I don't want ear splitting loudness, I just want it to sound smooth through all the ranges. Nothing will happen with the sound system for a while, it was just a thought. I bought the speakers as a temp fix, the stereo will stay. In the mean time I can add stuff to my wish list.:elkgrin:

I hope I don't need to drive the van between now and when it's insulated. When I had my insulation and all my tools in the back while I was driving around the vibration was a lot less. Now, without a headliner and all the stuff in the back it'll shake apart if I have to go anywhere, lol.

It's gonna be so sweet once I get it insulated though, nice and quiet. Psyched.

Cool about the switch, there are a bunch of spaces on my dash for buttons and switches.

Also, when we remove the spare tire, how hard would it be to mount a water tank there?

1. buy water tank that fits the space.
2. build brackets.
3. drill holes in frame.
4. install tank.

It should be really easy, could probably even get away with using the mounting holes for the spare tire rack.

 

[Basement Yeti]

1. buy water tank that fits the space.
2. build brackets.
3. drill holes in frame.
4. install tank.

It should be really easy, could probably even get away with using the mounting holes for the spare tire rack.

Sounds good. I'll go with temporary water jugs for now.

My plan for the interior got a lot simpler. The entire back of the van will be taken up by a gaucho couch that turns into a bed. The interior storage will be accessed from the back doors and from the interior, the seat will fold up, pretty standard. I'll use this to store tools, recovery gear, etc.

Over the passenger side wheel well will just be a box. I'll tetris my batteries, inverter, and charger in there, it will serve as a lip to hold the rest of the fold down bed.

The driver side will be the same type of box up until the point where the lip for the bed stops, beyond that will be a sink, cook top, and fridge. Maybe a cabinet or two over head.

Pretty simple, all boxes.

The bed is more for guests, as I don't sleep in a bed. That is why I am not putting high priority on making it easy to turn into a bed. Even if you have to take the backrest off and manually put it in place it's no biggie. But it has to be comfy. I will be using memory foam probably.

My mom will be flying out to meet me on my journey at interesting landmarks she wants to see, and it needs to be comfortable as she has some mobility problems.

Things I want to do in the future.
Take the control arms out of the back door, the ones that control how far the door opens. And seal the holes to better protect the insulation from the elements, and add chains as stops instead.

Remove the driver side rear door window. This is where I want to mount my on demand hot water heater.

Mount a water tank where the spare tire goes.

 

[MrBeast]

Just a thought, but you could set up a table that comes out on drawer slides as well, like the holder for a keyborard on a computer desk. Might be a nifty feature in your cabinet.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Just a thought, but you could set up a table that comes out on drawer slides as well, like the holder for a keyborard on a computer desk. Might be a nifty feature in your cabinet.

From where?

 

[wrcsixeight]

Over the passenger side wheel well will just be a box. I'll tetris my batteries, inverter, and charger in there, it will serve as a lip to hold the rest of the fold down bed.

The driver side will be the same type of box up until the point where the lip for the bed stops, beyond that will be a sink, cook top, and fridge. Maybe a cabinet or two over head.

Pretty simple, all boxes.

Yeti,
Have you been in many camper Vans before? I think you are over estimating the room inside your Astro, or underestimating the size of a cooktop and fridge and sink.

Also Building a cabinet/ bed which fits tightly to the walls of the van is more complicated than just building a box. Maximizing the storage room within the structure, and keeping it strong enough without weighing a ton might be considered a challenge to some, especially non carpenter/fabricator types.


Also, The Inverter, and charger, will need ventilation. Tetrising them next to the batteries is not really a good idea. If the batteries are overcharged, and vent hydrogen gas, the charger could provide the spark to go BOOM!


I do have a drawertop/table which slides out from over my fridge like MrBeast mentions above. It is not on slides, but just fits tightly. It is *extremely* useful.

I'm not far away from you. If you want to have a look at my system and perhaps get some ideas, lemme know.

 

[MrBeast]

Yeti,
Have you been in many camper Vans before? I think you are over estimating the room inside your Astro, or underestimating the size of a cooktop and fridge and sink.

Also Building a cabinet/ bed which fits tightly to the walls of the van is more complicated than just building a box. Maximizing the storage room within the structure, and keeping it strong enough without weighing a ton might be considered a challenge to some, especially non carpenter/fabricator types.


Also, The Inverter, and charger, will need ventilation. Tetrising them next to the batteries is not really a good idea. If the batteries are overcharged, and vent hydrogen gas, the charger could provide the spark to go BOOM!


I do have a drawertop/table which slides out from over my fridge like MrBeast mentions above. It is not on slides, but just fits tightly. It is *extremely* useful.

I'm not far away from you. If you want to have a look at my system and perhaps get some ideas, lemme know.

There are some very good points to what you have said there, and reading back through the posts brought this to my attention.

You never ever ever want batteries mounted inside of a vehicle with you. For no reason what so ever.

Your van being as small as it is presents many challenges in this respect. My prefered meathod would be to cut into the side of the van on the drivers side and build a box of steel that the batteries would bolt down in, then make the box lockable. You could even mount them on a plate that was on drawer slides to allow them to be serviced/inspected easily.

Also, hot water heater in a window opening, bad idea. The water heater is another unit that should be installed through the side.

I am going to take a moment to offer you a thought, instead of trying to fully convert the van into a living space, why not make a trailer you can tow behind that has your kitchen, water heater, and other goodies that you will need, and you can then throw some carpet in the van, have a larger living space, and be wayyy more functional.

Otherwise you are going to be into one heck of a lot of hacking into that van.

What you are wanting to fit would be hard to get inside of a full size 15 passenger van, you are dealing with an astro.

I really think at this point considering what it is that you want to do that you should go the trailer route because it will probably not only be cheaper but more feesable.

As well it would not be hard to hook up the trailer so the coach batteries on it could be charged by the engine on your van. The other thing I see is that if you are running a trailer, you can pull your van up next to it, set up an awning and a table, and have sort of an outdoor kitchen and it would give you a measure of privacy with your sliding door open so you could enjoy the fresh air more while relaxing.

It would also allow you to keep your food prep out of the area you are sleeping in, and this will keep out the mice and bugs.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Yeti,
Have you been in many camper Vans before? I think you are over estimating the room inside your Astro, or underestimating the size of a cooktop and fridge and sink.

Also Building a cabinet/ bed which fits tightly to the walls of the van is more complicated than just building a box. Maximizing the storage room within the structure, and keeping it strong enough without weighing a ton might be considered a challenge to some, especially non carpenter/fabricator types.


Also, The Inverter, and charger, will need ventilation. Tetrising them next to the batteries is not really a good idea. If the batteries are overcharged, and vent hydrogen gas, the charger could provide the spark to go BOOM!


I do have a drawertop/table which slides out from over my fridge like MrBeast mentions above. It is not on slides, but just fits tightly. It is *extremely* useful.

I'm not far away from you. If you want to have a look at my system and perhaps get some ideas, lemme know.

Nope, none. But I've measured the crap out of my van and spent a lot of time hanging out inside. Most of my posts here have been made from the back of my van. I'm actually sitting in the van right now with a Mountain Dew. :sombrero:

My plan is assuming the worst for space and not being generous at all.

I'm going with a single burner stove which is less than 12 inches wide, a sink that is 12 inches wide, and putting a chest fridge in that is about 15 inches wide when turned sideways. I have a 3'12"x12"+ space dedicated to the kitchen. How are they not going to fit?

I have a total of 6'12" from the back to the bulkhead, and 4'6" in width. That still leaves me roughly 3' total for a bed, in the bench position it will only be about 18" wide, leaving an 18" ledge/box from the edge of the bench to the start of the kitchen over the wheel well, on the other side it will be a bit more. If I find all the electronics don't fit on the passenger side, I can steal some space from the storage under the bench, or put some on the driver side.

I'm going with AGM batteries, they don't out gas. I'll use two computer fans to the electronics box, one to draw air out and one in.

Oh, and I'd love to see your van. I will probably need help with the high voltage stuff, don't wanna set my Marshmallow on fire.

Trailer is out of the question at this point. I don't have the funds for one, but even if I did I don't want one, I want my living arrangement self contained. I don't get what you mean by cutting into the side of the van and making a box. I'm not looking for a land yacht with all the amenities, you guys are way over interpreting my plans.