To Build a Van

After we made the joint decision that we were in fact going to build a camper van – not rent, not buy a fully built up unit – I put my years of submarine and systems engineering experience…and more or less copied what everyone else did. Seriously though, there are soooo many resources, how-to-guides, and products oriented specifically to camper van build outs. If this had been 5 years ago, it would be a different story.

I’m not going to try to reinvent the wheel, but I will adapt other people’s plans to meet my needs. Similarly, I’m not going to make yet another how-to-guide on this site, instead I’ll refer you to one of the most comprehensive, scientific, and engineered breakdown of van building: FarOutRide. These two engineers go into the background for why they did what they did, how they did it, what they did it with, and what they think about what they did. And while I didn’t purchase any of their templates and tools, I definitely put the principles behind them to use to the point that my original (mental) van build was near identical to their original van until I modified it to our needs.

Our needs were plentiful but our primary requirements were: electricity, running water, a place to cook, a place long enough for me to sleep lying flat (no fetal position for me), and a place to store the kayak. And after years of car camping, we also wanted the setup to be as permanent as possible: minimal setting up and tearing down every day.

After finding our van, the electrical system fell into place – mostly because the original owner had already purchased all the components. Unfortunately, the workmanship was a borderline fire-hazard and I had to rewire everything which gave me the opportunity to relocate everything as well. The van has both 110VAC and 12VDC with a battery as the main power source, charged by both a solar array and a DC-DC charger to charge from the car’s alternator.

The second major requirement, and the one that would ultimately force the shape of the entire build was the combined need that I can sleep lying flat and that the kayak can be stored. Sleeping flat means that the bed has to be at least 6 feet long which immediately rules out sleeping crosswise across the van. But the van is only a standard wheelbase and 6 feet of permanent bed would consume 80% of the people space. Similarly, the kayak, while collapsible, is still a sizeable load needing 30x36x18″ to stow. We looked to Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration and ultimately landed on a ‘sliding lat’ style of bed (or at least that’s what I’m calling it). The bed consists of two mattresses lying crosswise to the vehicle axis, going wall to wall, but only 3′ wide. The frame itself is then two pallets with interlocked lats: one stationary, one sliding on two rails fixed to the walls. When stowed, the bed only takes up about 3 feet of space but can be pulled out to 6 feet for sleeping. Then all the storage and cabinetry fit underneath.

The rest of the design essentially came out from that feature: A sink, water tank, stove, and propane tank fit along the passenger’s side ‘short’ wall; and a cabinet and fridge fit along the driver’s side wall. The back is open to the rear doors forming a ‘garage’ where I can store the kayak and other gear.

This is a gross simplification of the design process, but like I said, most of it came from the people over at FarOutRide.

Building it was both fun and a trial. With the purchase of the van, we had the full electric system, an installed ventilation fan, insulation, and a floor. At my parent’s house in Michigan, we spent a week redoing or checking most of the original owners work: removing excess insulation, remounting solar panels, and rewiring the entire electrical system.

Then, in Iowa we waited about a week for a different style of insulation to arrive as well as a special tool for transferring hole patterns, during which time we started moving and sorting all of our things from the POD, running domestic errands, making minor modifications to the van (like adding swivel seats), and buying most of the appliances.

Once the insulation and tool arrived, then I got to work, working most days for as long as the heat was tolerable. We installed insulation, then built an interior wall connected to the van body off of which everything else would hang or be attached (you can’t/shouldn’t drill directly into the van body). Then came the bed frame, storage compartments, kitchen cabinets + water and stove, and lastly upper storage cabinets and finishing. The last thing to be installed were two swivel tables and a composting toilet.

All in all, the van has space to sleep two + Charlotte very comfortably, a cold water sink, 20 gallons of water, 6 gallons of grey water, a two-burner gas stove, a hot water shower out the back, AC+DC electric complete with off grid charging, a fridge, a toilet, and storage enough to pack clothes and food for two, all our backpacking gear, and winter weather gear (even though it’s summer).

Since it’s summer we didn’t need to make it full 4-seasons compatible yet, but we think we could make it 4 seasons if we can get a better heater installed and maybe make the back doors a little more aligned so the cold air doesn’t get in. But that can wait until late summer or early fall, because after less than 3 weeks, the build was complete and ready for its first road trip!