Dream Van

[dieseldoctor]

My Dream Van is nearing completion so I thought I would post some pictures and description of it so other drivers could maybe get some ideas they can use on their van or other trucks for that matter. Also I welcome any ideas or suggestions anyone has on how to improve on my ideas. The van is a 2004 Ford E-350 with an Unicell SRW body. It has a 5.4 v8 gas engine and 4.10 rear axle ratio. For the second quarter which is the only full quarter I have ran it we put 34,693 miles on it and averaged 14.3 MPG. It has 2" of sprayed in foam insulation in walls, roof and under the floor. As you can see from one picture I installed an TurboMax vent fan on top. This fan has three speeds, can pull air in or pull air out and has a thermostat. With vent shades on the windows I can leave them down a little and run the TurboMax even when it is raining hard with no problem. It works good when it is not too hot. I use it at home also to keep the temp inside the van from getting so hot inside. Without it the inside temp gets over 105 degrees but with it it stays in the 90's. One picture is of the inside of the van with the bed raised all the way to the top. In this position I can clear a load about 55" high Will show the bed in the down position later. Bed can be used anywhere from all the way up to about 18" off floor. Another picture shows the back of the van and shows what I call a forklift bumper. This fits into my trailer hitch receiver and keeps the forklifts off my regular bumper. As you can see it has three lights in it and they burn anytime the engine is running and the parking brake is released. I also have a button on the turn signal lever that I can use to flash them to thank drivers that signal me it's safe to pull in front of them.
If you see anything in the pictures you have a question about I will be glad to answer it if I can. Will start inside the van on the next post. Dieseldoctor

 

[dieseldoctor]

Starting on the inside you can see the digital voltmeter which has a switch so I can switch between factory battery and the two deep cycle aux batteries that I run all accesories off of. More about those later. Beside voltmeter is hourmeter which reads engine operating hours. I change oil every 200 hrs. This usually works out to be 7500 to 10,000 miles depending on how much I idle. Another picture is of a vacumm gauge which reads engine manifold vacumm. The higher you keep this reading the better fuel milage you get. Next is CB radio and control box for XM radio. The little yellow box behind CB is antenna for Delorme GPS which plugs into my laptop. Delorme has a sorry mapping program but it is still worth haveing.More later. Next is small TV between seats turned to passenger side so she can watch soaps while I'm driving. You can also see holder for grocery bags we use as trash bag.
More next post. DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

OK first picture. Four switches on lower panel control automatic start system I have installed. It is a remote start system that is tied into battery monitors so that if batteries get below 11.5 volts the engine starts and runs for 15 minutes to charge the batteries back up. It is also tied into the thermostat shown in picture two. This way I set the thermostat(about 65 in winter) and set heater and if temp drops below that engine starts and warms inside of van. In Chicago with temp outside in low teens old van would run for 15 minutes about once an hour. Don't know what it will do on this van but should run less due to the insulation in this one. Note thermostat is old household thermostat with mercury switches. These have to be level to work right so thermostat is mounted on a pendelum so it always stays level even when van is parked on a hill. As you can see van was parked with nose downhill when picture taken lol.
Other switches on turn signal lever - top one is for lights on forklift bumper as mentioned in other post. Lower switch is for my version of daytime running lights. Low beams come on anytime engine is running and parking brake is released. Button on turn signal lever is so I can flash lights to signal trucks etc it is safe to pull back in my lane. Also since low beams are always on when engine is running they stay on when I go to high beams. This really lights up the road and also penetrates fog pretty good.
Picture 3 is of closet behind drivers seat. Also you can see roll of paper towels which is always handy. You can see little fan which I use to distribute warm or cold air to back of van when needed. It is on hinge so it folds back toward clothes when not needed.
Picure four is of porta potti stored in closet. It is pulled out when needed.
picture 5 is of shelves behind and to right of passenger seat. Six is of cooler and invertor.
More next post. DD

 

[Glen Rice]

You are the "KING" of gadgets! Nice job getting all that into a small package! You need to change your handle to "Mr. Gadget"..What do you think?

 

[Dreamer]

DD,
Once again AWESOME! Thanks for sharing again!

I tell ya, between you and Terry, we've got 2 'van guys' on here that could definately teach some clinics on setting up vans for expedite.

That's about as far from 'sleeping bag in the back' as you can get!


The van is looking awesome.. definately sets the bar, and looks very comfortable and even more... looks very functional!

Anyone who has expedited in a van any length of time knows how frustrating it can be finding a place for everything. With your shelves, and organizational skills, everything is right at hand.

Van drivers could sure take note of your electrical skills too.

I think you should patent that idle gadget... I know when I build my next van... I'm going to be bugging you for a schematic! (and you and Terry for how-to's.>>LOL)





Dreamer

 

[gambler]

that is an excellent job of setting up the truck the only thing i would say is you could have saved a lot of time with the thermostat and batt voltage setup,by just going with a top of the line autostart/alarm system. my buddy has been selling them for several yrs and we have used several even with our big trucks. MAKE SURE TO LEAVE TRUCK OUT OF GEAR!! they have a sensor that can determine when the "start engine" light goes out and is safe to start truck(ie.winter) and do all the same functions. you can preset them for how long to idle how often etc etc. also they can put windows up and down from the remote if wanted as well as unlocking doors(also great in winter when keys/locks like to freeze) one time i had the locks freeze in the truck and even the "alarm" button couldnt get it to unlock enough to open. so i "remote started" the truck let it run about 1/2 hr and since the heat was on in the truck it helped to "thaw" the locking mechanism,i hit the keypad a boom ...in the truck and rolling! one other not..you have a lot of time energy devoted to that truck but if you dont get the wife a bigger tv than that itty bitty one you might catch some hell hahaha

 

[Lawrence]

Well you know what I am going to say to this about this deal....

Enter it in our contest to win an Espar Heater! Really, the odds of winning are 1 in.......(ha! Thought I was going to slip, eh?) Well I can't say - they are just awesome.

[h3][link:www.expediteexpo.com/2004/pride.html|Register NOW!] [/h3]

Lawrence,
Expediters Online.com


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[Dreamer]

RE: original link to build-up

For those who haven't been following along, or are new... here's a link to the beginning build-up on the van, from Diesel Doctor's original decision to investigate the unicel, following along with his build up.

It's great to see how the idea began, and then came to life~


http://www.expeditersonline.com/dcforum/DCForumID16/348.html






Dreamer

 

[davekc]

RE: original link to build-up

Looks great. It is amazing you got it all in there. It is great to share your information and photos.
Davekc

 

[blucolr]

RE: original link to build-up

Lot's of goood information and idea's here! Thanks for sharing. I've been trying to decide whether to buy a truck or convert one I have. Some question's I have are : In a B unit do you not have to keep the bunk area separated from the cargo area? What actually constitutes a B unit GVW, cargo capicity, or license plate rating? Thank's!

 

[dieseldoctor]

Hi! Thanks for all the kind words everybody. Sorry so long getting more posted but Panther called and we had to hit the road.We're in Jackson MS tonight.
First picture is of shelves down the drivers side of van. Just got them finished and haven't had time to fill them up yet but don't worry we will find stuff to put in them lol.
Second picture is shelves down pass side of van. As you can see they are pretty full.
Third picture is my Radio Controlled airplane that I carry with me to pass some time when I am waiting on a load and can find a park or large open place to fly it. One of those second childhood things lol.
Fourth picture is the two deep cycle batteries I use for all accessories I added to van. These are trolling motor batteries but am looking at AGM batteries when these go bad.
Fifth picture is battery charger I use when at home or anywhere I can get 110v power to keep batteries up and cooler and vent fan running.
Sixth picture is of bins to keep my tiedown straps neat and handy.
More to follow DD
Seventh picture is same for bungee straps.

 

[dieseldoctor]

First picture here is of my holder for laptop. It can be swung to passenger side, tucked back close to dash for useing while driving for GPS, or pulled out closer to me for doing what I'm doing now. It has strips of velcro on it and there are matching strips on bottom of laptop. It has a single swing arm which is hard to see in this picture. The next picture shows holder for Qualcomm. It has two swing arms so it will give you a better idea of laptop holder swing arm. Qualcomm can be swung to either seat or even back so it can be used from bed.
Other picture is of a little "Housekeeping" idea that works well. Piece of doormat on running bosrd is used to wipe off mud and larger gravel, etc and then piece of carpet in door well is used to wipe of water and mositure. This sure helps to keep inside of van clean. I also have this on rear bumper.

 

[dieseldoctor]

This post is of my latest project. I have been thinking for yrs about adding air bags to my van. After I got this van outfitted I discovered that with spare tire, aux batteries, and larger shelves on right side it had a slight tilt to the right. That made up my mind for me so while we couldn't run for two weeks due to wife recovering from surgery I installed a set of air bags.
First picture is of installed air bag. These bags are rated for 5000 lbs at max inflation pressure of 100 lbs. I chose the ones made by Air Lift and bought them from Camper World on sale.
Second picture is of ride control valve. This is same valve used on air ride of big trucks. I put one on each side so I could level van. I had to fabricate the lower brackets that fasten to the axle.
To use the valves you have to have a steady supply of air so I installed an air tank as shown in picture three. I installed an electric 12v air compressor on chassis rail on other side of van. It is in a box so don't have a picture of it. Also you can't see a pressure regulator in the line going to valves and air bags. This regulates the max pressure to air bags to the 100 PSI max rating.
Fourth picture is of the pressure switch to control air compressor. It shuts off at 115 PSI and comes back on at 95 PSI. I have it wired so compressor will not run unless engine is running.You can also see the gauge that reads tank pressure.
Fifth picture is of the pressure gauge for the right air bag. Left is same on left side. This shows the pressure in the air bag itself. I have played with pressure and found that unloaded about 35 to 40 PSI raises the chassis back to where it was before the body was installed and this puts the leaf springs back in their "sweet spot" as far as ride is concerned. Will I tell you it rides like a Lincoln? No way. But it does ride a lot better. With 10 ply tires inflated to 80 PSI you are going to definitly feel potholes. But it does "float" over swags and such. Also with the height control valves the van stays level no matter what the load and this keeps the headlights aimed right and also makes the handling much better. When you go in a curve and the van starts to lean the air bag on that side will catch it and stop the lean. One pound of air pressure in bags supports approx 25 lbs of load so I can tell by pressure increase approx how much weight I am carrying. This is epecially helpful when I load one of my antigue tractors on my trailer. I can tell where to position tractor to get correct tongue weight of trailer to make it tow good.
Well thats about it for now. Whats in the future? Well I did ask my local big truck salvage yard to keep his eyes open for a nice set of air ride seats with a color that doesn't clash too bad with the interior color. Haven't decided if I will go that route but I do have the air source! oh well? lol. Later! DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

LOL Thanks man! Gadget man would fit me. I got that from my Dad. He was always coming up with gadgets to make life easier or just for the fun of it LOL. DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

Thanks Dreamer. I appreciate all the kind words. Also appreciate you posting the link to the other thread. Any time you want I will try to draw out a schematic of the start system and post it. It is fairly simple and not very expensive. Thanks again DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

Thanks Gambler! Do you have a link or someway I can look at the system you are talking about? It sounds cool! Man, I'm not a bit bashful about looking at something new. Thanks DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

Hi Lawrence! Man I have thought about entering the van but I just don't want to commit to something and not be able to do it. I know as sure as I told you I would be there Panther would send me to the end of the world LOL. I'm just going to play it by ear and try my best to be there at least one day. Hope to see you there. DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

RE: original link to build-up

Thanks Dave! Man comng from you those words mean a lot because I've been following the way you help people on here and I appreciate your kindness to your fellow drivers. Sure would like to meet you sometime so if you see the "Marshmellow" anywhere hollar at me. DD

 

[dieseldoctor]

RE: original link to build-up

Hi! I don't know of any rule on sealing off the cargo area. I do know that sometimes we have a load that smells and I wish it was sealed off but that is maybe once a year. One thing I will add is that since we sleep above the load we strap the load down good with heavy duty straps. Also I didn't show a picture of the bed since I added a seat belt. Now I'm not real happy with just a seat belt but haven't been able to some up with a better solution. Have thought of cargo nets, parchute harness, or even a hammock fastened to bed at several points. Sure would like some ideas on this!
As for the "b" unit rating I've really never seen anything definite on what it is. I just know Panther told me if I licensed my unit for over 10,000 lbs I would have to log so I said no thanks!
DD

 

[ATeam]

BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!

Thank you so much for sharing as you have. If we ever meet on the road someday, or if I could drop by your home, I'd pay you a consulting fee to look my truck over bumper to bumper, inside and out, and share your ideas as they come to mind. I'm serious. My wife and I are totally impressed with your work and insight.