[edylan]

Hi. Picked up my avalanche grey, adventure prep AWD 148 HR Crew yesterday! In love - what a vehicle! I purchased from Evergreen Ford in Issaquah and have nothing but positive things to say about the experience working with Chris Reade over the past 8 months. He went out of his way to make sure my '22 order was in the minute the order banks opened last September.

Anyway, figured I'd start a very slow build thread. I have some parental leave coming up so will try and use it to turn this into a fun weekender build mostly for mountain biking and family weekend trips around the PNW and up into Canada.

Tiny bit about me: just moved to Seattle after 15 years in San Francisco. Mostly the motivation was as you'd expect - access to incredible nature and mountain biking. We spend quite a bit of time on Orcas Island as well so wanted to be closer to it, plus with an 8 month old son (our first) we really just wanted to move to a more kid friendly city to raise him. The van is so exciting for us as it'll help unlock so much of the gorgeous PNW and help us discover all the amazing mountain biking all over.

Van goals: mostly to keep it simple. Striving to do roof/fan + floors + walls + an 80/20 raised bed over a bike garage as fast as I can to really start using it. Eventually will want to add in a fridge and hot water shower in the rear, but that's probably the extent of it. I'm handy but inexperienced, so excited for learning how to turn this into a reality.

 

[edylan]

First question: for the crew van floor, how many of you extended the existing floor vs ripped out the OEM floor to put in a complete and seamless floor? I'm unsure what is the right strategy there. Thanks!

 

[CrewVanManInfo]

If you are leaving the existing seat or going with a 36" 2 passenger seat, you can remove the existing raised floor and go with a level floor and just leave the 2 LH floor mounting brackets in place. That way when you place the 2 passenger seat in its position, you will have no floor mounting bracket in the stepwell area.

 

[Paulmorabito]

I started with factory and after deciding to add galley and re work passenger seats went with plywood full length

94A46E02-171E-44D1-8D7B-80B6E6AD080C.jpeg

• Paulmorabito
• 2 mo ago

 

[WyoLogz]

Same van due to be delivered any day. Can’t wait!
My use case will be very similar to yours with the addition of motos. Look forward to following your build.
Looking to add heat for winter and minimal electric as well.
I am thinking new floor all the way.
good luck!

 

[jun]

I'm also in the Seattle area, have a toddler, but we're still waiting for our crew van to be built. I think being able to regulate the tempurature inside the van is a priority for the little one and the first step is to insulate the whole floor. I don't know what's under the OEM flooring but I assume water spills would be hard to clean up.

 

[Paulmorabito]

Sheet metal floor. OEM floor is formed 1.5” foam with vinyl glued to it

 

[T22A80]

Sheet metal floor. OEM floor is formed 1.5” foam with vinyl glued to it

I didn't realize it was foam under the crew area floor. I thought it was going to be denim insulation. Would you happen to have a picture of what's under there? I've been trying to decide if I want to rip out my crew floor and do the entire thing or just add the last 1/3.

 

[Paulmorabito]

 

[Paulmorabito]

Sorry it’s folded and in rafters on top of stock ceiling. It’s about 1.5” thick. After sound dampening I uses 3/4” ply and 3/4” horses stall mat as floor

 

[2020awd]

Another view.

 

[T22A80]

View attachment 171625

Another view.

Thanks for these pictures. I was thinking I'd end up removing the floor and doing the entire thing because I didn't realize it was foam under there already. Obviously not as good as full coverage with foam but I'm not sure its worth messing with. Anyone have experience with the stock floor from a crew in the New England winter overnight camping? I plan to add a heater so not sure it would make that much of a difference.

 

[RxTransit]

I too have been facing the same dilemma. One thing that I have noticed is that the stock floor gets dirty real easily and doesn't look particularly good when dirty. I even see pictures of passenger van flooring and they just look run down after too long. I am sure there are products to clean it and spruce it up, but I haven't done that research. So if you keep the stock floor, there might be a time later down the road where you want to replace it and that might be more work than just doing it all at once.

My current idea is to do a bedrug mat, 1/2 inch XPS, then 1/2 inch baltic birch plus vinyl. This adds up to the stock 1.5" and will allow me to use the stock trim pieces. Also enjoy the idea of using the bedbug as a template for the additional layers.

 

[Captadv]

I also placed my order through Evergreen Ford in Issaquah. We started with CVM's order book but decided to order local instead of from MO. Chris has been very easy to deal with. Not built yet, but I do have my VIN.

Congrats on your new toy!

 

[T22A80]

I was looking at one of these floors from AVC but it's expensive. I like the option that you can choose between 2 or 3 rails depending on what bench you use. I also like the routed out foam on the zip plywood. If you buy this you'll also need to add the cost of the floor covering and the glue you'll need to use.

AVC Transit 148 Insulated Flooring System

Need a floor solution for your Transit conversion? Been scouring the web for a simple drop in solution only to be left scratching your head and more confused than when you started? Problem solved. Enter the AVC Insulated Flooring System. The system includes 3 floor pieces that key into the ribs...

avcrig.com

Go all in with a floor like AVC or just do the last 1/3 with foam and a bed rug as others have mentioned...

 

[Paulmorabito]

I started off with just the rear new floor. After. Decided to build a galley, I then wanted ply floor to back of drivers seat. It’s not that hard to cut out for seats. That system has become expensive for a subfloor. I’m fortunate to have tools/knowledge to cut plywood. Not sure of plan for build and timeline?

 

[BigDog]

Hi. Picked up my avalanche grey, adventure prep AWD 148 HR Crew yesterday! In love - what a vehicle! I purchased from Evergreen Ford in Issaquah and have nothing but positive things to say about the experience working with Chris Reade over the past 8 months. He went out of his way to make sure my '22 order was in the minute the order banks opened last September.

Anyway, figured I'd start a very slow build thread. I have some parental leave coming up so will try and use it to turn this into a fun weekender build mostly for mountain biking and family weekend trips around the PNW and up into Canada.

Tiny bit about me: just moved to Seattle after 15 years in San Francisco. Mostly the motivation was as you'd expect - access to incredible nature and mountain biking. We spend quite a bit of time on Orcas Island as well so wanted to be closer to it, plus with an 8 month old son (our first) we really just wanted to move to a more kid friendly city to raise him. The van is so exciting for us as it'll help unlock so much of the gorgeous PNW and help us discover all the amazing mountain biking all over.

Van goals: mostly to keep it simple. Striving to do roof/fan + floors + walls + an 80/20 raised bed over a bike garage as fast as I can to really start using it. Eventually will want to add in a fridge and hot water shower in the rear, but that's probably the extent of it. I'm handy but inexperienced, so excited for learning how to turn this into a reality.

View attachment 171539
View attachment 171538

Just want to ask a question. I haven’t seen any avalanche Grey vans other than in pictures. Now that you have yours, does it look like a cream grey but does it still look white like all the pics do???? This is the color I want but don’t want to go through the long long long wait for a van color that I will end up hating and disappointed. I want the light great color like this is supposed to be. If it is I know I will be in love!!!! LOL

 

[Vanaroo]

Good question, BigDog - I've wondered the same. I've saved about 100 photos of the Avalanche Gray (and the Abyss Gray), but get the feeling that I still don't know what it really looks like in person. No luck finding any Ford vehicle in that color to go look at in person either (300 mile radius ).

 

[MadCreek]

My 2021 is Avalanche Gray. I love the color. Depending on how the light hits it, it looks cement gray or a very, very light gray. You will be very pleased.

 

[BigDog]

Good question, BigDog - I've wondered the same. I've saved about 100 photos of the Avalanche Gray (and the Abyss Gray), but get the feeling that I still don't know what it really looks like in person. No luck finding any Ford vehicle in that color to go look at in person either (300 mile radius ).

I too have been looking all over for one too Vanaroo and found one on a lot a few months ago. Called they had it, got there after several miles drive and they said oh sorry, it was sold an hour ago. Bummer and didn’t appreciate not getting a call when they knew I was on my way. Not been impressed with Ford dealerships at all, but I guess they know everyone is scrambling to get the Transit so they don’t care if you never come back, there are hundreds of people waiting in line.