New member from Qc, Canada

Hi everyone!

Owners of a 2019 MR 148WB passenger van here from Quebec, Canada! Just registered to this forum (long time lurker, well since May 2021) and thought it would be nice to post an introduction and share our build!

We bought the van used in May 2021 with 62k km on the odometer and converted it to a 4 seasons camper van over the course of two (quite intense) months! It replaced my old 1988 Chevy G10 campervan! We pretty much built it all ourselves, where lots of pre-fab items came in and made the build much faster, such as the roofrack, isolated front window covers, sliding door/back door nets, etc. We have spent 130+ nights already in this camper across Canada and Northwestern USA, we will be going to Colorado and Utah this summer for a full month.

Here’s a quick list of our van’s mods (likely missing some items as there are so many involved)! Let me know if you see something I may be helpful with, definitely enjoy giving back to the forums (although I’m mainly active on focusrs.org, same username, very different platform)!

I don’t have pictures of everything but those included herein should provide a good idea of what our end result looks like both inside and out!

Thanks!

Still on a list for future upgrades are:

• Getting rid of the factory headliner and building a ceiling with wood or other appropriate material;
• Installing a sliding door window with bigger openings for additional air circulation during warmer days (especially rainy days), looking at the VWD awning series which are direct replacement for OE glass;
• Installing a cellphone booster for when we travel to areas with barely any signal (already purchased from WeBoost, just need to install);
• Replacing the 36in seat by the 31in version to gain some space between the seat and the countertop;
• Replacing the rear windows with flares for added bed length.

MECHANICAL:

• Routed the rear pax area heater hoses to the water heater;
• Slightly taller profile tires, don’t reckon the size here though…they were previously installed when we bought the van;
• Nokian studded winter tires for the winter season, on dedicated steelies;
• LED headlight bulbs, aimed properly of course (turned the bulb warning off with Forscan).

AESTHETICS:

• Painted hubcaps in black;
• Raptor style grille from eBay UK;
• RoughCountry Foglights on an amazon support bracket;
• Ford sliding door sidestep;
• Decal (amazon) on the driver side rear window;
• Had the roof over the windshield covered in PPF to avoid eventual pitting/rust;
• Obviously some of the conversion items contribute to the aesthetics too: Remora roofrack and ladder with a RoughCountry 50in lightbar;
• Thule roofbox whe install/use only when bringing friends and their gear on camping/ski trips.

ELECTRICAL:

• 400Ah lithium-iron batteries from Renogy;
• 2000W inverter/charger from Renogy;
• 40A DC-DC charger from Renogy;
• 3??W solar panel from Renogy (don’t remember the exact rating);
• All wires built ourselves using bulk wires and crimps with hydraulic crimp tool;
• 12V Fridge from Truckfridge;
• Maxxair 7500 roof fan;
• 1800W dual induction cooktop.

WATER SYSTEM:

• 22 Gallons fresh water tank;
• 7 Gallons grey water tank;
• Shurflow water pump;
• Surecal 3 way water heater (coolant, 12V, 120V);
• Outside shower located at the back doors;
• Shower curtains (Rolef) creating a shower enclosure between the opened back doors.

INSULATION/HEATING:

• 3M thinsulate everywhere we could…
• Floor insulated with a 1in foam under the plywood floor;
• Condemned rear side windows in bed area by applying black automotive vinyl to interior surface and sticking the thinsulate over the viny as we would have done if it had been a cargo van!
• General Component Bison cabin heater (17k BTU), split outlet, one in the living area and one in the under-bed/garage area and battery box.

INTERIOR CONVERSION:

• We sleep sideways on a platform bed located over the garage space. With minimal finish material thickness (actually just a nice fabric over the thinsulate in this area), the longest part of the bed is about 75in (I’m 6’1"). It works and was a compromise to maximise the living area size. Potential upgrade some day is to add a set of flares to gain a few critical inches;
• Driver and passenger seat swivel bases (Scopema);
• We got rid of the pax seats and tracks but kept one of the 36in wide double seater to create a 4 seats layout and sitting/lounging/eating area. We like to bring our niece and sometimes one or two friends on our trips and enjoy the 4 seats configuration.
• The toilet is located in a drawer under the fridge with a solid hinged top, acts as a stair to get up into the bed area;
• Plenty of storage cabinets on the driver side, we kept the passenger side free of storage for headroom in the bed area and living/cooking area;
• Decent sized removable table is mounted on a lagun support in the living area…bit shaky due to the size/moment arm if you’re at the far end but not really an issue except for glasses filled with whatever liquid they contain!
• The garage area includes a pull-out bike rack for two mountain bikes or two fatbikes, we added supports to mount our skis over our fatbikes for occasional winter trips;
• The counter space can be extended/maximized by covering the sink with a counter plug and raising an extension at the fwd end of the counter;
• Re-used the factory trims and headliner, trimmed to fit our conversion. This saved us a whole lot of time on our tight schedule in 2021 (looking at replacing the headliner some times soon to gain more head clearance in the sleeping area);
• BugWall sliding door and rear cargo door curtains/nets (we love these btw)!
• And so much more I cant list it all!!