I love it! Great job.

 

You got the matching white furnishings as freebie? Nice. It all looks so fresh and clean! Is that bicycle frame mounted on a swivel? I have a question about the NOCO charger, since I had read hundreds of Amazon reviews on various chargers, and, came away unsure if the NOCO would come back on (when plugged in, after travel) in the preferred charging mode, and working. Does it, or, do you have to press a Mode button to get it back to working order?

Look at the optical illusion in pic #3 . I saw that as a hole through the seat, and through the van, to some sunlit brush, outside.

 

Very well done and done quickly.

Enjoy.

 

The furniture came in golden oak. The sanding and paint was not the most fun part of the project. It was relatively easy to customize the fit. Jigsaw and skillsaw.

The bed config was actually built around the bike so as to take up minimal floor footprint. It swivels on its own front fork.

The NOCO is by far the most useful charger I have owned. It remembers your last setting. It is wired permanently to the Bank. Even when I think my batteries are at 100%, it brings them up.

I get that optical illusion now! the gray border looks like the seat cutout, Ha!

 

Enjoy your ride!

Van Williams

 

Nice work! Kind of amazed you fit it into a relatively small van.

 

I am surprised at how much room we ended up with. Queen bed, pottie, water, fridge, lounge chair and mountain bike were the must have's. The key design idea that changed everything was the 39" flip up bed counter. It opens up countless possibilities. The bed can be left made up, or stowed in 30 seconds. That means you can haul a dozen 4*8 ply sheets, a small dirt bike, or just enjoy the walk through experience. So far, we spend most of our camping time at the open rear doors. Lots of shade and privacy, and the cold drinks are right there!

 

Camping, and Biking, with Spare Room for Hauling

Some more pics below. The design continues to exceed all my expectations. Things just fell together so well in so many ways for such a small space.

The tote boxes are empty and won't come along on most trips. They fit in perfectly with the bed down, and will be full for the return trip home up North. There is still space for my wife's quilting machine, my keyboard, and all my tools. We will still camp out fully loaded on the trip home.

My temporary low-tech rear door handle/strap might end up staying as it works fine.

The bed lid cut-out where the bike tire shows is to accommodate the Transit's ceiling corner frame when in the up position.

I tried many configurations for storing the bike. The final upside-down solution was a surprise. It takes almost zero footprint, can swivel out in 5 seconds, or be removed and ready to ride in under one minute. The bike rack on my Hyundai takes longer.

The Whynter Freezer/Fridge was a late change. It is very flexible and can be relocated in many optional places. It can be stowed by the side slider door, freeing up space to sleep an adult if grand-kids come along, it can go up on the counter by the lounge seat, or it can be left in the garage if the van is being used for hauling.

We found that the original built-in fridge plan boxed us in too much, spoiled the open airy feel, and lacked flexibility for competing uses of space.

The Whynter was $435 from HD and I like the solidity of the build. It can also freeze to -8F quickly in case you have an ice cream party!

 

I love the portable fridges- we have an ARB- that has been one of the best items I've ever bought. The wife even takes it with her grocery shopping in her Toyota so she doesn't have to rush home with frozen/refrigerated food.
Recently the handle holding down the lid broke- I called ARB to buy one, since we are past the 3 year warranty, and they sent one free! Excellent service.
I too didn't want a built in fridge since I want versatility, might be camping in it one day and the next day hauling a bunch of stuff.

 

The portable fridge flexibility is hard to beat. We are on our second trip today down by Organ Pipe national monument near the Mexican border. The whynter seems to hold more cold ones than our previous R-Pod built-in fridge.

Will post more pics when I get home.

Life is better lived outside.

 

Wow, all that into a 130 - what a great design, now all you need to do I guess is ENJOY - great build. BTW did the vibration issues ever get solved?

 

I like it, very simple and versatile design. You gave some good ideas, thanks!!

 

Tks for the feedback. I am very pleased with the design. All those hours staring at the blank walls, and all those crumpled up pencil drawings paid off!

The vibration is just a part of the driving experience now. It is resolved in as much as I will accept it until I return home in two months and deal with it then.

 

Trips 2 and 3 - General and Electrical stuff

We did a 400 mile round trip to Southern AZ last week, and a 400 mile round trip mountain biking this week in Cottonwood and Sedona.

The last three fill-ups have shown 19.4, 19.6, and 19.2 today on the dash. This is with a/c on often, speeds ranging from a third at 55, uphill at 65, and 75 mph dropping down the mountains today from Sedona. I rarely bother with the math any more, I just deduct one MPG. If anyone asks anymore I will just say my touring mileage is in the low 18s.

We are adapting well to life in the Van. On the southern trip it was dry camping in the desert. We have yet to use more than half of our first 5 gallon fresh water jug. In Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, we used showers and toilets, but had no hookups for $20.00. The SW has some of the most spectacular State Park settings.

The rear van entry doors serve as my man cave. I can putter there and do a clothing change without impeding the spouse's domain amidships. My bike, tools, and favorite chair are there, next to the fridge! I am contemplating making a privacy screen across the open rear doors to accommodate a solar shower.

Camping in this area of the SW is like nowhere else I know. 80 degrees, no bugs, doors open wide all day, little wind.

In cottonwood I left the van engine off for 40 hours. The electrical load on my Triple AGM Bank was the Whynter fridge, one LED, and charging two smart phones for two nights.

After 24 hours, the dash meter read 12.51v, and 12.44v at the rear fridge outlet. When the fridge cycled (about one minute in every five), the dash dropped to 12.38v and 11.2v under load at the receptacle. At one point the yellow low voltage light came on briefly on the Whynter. The dash meter would recover to 12.51-ish at each cycle. The apparent v drop over the 15-20 feet of 14ga at 4 amps, seems to have little effect on operation of the fridge. On the other hand, it is comforting to know the Whynter will warn me long before my batteries get to 12.26v, the 50% SOC point. (note: I compared the dash meter to a multimeter at the CCPs, they read virtually identical).

After 40 hours, the dash meter showed 12.36v, with fridge on but not cycling. There was no yellow light, and the beer was very cold. After a 40 min round trip drive to Sedona, the dash meter settled back to 12.71 by the evening, with fridge on. The Triple AGM bank is working pretty much as expected. A better test will be when using a 12v blanket, and perhaps some inverter time. In any case, we don't foresee many 40 hour no-drive situations.

The trip up to Sedona was the first with insulation in. The cold coming from the rear windows was a discomfort factor in the cold overnight desert air. Definitely need reflectix window covers next trip.

The Coleman stove worked flawlessly. We are still on out first canister, but we do eat out from time to time.

We are still working on the odd squeak and rattle, but getting closer to perfection. Careful packing is far more important than in towables.

We are loving it.

 

We did a 400 mile round trip to Southern AZ last week, and a 400 mile round trip mountain biking this week in Cottonwood and Sedona.

The last three fill-ups have shown 19.4, 19.6, and 19.2 today on the dash. This is with a/c on often, speeds ranging from a third at 55, uphill at 65, and 75 mph dropping down the mountains today from Sedona. I rarely bother with the math any more, I just deduct one MPG. If anyone asks anymore I will just say my touring mileage is in the low 18s.

We are adapting well to life in the Van. On the southern trip it was dry camping in the desert. We have yet to use more than half of our first 5 gallon fresh water jug. In Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, we used showers and toilets, but had no hookups for $20.00. The SW has some of the most spectacular State Park settings.

The rear van entry doors serve as my man cave. I can putter there and do a clothing change without impeding the spouse's domain amidships. My bike, tools, and favorite chair are there, next to the fridge! I am contemplating making a privacy screen across the open rear doors to accommodate a solar shower.

Camping in this area of the SW is like nowhere else I know. 80 degrees, no bugs, doors open wide all day, little wind.

In cottonwood I left the van engine off for 40 hours. The electrical load on my Triple AGM Bank was the Whynter fridge, one LED, and charging two smart phones for two nights.

After 24 hours, the dash meter read 12.51v, and 12.44v at the rear fridge outlet. When the fridge cycled (about one minute in every five), the dash dropped to 12.38v and 11.2v under load at the receptacle. At one point the yellow low voltage light came on briefly on the Whynter. The dash meter would recover to 12.51-ish at each cycle. The apparent v drop over the 15-20 feet of 14ga at 4 amps, seems to have little effect on operation of the fridge. On the other hand, it is comforting to know the Whynter will warn me long before my batteries get to 12.26v, the 50% SOC point. (note: I compared the dash meter to a multimeter at the CCPs, they read virtually identical).

After 40 hours, the dash meter showed 12.36v, with fridge on but not cycling. There was no yellow light, and the beer was very cold. After a 40 min round trip drive to Sedona, the dash meter settled back to 12.71 by the evening, with fridge on. The Triple AGM bank is working pretty much as expected. A better test will be when using a 12v blanket, and perhaps some inverter time. In any case, we don't foresee many 40 hour no-drive situations.

The trip up to Sedona was the first with insulation in. The cold coming from the rear windows was a discomfort factor in the cold overnight desert air. Definitely need reflectix window covers next trip.

The Coleman stove worked flawlessly. We are still on out first canister, but we do eat out from time to time.

We are still working on the odd squeak and rattle, but getting closer to perfection. Careful packing is far more important than in towables.

We are loving it.

Spent an afternoon riding the trails at Dead Horse last month. Quite a nice park, and fun trails that were a nice change of pace from Sedona.

 

Nice job! I'm going with a relatively simpler but similar design in a 148, but will go built-in fridge. I like the open aisle space, I'm doing that too, and I'm also a mountain biker. Can you post a picture with the bed made up? How big is that bed? I'm thinking about going queen size.

Thanks.

 

Mattress size

The mattress is an Ikea queen cut down to 60x74 to fit in the van sideways.
The black side panels are indented to allow more length.
It is full 60" width with lots of elbow room at rear doors.
One feature of this layout in the 130, is that a 6' plus size can sleep north-south with some mattress bumpers on the counter tops.

These photos are not the best, will have to get better ones.

 

Mattress size

The mattress is an Ikea queen cut down to 60x74 to fit in the van sideways.
The black side panels are indented to allow more length.
It is full 60" width with lots of elbow room at rear doors.
One feature of this layout in the 130, is that a 6' plus size can sleep north-south with some mattress bumpers on the counter tops.

These photos are not the best, will have to get better ones.

Question to all: we want to install a 60x73 or 74 foam mattress so we can sleep width way. But isn’t the back of the van narrower than the middle so the 73 size would have to be cut down to fit?

 

I learned how to mountain bike at the Dead Horse trails on a $120 Wall Mart Mongoose back in 2006.

Wednesday we rode the newer Bones trail clockwise and then came down Thumper and Lime Kiln.

In Sedona, we rode Dawa to Cockscomb, Aerie, and Mescal, talk about good to be alive!

That signpost points to "Canyon of Fools", my ride is the blue and white stumpy 29er.

 

Outstanding!!! I really like your build.

 

Simple grey water solution

Although handling grey water properly is important, it does not have to be elaborate. My chief objective is to never release grey water where other campers have to set up after me. My second objective is to avoid visiting an RV dump station if at all possible. I just can not get comfortable walking around a hole in the ground that has been flooded with who knows what by who knows who, and then entering my vehicle with the same shoes.

And don't get me started on why never to fill fresh water tanks anywhere near a dump station.

So, with these objectives in mind, I focused on the simplest possible solution. A gravity system using two lug-able containers turned out to be the key. At my age that limits me to 5 gallon containers. My thinking is, if I can lug it, I can choose where to fill and/or dispose of it. I can still do so at a dump station, but there are more agreeable options. It's the same rationale for choosing a porta pottie.

The other key feature is using a main drained bowl, and a separate stow-able dish basin. The pics below show the layout. A high mounted 5 gallon fresh water container (<$15) with spout extender. A SS, inset cooking bowl with drain fitting (< $15), a stow-able dish basin (<$3), and an under-counter 6 gallon grey water container (<$15). So, for <$50 and some time and tools, I have a complete system.

The original plan was to use two full 5 gal fresh containers, but on our last three trips (2-5 days each) we never got below 1/3 on the first tank. We use paper plates and bowls a lot, and we use paper towels to pre-wipe the pots and pans before washing them. It cuts way down on fresh and grey water.

So there it is. Very KISS.

 

... avoid visiting an RV dump station if at all possible. I just can not get comfortable walking around a hole in the ground that has been flooded with

That looks good. I'm right there with you, on the dumping. I don't even want to haul a 5 gal can, so, got the 3 gal -- I know you've seen. Since I won't be washing dishes, I'll have even less gray water. It will be easy to walk it to the outside utility sink often seen at state parks, outside the bathhouse.

 

nice plumbing setup. i want to do something very similar. our overhead bed claims most spaces that a gravity-fed fresh jug could go, though, so we'll probably have to add a small pump of some sort to the mix. and we were just talking the other day about how a dishpan separate from the sink would probably be the right choice.

love your build. nice job with the folding mattress.

 

jonsobi: Nice simple system. KISS at its finest.

foxharp: I will use a small solar centrifugal pump to get the freshwater up to the sink faucet with lighted on/off switch on side of the sink. The problem with this pump is it is silent so I will someday forget to turn it off. To protect the pump there will be a small bypass tube plumbed into the system. A small amount of water will return to the fresh water tank when pump is running to keep the pump cool if/when I forget to turn it off. I only have cold water to the sink. The other issue is the pump needs to be located below the fresh water tank so it will be located at the back of the slider door step.

 

back to basics

Our hot water source is a SS kettle. We boil water outside or inside on the portable Coleman two-burner, and use a Melita manual cone-filter drip coffee system with our own ground coffee. The left-over boiled water is mixed for our facecloths and any dish washing.

I can't explain why, but after years of full-amenity RV living, there is something very satisfying about getting back to basics a little. And the rewarding spontaneity of stopping at any spot that takes your fancy, yet having your entire inconspicuous home right there with you, is simply magical.

I hope others out there are encouraged to do this. I can remember my first visits to this forum and reading Orton's posts on converting his Sprinter and Transit. It was those posts that encouraged me to do this.

Paying it forward.

 

I also do not understand why traveling in stealth mode and stopping anywhere is so satisfying. It just is. Makes one feel very free.

Did learn that my Coleman 10,000 btu burner stove was a problem boiling water at times. Replaced that with a Camp Chef Ranger II with 17,000 btu burners which solved that problem.

Glad I contributed to your van life style.

Now if I could just get this second one done so I can get back on the road. Actually have slept in Transit about 30 times so far. Each time it is better because I get more done. Should get refrigerator in this week which will improve the lifestyle.

 

The Coleman is borrowed from our daughter. So far it seems okay, but I have heard similar comments on a need for more BTUs. I read some reviews on a Camp Chef Everest that caught my eye. Will see how it goes.

 

I use a larger sized camp chef for rafting type trips and it does not disappoint with the btu output. It boils water very quickly.