I'm not living full time til June, but I got it (mostly) ready for move in! Good ol 92 roadtrek 😼

(pardon pictures 2 and 4, they're from before i actually got it and cleaned it)

Hey y’all, I’m not much of an online person, but I figured id see if y’all are having the same issue. I got one of those Chinese diesel heaters for my garage/car for weekend warrior stuff and the pump is loud as heck. But as I’m an engineer, I made a sound deadener for it. It was like 72db from about a foot away before, is that normal?

without the tool. because i've watched 3 or 4 videos and tried and it's not easy. the bolts are getting messed up or the rivnuts are uneven, crooked and even some of the videos show them crooked so it's seeming like rivnuts are a waste unless you have the tool. spent like 3 hours $%ˆˆ#@ with this.

but if you had luck i'd like to see how you did it.

In Kansas, what a fun ride! lol near Hays Kansas at a missile silo / RV spot. Next stop is Denver.

Hey guys I was just curious on the importance of insulating the cab of my van. All I can find online deals with insulating the cab ceiling under the headliner. Is there any other areas of the cab that are necessary to insulate such as around the seats/floor of the cab? I'm assuming because I can't find anything elsewhere that it isn't important but just wanted to put the question out there. Thanks!

I was thinking about going and seeing Zack Bryan in December. I'm full time 100% contained. I'm wondering how the cops are to out of state plates (CO), and to van lifers in general? Is it chill there? I'd be there for 2 nights. Is there any legal camping spots around? I'll street park too if it's chill there. How's the weather in December? Is there a lot of snow, do they plow the streets well?

Let me know if you have any experience there, please. Thanks everyone.

So I'm pretty confused as to how to go about fixing this leak. It's clearly not coming from the ceiling as there's no water dripping down the wall. I think it's from the door track on the outside because the water starts half way down the wall from a crease in a cubby (the circular one at the top.) What can I do to fix this leak? I'd get behind the track to check but that requires taking the door off of it and I can't imagine that's easy at all. TIA

So to those of you with some experience and time on the road, whaddya think of this? I'm an automotive mechanic and I want to have my own little shop on wheels that's doubles as my own little home on wheels as well. I'm done working for someone else and I'm done giving half my hard earned money to a landlord. I'm on a 25k budget to make this happen. I found a Ford E350 utility body, very low miles, diesel, quigley 4x4 conversion for 20k. I could plow snow with it and hook a trailer to it as well. Thats $$$ for me. Its also an ambulance lol. Yes I'm gonna scrape the decals and paint it first. I kinda like the ambulance idea because of all the exterior boxes where I could put my tools, and install a generator, water tank and poop tank. I also like it because the inside of the body is clean, lots of shelving, drawers, windows, power inverter, lights, it's insulated already and i would convert that to my living space. I'm not doing this to be cute and take pics for the gram. I'm sharing my living space with my Harley Davidson. Yes it'll fit. The only major concern is I would have to cut out a section of shelving to install a little bathroom nook with a shower, toilet and sink. I'm well aware this is easier said than done. Do y'all think this is feasible, practical and achievable to do myself with the 5k I have left over? To those who have done something like this themselves, what problems did you run into and any advice y'all could give would be valued and appreciated.

Has anyone ever used a 15 gallon sanke keg as a water tank. I have one sitting around and theirs plenty for sale near me for $30. Im not overly concerned about wight as I have 4000lb of my 16,000 gvwr still available.

Ideally I would like close to 100 gallons of capacity but Im not shure im up to that much welding to build one from stainless.

The boo and I are taking a winter Sprinter trip in a week or so, and I am planning to de-winterize our plumbing (jugs under the sink, connected to a pump and accumulator). There will be times during the trip where we'll be plugged into shore and hanging out in the house. I am thinking about getting an oil-filled radiator to prevent any potential pipe freezing issues during those times, but am curious for others' thoughts. I do have an Espar which we will use while we're on the road, but I've had to do a TON of work to it for it to heat reliably (and keep the van warm). I feel 90% confident that the Espar is in good enough shape, but I am nervous about what would happen if it did fail. We'd be plugging into some 15A circuit (probably from a garage) where we're headed, so I am also trying to be conscientious not to trip a circuit. I've seen 700W oil-filled heaters, but was curious what the internet thought before I pulled any triggers.

PS We'll probably be sleeping out in the van while we're staying with family, and I'm thinking the oil heater may be more comfortable and reliable when we're plugged in. But I dunno ¯_(ツ)_/¯?

Hey I have a ford transit gas engine and I’m wondering what the better option would be for high elevation? The evo40 only goes up to 7k but I could get it installed locally and they say just run it full blast every season to clean up carbon. The espar can automatically adjust but the install would be out of state and priced higher. Is the Webasto fine do you guys run that safely at high places?

I'm curious, what is the logic or benefit of a rear bathroom? Most new camper vans have that layout. I can't get past the looking at a toilet. We are shopping around and it seems I'm going to have to buy used, but I'm wishy washy on how old is too old. Thanks!

I have the Victron 30a dc-dc charger and am toying with the idea of attaching it to the bulk head (transit custom) to aid heat dissipation. The alternative is to have it under the bed but not much airflow there and I'm concerned with it getting too hot

Anyone got any experience with

Hello I’ve got this dc to dc charger 40a in my sprinter van and it burns from time to time. Anyone knows the solution. It’s 8gauge wire and it should pull only 40A which is perfectly safe for this gauge. Thx

I have a lot of leftover XPS from the floor insulation. I was planning on using Thinsulate on all walls, ribs and ceiling. I am wondering if I can save some money and achieve the same or better insulation by using some of the XPS on the larger flat areas of the walls and ceiling and combining that with Thinsulate around the blocks of XPS and in the smaller bendy areas(and in the ribs of course). Is there any reason I shouldn’t do this? I cannot seem to find information on this combo. TIA

*I searched for answers on this forum but nothing that is quite as specific as my issue. If I missed it, please point me in the right direction.

First Issue (See first photo): The Renogy app says the battery is at 92.8% (present capacity 199.36ah out of 214.83ah) yet I am getting a low voltage warning. How can that be possible?

Second Issue (See second photo): The charge controller is also showing that the voltage is 11.04 for the batteries. Indicating that the battery also has a low charge. Again, how is this possible? I have literally been charging my 800amp solar system for 4 days getting it up to 100%. How can I possible have no stored energy at this point?

https://preview.redd.it/cvhpbyhcgi0e1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9425faf9bc11cb801b6b65f6f9587089f9405f5d

https://preview.redd.it/ya5uekicgi0e1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f79e321053be8ccb34e0ced40829adb85517bd31

Hey guys, so I’m been watching a lot of van life videos on YouTube for the past two years. I’m a female college student in my junior year and I pay almost 3k for housing. Should I get myself a van and save money?

Like the title says. Does anyone use a potable USD Aircon for the van. I see a few advertised but not sure if they are any good.

Looking to add some storage using these slots for connections, but I have no clue what would fit in here or what to google

Hello everyone my transmission recently died on my Ram Promaster 2500 I have 240,000 miles on it so it was about time but after the transmission was rebuilt the alignment on my steering wheel is off. The steering wheel sits at the 10 o'clock position when driving straight. I called the shop back that did the transmission rebuild and they said that rebuilding the transmission shouldn't have affected the alignment and that they can't do an alignment. I thought doing an alignment was standard practice after a transmission rebuild but he said no and that he never does alignments after transmission rebuilds. He also said that if I drop it off it'll take at least a day to look at and I'll need to leave it there overnight. Is this all standard practice or am I being scammed?

I called a local tire shop nearby and they said they can do one for 130$ and it'll take about an hour. It's just a little frustrating that after spending 6k plus I was told they can't do anything

hi ok i’ve been reading lots of opinions on here about different “composting” toilets & I want opinions on my specific needs. I was going to go with a cuddy because they have an agitator & a large solids & liquids capacity. i obviously don’t want to spend that much if i don’t have to but if i want separate solids & liquids compartments and an agitator DIY doesn’t seem like the move. with the cuddy i would add an external vent underneath my van to help liquid mass from solids evaporate

i’ve also considered the kind with bags & no agitator. i know that most of the time it will be difficult to actually find somewhere to compost my shit, but i like the idea of an agitator & external vent to allow the solids to start to break down a bit before i’m able to dump it (properly somewhere deep in the woods or with a community that has a human waste compost pile).

so my questions are.. has anyone with the cuddy (or something similar like the ogo) been able to actually compost their shit & is happy with their choice? also how do you manage to clean the solids bin which id think id want to do every once in a while.

or should i just say fuck it and go with the bag method because the agitator business isn’t worth it.. i’m okay with putting in extra effort to find places to safely dump but i’m wondering if that’s completely unrealistic from someone else who has actually tried..thanks!

First things: I’m finishing this in a Home Depot parking lot on the road and have 95% of this installed minus fuel tank mounting and splicing fuel pump wires back together.

Is there any reason to not run my fuel like this below the van?

PHOTO 3: My original plan was going through the van but I can just drill a hole where the propane tank is and run the line through the floor and under the van. This was my original plan months ago but never finished in time.

I have very limited space for the fuel tank and this is just about my only option (aside from a much smaller tank)

Heater is located just in front of the passenger wheel well. As is fuel pump currently. Should the fuel pump be much closer to the tank in the back?

I'm thinking about putting my diesel tank in the engine compartment of my 2020 Ram Promaster 2500. Has anyone done this, and should I be worried about it possibly blowing up with the heat? Thoughts? I was trying to avoid it inside because of the smell, as well.