Might Re-Selfbuild our van. Thoughts on this design?

[Minxy]

Just watched the video and a couple more observations:

Work surface extensions: for the one near the driver's seat I was thinking of it pulling towards the front of the van (ie side of the unit), so closer to the swivelled drivers seat making it easier to eat/work off, rather than out to the side which may make it a bit of a stretch in reality. As for the kitchen flap near the sliding door, I wonder if you can use a similar pull out worktop for this rather than a lift up flap, the benefit would be you could pull it out as much/little as you needed, obviously it would depend on what equipment you have in the kitchen unit itself and whether there would be sufficient space for this.

Lockers over the rear bed: I think you'll miss the storage and if you plan them right you will still have more than enough room to sit up, eg the mattress top in our camper is at the same height as the kitchen unit and we can sit up under one side which has shorter lockers, there's no reason why they can't be short in height but have a good depth to maximise the storage space.

 

[Minxy]

Bed shelf: In our previous camper we had a small shelf that ran along the bottom of each of the windows, more a window sill really, which was useful but a bit narrow, perhaps you could incorporate something similar (but a bit deeper) in your design ... obviously it would depend on what type of blinds you have as you need the ones that pull down from the top only, rather than one from the top and one from the bottom, you can just see it at the bottom of the window in the below photo.

 

[Puddleduck]

Just another thought - with the tambour door to the shower have a look at what the new SunLiving vans have done with this to give more room when shower room not in use at 2 minutes 22 seconds to 3 minutes 18 seconds or thereabouts.

 

[Minxy]

Nice, just some observations:

Bed size: I understand you wanting to have the two different lengths but I'd stick to the same width (depth) at the widest point near the rear doors as the taper to the kitchen area can be made to any angle. It might be an idea to see what size 'off the shelf' bed frames you can get as this may influence the exact size of the beds themselves. thinking about it you may not have to put such a large tape on the bed bases as the bed frames can overlap the edges of them anyway.

This is the type of 'cut off' I was thinking of ...

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/this-week-i-bought.45103/page-336#post-2553348

 

[Wissel]

Had a bit of a re-design this evening:

I've made the beds the same length and squared them a little. I've also dropped the tambour door on the bathroom and added a panel between the bed and kitchen.

I think the beds will work better this way, as there will be a 50cm square of floor space now in front of the steps, giving enough room to chuck on some clothes. I added the panel as realised the dog usually creeps onto the end of the bed at night and without it he'll fall onto the oven

The bathroom door will now be solid, with the ability to open and lock against the new panel in the kitchen. This will be useful if one of us wants to crash in bed - we'll have two rooms.

I've made the fridge housing deeper, so it's now inline with the bathroom. This will mean the surface above doesn't need a pull out. The table opposite will flip up on brackets.

This leaves us with a 55cm walkway through the van, which is what we have now and works well.

I also made the wall cupboard above the fridge deeper as it doesn't encroach on any other space.

Thoughts?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

I like the changes to the bed area and the panel too with the revised washroom door as fitting a tambour one would have been awkward due to needing the channelling etc and, to be honest, it wouldn't have really been an improvement on a standard solid door which will now be a 'double use' one.

I'd still put a shallow cupboard on top of the fridge, below the deeper top one, so that you have somewhere for things like tall bottles etc (wine?) that won't go anywhere else easily.

 

[Wissel]

Forgot about wine bottles. I'll get a trailer

Joking aside, the bit of wall between the small surface and wall unit will be fitted out for herbs, spices and oils. We both cook everything from scratch, so these are needed. Also on that surface will be my Tassimo - can't live without that
(wiith LifePo4 and inverter this will work all the time).

Back to wine - wonder if I could build something into the boot area. It's a pretty big space and there's not a great deal going in there. I'll do some calculations

 

[Minxy]

If the boot is much larger than you really need why not move the boiler further into it and use the space where it was going to be for the dog bed (... keep poochy nice and warm next to it on a cold winter's night!) then where the dog bed was going to be would make a nice big cupboard for pots, pans, wine etc. You might actually be able to get the batteries in a compartment under the dog bed so closer to the front too, or if not, under the 'new' cupboard.

The highest step could be a deep locker for the wine!

 

[CazPaul]

Are you moving the batteries from under the front seats then?
What's is the van plated at GVW.
The sleeping will be 2 singles then, no provision to make a double?
You will need all the space under the beds if you are living in it.
We have designed ours so that the rear lounge\bedroom is isolated, 2 distinct separate although will be 6.36 metre.
Are those the lithium expensive batteries?

 

[Wissel]

Are you moving the batteries from under the front seats then?
What's is the van plated at GVW.
The sleeping will be 2 singles then, no provision to make a double?
You will need all the space under the beds if you are living in it.
We have designed ours so that the rear lounge\bedroom is isolated, 2 distinct separate although will be 6.36 metre.
Are those the lithium expensive batteries?

Morning

Our vans plated at 3.5t. but the lithium batteries are far lighter than what we currently have. The 300Ah lithium bank will weigh 40kg, our LB's now weigh about 90kg.

This is one of the reasons we want the LifePo4's. plus at present we have about 200Ah of usable power (400Ah of batteries. about 50% usable) compared to about 270Ah from the lithium. So a 35% increase in capacity for under half the weight and size.

The other big advantages for us are charging speed (possible to charge LifePo4 10 times faster than Lead Acid) and draw. It will be very useful, if off-grid, being able to drive for 30 mins to get some charge, instead of 5 hours. Draw wise, LifePo4 can supply a lot more current. This makes having an inverter to power a hair dryer and coffee machine far more usable in my opinion.

The downside is, they will no longer fit under the front seats. They probably would if not fitting seat swivels this time around. Oh and the cost The new LifePo4 batteries will probably cost around £1800. This includes everything to make them perform at there best and monitoring via Bluetooth, so (hopefully) it will be a case of fit them, then forget them for 10 years. This price doesn't include the chargers.

I might add a slide out to the bed, making it a huge double, but if not we will still have the traverse bit (1m) at the end which will be 6ft wide. I'll give that more thought.

As the beds will be higher up, storage is very good. Each side will lift on gas struts to reveal a 30-40cm deep huge wardrobe. On one side this storage will be 70cm x nearly 2m, about half this size the other side., plus the boot which is 50cm high and 1m deep.

Besides lifting up, the new beds will also incline for daytime use

Also, with the newest design, the bathroom door will open and shut against the panel between the kitchen and bed, so we will also have two rooms as well, which I think will be very useful at times.

Now I need another coffee

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

Have you thought of changing your alternator to improve charging when travelling?

 

[Wissel]

Have you thought of changing your alternator to improve charging when travelling?

On our current van we have the CTEK 250s and Smartpass, so are probably getting about as much charge as the batteries can take.

I'm not sure what will be needed yet to charge the Lithium setup (not got that far yet )

I know our current alternator is 150A.

 

[StitchesnFluff]

All sounds great to me!
You’ll to start planning your first trip with the updated van soon

 

[two]

A tidy layout for a go-anywhere vehicle. I’m not sure if you’d have enough knee space when the front seats are facing each other. It may be better turning them backwards another 45° and moving the table a little further back.

Have you considered weight distribution? You may have too much at the back.

 

[Wissel]

A tidy layout for a go-anywhere vehicle. I’m not sure if you’d have enough knee space when the front seats are facing each other. It may be better turning them backwards another 45° and moving the table a little further back.

Have you considered weight distribution? You may have too much at the back.

I think the same @rogher (leg room). If you look back at page 2 of this thread I've changed the design, so the seats are fully swivelled now, with surfaces behind.

Hoping I'll be okay re weight distribution. My new battery bank will only be 40kg and over the rear axle. I'll build the whole thing as light as possible though (and will have it on weighbridge at different stages of course).

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[32143]

Had a bit of a re-design this evening:
View attachment 193437
I've made the beds the same length and squared them a little. I've also dropped the tambour door on the bathroom and added a panel between the bed and kitchen.
View attachment 193438
I think the beds will work better this way, as there will be a 50cm square of floor space now in front of the steps, giving enough room to chuck on some clothes. I added the panel as realised the dog usually creeps onto the end of the bed at night and without it he'll fall onto the oven
View attachment 193439
The bathroom door will now be solid, with the ability to open and lock against the new panel in the kitchen. This will be useful if one of us wants to crash in bed - we'll have two rooms.

I've made the fridge housing deeper, so it's now inline with the bathroom. This will mean the surface above doesn't need a pull out. The table opposite will flip up on brackets.
View attachment 193440
This leaves us with a 55cm walkway through the van, which is what we have now and works well.

I also made the wall cupboard above the fridge deeper as it doesn't encroach on any other space.

Thoughts?

If putting in a solid door, make sure you are able to open from either side and actually get around it into bathroom. If tight on space to get around try solid with bifold using good piano hinges so it can fold back on its self.

Lin

 

[Markbsp]

It has been interesting reading your posts. I have read many posts and watched hundreds of videos on camper conversions.
I will be starting my own soon once I have managed to get myself the right van.
I also use sketch up as i find it easier to imagine and plan the design. its still difficult to decide which design but I do like your design with the new partition, having 2 rooms could be valuable as you say. I want to build my first camper van quite small just for weekends away, so I don't need so much space and gadgets. I want to do mine for as cheap as possible.
I have seen a tiny home by Ana White she did with a elevating bed. I like that Idea, Think I will use this as I do not need storage in mine.
Well i would like to see more of your camper van as you are doing the refit so please keep posting pictures.
Good luck!

 

[Wissel]

Here's the (hopefully) final design for anyone interested:

 

[Floydster]

Great presentation, looking forward to seeing the build in progress.

 

[Wissel]

Great presentation, looking forward to seeing the build in progress.

Thanks @pandj - you and me both

Really looking forward to making a start now. Was going to wait until March, but that won't happen

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[CazPaul]

Great design, I must say I don't know who's copied who but my design is extremely similar.

How high are the rear beds from the floor and how much headroom is there?

I have only seen half the video as missus is now watching x factor so will watch the other half later.

 

[Wissel]

Great design, I must say I don't know who's copied who but my design is extremely similar.

How high are the rear beds from the floor and how much headroom is there?

I have only seen half the video as missus is now watching x factor so will watch the other half later.

Thanks Paul - Great minds huh

The rear beds will be between 90cm-1m from the floor. I'm all back, so need 97cm when sitting up. After whatever of me sinks into the mattress

 

[CazPaul]

Thanks Paul - Great minds huh

The rear beds will be between 90cm-1m from the floor. I'm all back, so need 97cm when sitting up. After whatever of me sinks into the mattress

The main problem with fixed beds in a PVC is the storage space a we are both finding, no problem in a rear transverse, loads of room underneath, you have created some cracking storage there.
We also have the wall/door blocking off the front and back, I may nick a couple of your ideas just to tweak the design, but remarkably similar.

 

[Wissel]

The main problem with fixed beds in a PVC is the storage space a we are both finding, no problem in a rear transverse, loads of room underneath, you have created some cracking storage there.
We also have the wall/door blocking off the front and back, I may nick a couple of your ideas just to tweak the design, but remarkably similar.

Yeah, storage is always a problem. Especially with a big dog.

It was finding a space for the dogs bed that first made me think of raising the back. Well that, and I like the design of the Pilote GJ beds

It should work out that the dog has a space around 1m x 65cm on the floor (minus half a wheel arch) and around 50cm high. The "wardrobes" are then 1.5m long x 60cm wide and around 30/35cm deep. Then is a 10cm thick mattress, with a Froli base (have you seen these by the way?)

The other thing I'm really please with, is how much worksurface we get. It works out that we have around 70cm either side, not including the sink and hob. As we both like to cook, this was important.

It's killing me not ordering all the bits now Just want to make sure it will be as good for us as it can be.

 

[CazPaul]

Yes love the froli which is what we will be having. What did you use for your insulation?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Wissel]

Yes love the froli which is what we will be having. What did you use for your insulation?

I used 25mm Kingspan everywhere it was possible and filled all the beams etc with fire-retardant insulating foam.

Our van never gets hot in the Summer and rarely needs the heating on in Winter if we are both in the van).

 

[two]

Nice area of work surfaces, but they might be a tad high for use as tables(?)

 

[Wissel]

Nice area of work surfaces, but they might be a tad high for use as tables(?)

Thanks @rogher

I'm not 100% sure, as i haven't removed my bulkhead yet, but I'm hoping the "step" into the front will give enough height to the seats. Maybe with them in the raised setting.

I'll know before I start anyway.

 

[Minxy]

Just some thoughts as I can envisage you bashing your shin on that 'lump' behind the drivers seat ....

• Are you sure that putting on the swivels will mean you can't put the battery under the drivers seat? Our camper has 2 under there and we have swivels on both seats.
• Would it be possible to move your engine battery outside under the bonnet and then put your new leisure battery in the space it occupied?
• Perhaps putting it at the back of the kitchen unit might be an option, where it's not that easy to access stuff anyway, then you could put a shallow tall storage cupboard next to the fridge tight up to the side of the camper on which you wouldn't bash yourself.

As mentioned by rogher I think the extra worktops will be too high for comfortable use for eating off so maybe not try to use them for that and instead have separate table for the passenger seat (ie on a pole) with a flip up one mounted lower down the side of the fridge cabinet itself, or even just use trays?

 

[Wissel]

Some good suggestions there @Minxy Girl - thanks.

I need to remove my old batteries to see what space can be created tbh. I've seen where people have dug batteries in this location, into the floor insulation. I'm fairly sure mine are sat on a platform in the seat base. Maybe this can be removed?

This is my current setup (same under each seat). these batteries measure 302mm x 172mm x 225mm high.

The bank I'm almost ready to order will measure 362mm x 224mm x 306mm high.

I think width and length under the passenger seat would be fine. It's the extra 81mm height that could be an issue.

Having said that, I'm starring the image above and if the platform does lift out I think that alone could free up at least 60mm.

The drivers seat will have a lowered base, so out of the question. But I should be able to fit the charging system and hopefully the inverter here.

Think I might take a look at this tomorrow

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}