MENU: Team 4X Member Portal | Member Account | Help | 4X Gear Shop | Refer a Friend
Hello 4X Brothers & Sisters,
I would like to start off by thanking Scott for creating the Team 4Xexpadition and inviting me to live through him and his videos until I get the opportunity to get involved in person.
I look forwarded to participating in future outings with 4X members. I am the most novice of campers, but am dedicated to learning how to safely become comfortable in the outdoors. To get started I would like to ask you all for some advise.
I have convinced myself to go all in on acquiring a camper/office van. I can do my work anywhere as a semi-retired independent consultant who prepares construction estimates. That will allow me do my work and mix it up with a bike ride, a hike or a picnic. Living in San Diego provides me with a lot of choices within 3 hours of home.
I decided not to build a van myself so that puts me in a situation where I have to find a van builder who I can trust to build a complex project to industry best practices. I anticipate finding two van build companies that have years of experience and come highly recommended and ask them for design advise and to bid the project. I have a lot of experience in the construction industry and assume that the bidding procedures are the same for the van building business. If you have any recommendations for van builders or any other advise, I would greatly appreciate your recommendation.
I will post my preliminary plans and specifications by the end of the weekend.
I see your advise on this matter as a being a huge benefit of being a member of 4Xpedition.
Thank you,
Lou Farallo
Hey, Lou. I don’t personally know of any van builders, but I have seen a few that I believe are in your area on YouTube. Some searching might result in giving you a starting point for finding that right van builder.
Deb
I moved this topic from the Classified section to Overland Vehicles section as the post isn't showing an item for sale. This will help get more exposure of the topic. Thanks for posting Louis!
I recently stumbled upon Tom Green's YouTube channel about him taking his van and exploring the US. He has a very nicely built Ram2500 van. He's a goofball and some of his videos are odd to say the least but the van is super cool. Boho vans out of Arizona did it.
Link to a walk around of the van https://youtu.be/s8A1TMqFwYY
I recently stumbled upon Tom Green's YouTube channel about him taking his van and exploring the US. He has a very nicely built Ram2500 van. He's a goofball and some of his videos are odd to say the least but the van is super cool. Boho vans out of Arizona did it.
Link to a walk around of the van https://youtu.be/s8A1TMqFwYY
Oh, my word!! Tom Green!! I’m having 90’s and early 2000’s flashbacks! 🤣 He’s mellowed a bit, but dang, what a cool van! Thanks for sharing that @desertbenny.
Any luck yet, Lou?
Hello All,
I noticed its been 10 months since My original post about this subject. I did not realize how difficult it would be to work through all the decisions that needed to be made i.e. electrical, plumbing, hvac, insulations, engines, suspension, windows and on. That being said its great to have a community to bounce these ideas off of before I sign a contract to have a van built. Just to get you up to speed I am a construction consultant that spends most of his time within 2 feet of a three computer monitors. I am going to build a van so I can park at the beach, in the dessert or mountains and do my work. I lived my hole life in San Diego without much in the way of outdoor adventures, but I want to head that way little by little. My plan is to build a van that is adaptable for an office or an adventure van.
All that said I have prepare a 90% complete scope of work and ordered a medium roof transit van from Ford. I am working with ADF Sprinter in Semi Valley CA to create a proposal for the van build. My background is in construction so I know that before you sign a contract you want to have the scope of work as perfect as possible, so that there are no unexpected cost and the final results are as ideal as possible. That being said the part of this project that I am most unqualified to design is the Lithium battery/ 2nd alternator and all those related components that are part of the electrical system. I have scoured Utube for info and put together a scope. What I would like to do is hire a third party electrical engineer that is experienced in van building to (or electrician with extensive design experience) have a teleconference with me to understand my expectations and review my plan so I can make adjustments. I am pretty comfortable with the hydronic hot water and air heater and the AC systems, but a review of that would be nice but not critical.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I look forward to getting out of the city and exercising my freedom to live my life as my imagination sees it not how the corporate culture thinks it should be (50 weeks in the office and 2 weeks vacation).
Included is my floor plan and a photo of a similar van.
Thanks
Lou Farallo
P.S I tried to attach a pdf photo and sketch but got a notice that said " This type of file is not allowed" Is there a work around?
Thanks
Lou Farallo
@louis-farallo it has to be a jpeg file. You can open the pdf on your computer and take a screenshot of it and then see if you can upload that image. Give that a try. Otherwise, email it to me at sleuthold@4xpedition.com and I can convert it for you.
Look forward to seeing it!
I would try to build the van interior yourself if possible. Its not as difficult as most would believe. Youtube has a multitude of people that have dine just that! If i have any advice it would be pay attention to your layout. Many of the builders say “if i were to do it again id do this differently..”. I hope you post the progress! Would love to see!!