Stealth RV Build

I find myself with an immediate need for a mobile hotel room. I picked up this low mileage (25,000) 2013 Ford E350/Morgan Olson Route Star, which is a former GSA vehicle.  At the time, I was hoping to find a diesel and was a bit disappointed that I was settling for a 5.4 gas ford, but now that gas is $2.69 and diesel is still $4.89.....

The first task was to replace the ugly boring steering wheel!  You know, priorities

Next, a good camera system. 10" monitor with cameras on all sides.

Then on to de-rattling the van.  Lots of hush mat and wool insulation through out and nylon shims in the doors.

AB 1/2" plywood for a finished/painted surface.

Quick progress so far!

Videos

Looking forward to see how this one goes!  Very cool

This is relevant to my interests.

Any more details on this wool insulation? Curious where you got it and how it works out for you.

I'd be interested in hearing more about the camera system as well.

Wow. I like where this is going.

In reply to Nukem :

The company is havelock wool.  It has been getting some good press. Not supposed to mold or hold moisture.  It does produce a lot of dust/dander? so I have been keeping it sealed off from the cabin.

The camera system is Optimo.  Made in S. Korea with Sony heated infrared cameras. Pricey, but high quality with a 5 yr warranty.

The electronics/batteries will mount behind this set of cabinets. The three are fastened together and are on sliders which will quick lock in place. The top cabinets will house a 2k btu a/c.

Van Videos

In reply to NY Nick :

Its like an RV, but it not made of bread and tape like a regular RV. I like that aluminum floor. No rotten MDF there!

This is great.  

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

Its like an RV, but it not made of bread and tape like a regular RV. I like that aluminum floor. No rotten MDF there!

Exactly!  Also, all of the wood that is in contact with the floor is first mounted to a 1/2" plastic board to protect it from any kind of moisture.  I will have a throw rug in place later.  Just roll it up when the dirt bike goes in!

Progress on the bathroom. Building a built-in compost toilet along with a door which will mimic the store bought cabinets.

The toilet is composed of a bucket, toilet seat, exhaust fan, urine diverter, plastic jug and pelletized horse bedding or saw dust. A 40lb bag of the pellets is $6.79 locally.

Building the bathroom door out of 1/2" ab plywood and 1/4"x 3" poplar. Currently the door is screwed to the wood framework to hold it flat and true while the supports and trim are nailed, screwed and glued. After the glue dries, I will unscrew the door from the frame and install a separate doorframe and then hinge the door to it with a 6' piano hinge. At that point, the door will then be flush with the adjacent cabinet. 

Project Video

This is cool. 

What is your plan for power / batteries? IMO, two 6V batteries in series would be fantastic for this rig. Will you be installing a convertor to plug in to shore power for AC / DC, or just relying on the alternator to charge 12V house power supply?

Any plan for a generator? Or an invertor for AC power when not plugged in? 

birdmayne said:

This is cool. 

What is your plan for power / batteries? IMO, two 6V batteries in series would be fantastic for this rig. Will you be installing a convertor to plug in to shore power for AC / DC, or just relying on the alternator to charge 12V house power supply?

Any plan for a generator? Or an invertor for AC power when not plugged in? 

Yes, two 270ah battle born lithium batteries, four 400 watt solar panels, 5000 watt inverter and a plug for shore power. Doubt I will need the shore power but just in case

The immediate need  for a hotel room is cuz? you'd have to shoot me?

So far my favorite part of the build is that the poop receptacle says "Let's do this" on it.

In reply to APEowner :

Use some stencil letters and add another "DO" to the first one. 
 

also, why not a rv chem toilet? 

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to APEowner :

Use some stencil letters and add another "DO" to the first one. 
 

also, why not a rv chem toilet? 

Funny!  Much more complicated and I know from first hand experience that there is always a funky chemical odor. There are any number of youtube videos of people with the compost toilets that swear there is no smell, but you never know, they may be full of sh*t.  (see what I did there) 

759NRNG said:

The immediate need  for a hotel room is cuz? you'd have to shoot me?

Shag'n wagon....

Bathroom door is done and mounted except for paint and latch (on order).

Project Videos

So, what's the tow capacity of one of these vans?  Might have to do similar in a few years.

Your cupboard hardware pull handles are attractive, but...  

Common in these RV/Van builds is to not rely on the door's hardware to be strong enough to keep the doors closed while driving/turning/stopping.  A common trick is bungie cords used in similar fashion as this picture:

I think the smooth corners of your handles and no pass-thru will make this hard with your handles.  The other option is to look to the marine industry for solutions like found for cabinets of moving boats.  

John Welsh said:

Your cupboard hardware pull handles are attractive, but...  

Common in these RV/Van builds is to not rely on the door's hardware to be strong enough to keep the doors closed while driving/turning/stopping.  A common trick is bungie cords used in similar fashion as this picture:

I think the smooth corners of your handles and no pass-thru will make this hard with your handles.  The other option is to look to the marine industry for solutions like found for cabinets of moving boats.  

Thanks for the insight!  As it turns out, I purchased some "grabber catch latches" today.  And, they are from the marine industry!  All of the cabinets and drawers have the soft close feature.  The soft close also provides some resistance when opening.  So far, while driving around, only the heavily loaded drawers will open on hard corners.  The empty and lightly loaded stay closed.  As the grabber latches are kind of pricey, I am going the install them on drawers/cabinets as needed only, for now.  The latches come in various levels of holding strength, so I think they will work fine. I appreciate your input!

Apexcarver said:

So, what's the tow capacity of one of these vans?  Might have to do similar in a few years.

From what I have found, it looks like the max towing capacity is 7500 lbs.  Max payload 6400 lbs.

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