Step one. Bought the van.
Hello Everybody, First post. I camp a lot in tents but after spending three days straight in a tent in the rain at Dolly Sods I swore I'd make a change. Here it is. Bought it Wednesday. Dro...
Forum Discussion
I finally managed to go camping this week.
I really needed that. If you're in the market for a new walking stick I can personally recommend the 52" replacement shovel handle they carry at Ace Hardware. For me it's just the perfect height and has a nice heft to it. Would make a good Whacking Stick if need be.
Back to work on the van.
This next project will be a undervan storage box. I've been working on this one project on and off for months. I've not finished it yet but maybe by the time I get to the end of writing about it I'll have it completed.
As everyone with a "B" RV knows, space is a premium. Especially if you have a regular length van like mine. Sportsmobile offers a undervan storage as an option on their vans that will increase usable space. If you go to this web page you'll see the "XL Storage Compartment" listed near the bottom of the page. I've never seen one of the Sportsmobile versions in real life so I don't know it's dimensions or how it's attached. All I know is what you can see on their web page.
Since I won't be reverse engineering someone else's design I'll have to come up with my own. Luckily I'll gotten a lot help from several people at sportsmobileforum.com.
The undervan storage box ( AKA "The Basement") will be located under the van where the spare tire is hung. Once I cranked down and removed the spare tire this is how it looked under my van. This is looking from the drivers side towards the passenger side.
In the center of the picture is the Tire Carrier with the Tire Winch attached. In the center of the frame rail you can see a Exhaust Hanger which is attached to the Exhaust Pipe at a point just out of sight below the picture. Also visible is part of the Trailer Hitch.
Looking the other direction you can again see the Tire Carrier along with the Charcoal Canister and part of the Trailer Hitch.
All these parts I've mentioned will come up again later in the project.
First consideration is if the removal of the Tire Carrier will have an adverse affect on the frame. These following two documents indicate that the already installed trailer hitch should work as sufficient reinforcement to the frame.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/Q-184e_5_.pdf
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/Q18.pdf
I found this diagram from one of the documents to be most helpful in planning out a undervan storage box..
Need to take some measurements from the van.
Park the van on a level surface. Measure the distance from the bottom of the trailer hitch to the ground.
Close to 14-3/4". One problem with this measurement is it's taken with the van empty. Once the van is fully built out it will contain more weight and this measurement would change. The best way I can think of to compensate for this will be to load the van up and see how the rear height changes.
Need something to load the van down. Cement pavers should work.
Around 22 lbs each.
Start loading up the van. Space the pavers through out the van.
45 pavers x 22 lbs = 990 lbs. That should do the trick.
Measure again. 13-1/2" this time.
Distance from the center of the rear tire to directly below the rear edge of the trailer hitch is 39-1/2".
Next up the removal of the undervan tire carrier.
continued -
I really needed that. If you're in the market for a new walking stick I can personally recommend the 52" replacement shovel handle they carry at Ace Hardware. For me it's just the perfect height and has a nice heft to it. Would make a good Whacking Stick if need be.
Back to work on the van.
This next project will be a undervan storage box. I've been working on this one project on and off for months. I've not finished it yet but maybe by the time I get to the end of writing about it I'll have it completed.
As everyone with a "B" RV knows, space is a premium. Especially if you have a regular length van like mine. Sportsmobile offers a undervan storage as an option on their vans that will increase usable space. If you go to this web page you'll see the "XL Storage Compartment" listed near the bottom of the page. I've never seen one of the Sportsmobile versions in real life so I don't know it's dimensions or how it's attached. All I know is what you can see on their web page.
Since I won't be reverse engineering someone else's design I'll have to come up with my own. Luckily I'll gotten a lot help from several people at sportsmobileforum.com.
The undervan storage box ( AKA "The Basement") will be located under the van where the spare tire is hung. Once I cranked down and removed the spare tire this is how it looked under my van. This is looking from the drivers side towards the passenger side.
In the center of the picture is the Tire Carrier with the Tire Winch attached. In the center of the frame rail you can see a Exhaust Hanger which is attached to the Exhaust Pipe at a point just out of sight below the picture. Also visible is part of the Trailer Hitch.
Looking the other direction you can again see the Tire Carrier along with the Charcoal Canister and part of the Trailer Hitch.
All these parts I've mentioned will come up again later in the project.
First consideration is if the removal of the Tire Carrier will have an adverse affect on the frame. These following two documents indicate that the already installed trailer hitch should work as sufficient reinforcement to the frame.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/Q-184e_5_.pdf
https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/non-html/Q18.pdf
I found this diagram from one of the documents to be most helpful in planning out a undervan storage box..
Trailer Hitch Crossmember (can increase protection area)
Need to take some measurements from the van.
Park the van on a level surface. Measure the distance from the bottom of the trailer hitch to the ground.
Close to 14-3/4". One problem with this measurement is it's taken with the van empty. Once the van is fully built out it will contain more weight and this measurement would change. The best way I can think of to compensate for this will be to load the van up and see how the rear height changes.
Need something to load the van down. Cement pavers should work.
Around 22 lbs each.
Start loading up the van. Space the pavers through out the van.
45 pavers x 22 lbs = 990 lbs. That should do the trick.
Measure again. 13-1/2" this time.
Distance from the center of the rear tire to directly below the rear edge of the trailer hitch is 39-1/2".
Next up the removal of the undervan tire carrier.
continued -
