E350 Chinook Build

lactic

Member
What is under the bed in the back? Do you think it would be possible to elevate the bed high enough to store bikes underneath and access through a side or rear hatch?


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willywalderbeast

Master of None
What is under the bed in the back? Do you think it would be possible to elevate the bed high enough to store bikes underneath and access through a side or rear hatch?


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Hmmm good question. Right now there is a large storage area under the bed. The forward section of the bed hinges up to access the area as well as a pull out draw on the side that opens toward the kitchen area. Then there is a door on the back of the rig to acess the large area of the storage. It's long enough to hold skis and boards. If you were to remove the upper cabinets in the bed area and built a platform then yes maybe. The hard part would be making the door in the rear bigger for access. Assuming you take the front tire off the bike it would probably fit/work. Would be good for a single person in the bed, two would be tight as the chinooks have a tiered roof so the inside person would have less headroom.
 

willywalderbeast

Master of None
Where did the knobs come from? Those are awesome.

Got them off eBay. Just search "RV push button knobs", most are all plastic but if you search some are metal like the ones I got. The finish wasn't great on mine but I cant complain because I mention it to the seller and they refunded my money for them and didn't ask for them back.
 

Keyne

Adventurer
Wow. Nicest Chinook I have seen. So cool and what a great project. I love the front end change to get better headlights. IMO great lights matter so much with reducing driver fatigue on long drives.
 

willywalderbeast

Master of None
Made one of the dinette benches pull out towards the door for better sleeping options for an adult. Almost a foot longer sleeping this way and although ones feet will hang off the edge, now an adult should be able to sleep somewhat comfortably.
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willywalderbeast

Master of None
Your work is so inspirational!

What exterior color scheme do you have in mind?

Thanks! I'm not 100% yet but I think it's going to be a jeep color, Anvil Grey/Blue that comes on the new wranglers. Some of the stripes will stay and they will be satin black. That or a Brown color!

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willywalderbeast

Master of None
Once the Chinook is back home in March I'm going to be upgrading the existing solar setup with some 100w renorgy panels and another battery (3 total). At this time I'm going to pull everything off the roof, clean it, paint it, then move the solar to the other side and build a roof rack for my surf/paddle boards. Then everything will go back in with fresh caulking. Really would like to get a slim AC unit at that time for a sleeker look but having a hard time justifying the money since my unit now is only a year old. Also adding a TV and digital antenna to replace the old one that was on it original.
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Hanes

New member
To clarify on your cabinet renovation, did you just replace the cabinet faces and paint the exisiting bases? Looks very sharp!

What are your plans for those Sienna seats? Drivers & passenger seats? With reclining leg rests?!

How wide is that rear bed?

Fantastic work! Really looking forward to seeing what you do with this project next!
 
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willywalderbeast

Master of None
To clarify on your cabinet renovation, did you just replace the cabinet faces and paint the exisiting bases? Looks very sharp!

What are your plans for those Sienna seats? Drivers & passenger seats? With reclining leg rests?!

How wide is that rear bed?


Fantastic work! Really looking forward to seeing what you do with this project next!

Correct, we bought the cabinet fronts from Ikea then took them to Sherman Williams and had them match the paint in a high gloss enamel.

We bought the sienna seats to replace the front seats. We love how comfortable the current front seats are but hate how they look now that we updated the rest of the rig. So we're going to install these as front seats and the passenger side will swivel around as it does now.

The rear bed is only about 48" wide, which is slightly smaller then a full mattress. For me (5'10 175lbs) and my wife (5' 110lbs) the bed size is fine. We searched for a long time to find a side entry for two reasons, to hang a motorcycle off the back and not have to worry about interfering with getting into the rig, and for the fixed rear bed! We didn't want to have to break down the dinette and couch everytime we wanted to lay down.
 

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