awheeler
Member
After years of learning from this group I am ready to give back and hopefully help others with their overland build.
My wife and I are about a month out from picking up our EarthCruiser CORE chassis and 14' Total Composites box. We are shooting for a relatively high end DIY build and look forward to sharing it with everyone. We plan to film and document the entire build process.
About us(boring alert) - We've been traveling nearly full-time in our self built Ford Transit van and have had nothing but great times. We are fortunate to be able to work from the road on a fitness brand that we started a few years back. While we have loved our van we are ready for a bit of an upgrade and look forward to pushing our travels a little further off the beaten path. We love mountain biking and that is by far the thing we find ourselves doing the most. During winter you may find us chasing snow if we aren't biking. Our build will be primarily centered around these two sports.
The build is relatively standard with a bed in the back, bike storage underneath, bath/shower, kitchen in the middle and dinette seating upfront along with a pass through to cab. We are going all electric with 14k watts of DIY lithium, 1,000 watts of solar, induction cooktop, mini-split air conditioner, and a gas fired Rixen hydronic heating system. Interior components will be built with Coosa composite panels.
Planning on 50 gallons of fresh water inside the rig with an additional 50 gallons mounted outside along frame rail for summer use. Grey tank and all primary water components will be inside to protect against freezing. Bath will have a recirculating shower and airhead composting toilette.
Electrical will be based on a 24v 14k watt DIY lithium battery system. We will be using Mastervolt components and digital switching technology through cZone. All electrical components can be operated by switches located throughout the camper or through the touch screen display or cell phone app. The rig will have its own dedicated cellular connection and wifi so we can have full control while away from camper.
Currently we are finalizing our layout and design which I have attached a draft sketch you can check out. I also attached a finished picture that will look very similar to ours when finished. The finished truck is from Tony who has done a very similar build, you can read about his here.
We love honest feedback so don't hesitate to let us know what you think and we are more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
Next Up: Electrical system and solar design
My wife and I are about a month out from picking up our EarthCruiser CORE chassis and 14' Total Composites box. We are shooting for a relatively high end DIY build and look forward to sharing it with everyone. We plan to film and document the entire build process.
About us(boring alert) - We've been traveling nearly full-time in our self built Ford Transit van and have had nothing but great times. We are fortunate to be able to work from the road on a fitness brand that we started a few years back. While we have loved our van we are ready for a bit of an upgrade and look forward to pushing our travels a little further off the beaten path. We love mountain biking and that is by far the thing we find ourselves doing the most. During winter you may find us chasing snow if we aren't biking. Our build will be primarily centered around these two sports.
The build is relatively standard with a bed in the back, bike storage underneath, bath/shower, kitchen in the middle and dinette seating upfront along with a pass through to cab. We are going all electric with 14k watts of DIY lithium, 1,000 watts of solar, induction cooktop, mini-split air conditioner, and a gas fired Rixen hydronic heating system. Interior components will be built with Coosa composite panels.
Planning on 50 gallons of fresh water inside the rig with an additional 50 gallons mounted outside along frame rail for summer use. Grey tank and all primary water components will be inside to protect against freezing. Bath will have a recirculating shower and airhead composting toilette.
Electrical will be based on a 24v 14k watt DIY lithium battery system. We will be using Mastervolt components and digital switching technology through cZone. All electrical components can be operated by switches located throughout the camper or through the touch screen display or cell phone app. The rig will have its own dedicated cellular connection and wifi so we can have full control while away from camper.
Currently we are finalizing our layout and design which I have attached a draft sketch you can check out. I also attached a finished picture that will look very similar to ours when finished. The finished truck is from Tony who has done a very similar build, you can read about his here.
We love honest feedback so don't hesitate to let us know what you think and we are more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
Next Up: Electrical system and solar design
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