That's pretty cool. I just surfed to see if a similar deal could be quickly found and no luck. In addition all the cut away models I saw had a large roll-up or swing out door on the back. Are there any with a more traditional RV door?
I'm also a little put off that the box (or at least the floor) appears to be just wood. Are you concerned about the long term strength of the cut away box compared to a metal body sprinter?
They are pretty hard to find. Admittedly the idea of building a box truck was pretty distant, but I was doing a search under "diesel" in the classifieds (which I've been doing for a few years now) and when this thing came up it had little RV windows in it and it got me thinking. We also considered box trucks but we wanted something with an open cab.
I would look and look and keep looking. This brand and model is called a Supreme Spartan. Very popular and they still pretty much make them identical, other than Ford dropped diesels in their vans in I believe 07 or 08? Since I bought one I notice a 1/2 dozen a day just running around as delivery trucks. They are all over the place around here. I've also passed another that was camperized (on Sunday) and then a very similar sized RV as well.
http://www.supremecorp.com/supreme.php?page=products&body=service
You can read all about the different models on the link. Ours is the smallest version, the 10' 72' height (see
specs on their page). It also has the "upgrade" rear roll up door. This is where I'll do the only thing to the truck that needs a special skill. I'm going to toss the rear door and make a single piece swing out door with rear tire holder and a ladder, mount for bikes, and a window. So there will be custom fab. But this won't be too hard and I'll probably hammer out in about a weekend. I planned to put another small RV door in the rear but the rear of the truck is a large metal frame that creates a smaller opening than the sides. So my second RV door that I bought won't fit, and would be overkill anyway. The door will be to access storage, load up a motorcycle into the spot where the fold up bed will go.
In a perfect world I would take an 11' foot if they made it, regular rear door, the rear door stand pad, and the drop door on the right all from the factory. This would be the least work. The single rear wheel and the 138" wheelbase are great. This box truck seriously completely slides into a parking spot at Starbucks or whatever. I've put about 400 miles on it, a lot of which just around town as its fun to drive (in my opinion). It's also waay less work, and way cheaper than a Sprinter will be, and in particular Geek's sprinter! I think its about not having huge projects, as simple as possible (while still fairly nice), coming from someone who has undertook major major projects. Our goal is also fairly cheap. With luck we're thinking $8K with new tires, nice stainless cabinets, and a slew of other things, and definitely no more than $10G. And that's pretty doable as far as I can tell.
RE the walls, etc. I'm on the fence about the strength of the plastic/plywood walls. I had zero concerns with it, also realizing this van has had 10 hard years as a plumbing truck and its still in great shape, but it was not babied (at all). I was pretty amazed when I started cutting into it to install the doors and windows and realized it was only 1/2" thick. The plywood itself is as solid and heavy duty as 1/2" plywood as I've seen, no holes or pourousness. There is a hard plastic coating on the outside, and a softer on the inside. Supreme corp also specifically sells and re-markets this material with a spinoff company. There is a website with specs online somewhere if you want to check it out. Adding the windows and doors and other items actually strengthened it quite a bit. It was pretty solid with lots of scuffs on the wall but it would move a little when you pushed hard. The PO added a metal bar for hanging/moutning large structural items like shelves but I actually removed it because we won't need it.
Because I'm 6'5 I just barely fit in it sidewise. Also to keep it simple, no additional insulation other than light for the ceiling only (because this is sheetmetal only). The PO already insulated it pretty well and also put in a roof vent. Paint only, then I'll use a webasto diesel-fired heater with a thermostat. Likely some solar panels probably without additional batteries. The webasto cranks and uses little fuel like a quart a night on a cold night, which is nothing. go skiing? Leave the thermostat at 70 for when you return...
And that's about it, for now...
HEre are photos of the project / progress for now if it helps.
Sorry to also hijack by the way from Sprinters... though spinters are awesome. I can't get enough of Geek's thread...
Here's what it looked like when we started. Wife measuring the interior.
And here's what it looked like with seperator wall removed and when I cut out the opening for the door..
Another parking lot shot...
And how it looks as we speak. Prepping for flooring paint, etc. Also a 10' long Ski Doo also happens to fit in it perfectly, by the way..
all photos here:
http://andreshoumatoff.smugmug.com/Cars/2004-Superduty-E-350-Van/
