The Gnarhauler: Another white cargo van.

[bbbthreat]

Any worries of loss of air flow for cooling? I only ask because you have that LED light bar right in front of that air scoop/dam. I know E-Series vans benefit from opening up the front up as much as possible - Part of the reason the '08+ front ends are popular.

Not a criticism, just curious. Always surprised at how many trucks have bars/lights right in front of transmission coolers, etc. Figure it's no big deal for daily use, but start packing on weight, 100+* days, long grades, or slow movement and I start to wonder.

Your build is awesome thus far. Really digging the flooring and modifying those Transit seats. Huge upgrade right there. Your passengers owe you big. ?

 

[i bike]

What closed cell foam and density loaded vinyl did you use? I'm planning to do the floor of the main cab.

I was thinking something along these lines. Second Skin Luxury Liner Pro Closed Cell Sound Insulation Foam for Cars - Water Resistant - 3/8" Thick, 9 Square Ft. Sheet - Made in the USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAFWT3S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_VZ-jCb9V5JZA4

The CCF and MLV I used came from www.sounddeadenershowdown.com. It was leftovers from a friends Tacoma project, he just happens to have enough to do my front doors and floor.

The luxury liner is nice because it’s both products in one. I cut my MLV to fit, then had to 3M spray glue the CCF to the back side before I installed it.


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[i bike]

Any worries of loss of air flow for cooling? I only ask because you have that LED light bar right in front of that air scoop/dam. I know E-Series vans benefit from opening up the front up as much as possible - Part of the reason the '08+ front ends are popular.

Not a criticism, just curious. Always surprised at how many trucks have bars/lights right in front of transmission coolers, etc. Figure it's no big deal for daily use, but start packing on weight, 100+* days, long grades, or slow movement and I start to wonder.

Your build is awesome thus far. Really digging the flooring and modifying those Transit seats. Huge upgrade right there. Your passengers owe you big.

Valid concerns. I’ll have to keep an eye on temps this summer. If it does have an affect, I’ll probably move the bar up on top of the bumper. I’m actually looking at getting rid of it for two single row bars, one white and one amber. Having a hard time finding a ~20” single row in amber that’s not $400+ though.

Thanks for the compliments, I’m really pumped on how the floor and seat turned out. Very much like I had envisioned it. Spent many nights staring into the back of an empty van trying to take all the variables into consideration.


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[i bike]

I’m not 100% sure what I want the final interior buildout to be, so at this point I’m kind of just using the van and letting it come to me. I do have a pretty good idea how I want to utilize the space on and inside of the side and rear doors, I’m going to start working on door panels and getting wiring roughed in for aux power, lighting and stereo gear.

I also want to get rolling on insulation on the interior. I’ve got some sheets of polyiso I plan on using against the exterior sheet-metal. Between the roof ribs and in the openings where factory windows would be installed. I’ve been going back-and-forth on what product to use inside of the cavities of the doors and the walls. I’m leaning towards loose-fill sheep‘s wool, but I’m open to suggestions for other products. I’m wondering if maybe Thinsulate would be a better option. Any input would be much appreciated.


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[eporter]

That thicker thinsulate seems to be good stuff, insulated and sound deadens too. Spendy, but good R value and installs fairly easily. Won’t rattle or squeak. Expands/compresses to fit weird spaces. There’s a guy selling it on eBay that lives in hood river.

 

[i bike]

Low hanging fruit.

Busy few weeks with the holidays, managed to sneak out for a mountain bike ride in Sedona yesterday. High of 50 degrees and snow still in the shaded areas

I quickly realized I need to better way to transport mountain bikes in the back of the van.

I really liked the look of the 1-Up van tray mounts, but at $75 each I investigated some more cost-friendly options. I went to a tried and true design that’s been around for a while, the good old PVC bike rack. Modified slightly to fit my needs. Link to plans if anyone else is interested
https://www.utahmountainbiking.com/goodies/TruckbedBikeRack.htm

I determined spacing to give enough room for handle bars with some wiggle room built in for sway. I had originally hoped for room for four bikes, but three ended up pushing it.

Needed a method to attach to L-Track. Went to Lowe’s and got some 3/8” x2” carriage bolts, finessed the heads with a flap disc till they easily slid in and out of the track.

I had ordered some thumb screws off Amazon a while back for this very application. Installed the 3/8 nuts I bought along with the carriage bolts into the thumbscrews.

Centered the rack in the van and marked where the rack would meet the tracks.

Now my bike is riding in style, only takes two minutes to take the rack in and out. Pretty happy with the results, I’m using a 24” bungee from the handlebars to the top crossmember of the rack to keep the bikes from rolling out backwards. Center bike will need to go in backwards and get secured by the seatpost.

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[i bike]

Filthy, just how it should be.

Not a lot of action lately, mostly planning and saving.

Started mocking up door panels, 5mm birch ply. They will eventually get some type of covering. Either fabric or vinyl, TBD.

Started hanging L-Track on the side walls. These will hold the interior panels in place, as well as provide a mounting point for some type of removable bed. Began insulating as well. Recycled denim in the doors and wall cavities, roof and window blanks will get Thinsulate.


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[mothgils]

Digging the L-Track for the side walls. I'm planning to do something similar. It looks like your L-track runs down hill. Is it equal height from the floor?

 

[i bike]

Digging the L-Track for the side walls. I'm planning to do something similar. It looks like your L-track runs down hill. Is it equal height from the floor?

The plan is to have it parallel/level with the floor. That section only has one bolt holding it up in the picture, so it may have a slight pitch as it sits. I need to get it leveled up and then mark and install the remaining RivNuts. I think the natural body line of the van has a slight back to front slope to it.


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[tims5377]

This is great. Thanks for the detail on your floor and insulation. I will probably rip both off, minus the L track. Then plan on doing some cabinets, bed, fan and lights.

Also, nice bike. I have a GG Smash. I am probably going to put a fork trap in my floor using T nuts for solo trips and she will have to live on the hitch when m'lady wants to come along

 

[goin camping]

Nice van and mods.

Ironically I had to drive from Central Cal to Phoenix to buy my van...

 

[i bike]

Stuff and things. Camping, planing, a few projects.


Colorado (Crested Butte) in June

Again in August (Rico)

Got some maintenance stuff taken care of, ball joints, bushings etc. Also got some fun stuff.

JW Speaker 8910 Evo headlights

Low Beam

High beam

Started on power system. Kisae DMT-1250, 100ah AGM battery, lots of other Blue Sea bits. Stereo gear as well.

Templated walls and started building skins to be wrapped shortly. Built a box to house the electrical components and subwoofer. This will get covered in the same rubber coin as the floor.

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[i bike]

Last wall panel cut, fold away table mounted, celebratory beer cracked.

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[i bike]

Been getting stuff done little by little over the winter. It’s prime outdoor season in Central AZ, so there’s been lots of moto, MTB and snowboarding. Summer is creeping up so I’m prioritizing van stuff for the next few months to be ready to escape the heat.


Got the wheel well storage boxes built, covered and installed. The driver side box is exclusively storage, passenger side house all the house electrical and stereo gear.

Been accumulating parts the past few months. Got the new 320A alternator installed along with the big 3 upgrade. Still need to run the main feed back to the house distribution setup.

I originally tried the main lug crimps with a hydraulic crimper from HF, shortly after it went in the trash where it belongs. Spent the money and bought a nice mechanical crimper, well worth the added expense.

Aftermarket alternator was a tight squeeze, required a little die grinder work to clear the intake manifold.

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[i bike]

This project has been looming and I’m sure happy I can finally call it complete. Full Raptorliner paint job, exterior and jambs. Tons of disassembly, prep, masking etc. Took me about four weekends to complete start to finish, that’s with putting in a couple hours after work every day too.

It’s certainly not perfect, but it’ll work for my purpose. I learned and bunch and know what I’d to differently next time.

For those wondering, the rockers and roof were shot with the vari-nozel gun straight from the bottle. The main body was done with the Raptor reduced 15% via an HVLP gun to get a smoother texture. The color I chose is called “Gator”. New from Jeep for the 2020 Gladiators.

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