Motovan--2000 Ford E350 ex-wheelchair van

Ouch. That doesnt sound fun at all.

One thing i didn't notice before, careful charging those batteries inside the van.... They are likely flooded cell being 6v's, is that right? Charging can release hydrogen gas, less likely if they are charged slowly, but can still happen.

In reply to java230:

Yes they're flooded and they can release a rather insignificant amount of hydrogen gas. If the solar is charging them, then the windows open, and if the alternator is charging them, then the fans are running. Not worried about it.

So I got all these nice warm LED low profile lights wired up. I wanted a switch that I could reach from the doorway or from bed. I planned on mounting this switch to some angle aluminum so I could reach through the gap from above. I found a much better solution while at Lowe's for only $5.

Now that I have all this light I can work on mounting my repurposed file cabinet. I got two replacement keys from a website called easykeys.com for like $12. Free shipping after $10 so I bought two $6 keys. Important note, if you have important documents in a file cabinet like this at work, anyone can easily order a new key by reading the code on the front of the lock. Just FYI. Could be abused.

Let me just say that I'm not proud of the finished product here, and that it didn't really turn out that well. It's also not super secure. If the van rolled, the cabinet would probably tear loose. It also takes an extra person to remove the thing since the shelf it's sitting on is bolted through the fender.

The jack is mounted securely with a bolt with a plastic handle on it. It runs through the skid plate and threads into a tee nut in the floor. The rear caster wheel drops off the edge of the plywood and holds it too. The jack handle fitting is under spring tension up tight against the wood supporting the cabinet. I have a piece of foam supporting the lifting arm of the jack so it doesn't rattle. It's quiet and hasn't moved over the last two thousand miles.

The angle iron is around the edges to add rigidity, total overkill. The lip sticking up was supposed to help with retention on the cabinet, not sure what I was thinking. I ran some sheet metal screws through the floor of the cabinet into the plywood, but the ratchet strap is what's actually holding the cabinet to the shelf.

My propane tank, and heater fit nicely in a drawer. They only take up about half a drawer. I used the top drawer for all my clothes. It was nice to live out of for the week in Moab.

I also picked up a pedestal drawer for a washing machine from Lowe's for less than $20. I used this underneath my fridge. You can just barely see the big white drawer in this photo.

I got home from a work related trip on Thursday afternoon and we were to leave the next morning. I really wanted to get my damn awning mounted so that I could use it in camp. I solicited Larry's help in doing this. He's mounted lots of roof racks on customers cars so I let him measure and do the math. It's hard to do stuff like this on a van because everything in curved, unevenly. I wanted it as far back as possible while still covering the side barn doors. It came with 6mm stainless hardware. I couldn't believe they thought 4 bolts was enough. I decided to double it and go with 8. Larry accidentally drilled 2 extra holes that were really just marking the end, so we slid it back a few more inches and used 10. I later found 2 extra bolts so ARB actually thinks 6 is appropriate, but 10 is better given the dirt roads this thing will see. Big fender washers and silicone were also enlisted.

Light rain, cold and dark. Perfect working conditions.

The first time I unrolled it was in camp at Moab. I didn't need the awning. It didn't rain and it wasn't hot. There was plenty of shade from the trees anyway.

It's actually kind of heavy and hard to do. Especially after you break your wrist and don't know it yet. It's also really high up there. This is good and bad. It's nice because even with the legs fully extended so that it's easy to walk under, there's still a good slope for the rain. It also has plenty of clearance for the doors to open and close. It's bad because I need to stand on a stool to get the rear strap that holds the awning in place. The awning also needs to be rolled up totally straight or it doesn't fit in the bag. This is hard. The final potential problem with the mounting is that since the fiberglass top tapers towards the top, the awing points slightly upwards. The poles on the side are meant to flex up and down, but now I'm flexing them down a little more than normal. It's probably fine though. When they're just hanging there waiting for you to grab them they're even higher at the end. This might be hard to understand if you've never seen one of these setup before.

We spent our last night in Moab camped out in the desert. The awning worked great for letting sweaty moto gear dry out.

Next up, I bought 4 replacement Pioneer speakers. I might swap those out tonight. I also decided that it might be nice to have a little bit of bass, and last night I ordered an MTX 10" powered subwoofer from Crutchfield. It's going to mount right in front of the battery box. That space isn't usable for a whole lot else. I even got a scratch and dent model for $170 instead of $200. It's going to get scratches and dents anyway.

I need to figure out why my backup camera wouldn't work last year when I tried hooking it up. Is there a way I can just test the camera with the yellow RCA plug? Hook it to my TV? I'm not sure if the camera was bad or operator error.

I wouldn't worry about the elbows/joints flexing too much on the awning. I have seen them kicked over the truck in the wind and those plastic bits survived fine. Looks like the whole set up is working great!!

I find its a bit easier to roll the awning up rolling it over towards the truck instead of under if that makes sense. IIRC is opposite of how they "designed" it with the extra rub guards.

java230 wrote: I wouldn't worry about the elbows/joints flexing too much on the awning. I have seen them kicked over the truck in the wind and those plastic bits survived fine. Looks like the whole set up is working great!! I find its a bit easier to roll the awning up rolling it over towards the truck instead of under if that makes sense. IIRC is opposite of how they "designed" it with the extra rub guards.

Yeah I've rolled it both ways and you're right. Also, the ARB is designed to be rolled overhand, it doesn't nest in the bag correctly otherwise, or line up with the reinforced patches. All good there.

Chipping away at the list, 7 days until departing to Baja for a whole month! You can follow along on instagram for updates @petrolburner

Another update for my faithful reader Java.

I picked up some new Pioneer speakers for only $75 from Best Buy. They're 2 way, basic replacements.

A long, long time ago, I insulated most of the van with the foil faced self adhesive closed cell foam stuff. I ran out of material, time and motivation and never did the passenger door.

So I put as much as I could on the interior side of the outer door skin, installed the new speaker, and then covered the inside of the inner structure.

Best door I've done so far I must say.

Verdict on the speakers...I'm no audiophile, in fact, my hearing sucks. Just ask my girl. So, I couldn't tell a bit of difference. It's still pretty much all treble and no bass. Is that because it's a huge cabin?

Also, if I had it to do over again I would have gotten some of those foam speaker baffles to install along with the new speakers. Because the interior of those doors, especially the rears, were full of dust from running around deserts all over.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_237XT68/XTC-6-x8-Speaker-Baffles.html?tp=660

Checking in!

I got the new stereo in my Van yesterday too. Still need to get the rear speakers hooked up, but one step closer!

I'm still here!

I actually have an almost identical power distribution block on the bench for my van. Great taste!

So the driver's door has obvioulsy been repainted and the door lock cyclinder was put back in place with some kind of berkeleying putty. I bought the appropriate clip from Ford, as well as the black plastic piece on the inside of the A-pillar on the passenger side that had a broken clip since I bought it.

I installed the sub vertically to minimize the foot print and leave space for my tie down to the left handlebar. It's a pretty solid mount. Somehow between marking and putting screws in it shifted a few mm and It's under a fair bit of tension. That made it a bitch to mount but also wobble free.

My music now sounds complete. It's not super loud bass like you'd get with two 12s and 1000 watts, but I'm totally content. My Mexican rap music sounds awesome. I wish I had some Cartel de Santa on a disc or my iPhone instead of just Pandora so I could listen to it in Baja.

I also hard wired my 1500w inverter. Now I can charge my headlamps, camera battery and Kathleen can use her flat iron.

Short wire runs direct to the terminals should have minimal voltage drop.

List must be getting short! I'm a little jealous of your Baja trip. I haven't been down there in more than a decade....

java230 wrote: List must be getting short! I'm a little jealous of your Baja trip. I haven't been down there in more than a decade....

Yes, but I keep adding things to both lists. I rode my mountain bike to work today. I'm undecided on whether or not I should even take the XRR. Might be best to just let the wrist heal and enjoy the extra space by not having a big ass bike, ramp, fuel jug, and big riding gear bag inside.

I figured out why my backup camera didn't work when I hooked it up nearly a year ago. There are two yellow RCA plugs on the back of the Pioneer 4100 NEX, video in and video out. Don't use those for the camera. There's a weird orange colored RCA on the back labeled BC or something. That's for the back-up camera. Works fine. So i started running the supplied cable. I drilled a hole, wrapped the wire in tape where it went through, and then sealed it with Gorilla tape.

For most of the run to the back it follows the old wheelchair lift power cable that now goes to my house batteries.

I knew it would be close to being long enough, and it came up this much short.

Drilled a hole in the top of the license plate tub.

Pulled the wires through and tapped into the reverse light wiring for power.

Action

Taped off the hole with Gorilla tape to keep some dust out of one of the holes. The rear doors get filled with dust.

Next I found the wire for the left rear reverse light, black with pink stripe.

Then I found the same wire in the driver's side footwell

Tapped in here for the signal to the head unit to display the camera view. Now, when I select reverse the camera view is displayed and I only had to run a few feet of wire instead of 25 feet.

Nice! I've got a camera for my van, but it's on the long list....

I'd like some opinions from the hive. I rode my mountain bike to work yesterday and the bumps hurt my wrist. I came to a curb to ride off, no big deal, but I walked it down so I didn't take the impact. How will it feel to ride the mighty XR650R in Baja? It's not going to help the healing, that's for sure. The bike is part of my safety net though. If I break down or get stuck I'm not stranded. So, I want to take something as a back up, and I have choices.

I could take a mountain bike. Lightweight, no fuel, doesn't require a big bag of riding gear. However, riding in sand and rocks sucks on an MTB. It probably wouldn't be a ton of fun.

I could take my girlfriend's Suzuki DR 200 if she would let me. It goes highway speed, has a huge gas tank and at 70 mpg or so it has plenty of range. It can go fast enough to hurt my wrist just as much as the XR650R and its suspension isn't nearly as plush. Also, a few years ago for her Christmas surprise I Plasti-dipped it hot pink. So it's hot pink. It would also take up about 90% of the space that the XRR would and I'd probably want to wear some protective gear while riding it.

My third and favorite option is my Honda Cub EZ90. In Mexico they ride all sorts of dirt toys on the street without getting hassled by the Policia. It's got a CVT so I don't need my left hand. It tops out at 30 mph. Has a 1 gallon gas tank, oil injected so I can fill it up at any old gas station. It's a ton of fun in the sand for tooling around camp. It's so lightweight I can use a smaller and lighter aluminum ramp that I already own. It occasionally doesn't engage the starter and you have to bounce the bike and swear at it, something is weird with the back up kick starter and it didn't really turn smoothly when I tried it back when I first bought it. The more frequently I ride it the more reliable the starter is it seems. It's a single seater only, no passenger unlike Kathleen's DR200. It's a berkeleying Cub, it's awesome and Instagram loves the little guy.

Sounds like DR200 is the right answer. That's a nice size for a backup bike.

no balls no glory. Take the XR650R, some advil, and a crapload of beer. Just be sure the bike and beer parts are separated, haha.

golfduke wrote: no balls no glory. Take the XR650R, some advil, and a crapload of beer. Just be sure the bike and beer parts are separated, haha.

The pain isn't actually the problem, it's the risk of preventing the broken wrist from healing and forcing me to have surgery and/or lifelong problems with it. Remember, I rode a lot of hard miles in Moab during the 3 days immediately after breaking it when I thought it was just sprained.

The Cub takes up much less space in the van than the DR200 would. The Cub is a conversation starter that I'm stoked to have and the hot pink DR 200 is a conversation that I'd rather avoid.

If highway speed and range were that important, I'd go grab this thing because I've always wanted one anyway.

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/mcy/5866409915.html

Wait, broken wrist? Forgot about that one. Take the Cub and have some fun!

Additionally, I'm not actually going to have many days to ride and explore via dirtbike because I'm picking up Kathleen at the airport in Cabo on the 26th and dropping her off again on the 6th and then I pretty much have to just pound out the miles to return home on time. So I'd really only have a couple of free days prior to picking her up and some half days while she's down there with me. I also have a stand up paddle board, snorkeling gear and a bad ass van to go exploring with.

Tom Suddard wrote: Wait, broken wrist? Forgot about that one. Take the Cub and have some fun!

Yeah, it sucks. It's really sucked doing all this work and having to keep my cast dry, overusing my sprained right wrist to compensate, and trying to run wires and fasten zip ties in tight spaces under the van with a fat casted hand that doesn't fit has really sucked. I also had to drill some holes in metal while laying on my creeper and I think I have some metal shavings stuck in between my skin and the cast now that I can't get out. I can't wait to get this berkeleyer cut off.

It doesn't look nearly this clean and fresh anymore

About 15 years ago I broke my hand riding DH. Being impatient, I didn't let it heal properly and got back on the bike too soon. Now at 46, I wish I'd been more patient. My right hand will never be 100% again.

Cub sounds perfect, can still get you out if your stuck or broken, and can be fun to toodle around on too