Sprinter Buildout Phase 1: Researching, planning, fretting...

Oiy. It’s one thing to peruse the Sprinter forums before you own one of these beasts, quite a different thing when you have one sitting in your driveway. Several months of trolling #vanlife is inspiring and puts all sorts of fun ideas in your head. With the actual blank slate sitting out front, all bare and ready to accept my blood and sweat, my giddiness was dulled with a twinge of anxiety. Not only is a metal box a whole different medium than what I’m used to, but Spinters also lack any straight lines to work with. It’s a far cry from remodeling a kitchen or bathroom.

And things are expensive! Sticker shock has been a common reaction as I started putting together the hit list of items needed to do this thing up properly. One of the real issues with #vanlife trolling is that you start to set some pretty darn high expectations for a finished conversion. Since the blank slate itself is such a big investment, you really don’t want to skimp on what you put in it.

Add a tight deadline to the mix: we’re launching on a private Grand Canyon float on Feb. 23 for which I’m the trip lead; we’re both putting our jobs aside from that day on for the rest of the year so we’ve got to prepare the house to be rented out; and the van needs to be in good shape for living out of when we hit the road after the float. From the date of purchase, that gives us about 11 weeks while still working part time, going on a 2-week trip to the Grenadines, and lots of learning as we go. No pressure :-) If I were planning this project properly, my timeline and milestones would be a bust before I even started.

Launching into this effort, we did have a few basic needs/parameters identified:

• The mountain bikes have to fit inside and be easy to access
• The bed has to be accessible without having to move stuff
• We want to do our cooking and cleaning outdoors
• In addition to the bikes, we want to have room for climbing gear, backpacking gear, and rolled up IKs (inflatable kayaks)
• We only need to charge phones, laptops, and small electronics
• We don’t plan to spend winter nights in sub-zero temps but we will be in places with sub-freezing nights
• We want windows and ventilation
• It only has to accommodate the two of us
• Best if the main infrastructure can be removed so the van can be used for hauling big stuff a few times a year (think raft frames and pianos - well, raft frames anyways)
• Everything needs be done in a manner that is safe. No Mickey Mousing when it comes to securing cabinetry to the walls and floor.

With those needs in mind, the design characteristics begin to take shape:

• A big garage area capped by the bed
• A fairly simple, low demand auxiliary battery and electrical system
• Full insulation but no need for a built-in heater. For really chilly evenings, we can occasionally use the built-in diesel heater system which unfortunately only runs when the engine is on; so we’ll have to let her idle for 10 minutes for a quick blast of warmth. Or use a small Coleman heater (with windows cracked). But really, we’re not that worried as we’ve done lots of cool weather camping and we don’t intend to be sleeping in ski area parking lots.
• A fan and bunk windows over the bed for views and ventilation
• No need for plumbing or a built in stove.

Simple! Except for the details...which are a bit like an onion. That outer most layer that you see and admire on #vanlife is deceptive. It all looks so clean and simple and so cool. It doesn’t really convey the amount of effort and thought that goes into building things up to that final state.
I have to say, I have fretted more over the past 6 or 7 weeks than I have in a long time. Many nights I’ve woken at 2AM, my brain churning about amps, wire gauges, Plusnuts vs rivnuts, polystyrene vs Thinsulate, the value of butyl rubber, drilling holes in something that costs more than any other wheeled beast we’ve owned. Now that I’ve finally gotten to the point were I can see the end product taking shape, my nights have become a bit more restful. But just a bit...there’s still a long ways to go.