windguy

Great job - I like the design and craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing the pics. Is that a light mounted on the top in the back? How about the black thing in the front behind the driver's seat? Looks like a clamped on lamp perhaps.

Welcome to the Forum and congrats on your new TC. We love to see pics on this forum so please post away There are some pics on some threads that show what's behind those rear side panels. I've debated doing that myself but it doesn't seem like you gain too much from doing so. Worth checking into though to see if it works for your needs. Keep us posted.

No worries, thanks Question - Did you remove the cargo light to disable it and if so how do you pop that fixture out? I'm assume there are some type of clips holding it in but would rather ask before cheesing it up trying to pry it out.

Copy that. It's good you're self contained for road trips. Coastal areas around New England are pretty nice.

I agree, harder to wire up plus your panel is already in use. Mine's a waste of space being a blank panel. Thanks for the option of fixing that dash panel, but that would be too drastic for me to take on. I never look at the analog gauges (speedo and tach). Kind of a waste for me. I check my speed with the center digital speedo. I think the whole dash design lean towards style over function. I did consider a heads up display but haven't done any research beyond a quick glance.

Okay, I'll bite. Why? You live in the sticks so all I can come up with is either a hunter or a huntee, perhaps a moose in rut? @Tiller - great update, thanks. Love the pics. Enjoy your trip!

@GBL - thanks for sharing your tire info. If the OEM tires will last me 42,000 miles, I'll probably never have to change them

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new TC. Interesting to see the van stripped down to the bones. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the van.

I wish that dash panel didn't stick out as far as it does. It blocks my view of the dash. @Tiller - did you consider adding switches to the area at the center of the overhead storage area, like the pic below from another vehicle? In the TC there's a storage compartment for glasses for some TC models, not mine.

Good update. Despite all the driving I think you're having a good time. Enjoy!

Sounds interesting. Curious, what make and model tire? thanks

You're next round of mods sound great. Looking forward to hearing more about and then seeing the finished job. Glad your trip is going well. You're learning as you drive and camp. Hopefully you're getting some decent sleep in the back of the van. Where have you been parking at night? Godspeed!

Sweet! Nice job finishing. What's next?

okay, thanks for the clarification. Just to summarize, the firmware update will enable a tech to disable the exterior lights from coming on when the door is open/closed. It does not affect the interior lights. Does your service ticket from Ford have any reference info regarding this service item, like an SSM# or Firmware #? It would be very cool to see a list of features that can be enabled/disabled by a service tech. I seem to remember the day time running lights is one of the features. I had mine done as an option at the factory, but would like to know what else is available.

I can see how a slightly textured type of paint would be a good idea, especially for the larger slider panels, since it would be hard to get a nice even coat of spray paint over a larger area. Thanks for the tip. This will be a winter time project for me.

@chong - great thread and custom build. Thanks for sharing. Fun to read about the many stages of your build and trip. You did a lot of hard work and it appears to have paid off. Job well done! I've been to Banff, but in September, which was cold enough, as it ended up snowing in Jasper. You and your wife are a pair of hard core polar bears for doing this in the winter and living out of your van no less. Not sure if I should commend you or recommend a psych eval Looking forward to reading about more mods and adventures. Keep up the good work.

@colby c - congrats - great install. thanks for sharing with great pics.

Sounds good. There are virtues to keeping it simple. You are right. Not too many trees in my neck of the woods, er desert. Please keep us posted on your lighting upgrades.

Saw the link below on MSN Sunday night. This is from June so perhaps someone else has already posted about this. http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-vans/nissan-nv200-recon-camper-van-review/ar-BBDqk0p?li=BBnb4R5#image=BBDqmza|14 Seems like an efficient use of space copying design features of the old Westfalia/Eurovan campervan. May be a good source for getting conversion ideas for the TC. Recon company website link below https://www.reconcampers.com/ Sportsmobile added the MBenz Metris to their conversion lineup. Another decent resource for conversion ideas. http://sportsmobile.com/mercedes-metris/

@Tiller - just had a chance to catch up on this thread. You did a really nice job in customizing your TC. Thanks for sharing with some excellent pics to document your craftsmanship. Job well done! Using the uni-strut as a frame for your platform was a great idea. Very creative. I would like to add some additional lighting in the cargo area as well. For the cargo van version, I have a single LED light on the passenger side but it's often blocked with gear offering limited lighting. Not very useful. Having something on both sides and/or one centered in the rear to project outward like you did is the hot ticket. Have you considered adding a porta potti to your rig? Something like a Thetford or Dometic. I've thought about getting one myself for road trips. It could be useful unless you and the pooch have a solidarity thing going on with a "What's good for him is good for me mantra." Looking forward to seeing more mods. Keep up the good work!

thanks GBL - I may just go the cheap route and spray them black with a clear lacquer top coat. I think I already have the spray cans. I will do the primer coat with Kilz as you suggest, which is a great idea. I've used Kilz before and it's a create do-all primer for tough adhesion or cover-up applications. I'm okay with that solution, but then I scroll back on this thread and see Colby C's panels and how nice they look

@tiller - thanks for the other ideas. Interesting thoughts. I usually don't have my roof racks mounted for day-to-day beach use, only for special road trips when I need more cargo space. Mounting a tube won't work for me, but I have seen youtube videos of others making similar shower systems like this and it's very creative. My van is even fuller these days as I've added a 3rd windsurfing board that's a bit wider. Along with a surf board stuffed diagonally the van is packed. I really need to open up the area below the deck where the rear seats would normally be to capture more storage space. I said I'd do that last winter but never got to it. Perhaps this coming winter I'll dive into that project. Great to know that you ran your water pump off the aux power port. Many thanks for sharing that. For prototyping this will be very helpful to get me started. Appreciate your help.

@tiller - thanks for taking the time to provide more detail about your rinse station. I missed your other build thread but will check that out. Appreciate the link. You've really inspired me to create some type of shower system. Online I've checked out some ready made options and they all seem to have design/reliability issues (not sustained water pressure, leaking water, pumps and parts breaking). Ideally for me I'd like to have a self contained modular system that I can easily be removed from the van but I'm not adverse to mounting the pump somewhere and hard wiring it. Perhaps a milk crate that has the pump mounted on an inside wall, coiled hose and sprayer setup storage space and room for the water jug (1 or 2 gallon). The pump would get power plugging into the 12VDC Aux Power Point in the back. The TC User's Manual specs the power point at 12VDC - 20amps max or <180watts. The water pump like yours at 7.5amps and a few others I've seen at 4-7amps range seem light duty enough for plugging into this port. I just have some hesitation that the port can actually handle that load based on the spec. Last thing I want to do is smoke the wiring harness. My pump usage will be short bursts so it shouldn't be working too hard. Don't mean to hijack your thread but figured it's all the same subject matter. Thanks!

thanks for the update. An hour less driving per day means more free time to spend on the TC forum

thanks. for the back barn doors only, right? not the sliders. I'll have to scope out the parts diagrams. I think this was discussed in an older thread.