In June of 2022 we embarked on an adventure that had long been a bucket-list item of ours: to raft from the Brooks Range north to the Arctic Coastal Plain. Our route would take us 100 miles down the Marsh Fork of the Canning and continuing on the Canning River to it’s delta on the…
I kept one of the 3-passenger seats that came with my passenger van so that I could carry extra passengers in the second row. Unfortunately, I had to remove the galley cabinet whenever I wanted to install the seat. I knew my ideal setup would be to have a two-passenger seat that I could install…
Lights At this point in time there isn’t any reason I can think of to not use LED lights. I like the clean look of flush mount lights and I felt they would work well installed in the headliner. I used the same flush-mounted lights for all the ceiling lights which include the reading lights…
Mounting Electrical Fixtures I needed some mounting locations for bus-bars, fuses, and the battery-monitor shunt, so I cut a couple of pieces of scrap plywood to fit the inside front of the seat base as well as the door-side just below the opening. These were screwed in place from the outside of the base. Here…
I bought a couple 100 foot rolls of color coded stranded copper wire in 14ga and 12ga along with shorter lengths of 8ga and 4ga wire for the main battery connections. At this time, I had most of the interior of the van taken apart including the headliner, side panels, seats, and front flooring, so…
Battery Selection As noted before, I chose to use two 220Ah 6-volt AGM batteries wired in series to get my 12-volts. I think there is already WAY too much written on-line about the pros and cons of 6-volt vs 12-volt batteries and even more written about how many amp-hours are necessary. In the end I…
Electrical Design I have to start off by saying that I’m not an electrician. I understand that spending countless hours online really doesn’t qualify me for anything. So nothing here should be considered “official” or even “correct.” That said, this is what I did and why. My main goals of my van’s electrical system were…
I wanted an overhead galley cabinet for storage and to serve as a mount for some of the electrical controls and galley lighting. In prototyping with various boxes and cardboard cutouts, it became clear that a square box would be a head banger so I angled the ends to make the front of cabinet narrower…
MaxxFan Another lesson learned from my first van was the necessity of a good roof vent. On warm days, while cooking, and just to get some fresh air, these things are a must. In my book, a rain cover is also mandatory – nothing worse than not being able to ventilate the van during a…
Although the Sprinter Passenger model comes with an “insulation” package, its really pretty minimal. It turns out to be just some sound deadening patches pasted on the interior of the van sides and a 1″ layer of felt on the inside of the trim panels. The headliner insulation is part of the structure of the…
Tire Selection After a summer of spinning my stock Sprinter tires in the mud and getting stuck more than a few times, it was more than apparent that I needed to get some better “shoes” for my van. Since I was going to get new tires, I thought it also appropriate to check out the…
There was no question as to whether I needed heater or not; not only does winter come at anytime of year in Alaska, but I planned on using my van extensively in the cold months. I went back and forth deciding between the Espar and Webasto and the multitude of knock-offs that are out there….
I constructed enclosed storage in the cargo area based on a design inspired by another blogger (Thanks Pete!). I liked the idea of a larger storage area on one side of the van and a narrow one on the other. There needed to be enough space between the boxes to park at least two bikes…
Roof rack selection A quick note about choosing roof racks. I personally didn’t really see a need for a dance floor on my roof; I just wanted some simple rails – similar to the factory rails – to mount my solar panels, awning, and maybe some off-road lights. I found the MB factory racks to…
Flooring Selection Based on my experiences with prior vans and campers, I’m tough on floors. Camping, fishing, skiing, boating, biking, dogs, and all the other various activities and associated gear take a toll on the van floor. Based on that experience I looked for something that is waterproof and durable yet easily cleaned. I considered…
I struggled with which system I was going to use to make my platform bed frame. I considered most of the “standard” materials including wood, E-Track, slotted strut channel, and the ever-trendy L-Track. I also considered the various bed-platform kits that are available as well as a custom build by a local conversion shop, but…
This is a tough – and popular – question. I can’t presume to tell anyone which van to buy, but there were a few reasons I chose the one I did, so I figure I can at least share those thoughts. For some background I started my van life with a 1969 Volkswagen which I…
June, 2020 Ikheenjik River (Birch Creek), was recommended to us as generally mellow 126-mile float with road access to the put-in and take-outs. A designated Wild and Scenic River, Birch Creek flows through the Steese National Conservation Area into the broad expanse of the Yukon Flats ultimately emptying into the Yukon River. We had already…