WELCOME HOME!
Before we start, we just want to let you know that everything shown below is detailed in our Build Journal: how it’s built, construction materials, products we used, cost, etc. Feel free to take a look:
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Build Journal
Product Review
See On Amazon
THE VAN
We built it from a Ford Transit 2016 High-Roof, Extended-Length with 3.7 gas engine and Limited Slip Differential (LSD).
KITCHEN
The passenger side cabinet features a propane range (Propane System Guide), a sink (Water System Guide), and some precious storage. The driver side cabinet features a 12V fridge (Fridge Guide), a few drawers, and this is where our electrical system lives (Electrical System Guide). At last, we made an overhead cabinet for extra storage.
LIVING ROOM
The living room is made possible thanks to the swivel seats (driver and passenger side). The living room also doubles as a dining room by installing our table (see on Amazon), or as a restroom thanks to our Nature’s Head composting toilet. For privacy, or to keep the temperature acceptable inside the van, we install our insulated window covers.
BEDROOM
Our bedroom features a permanent bed, plenty of storage, and a neat 360 degrees Sirocco fan. The ceiling LEDs are dimmable and are split between two zone (kitchen & bedroom).
GARAGE
It’s not an adventure van without adventure gear..! Our garage is located under the bed and features a convenient slide-out-bike-rack, and a bunch of other storage solutions (for the snowboard, the splitboards, the avalanche gear, the BBQ, tools, etc.) as described in our Garage Article.
SHOWER
We have a propane on-demand hot shower system in the back of the van, and we get some privacy thanks to the exterior shower curtains we made. On the second photo below, you can see the mosquito screens deployed (we also have one for the sliding door).
VIDEO TOUR
We’ll make our own video at some point, but for now thanks to our friend Drew for shooting & editing this!
THE ADVENTURES
We use our van as a basecamp-on-wheels for mountain biking and backcountry skiing adventures. We try to keep our “Tales From The Road” journal updated. See you on the road!
Great tutorial. Great van. I/we are in the process of starting our build. We bought a passenger van and have taken all the seats out and ready to start the floor and then the bed etc. Wondering what company you went with for your window coverings. We wanted to buy our van with plenty of windows but we are aware we will have to cover those once we park to keep temperatures cool or hot depending on the season?
We made our own window covers, it’s documented here: https://faroutride.com/insulated-window-covers/
There’s also a non-DIY option in the article.
Cheers
Hi there,
The skitour+Van is the best option ever.
Wonder how you guys improved the front door and floor insolution?
Nice job. If you don’t mind my asking, where do you keep the propane tank, safely?
Thanks! Everything about our propane system can be found here: faroutride.com/propane-system/
I’m an aircraft structures design engineer and I work for a large company that modifies commercial airplanes. Since our company builds a lot of aircraft interior components, we use a lot of fiberglass honeycomb and carbon fiber honeycomb panel material. This material is stronger and a fraction of the weight of wood. Because we build so many components, I have access to free surplus fiberglass honeycomb and carbon fiber honeycomb panel material that I plan to use for a Ford Transit extended van conversion. I would like to start designing stowage compartments and cabinets before I buy the van. Would you be able to send me a step file of your van model that I could use for designing the cabinets? I’ll make some cabinets for you in exchange for the step file.
Interesting!
Because we didn’t have an exact model of the Transit, our CAD file is not super precise(we pretty much just created a big square similar to the transit dimensions). It was useful to validate our layout, but the envelop is not precise enough to design something in advance… However, you can purchase a 3D scan of the Transit here: https://www.rapid3d.ca/shop
Cheers,
antoine
Thanks for the quick reply!
Love your website and the resources you have created!
Thanks for all the hardworking and sharing.
ZB: Future vanlifer, current Shredder, Skiier, Fly fisher
The fact that you are engineers really shows up in the quality of your work .. both in the van and on the website. Top notch. I will be building a Carpet Van in a 2020 Transit HR EL RWD that I am waiting on delivery.. I am using E track for a modular design for shelves and other equipment storage. I am most concerned about attaching plywood paneling similar to cargo trailers that will be heavy duty enough to hold a few hundred pounds. The floors will be Raptor Lined.. any advice on building heavy duty walls?
This site is so well put together. Yes, your van is awesome but to help others by providing such an in-depth source of information is such a testament to who you are as people. Thank you so much! We will be following your instructions closely. Happy travels!
Thank you for sharing your experiences, buildout, and suggestions. This is absolutely an amazing resource. We have been thinking about Vanlife for quite sometime and weighing the options to build one out or purchase a finished product. Your site along with others are very inspiring.
Hey guys! Love your site and help you have provided. Any info on the shower curtain you guys are using. Was it a DIY or something you purchased. I have seen some online but they are $250 +. Any advice on what you guys used or bought is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
It’s a DIY, but we used quality material so it wasn’t cheap! Can’t remember exactly, but at least 100$ I think.
Hey guys! I love your page and it has been such a valuable resource in preparing for my DIY van build. One thing in particular that I love about your van is that it’s not the typical white van you see with most builds. I have found my perfect van and it is also not a darker color. I wanted to ask you guys after several years on the road if you have any regrets about the darker color and it attracting more heat or being more difficult to moderate it’s internal temperature. I really like the idea of my van not getting lost in a sea of other white vans but understand that white is the go to choice for a reason. Thanks in advance for your help!
It definitely heats up in the sun, you’ll have to fight that with more ventilation. If you plan on using your van mostly during summer, you might want to go for a lighter color. I think we’ll do that for our next van… That being said, we’ve been living in it for 2.5 years now and the heat is manageable.
Thanks for the quick reply and insight!
I’ve been planning my van build for about 6 months now and I just stumbled upon your site. Being engineers, we must think similarly because yours is almost exactly what I was thinking for mine – the layout, many of the appliances, the pull-out garage shelve for bikes. Great work! I’m definitely going to explore more of your website and see what I can learn. Thank you so much for putting this website together!!
First, Thank you very much for sharing your home and life with us. It is very informative. My wife and I hope to join the lifestyle in 2021 and are weighing the build process vs outright purchase vs used. How have you found driving the Extended Transit? I understand parking can be an issue (when restocking) and rear-end “scraping”. What has been your experience? Thank you again. Respectfully – Pat & Ann
Driving the extended is just fine, you’ll get used to it very fast. So is parking, not really an issue (unless maybe you plan on staying in major cities most of the time). The rear end like to scrape in dips (off-road), but the Air Lift helps with that (https://faroutride.com/air-lift-springs-installation/).
On the positive side, you get more living space. For two people living full time in the van, with sport gear (summer & winter) and appliances (stove/oven, toilet, fridge, sink, etc) we think it’s a must. We wouldn’t want any smaller. Maybe if you are more minimalist than us (no sport gear, less appliances) the non-extended would be fine?
Good luck with your project!
antoine
Hi there! Just have to say thank you for creating such an expansive journal! Wish I’d found it sooner.
I recently purchase a 97 Astro and am converting it, however there aren’t hardly any conversion guides for the specific model. The Astro has almost no straight lines. I was wondering if there is a post regarding ideas for properly converting the side and rear entry doors, and how you managed to wrestle all those nasty curvy contours in your build.
Kind regards
Taylor
No idea about the Astro, but scroll through this group and you’ll find some ideas! Many people with Astro vans are posting here: https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/
Good luck!
Planning on buying a Promaster 159 in about two weeks and starting the build. I’ve been doing the internet scouring for builds, materials, designs and every YT video out there for the past 6-weeks. Had I found this site I would have stopped in my tracks. This is the definitive site! Get a $5 a month Patreon sub and I’ll be in.. You have done an awesome!
I think you found our Patreon 😉 Thanks for your support! Let us know if you have any question, good luck!
You have obviously gone to great lengths working out the heating/cooling (well, heating at least) for living purposes, but how about while you’re traveling? Since the “cockpit” isn’t really separated from the living space are the standard Ford Transit heat and A/C sufficient when you’re underway? I believe you mentioned the A/C works okay while driving in one of the comments, but how about heat?
The cabin heater push a LOT of heat, so it’s good to heat the living space when we drive; when we get to destination the van is nice and warm. It’s not the case for A/C though, it doesn’t really work for the living space…
Yeah sure our build is FULLY documented here: https://faroutride.com/build-journal/
Good luck!
Question d’un francophone : c’est quoi “engineering careers” ?
Nos carrières (jobs) d’ingénieur 😉
Great page, very inspiring. Question: What are your monthly costs to keep things running? From experience water dump gets expensive quickly, thoughts?
We don’t go to campground (https://faroutride.com/free-campsites) or water dumps (https://faroutride.com/find-water-vanlife).
Actually we track our monthly expenses here: https://faroutride.com/vanlife-actual-cost/
Hope that helps 🙂
Hi there,
Thank you for all of the great information. We just downloaded your electrical plans and looking forward to studying them further.
We are about to buy the NovaKool fridge and wondering if you are happy with the floor vent that you put in or would you do something different the next time. Also are you happy with the fridge?
Thanks again,
Kris
Incredible amount of work you two have done here, nice job. Just bought your wiring diagram, super helpful, thanks. Where did you put your shore power hookup on your van and do you have a product link for that?
Hi Rob, thanks!
We don’t have a shore power hookup as we rarely use it; we just use an extension cord routed through the front door, that’s it! 🙂 We didn’t want any hookup outside the van, so we’re more stealth.
Cheers!
This is an awesome use of space! I love this van .