Prepping the Van for the Build
PHASE I
How to Insulate your Van
Climate Control
[Phase II]
Correctly Installing FatMat Rattle Trap - Phase 2.1
FatMat reduces road noise by absorbing vibrations giving you a nice smooth ride. Here's how we installed it!
How to Correctly Insulate your Van - Phase 2.2
Insulation, easily one of the most controversial topics when it comes to van builds. We spent hours researching this. Read on to see what we ended up doing.
DIY Fantastic Fan Install - Phase 2.3
The first hole in the van is an intimidating task, but that van won't build itself. So click read more and start that daunting task of cutting that first hole in the van.
Espar vs. Webasto Which is better? Who cares, check out my Snugger! - Phase 2.4 - HEAT
SNUGGER Heater Install. This is easily one of our favorite "splurge" installs. It is worth it's weight in gold. I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Find out how the install went
Maximizing Storage Space in your Van Build
Adding Over Cabin Storage
Slider Door Storage
[PHASE III]
Adding Overcab Storage - Phase 3.1
WriteThis is what we call the "attic." The headliner was a huge waste of space for us, we would rather have overhead storage than have room to stand up. Here is how we pulled it off! here…
Framing out Your Sprinter - Phase 3.2
Here, we talk about framing out your Sprinter to get it ready to build out. Reduce the rattling by reducing the amount of screws going into the metal.
Adding Slider Door Storage - Phase 3.3
Dani has a lot of shoes and clothes. No matter how much she downsizes, she still needs more space to organize her things. Utilizing all the dead space, even when it seems small and insignifigant, it always comes in clutch!
How to Power Your Home on Wheels
Electrical: Solar, Battery Bank, Solar Charge Controller
[PHASE VI]
DIY Electrical for Dummies - Phase 4.1
Battery Bank Basics & Isolator Install. Here we talk about basic parallel wiring for your aux 12v battery system. Charge your aux battery system with your van alternator with an isolator!
10 Easy steps to Hooking up your Van Electrical system - Phase 4.2
10 steps to hooking up your electrical system! YOU CAN DO THIS!
ENTER YOUR EMAIL BELOW for a free download of a DIY Wiring Guide for your campervan, motorhome, RV or boat. This breaks down the mystery of 12v electrical and it is a perfect guide for DIY off grid systems.
DIY Ceilings, Walls, & Floors in your Van Build
PHASE V
Installing 12v lights and Ceiling in Van - Phase 5.1
Mix and match paneling for roof and 12v Dream Lighting install. There is some floor information is in the video, on the write up as well.
Easiest Wall Insulation Ever in a Van? - Phase 5.2
Here, we know that we did this differently from most all sprinters out there. Here we show how we pulled off our wall installation.
Ceiling, Floors & Walls
If you learn better from videos than reading, watch our video compilation of how we did all three.
Hiding our Nature’s Head Toilet, Installing Cabinets, & Couch in Van
[PHASE VI]
Utilizing Couch as Storage - Phase 6.1
We knew going into the couch build that it was going to have some sort of underneath storage, house our battery bank and all our electrical components, as well as, housing the inverter that sticks out with 110v outlets at the bottom of the couch. Here's how we did it!
Nature’s Head, is it worth the hype? - Phase 6.2
Going into this build, we were 100% committed to a composting toilet. After a few years of peeing in bottles and what have you, we knew it was time for a legitimate throne. We went with the Nature’s Head composting toilet. While it is on the more expensive price end of the spectrum, we knew that we would own this toilet for a long time.
Building Upper Cabinets Van Build - Phase 6.3
Here we show how we built the custom cabinets on the driver side of the van. Cabinets were an intimidating task to start on, but once we started, it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Here is how we did it!
Kitchen Cabinets & Extra Storage in the Van
[PHASE VII]
Building the Kitchen and Sink Cabinets in the Van - Phase 7.1
After knocking out the cabinets on the driver side of the van, we knew a little bit more about cabinetry and framing. So, the kitchen cabinet seemed to be an easier task. The first order of business was to design and build out a frame that would house our water where we it would be accessible. Here is how we did it!
Cheap and Easy Plumbing set up in the Van - Phase 7.3
Here, Kevin goes over our plumbing set up. It is a cheap and easy plumbing set up for those of you not looking for the commitment of under-mounting some tanks.
Easy Ways to Add Storage into Your Van build - Phase 7.2
Storage Ottoman, seat, laundry bin, step up... this little guy is all those things. Here, we share some ideas on how we used every "Dead Space" we could for storage.
Extra DIY Sprinter Upgrades and Accessories
[PHASE VIII]
$50 Rear View Camera
We had some quotes on installing a rearview camera, but they were all outrageous. So we decided to install our own and we did it for under $50!
Installing a WiFi Extender in a Van
Since the insulation and all the walls have gone in, our ability to connect to WiFi signals has gone down, unless our door is open. To keep it stealth, we tried out a WiFi extender.
Best All Weather Tires for Sprinter?
When we got the van, the first thing we noticed we would have to address after the rust, was the tires. The tread was barley there. We wanted some more aggressive off-road type tires that might help keep us out of sandy situations we might find ourselves on those dirt BLM roads. Here's what we went with...
Swivel Seat in your Sprinter Van is Mandatory.
This is the best seat in the house. Besides the fact that this seat acts as a front row to the movie screen of our lives, it also swivels around to add more seating in the back when we are kickin' it.
Save thousands on that Aluminess rack and build your own $200 Deck & Rack!
We couldn't believe how much some roof rack companies want for solar mounting and racks. So, we do what we do best, cheap out and DIY. This looks more stealth, from the side, anyways. We are super stoked with it!
Full van tour of our DIY 2007 Dodge Sprinter Conversion. We did the built-out by ourselves and over the course of about 3 months. The van is 100% off-grid capable.
