Accrete's AWD-Van Light Overland Vehicle

[Accrete]

Greetings all.
Last year about this time my wife and i were doing prelim research on what would replace our Tacoma+Trailer combo for light overland camping. We seriously toyed with the idea of having Mark create one of his fantastic campers for us though in the end the tug of a Van won out. We found a year end clearance on a 2010 AWD van and began upfitting it with roof, awning, bed and all the interior fixings of a nice camper. Here are some teaser shots and i've included a link to the sportsmobile build thread for any who would like details...BUT ask away here and i'll do my best to answer.

Happy Trails!
Thom & Cari

outside :

and some inside shots done up in ACU (Army Combat Uniform) Camo as a theme:

our froli sleep system bed before placement inside van (it creates a 20"H x 66"W x 80"L under bed storage area for all our gear well organized.
the froli system detail:

and what it looks like with pad and cover ready for the sleeping bags/bedding:

: )

 

[DirtyDog]

Looking good! I still like the van platform for a camper the best I think. 4wd vans are so few and far between these days though. Do you plan on adding a furnace?

 

[Accrete]

Hi DD : )

What we decided to try out is the HeatMate 5200 Portable Alcohol heater/stove combo. So far we've only fired it up once in the van on a chilly morning. ~10 minutes and the van was warm and i had a kettle full of boiling water : ) Since most of our time camping is either on the beach or i5 corridor (Battle Ground WA or Sweet Home OR) the weather is mild and spring-fall mornings rarely get below ~40 so things warm up easily.

The AWD on the van is a real plus for us on the coast with all the wet roads. Our prior vehicles were two generations of Volvo AWD wagons and we missed the AWD when we went to the Taco 4x4.

Next fall we are planning a trip to Sumpter via HWY26 then home via HWY84 so the heater might get more of a workout!?

Thom

 

[dsw4x4]

Hey accrete,
glad to see you over here! Do you like the froli system springs? Did you notice a big difference? Just curious I was thinking about using them but I have never heard or read any feedback about them.
Derek

 

[Accrete]

Hi Derek, the FROLI system is AMAZING!
The first morning waking up on our high end sealy pillow top mattress in the house after spending a week on the road with the van/froli my wife asked me when i was going to order a kit to replace our sealy! . . the Froli is that good! So this October i'm ordering a queen size kit and swapping out the sealy in the bedroom.

 

[Accrete]

Ah, update on utilizing the HeatMate in the van for a quick heat-up on chilly mornings... we woke to ~36 temp one morning in Sumpter last week and i fired up the HM i had staged the night before between the two front seats. I then put the kettle on, and by the time the water had boiled ~10minutes, we were comfortably warm in the van and i turned the unit off and had a cup of nice french press coffee : ) The unit was easily handled at the level of the lower vent holes, barely warm to the touch, and room temp on the bottom.

 

[Accrete]

Greetings adventurers!

It has been a while since i've posted here, though i've been reading and enjoying following trip reports and builds/projects.

I wanted to share a quick update on the state of our adventure rig.

The image above is of our 2010 Chevy 1500 AWD van conversion mentioned in this thread pulling our 2013 (delivered in April) Parkliner fiberglass travel trailer. The idea behind the combo is two-fold.
1) After a couple years of utilizing the TACO we realized that going off-road alone (we are after all happy hermits!) was no longer what we considered _safe traveling_, so we opted for a more-asphalt-bound AWD van to convert to basically Bed & Bath. The last two years with the van have been wonderful. We still prefer camping in BLM or Forestry undeveloped camp grounds off-grid. BUT (& point 2) we were both getting tired of setting up insta-room camp kitchen areas and similar, and then taking down the often soggy mess and having to deal with it once back home, which often times was raining too! AH, Life on the Oregon Coast!

Sooooo....since we were now traveling to areas that were accessible by conventional (read non 4x4 rigs), yet off the beaten asphalt path we began researching getting back into a small trailer (we had the A-liner 17ft folding trailer for two seasons but that was a PITA to raise/lower in the high winds and rain, and was sold). We saw a prototype of a Parkliner 15 foot fiberglass trailer in Olympia Washington area and placed an order the next day (January 2013). Our #035 arrived from North Carolina plant in mid April and we had our maiden voyage the last weekend of April. It was a fiberglass trailer rally in an Oregon state park...~60 trailers, only 1 Parkliner...it was non-stop tours and lots of well wishers. A fun event!

Here is a parting shot taken inside the little trailer and also links to
Our Van build on the Sportsmobile van conversion forum &
Our Parkliner build on the Fiberglass RV forum for any interested in more details.
Happy Trails!
Thom (& Cari)

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Great looking setup, Accrete!

 

[Accrete]

Thanks Stew, it's been a fun project. And similar to many here...once you get one little tweak tweaked you are looking for the next one : )
Thom

 

[Accrete]

It's been a while since i posted any update on our AWD van and thought some would enjoy the look/see.

Here is a recent shot of our rig:

This year's mods included a ~2.5" lift kit from Boulder Off Road Vans, Rhino Liner applied to bumpers/rockers/wheel-wells, Truck-Lite 5"x7" LED Headlights and a fairly complete overhaul of the interior. All professionally done (and paid for in cash < that is a happy feeling).

We are luvin' the van all the more and Cari (my wife) is asked lots of questions just about every trip out and about (her daily driver).

Cheers,
Thom

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Got any inside pics of the van, Accrete?

 

[Accrete]

Greetings,
Sure... : )
Here is a basic shot from the passenger side looking back to the sleep platform with clothes closet on the street side wall.
Then there is the bath-closet forward the bed.

The froli sleep system gets placed on the platform and two 3" gel toppers on top of that.
48x16oz bottled water above on both sides and also kites/walking sticks/tripod.
The area above our heads to the rear have extra blankets & jackets/gloves. Not seen is the area above cab that has kitchen/food items (and freeze dried goods for ~4week bug-out use). We put our 5-day food-stuffs (typical adventure) split between the two 80qt Engel (certified bear resistant) coolers seen under the bed in the below image:

Bath closet closed:

bath closet open and set up for potty use:

The above bath _solution_ may not be every body's idea of RV adventuring...but... my wife came up with this idea and she is totally sold on the simplicity and ease of use (and comfort). So who am i to argue with my wonderful MacGirlver of a wife!!

And here is her shower solution

Happy Trails,
Thom

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

.
bath closet open and set up for potty use:

The above bath _solution_ may not be every body's idea of RV adventuring...but... my wife came up with this idea and she is totally sold on the simplicity and ease of use (and comfort). So who am i to argue with my wonderful MacGirlver of a wife!!

And here is her shower solution

Happy Trails,
Thom

I love the potty and shower! Thanks for sharing, Thom.

 

[jcfly]

Wow - What a nice rig ! Great little trailer too. Enjoy.

 

[Accrete]

We had a great five-day-mini-adventure (our preferred Monday through Friday).

Here is one shot taken coming up from one of the hammocks i set up down near the creek...

and one from the road...

the creek is right beyond that dense folage and trees. . .

And this was my view from the hammock a few feet over the water (other than keeping an eye on Cari while she was panning for gold a few yards away) ...

The Parkliner performed perfectly. The road was actually quite rough and i'm glad the wheel well mod (the factory paid a local marine shop to enlarge the wells due to tire rub issues its first season last year) had been done before this season because i'm sure some fiberglass would have been missing in the wells this trip!!

The math on the fuel economy stated 12.5 mpg during the ~240 highway miles + ~80 miles forestry road round trip. Cari drove to camp, i drove home. It's that Yin-Yang thing. She likes all the excitement of getting to camp (while i navigate), and my mellow personality can handle any potential Friday-Traffic-Insanity that might be nearby. We have an interesting situation in that we currently live on what is one of the top tourist destinations during the summer months on the Oregon Coast. So it's like a stampede on Fridays going home with all the crazies that think we live in Paradise. If they only realized it rains ~80+ inches a year!

Happy Trails,
Thom

 

[simimike]

Very nice Thom. I'm very seriously looking at a van for my next adventure vehicle. You've given me some good ideas on how to set it up. The Froli System is a no brainer after sleeping on one in my last camper, they are the best for damp clims. Right now I'm trying to decide on gas or diesel, 4X4 or 2X4, high roof or low, so many options.


Mike

 

[SunMan]

Did I miss something Mike? Did you sell your XP? Sorry for the hijack.

 

[simimike]

Yes, I did. Last December. For health reasons I was unable to use it to its full potential.

Mike

 

[SunMan]

Sorry to hear that amigo, look forward to seeing your next rig.

 

[Accrete]

...Sorry for the hijack.

Nothing to be "sorry" about, it's all fun in the WTW family.
Thom