Made some progress in the last couple days. I didn’t want to do anything until I had a title with our names on it, and now that that’s a reality we began work. The van is a 2000 Ford E350 15-passenger version with the extended body, standard low roof. It belonged to one of the Indian Pueblos here be…

Bretly I think we make our own “luck.” If I see that the tires are threadbare or dry-rotted I’ll replace the tires before a long trip - my chances of a flat or blowout are much less. If the cooling system is losing fluid I’ll get it fixed - my chances of an overheated engine or blown head gasket are…

@Axel - I certainly agree with your statement and I religiously maintain my rides and their records, but things however well maintained can only last so long before entire replacements are needed. Also maintenance, doesn’t prevent both tires blowing out because someone in front of you did not prope…

Bretly, yes of course you can’t forsee everything, and as you stated nothing lasts forever (don’t buy a van with 200K+ miles and expect nothing to go wrong). But we can avoid many things that some people see as unavoidable if we think ahead and pay attention. I spent decades maintaining and repairin…

Greetings! That’s one reason I prefer pre-computerized vehicles. Mechanical stuff will often give you fair warning of upcoming problems, while electronics just die without warning. Cheers! "The only place where health, wealth, money, success, or happiness comes before work is in the dictiona…

All-mechanical vehicles have gone the way of the dinosaur, and in my experience the newer cars have proven to be more reliable. For many things, with an engine code reader (decent ones are around $30 on eBay), it’s fairly easy to diagnose problems. Fuel injection is incredibly simple and reliable co…

Following the ball joints and tie rod ends the van needed an alignment. For this I let the professionals with their alignment rack do the job. Today I’ll mount the solar panel on the roof, and maybe the mounting tube for the awning. [image0 21]

Installed the solar panel and awning. Still need to connect the solar panel, as well as run the wiring and switches for the lights and fans. [image0 22]

Which panels for your decide to use?

I used a 150-watt HQST panel and a Morningstar SS20L controller. Battery is an Interstate 110 amp AGM type. Will use it to run a couple small fans, LED lights, device charging, and maybe a radio.

Today I connected the battery and solar panel to the charge controller - So now the panel is charging and maintaining the battery. Still left to do for the electrical system is: connect fans and lights, connect the inverter, and secure the battery. Was getting too hot outside to continue working. I …

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Van life Forum | Project Van Life

Made Some Progress

The Build

Axel August 20, 2020, 11:05pm 29

All done except for the futon.

It is Done ...................!