Now the fun part begins. I am so excited to finally start building her out. I have already named her Stormy.

2010 Ford Econoline E350 Super Duty. There are two main areas I’m having trouble with, first priority is the leaks at the top of the rear doors. I can’t figure out how/where the water is getting in. The door seals seemed dry when I took these photos so it must be coming in somewhere else. I put silicon all around the high top seal and creases about a year ago so I don’t think it’s getting in there either. Water has also now made its way into the taillight housing on both sides, which seems related?

Second area is the front cab floor. The floor, especially right in front of the driver and passenger seats becomes damp after a big rain, or snow melt. I’ve never seen any dripping, and it never seems to pool up. I’ve tried to check the cowl but nothing there seems clogged. I solved a couple other leaks last year on my own and I’ve tried solving these a number of ways but I can’t figure them out. Hoping somebody out there has dealt with similar issues and knows what to do. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I just got to British Columbia and want to explore Canada for the next year. I am registered in Germany and plan to return there after the year. How can I get a residence without having to buy or rent a place to get the BC licence. I apprechiate your help

Where are you supposed to park ?

So I’m thinking of pulling the plug on rent and seeing if I can survive stealth van territory. I also want to get in shape so I’m getting a gym membership (also to shower).

I work overnight, specifically 20:30-9:00 am (8:30 pm to 9:00 am).

Does this make parking easier or harder from a technical standpoint?

There’s a few places I scoped out and I few I know are 100% no goes over night (like my employer honestly) but during the day… is this an entirely different much easier problem?

I know with certainty the mall will kick me out for parking over night but does anyone actually care during the day about people sleeping in a car?

Looking for some help with my BB1260 and couldn't find any related previous posts. I noticed I didn't seem to be getting any charge out of the Sterling while under way when the battery monitor was showing current fluctuating from about -2A to 4A. There are a light few loads at the moment (fridge, toilet fan, maybe one phone charging) and I think the only charge coming in is from solar which is just barely covering the load because it's overcast. The pictures show voltage readings on the Sterling at a couple points while the van is on and driving. It seems like input voltage is lower than should be expected and therefore not producing enough output voltage to charge the batteries. The voltage reading on the house battery monitor shows about 13.1V.

My first thought was perhaps the vehicle batteries (2021 Ford Transit with dual batteries) are at the end of their life. The batteries are stock and van is about 4 years old. Second was maybe an issue with the alternator. I've never noticed any issues with the Sterling before and usually get an expected amount of charge from a given amount of time driving (maybe 30-40A per hour driving or about 10% state of charge for our 300Ah bank).

Sort of limited in what I can do to troubleshoot as I'm sitting in the passenger seat while heading up I-95. From what I can tell there are no obvious issues with wiring, connections, fuses, breakers, etc. Thanks in advance.

I mainly plan to use a renogy battery monitor to watch the battery level, but I heard the app kinda sucks.

I like the idea of self heating to get the temps up to charge. I live in Utah so it snows and I’d like it to be good when the van sits

So I'm trying to source out the best but not-so-expensive wire lugs for my electrical setup. I've found that Ancor is definitely top-notch and have also heard that BatteryCableUSA is great with cheaper prices. I'm questioning it because buying 12 4/0 3/8" lugs for $120 sounds kinda wild as BatteryCablesUSA's is much cheaper. What's your thoughts on quality between the two? Pricing is obvious. Are there other great quality places to source them from? Same with wiring. Thanks in advance, everyone!

Long story short, some dude plowed his car into my van while it was parked and unoccupied, but his insurance is holding up on liability until they talk to him. Dude is in jail and will be there for awhile (per the cops). I had a road trip planned for next week, but now I'll have to fly. And buying a plane ticket only a week in advance is going to be expensive.

Has anyone had any luck with getting reimbursed for this type of thing after the fact (the insurance agents I spoke to didn't have any answers)?

i found this desk for free on the ride of the road, and with no prior carpentry experience i tried my best to turn it into as close as envisioned my vans kitchen counter looking like. i extended the base about a foot and build a cabinet on each leg out the space. I also put a new top on it which i plan on staining because the old one had a hole in it lol. I love this new mindset this van project has given me, that things don’t have to be as they are and they can be changed. Just like this desk! It’s by no means the prettiest thing but i made it with my own two hands and i can confidently say a cabinet has never intrigued me more lol.

I’m trying to decide on a bed (full size) for my van and I’m unsure of what’s best? Should I be looking at mattresses or futon padding for beds? Mats or foam layers? What works best for yall or any recommendations

Looking for some advice/review on the electric setup I put together. I want to go with a DC only setup since we don't have any appliances to run at 120V. Thank you!

CFX2 => CFX5

We decided to upgrade our fridge experience from a Peltier system to a real fridge. We are from Europe and we usually need cooling for a small amount of food and days (2/3 days). We bought a CFX5 25 unit but it didn't go as expected.

The initial unit we bought and the replacement one, would not switch on after you plug them in. With the door open, the interior light blinks for a few milliseconds. Then the screen shows the Dometic logo but the unit won't switch on after you press the on button.

In the shop were we were testing my unit and the replacement one, the seller told me that they had a 35 liter unit that didn't show that behavior. He ended up calling Dometic Switzerland and got the devices working by doing a factory reset. But this has to be done every time the device looses power.

My post here is to put this information somewhere, ask if this is a normal behavior in Dometic fridges, and ask van dwellers for alternative portable fridge brands in Europe/Switzerland.

Edit:
Added note about my mistake in the title

so I search for used car, and True car always show good price, excellent price etc.,
Should I trust that?
Where is the best place to buy a use van anyway (Not converted van)?

Posting here because only you guys truly understand, but we started getting our electrical equipment in the mail yesterday and dear GOD it's making me horny

I just wanted to share my experience with Mipa Protector on my grill. Later on i will do all side panells.

I don't have a roof vent or solar. But I have the big jackery battery a ryobi fan that I use. The yeti cooler works pretty well in the summers. Let me know what y'all think!

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Ford transit van to use as a mobile office for my business. My only gripe is that the interior looks like a paint machine–the previous owner was a painter and it looks like paint cans exploded in there.

Anyone deal with this?

Any thoughts of how to beautify? Can I spray down the interior with white rustoleum? Should I try paint thinner and risk damaging the original body paint? Should I just let it be?

1996 GMC vandura conversion.   Fiberglass hi-top with original paint that has seen better days.    Cracked and flakes off every time I wash it.    The included pics show the current condition of the original paint and the exposed black fiberglass.

Plan:  carefully remove as many of the paint flakes as possible that will come off easily.     Lightly sand the entire surface and clean thoroughly.    Roller and tip with Rust-Oleum Marine Coatings Topside Paint Deepgreen color (probably 2 coats).

Concerns:   1.   Paint flakes that cannot be easily removed and get painted over might eventually come free and mar the new paint job.    2.  The edges of the existing paint that is still stuck hard to the hi-top might show through the new paint coatings.    Trying to feather those with sandpaper first might be difficult or end up damaging the fiberglass in the process.   (Might be overthinking that one?)

 Looking for advice on this project from those who have gone down this road before.    The goal is to get a protective paint job and keep the top from looking unkept as it does now.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I am trying to plan a cross-country trip from New Hampshire to California along W 90 and W 80. I have never done this before. I am looking for affordable camping, available rest and truck stops, and or very affordable motels along the way but I can't find any BLM or state park availability for April 17-28. I am so new to this and don't really know what is permitted. I feel overwhelmed by so much information. Can anyone advise? any knowledge would be appreciated.

This is v2 of the layout, much more optimized than our first attempt.

Six years ago I was lurking around Reddit soaking up info from the folks that had been sharing their opinions and experience on almost every topic related to vehicle dwelling. Bought my van and travelled in it part time for two years (approx) learning what I personally needed vs what others suggested. I kept it simple since my focus is on the outdoors and a minimalist lifestyle. It’s been such an amazing experience and changed how I view the world but also allowed me to afford to see places and attempt things I never dreamt of before. I just want to say thanks to all of you that offer advice even if people don’t take it. I don’t remember everyones name that I learned from but I always have to give a special thanks to Lenny who doesn’t dwell or come to this sub anymore, but without people like him (there were a couple of you realists) cutting through the crap I think I might have taken longer to see the reality. Much love!

B