inspire me, external accesories for the tow van

So I have a 96 chevy conversion van, that I use to tow the race car, and sleep in at weekend long events. The wife and 4 yo son are usually along. I have it set up for a double bed in the back with storage. Has an awning outside, and canopy for the race car. Also have a open car trailer that usually stays with the van at the events, but at lease one event it has to be parked separately. I'm looking for inspiration to make things more comfy outside, that don't take a lot of space while stored. Usually primitive camping, meaning no hook ups. I don't own a generator and don't anticipate getting one. So low demand 12v. No huge water requirements. I do have solar shower, but no real good way to set it up. I also have a camp grill, but no good way to set it up. Happy wife = happy racing life. inspire me!

LED lighting that illuminates the whole sweep outside so you can unpack when you roll in late, see the hitch, unload the car, make a fire and tell the difference between a cat and a bear.

External speakers so you can add exciting theme show tunes to your adventures.

The biggest inverter you can afford in case you need to plug in something you don't have a 12v version of. Like the cordless impact gun charger.

dual battery setup in the van? deep cycle in the rear with an isolator that keeps you from drawing current from your battery underhood? lets you run accessories in the van without worrying if it will start the next morning.

I do have some solar powered LED party lights for the canopy.

I also have a bumper dumper.

Gas powered blender. A folding table makes cooking on a camp stove so much better. Don't make the mistake I did though. Get one that's waterproof.

I'll be watching this. I am currently looking for a van to tow my race car.

EvanB wrote: I'll be watching this. I am currently looking for a van to tow my race car.

do yourself a favor, don't get anything with a 4l60e gm transmission, ugg.

Love our van, but the debacle with the transmission soured me a bit. If you get a conversion van make sure the rear sofa bed seat has the extension with it. Our does not, and it required me to make my own, which isn't as "elegant". We put an air mattress on it anyway, so it's comfy enough. My home made extension gets in the way though.

Mural

I was considering a cargo van and building a hinged drop-down bed attached to one wall like so:

I want the open space for hauling motorcycles and such. Although I would get a conversion/window van if the the price/condition was right.

A couple of the folks around here who are into bikes, buy old van based shuttle busses. They are usually diesel. They sell off the handicap lift in the back, which frees up the perfect space for a bike, with it's own set of doors.

EvanB wrote: I want the open space for hauling motorcycles and such. Although I would get a conversion/window van if the the price/condition was right.

From what I've seen, used conversion vans cost LESS than used cargo vans around here. It must be a LOT less, because I see a lot of conversion vans that have been gutted out and the windows painted over, used by tradesmen, etc.

I have seen a few shuttle busses but this will also need to be my DD sometimes.

The conversion vans and cargo vans are similarly priced around here but the cargo vans are typically rougher. Since my budget isn't very large it will all depend what I can find cheapest in decent condition.

The key is to find a conversion van that the interior is still in decent shape....if you actually want that stuff. It's an exceptionally comfortable vehicle to drive. Conversions typically net you a fiberglass hi-top, which is nice.

Our has leather seats, which made it an easier sell to the wife in terms of cleaning. You can see where it had vinyl stickers on the rear window that read "love guru" which is a little creepy.

We've driven it to Indiana from Vermont, and other long trips, and the interior room is appreciated by all passengers.

Wish the sofa bed fit me better as is, but it's too small for anyone over 5'2". So I made an extension and use a full size air mattress. If I didn't think I'd use the seats more often I'd just pull out the rear ones and build a platform bed.

I guess what I'm saying, if you are flying solo, you could probably use a blank van as the start of build more than a conversion. There is a lot of usable space but a conversion can limit the versatility.

Not much to add, personally, but I'm watching with great interest. I pull my rallycross car to events behind an '06 E-150 conversion van and as a tow vehicle and road trip vehicle it performs like nothing else.

I'd love to see pictures of your awning setup if you could. I've got an ez-up type canopy that I use, and I've wrapped a tarp over the back doors to make a... well.. less-wet place to be in the rain, but an actual awning off the van would be kind of interesting.

What about some sort of vent fan/screen door/something to improve circulation?

wae wrote: What about some sort of vent fan/screen door/something to improve circulation?

Sort of have that. I have a generic screen enclosure for a 10x10 canopy. I can just close into the bigger doors, or cover the bigger door openings with it, should it become necessary.

The awning is a generic roll out rv awning for this size van. It's mounted to the fiberglass top, sits a little close to the door tops for my taste. However my brother in laws camper is the same way. Basically when you open the door it will rub on the underside of the awning.

It unrolls from it's holder and it's legs are tucked in the center of the roll, they extend to different lengths as needed. I have an event this weekend and I'll take a picture of the hole spread to give folks a better idea of what I have to work with.

So my current thought is to pull out the little bed extender shelf and ditch it. Then go to walmart and buy some plastic modular drawer containers. My thought is I can build them to the height necessary to support the over hang of the air mattress and get usable storage for camping supplies. They don't open all that smoothly, but I think its a better solution than what I have now. This way I can store them outside the van at home easily, and not break my back removing them. I'll put stuff like my driving suit, driving shoes/gloves and other stuff that always has to go, but doesn't need to be accessed all the time.

sachilles wrote:

EvanB wrote: I'll be watching this. I am currently looking for a van to tow my race car.

do yourself a favor, don't get anything with a 4l60e gm transmission, ugg. Love our van, but the debacle with the transmission soured me a bit. If you get a conversion van make sure the rear sofa bed seat has the extension with it. Our does not, and it required me to make my own, which isn't as "elegant". We put an air mattress on it anyway, so it's comfy enough. My home made extension gets in the way though.

Wasn't the biggest heartache with the trans because your "buddy" screwed you over on the rebuild? Whatever happened with that anyway? Did he finally make good on it?

As far as additions. A small portable battery powerd water heater is nice....especially if it's chilly out. We use this one camping and it comes with a 5 gallon water container if you don't have a good source at the van. http://www.rei.com/product/723274/coleman-hot-water-on-demand?preferredSku=7232740014&cm_mmc=cse_PLA--pla--product-_-7232740014&mr:referralID=68f046d3-fedc-11e2-9389-001b2166c62d

I'm sure you already have one, but a couple of folding tables make a big difference (for things like grills, eating, holding tools, etc.

For the shower, you can get a pop up shower pretty cheap to give you a private place to hose off, change clothes, go to the bathroom, etc.

I assume that most tracks have shower/toilet facilities, anyway, so maybe not as important.

Folding chairs, fans, radios, TV's (12v or battery) make a big difference for entertainment. If you have a laptop/tablet a Wifi hotspot is great to have.

Comfort can only go so far, though. Without getting an RV, you can only make it one set up from camping.

-Rob

The awning is a sidewinder 2 by carefree.

I do mostly hillclimbs and primitive camping. The battery operated water heater is something I'll look into.

My buddy finally finished the tranny, he ended up sending it on his dime. Other than the time, we are square. Been driving it this week to make sure is is ok and seems fine.

Tonight I was able to try inflating the full mattress sideways in the van. It elevates me enough that with the window openings I can lie down, but only with one shade down. I'm 5'8". Could do that in a pinch, but I think I'll stick with the idea sleeping lengthwise, and extending the sofa bed.

I didn't read through all the posts, but for your camp grill needs, how about a camp kitchen?

I have the Deluxe Camp Kitchen from Cabela's and I love it when I go camping. It's heavy in it's travel bag, but damn, it works well. It actually has it's own K-Mart special screen tent that I bought just for it. It's much better than cooking and taking up space on a picnic table. You could put it on the floor of your van and you can stack stuff on top of it, that's what I do in the back of the Durango.

It's got lots of storage and I dig the "sink" that's under the center counter. It makes washing dishes less of a pain in the ass. It's got a drain that drains into a hose into whatever you want it too.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Camping/Outdoor-Cooking/Camp-Kitchens|/pc/104795280/c/104754780/sc/104248980/Cabelas-Deluxe-Campers-Kitchen/715223.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcamp-kitchens%2F_%2FN-1100713%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104248980%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104795280%253Bcat104754780&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104795280%3Bcat104754780%3Bcat104248980

I like that camp kitchen.

So long story short I'll take some pictures this weekend. I have modified my bed extension so it's more useful. I know have a full air mattress lengthwise on the sofa bed with about 14" overhang on a plywood platform in the rear. This left gaps on the sides between the mattress and the side walls/windows. Happened to have an foam mattress, that is the perfect thickness to match the air mattress. Cut it up to fit in all the funky sized gaps. Basically gives us a queen sized width bed, that is a touch shorter than a queen.

This gives you an idea of the general setup.