biking/climbing/camping caddy

[mostlysimon]

Bulk update!

Mudflaps fitted, they look smarter than I thought they would.
Centre console in.
Remote LED dimmer switch wired into the ceiling lights as they were pretty bright. Wondering if there's a way to trigger Barry White on the stereo when it reaches a set dimness .
Winter wheels/tyres on (bargain Octavia wheels with 6mm tread Contis for £160 off gumtree).
Foam covers for the bed done (the 4 smaller cushions aren't in the photo- they're in the house until spring).
Fog lights wired up via a relay, thanks to the 'how to' section.

Next on the list (after pay day) is getting a leisure battery wired in behind the passenger seat.

[horace01]

Looking good.

I take delivery of my bed frame tomorrow. Thanks again for your plans. Mine will be slightly wider than yours so I can fit my kite boards and kites inside.

What did you use between the original floor and the flooring material that you have put down? Did you fill in the ridges somehow?

[mostlysimon]

Looking good.

I take delivery of my bed frame tomorrow. Thanks again for your plans. Mine will be slightly wider than yours so I can fit my kite boards and kites inside.

What did you use between the original floor and the flooring material that you have put down? Did you fill in the ridges somehow?

No problem, glad they were of some help.

Under the floor: First I covered it with a self adhedsive soundproof barrier and then a layer of thin high density foam (from Class Acoustics). What you can see is 12mm marine ply covered with an offcut of 'industrial flooring' off ebay. I didn't fill the ridges in the floor as I didn't want to lose any more height, the foam did a good enough job of providing a solid underlay for the ply.

[smudger383]

Hi mate

Tidy looking van,I'm thinking of soundproofing my van with dynamat, did it make much difference to the noise inside while driving, I know there are some cheaper alternatives but I'm not sure which yo use.

Smudger

[mostlysimon]

Hi mate

Tidy looking van,I'm thinking of soundproofing my van with dynamat, did it make much difference to the noise inside while driving, I know there are some cheaper alternatives but I'm not sure which yo use.

Smudger

Cheers!

Yes it made an incredible amount of difference. Before I would have the radio painfully loud on motorways and now it's probably as quiet as the missus' car, even with the curtains open. None of the panels rattle about on bumpy roads and now I can't hear diesel sloshing about in the fuel tank. I haven't gotten around to doing the door panels or front floor yet either. Well worth doing the job, and well worth taking the time to do it properly!

[Probbo]

That rear build is epic bud! May need some inspiration from that!

[mostlysimon]

Spent the last few days getting the leisure battery in.

Shopping list:
Voltage sensitive relay kit (http://www.travelvolts.com)
Battery charger (http://www.travelvolts.com)
LP110 Leisure Battery 110ah 12 volt Deep Cycle Pro (http://www.leisurebatteries4less.co.uk)
Blade fuse box
Negative bus bar
Camping socket board with rcd (http://www.gooutdoors.com)

The VSR split charge kit is wired into the main feed to the fuse box in the engine bay, fed through the 'glove box' grommet and down the centre console. The relay is handily on a attached under the vents in the centre console and then onto the leisure battery which fits nicely under the false floor behind the passenger seat. At the moment the leisure battery feeds:

LED ceiling lights
12v socket in centre console
USB charging sockets in the back panel
Voltmeter for battery

I've hard wired the battery charger into the RCD of the 240v socket board and ran the 16amp socket end to the engine bay for use when on electric hook up when camping. When the battery charger/socket board is on, the 12v side can still be used while the charger keeps topping up the battery, which I think is a nice touch.






Just haven't decided whether to fit a diesel heater or not, logic tells me that I can buy a lot of sleeping bags and blankets for the £800 odd quid it'll cost!

[Maddy]

Great thread mate very nice. I'm having the same heater conundrum as you, I was thinking about the propex HS2000.

Have you added any extra ventilation in for sleeping in it? If not do you get any condensation issues on colder nights?

[Dorbin]

Hi loving the van, nice simple layout that works perfectly.

With regards to the heater, I had the sae thoughts with my T4 but eventually bit the bullet and got one fitted. Once you've got it you'll wonder how you ever managed without it, Not so much keeping warm whilst asleep but with the programmable timer coming to a warm van back from the climb/trail or pub is defiantly worth it!

[mostlysimon]

Hi loving the van, nice simple layout that works perfectly.

With regards to the heater, I had the sae thoughts with my T4 but eventually bit the bullet and got one fitted. Once you've got it you'll wonder how you ever managed without it, Not so much keeping warm whilst asleep but with the programmable timer coming to a warm van back from the climb/trail or pub is defiantly worth it!

Thanks for the compliments!

Your thoughts about the heater are exactly what I need to talk myself (and the missus) into getting one! Did you fit your own and was it straight forward? I was also wondering about how noisy they are, I don't really want to annoy anyone else at campsites or draw attention to the van if we're stealth camping!

Cheers
Simon

[Dorbin]

Fitted it myself with a little bit of help. There not as difficult as people think there going to be, if your comfortable cutting the hole in your van then providing access is ok to the underside of the heater its fairly simple (I fitted mine to a T4 and its simple to get the fuel feed straight from the tank via the stand pipe, not sure where the best place to take it from on a caddy will be)

As for noise, there by no means silent but fitting the silencer makes a huge difference (I believe there is a intake silencer which reduces noise even further) Once up and running and up to temperature the noise level drops outside and the only people you'll annoy are people who wish they had one fitted Inside all you can really hear is the fan blowing the air around and the fuel pump clicking on start up. We tend to have it on before getting to the van, turn it off once in bed then blast it again in the morning before getting out of bed. However when its really cold leaving it on a low setting it shouldn't wake you.

[mostlysimon]

Fitted it myself ....

Thanks so much for the info, very helpful indeed and I think you've just helped me spend my bonus without much convincing!

[Dorbin]

Thanks so much for the info, very helpful indeed and I think you've just helped me spend my bonus without much convincing!

Haha sorry about that

[mostlysimon]

Nothing too exciting, but it's been a while, so....

Bought some rubber floor mats, bit boring but loads more practical:



Bought some new summer wheels and fitted a bumper protector:



Tried out the new awning (Sunncamp Silhouette Motor 225) on a climbing trip. Modified the guy ropes to anchor onto the roof bolts, good purchase!



And finally, fitted some Scirocco seats yesterday which I've wanted for ages. Love them, very comfy!

[Stumper]

That build in the rear looks brilliant, pretty much what I'll be aiming for when I get round to picking up a new Caddy.

How's the headroom when you're using the single bed to sit on?

Oh, I forgot top add, what's the bracket you're using for the bike?