My Moto Van build thread

[Bought-2-L8]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have started my annual drive to Arizona. This is a good time to show you my height-adjustable bed in action!

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It is suspended from the roof on four cables. The round pipe shown below the bed rotates and pulls the four cables up or down. There is a worm gearbox on the far end, and it can be driven with an electric drill or a manual crank.

This cable lift system is from this Ceiling Storage Lift. If you click the Amazon link and scroll down to videos, there is a video of an installation in an enclosed trailer. Pretty awesome.

The matter is full size, 6" thick memory foam. Large enough for two people. It is more comfortable than my bed at home!

Hey, I just picked up a 2019 Sprinter 170" 4x4 a few weeks ago and I'm building it into a camper! It's going to take a few months but I'll put together a little video or some pictures to post on the forum.
I picked up a Versa bed that just sits in some J track and can be mounted at any height. Really cool to see yours!

 

[Redwolf]

Looks nice, can't wait to see your build! I sure wish I could have found a 4x4 model when I got mine.

 

[Philip]

Yesterday, I added a second MaxxAir roof fan in the rear for cross-ventilation. Makes for a better night sleep and better cooling on hot days.



I am attending a business conference for the next two days and I am planning to stay in my van at night to save $500 on the overpriced hotel. Guess what I just found on top of my roof??



It is my bike loading ramp!!! I used it yesterday to walk on the roof without caving it in. It survived a full day to top of the van and about 250 miles of driving, including two threshold braking moments when I was close to missing a turn. It is keeper, that bike ramp!

 

[privateer703]

You parked down by the river?

 

[Philip]

You parked down by the river?

Hahaha! No, I am not living in the van by the river. Although I can, if I want to. LOL!

 

[Philip]

Two years later, and I finally got my wish. The bike is now charging straight from the lithium batteries without needing to run the van's engine.

I had to buy 5x Battleborn 100Ah 12V batteries. Four was not enough, even though on paper it should have been fine. Also, in the process, three out of five batteries miraculously went bad and were replaced by Battleborn under their 10-year warranty.

The inverter is pulling 3.5kW out of the batteries. I was able to drain them today down to only 20%. After that the voltage was dropping low and the inverter was threatening to turn off. Still good.

Today, I brought two bikes to the track, as usual. I was riding only one and charging it between the motos, so I didn't even need to get the other one dirty. This cuts the bike washing in half, LOL!!!

 

[Redwolf]

Two years later, and I finally got my wish. The bike is now charging straight from the lithium batteries without needing to run the van's engine.

I had to buy 5x Battleborn 100Ah 12V batteries. Four was not enough, even though on paper it should have been fine. Also, in the process, three out of five batteries miraculously went bad and were replaced by Battleborn under their 10-year warranty.

The inverter is pulling 3.5kW out of the batteries. I was able to drain them today down to only 20%. After that the voltage was dropping low and the inverter was threatening to turn off. Still good.

Today, I brought two bikes to the track, as usual. I was riding only one and charging it between the motos, so I didn't even need to get the other one dirty. This cuts the bike washing in half, LOL!!!

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That's awesome, I wonder how many batteries I would need to keep my bike charged for a 24hr race and not take a generator...???

 

[Philip]

That's awesome, I wonder how many batteries I would need to keep my bike charged for a 24hr race and not take a generator...???

My S.W.A.G. would be 15 batteries, or 18kWh.
Just bring a Rivean or a Cybertruck.

 

[JW884]

Two years later, and I finally got my wish. The bike is now charging straight from the lithium batteries without needing to run the van's engine.

Did you meant to post this in this thread or your van build thread? lol either way that's awesome! I'd like to do the same or something similar but it'll have to wait since I'm already pretty short on spare room in the van as it is. How many full bike charges can you get out of that setup? And do you have a link to the batteries and inverter? I'll put on my upgrade list

 

[snydes]

My S.W.A.G. would be 15 batteries, or 18kWh.
Just bring a Rivean or a Cybertruck.

Ah heck, that’s only 15k worth of batteries. Maybe you could get Battleborn to sponsor the team

 

[Philip]

Did you meant to post this in this thread or your van build thread? lol either way that's awesome! I'd like to do the same or something similar but it'll have to wait since I'm already pretty short on spare room in the van as it is. How many full bike charges can you get out of that setup? And do you have a link to the batteries and inverter? I'll put on my upgrade list

OOPS! You are right, we have more than one ProMaster thread here, LOL! I just fixed that.

I have the info about the inverter and the batteries in my post #2 and #3. Right now these 5 batteries are good for almost one full charge.

If I were to do it again, I would buy two Tesla batteries and make a 24V or 48V system because of the cheaper and higher capacity batteries. This would require a 12-24V step-up/down converter, but it would still be cheaper, the wires will be thinner, and the solar installation will also be cheaper and easier.

 

[JW884]

OOPS! You are right, we have more than one ProMaster thread here, LOL! I just fixed that.

If I were to do it again, I would buy two Tesla batteries and make a 24V or 48V system because of the cheaper and higher capacity batteries

Haha I thought so and the titles are really similar too.
I do quite a few motos in a day so I think I would need to stick with the generator for a while until I can get like 3 or 4 charges out of a battery setup.
Might have to look into the Tesla batteries at some point. Would probably mean a large overhaul of my current setup though.

 

[Philip]

Would probably mean a large overhaul of my current setup though.

I haven't done the interior in my van yet because I wanted to finish the electrical first. Now I must decide whether to love it or change it to a higher voltage and bigger batteries.