One Year DIY Cargo Van Into Van Life Cozy Home with No Experience: Full Build and Reveal
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 чер 2024
- My wife Kristi is a professional painter and overall incredible artist. See her new UA-cam channel:
/ @kristirauckis
Or find her on instagram / fineartnomad
Who hasn't dreamed of living the van life on a beautiful secluded beach? My wife, a professional artist, and I decided we wanted to buy a cargo van and convert it into our cozy dream home on wheels. This video documents the full van build, from brand new Ram Promaster 2500 cargo van to a beautiful place we can live and work in no matter where we are. This process took a year to complete, mostly due to manufacturing delays during the Covid era. But in the end, we love our van and it truly feels like home.
We didn't have experience with doing a build like this. But we're both interested in learning and trying new things. So we bought a bunch of cheap tools and made the best with our limited knowledge. We did all the work ourselves, except we hired our neighbor who's a welder to custom build us a roof rack frame and ladder. The most difficult part by far was figuring out the electrical. I took several months of UA-cam electrician school to navigate the intricacies, but in the end I figured it out.
Since building the van, we've lived in it semi-full time, spending about 14 months in it over the last two years. We've driven it down to Baja, Mexico where the opening scene was shot and had many more adventures based out of the van.
00:00 Intro on a Magical Beach
01:17 Beginning the Conversion - Floors
04:10 Installing the Fan and Panel Window
06:55 Building the Window Frames and Wood Paneling
08:05 Bunk Windows and Studs
11:00 Beginning Electrical, Insulation, and Roof Rack
15:30 Wood Panels, Cedar Ceiling, Painting, Carpentry
19:55 Face Frames for Drawers and Countertops
23:45 Countertop install and Upper Cabinet Build
29:05 Secret Drawer for Kristi
31:32 Final Results Van Reveal
#vanlife #vanconversion #promaster #campervan #diy
Beautiful!!! Your 4 legged child was just waiting for the bed to be finished...
haha Kovu absolutely loves the bed!
Almost saw the plumbers crack. Congrats on the marriage, and congrats on the build.
a car into a sweet room, you guys are so powerful!! Expecting your van trips vlog~
Love the OKC Thunder shirt, thats where I'm watching from
I enjoyed every second. I've saved this video to watch again. That is how impressed I am. Your build programme was awesome. You made everything so seem simple to do. Thank you for sharing your experience. I truly hope you enjoy your adventures together. If I ever build, I'll be pulling this video out and following every step. Bye for now from Wales - UK!
This van craze is getting insane lol......... That horse painting is amazing!
haha, yep, she's really talented!
Wow that’s a lot of work! There’s so much you can do if there’s no inside bathroom stuff going on. Beautiful. Congratulations!
thanks! yeah not having a toilet or shower gives us so much more space.
I love to see move close up in the mural on the van wall!! Totally didn’t include that in the vid! It looks awesome
Good point, well, it's a stunning mural!
that van next to your on that beach is pretty amazing too ;) It was a blast camping with you out there and loved your video
Looks fantastic, congratulations. You're inspiring me to actually make a start on my Mercedes Sprinter which is sitting on my drive waiting for me to do something!
So FUN!!
Just make sure to cover all the holes from outside your van to inside!!
Lots of the mouse situations from the holes of the vans!!
Have a wonderful life and God bless!❤
Thank you! We did have a couple mouse invasions but pretty sure they crawled up our wheels and got in through the engine, but not sure! Those are the only entry points that we know about!
You guys deserve some precious time together in your new van after all that hard work! Wishing you both many, many hours of enjoyment in your magnificent accomplishment.
Thank you so much! We've already spent many months in the van and love it a lot! l
Fantastic build however you forgot the sign on the back ‘ when the vans a rockin don’t come a knockin’
That's a great build! Really enjoy your video's.
Nice.
1) Would be interesting to hear lessons learned and what you would do differently next time.
2) Some interesting techniques/tools/maybe materials. Where did you learn all that?
Yay!! You guys got married!
Yep! Happily married for about a month now!
I heard 16. Love your stuff!
So fun! I also have a 21 Promaster that I’m converting. Just finished the solar on the roof this morning. I have loved the skills I’ve acquired as a result of this build. You can learn anything on UA-cam - even if you’re 61 and have zero experience.❤❤❤. Love the direction your “rebranded” channel is taking… Keep it up!
Nice! The building process was so fun and satisfying. Good luck with the rest of your build!
Living the dream!!
We're pretty happy!
Impressive project! And what a beautiful result! I hope you can come all the way down to Rio de Janeiro one day!
Whoa, driving to Brazil would be wild! Maybe!
Hello 👋🏻..! Found your channel from another channel where you where talking about an expensive camping 😮... Only in America 🤔😅
Nice build, did mine last year, just a shorter model. You are a lovley couple 🎉 best wishes from Sweden. 👌🏻
haha thanks! Cheers to you!
Very nice! There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of building something yourself, it adds a value to it that you can't buy.
For sure! We put all our personal touches into it so it really feels homey in a way a pre-fabbed version cannot do!
awesome!
Totally different from your other videos but I loved it! If you were to do it over again, what would you change?
Great video!
Beautiful!
Thank you!
Very cool thanks for sharing this with us.
You're welcome!
Love your van build!! Great job!
Thank you so much!
Amazing job, Eric. Good luck to you and your wife 😊
Thank you so much!
Wow! You guys did a wonderful job and still together to boot!! Really enjoyed the process, thank you for sharing this experience. Travel on and let's see some more hiking/camping. Very talented people, you should both be very proud of your excellent work and craftsmanship.
Thank you so much Peter! And don't worry. I'll still make mostly hiking/camping videos. More coming!
You have some advanced tools for first time van builders :)
Rivnuts and jigs - love it.
Your windows were awesome.
Thank you! The rivnut tool and the Kreg jig are two of my favorite tools! Wish we would've invested in a track saw though! We loove our windows although we wish we would've chosen a window we can open for more ventilation on the door panel.
Looks great
Thank you!
Excellent!
thanks!
so good! excellent carpentry skills! It looks amazing!
Thanks! The carpentry was my favorite part by far.
Lovely build!😊
Thank you! Cheers!
Wow it came out beautifully! Thanks for sharing the whole journey from start to finish - super awesome video!!!
Thanks Aldona!
Amazing…Well Done…Beautiful! 👍👍
Thank you!
Eric. This was freaking epic! Super fun watch brotha! Good job Kristi
Thanks Mike! Kristi is so good and really tackled so many difficult aspects of the build.
@@eric_hanson my wife watched part of it too and she was impressed by how handy y’all are! I rolled my eyes out of jealousy lol jk jk. Definitely impressive bro 🔥
What a wonderful build! Hope you all have sooooooooo many great adventures in it!
Thank you! We've loved it so much. Many more adventures to come!
Nice build.
Thanks!
nice. yabadaba do. 🤙
thanks!
What an epic build
Thank you!
Well, if your relationship can survive a van build like that, I'd say you're pretty solid 😉 congratulations on finishing that and getting married.
It's very pretty and spacious!
This was the test to see if we could really do life together, haha!
@@eric_hanson 😆
Questions:
1. Do either of you have prior experience in carpentry or other skills or did you learn everything you needed to do to make it?
2. Did you upgrade the suspension of the van?
3. How much research did you do, hour-wise, compared to how much work you did?
Amazing video, thanks.
1. Mostly no. I've dabbled in some diy projects but mostly no real experience. Just learned on the fly.
2. No upgrade on the suspension. Did get better / bigger tires. Would love to upgrade the suspension later but we've been reasonably fine with the stock suspension.
3. Lots of research especially on the electrical. I probably watched 100 hours of electrical videos as well as lots of consulting with an electrical engineer. For other stuff we watched another 100 hours of UA-cam videos on general van building for ideas and research.
@@eric_hanson Impressive to learn all those skills and have it come out so pro. It looks like something that would make you want to use it. Thanks for the explanation.
Nice work!
Thank you!
First! And totally surprised by this video. Love it Eric
Nice work being first! And thank you!
You guys did an AMAZING job!!
But you might regret not putting a vapor barrier on the sides, roof/ceiling and floor..moisture and condensation will find a way.
Very impressive, wow, you guys did this with no previous experience? Totally awesome!
It's amazing what you can learn on UA-cam! Thank you!
Eric I have to say I am impressed regarding your skills, what previous jobs have you had in the past, or are these skills you learned on your own?
You two did an awesome job. I hope Harbor Freight does something for you considering that you had their tools featured.
haha Harbor Freight miiiight be my favorite store but I'm guessing it's a front for some sort of smuggling operation.
This looks absolutely amazing!!!!! Love it!!! And what a fun project to do for couples. Could you brake up the cost of it? Thank you !
Wow, turned out great. I would want to copy your layout and finishes. Maybe instead of a seat maybe a shower/toilet for the area behind the driver? Well done sir.
Thank you! We love the layout. Not having a shower / toilet frees up so much space but totally understandable why people would prefer that.
Very impressive. A huge investment in time and effort. If your relationship can stand the kind of stress that this project probably produced, you should be just fine. This is quite a change from backpacking!
haha yep! It was a great thing to go through together as a couple, it made us better! And yeah very different than backpacking but don't worry, still lots of backpacking ahead!
Hey congratulations on getting married! I'm sure my invitation got lost in the mail. 😂
Great job with the van, you're both so talented. Enjoy!
I blame the postman. Sorry about that!
Darn USPS strikes again! 😉
Congratulations to you both!
You lucky lucky man you 😉👍
indeed! thanks!
I’m curious how much weight you added, especially with all that wood, and how the added weight affects handling of the vehicle. Paneling would have been lighter for a number of surfaces (walls, ceiling, etc.); what factored into your decision not to use it?
❤
I Still Consider Van As A Secondary Home. A Stationary [House/Home] Is Still The Primary. I Am Doing SPRINTER 144 Living 3X Per Week. The Place/Beach In This Video Looks So Cool. What's The Name/Address Of The Place/Beach? Congrats & Enjoy Life In A Van.
Wow so much to say and ask. First off, wear your safety glasses when drilling, screwing in material and cutting PLEASE 😂 As artists you don’t want to compromise your eyes (I’m a mom so I think of these things 😊). The mattress for the bed looked more like a futon? Where do you store the middle section. Thoughts on using solar panels versus solar mats? Why an Induction stove? Do you have a hot water tank?
I see a life-long relationship because you did the build and STILL got married. Looks like you two must have good communication skills. ❤
haha yeah I learned pretty quickly to always wear eye protection! We got our custom mattress from MattressInsider and it's very comfortable, doesn't feel like a futon. There's just one cushion that we store in seating storage along with our bedding when it's in dinette mode. Otherwise the middle cushions become our backrest. Solar mats are good if you want to be more stealthy. We wanted a roof deck so the panels were more cost effective. We chose an induction stove to fully off solar and to not deal with propane, refills, the extra moisture from burning propane, or ventilation necessary, but in hindsight we'd opt for propane. No hot water tank included and while that would be nice we don't really miss it.
Amazing!Was there a reason you picked a Ram over the Transit? At 6'5", I found anything built on Ram or Mercedes is too short. Also, what are you using for toilet? I love the wood and colors!
We liked the design of the Ram more than the Transit. But yeah for taller people such as yourself you'd be cramped. I've found you can be 6'2" and stand up without touching the ceiling. You can be 6'4" and stand up fully where the fan is though! No toilet. We dig holes where we camp or use gas stations and public toilets.
Have you weighed it now it’s all finished? Did you need to upgrade the rear suspension with all the timber you added
Very cool build! Thinking about doing the same. Why the Promaster vs a Sprinter?
The Promaster has vertical walls and you can configure a bed sideways without bumping out the walls like you must do in a Sprinter. Cost of Promaster is much lower, $40K vs $70-80K and then the cost of maintenance is a huge issue. Ram parts and mechanics are everywhere. Mercedes parts and mechanics are much more expensive and not always available. A few other minor things like drivability and turning radius but the cost factor was the biggest.
Hey Eric! This is really awesome!!! Do these vans have 4wd? Do you feel it is necessary?
also if you dont mind... how much did the build cost?
Thanks! No 4WD on the Promaster and we don't really miss it. There's been a few times we can't get where we'd like, mostly on sandy roads, where 4WD would get us there. But we don't do rock crawling and wouldn't even if we could as we don't want our home getting shaken and rocked into oblivion! We can get to 95% of where we want to get with 2WD. Not willing to pay a huge amount to get the 4WD upgrade to get to a handful of locations.
Doing all the work ourselves we put about $15K in materials and tools into the build and $40K for a new Promaster.
@@eric_hanson thanks Eric! This is pretty comparable to a camper then I think? And your build is definitely much nicer for you because you got exactly what you want and the convenience of it being self contained in one vehicle 🙂 it looks very cool thank you for sharing
4:14 omg put some glasses on!!! 4:25 oh, okay.
haha yep! I learned!
You have to rub the sound deadening more... until the diamond background is smooth
hmmm. interesting.
Dear Eric, what would you recomend for traveling? Van or LRover/Toyota 4x4 ?
Definitely depends on your style preference. Van is way better for general life on the road, lots of comforts and useful ways to customize it to your taste and needs and can be plenty adventurous. But the LandRover Toyota 4x4 is better for rugged adventures, overlanding, and more hardcore trips.
Which beach is shown at the beginning of the video that allows people to park and live in their van on the property?
It's in Baja. Incredible place!
how much weight did you add?
What do you use for a bathroom?
We don't have a toilet so we just dig holes where we park or use gas stations etc. We actually like not having a toilet.
Curious about the shower?
We don't have a shower built out. We have used some solar showers and we also use our extendable faucet out the doorway for showering.
Anyone know how much a job like this costs in materials, not including the cost of the van?
We did all the work ourselves other than hiring our neighbor to weld a roof rack. Total materials (and tools we bought) was about $13K USD.
For some reason, I didn't see this video in my feed, maybe it's better to put your face on overlay image?
I'm gonna guess that you are an Aquarius and your wife is an Aries.
I think he is a Libra, but I agree that his wife seems like an Aries.
is being a professional painter a real thing?? lmao like fr...you can just say you dont have a job lol!! but fr wearing a thong while watching this hits sooo much harder...