This is my van; a 2019 RAM Promaster High Top, basic work/cargo van. The high top is great as it affords me the ability to stand erect and has plenty of overhead room.
First thing to be built was the floor.
Floor is in, so now time to begin framing walls for insulation and paneling.
Put my son to work doing the framing.
A hole had to be cut in roof for MaxxAir Fan. I must say, this was a bit scary to cut a hole in the roof of a brand new van. Somewhat out of my comfort zone, but got it done and all turned out well.
Next cut on my van was a hole had to be cut in sidedoor (slider) for a window. Again, somewhat scary but after the roof cut, felt much more confident. Again, that cut and window install went perfectly.
Well, the interior is almost finished. The box in the foreground holds my House Battery; an AGM, Sealed, deep cycle RV/Boat battery. While driving, my van alternator keeps the house battery charged. When off grid, my solar panels keep it charged. So, when off grid, my house battery keeps my refrigerator (seen on floor by cabinet) powered and running as well as providing power for my ceiling fan, laptop, charging cell phone and camera batteries and lights at night.
Another shot of the interior. Inside the 2 doors on the vanity are 2 – 5-gallon containers. The light blue on the right contains clean water for cooking, washing dishes, etc. The dark blue one is for gray water drained from sink.
You can see the hand pump on the sink, top of cabinet that pumps clean water from the fresh water container into sink. It can also be operated electrically if I choose. Works great. And there’s quite a bit of storage in vanity beside the containers that I can store light weight items such paper products, etc. The drawers hold quite a bit of gear as well. I have a one burner butane/propane stove. Seen on sink counter, however, most of my cooking is done outdoors except during inclement weather.
The rattan or woven piece of furniture you see holds my pots and pans and some canned food. Also doubles as a seat.
I also have a swivel on my passenger seat that allows me to sit in it and face the back for more room. All that fru-fru floral bedding was a gift. I’m not crazy about it but it does keep me warm during cold nights.
This shot shows the finished ceiling. Installing the ceiling was the hardest part of the whole build.
Finished… This shot was taken June 2020. I was just getting ready to leave for a trip to Colorado. I’m really enjoying this van. Since I’m basically a solo traveler, it’s plenty big for me and I love that I can stand in it and have plenty of room to move about. A person over 6’ tall can easily stand erect in it.
Background story: I began my van journey several years ago in a minivan (soccer mom van). Loved the van, but was lacking room badly. After a couple of trips, I sold it and bought a big motor home. Huge mistake. I thought I needed more space and more amenities. It was more difficult to drive, especially in cities. I had a lot of challenges trying to find parking for an RV of that size when I would visit certain cities and wanted to go exploring or sightseeing. In addition, it was terrible on gas. My mileage was brutal; only about 9 MPG. After about 7-8 months of that, I decided to sell it and get a RAM Promaster City. That’s RAM’s small cargo van. It was a little 4-cylinder but ran really great with its 9-speed transmission and fun to drive. It got me an average of 28 MPG. Loved that, but, just too small. I had it built out professionally, so it was very comfortable, but after a year, decided it was just too small. I sold it to a local lady and recouped my money and bought this RAM Promaster. This van is really fun to drive. Navigating big cities is no longer a problem and I can easily park in a regular car parking space. The only problem I have with parking is underground parking and parking decks. It’s just too tall. Also, I’m unable to navigate drive-thru restaurants, again, too tall. With my fan on the roof, the total height is pushing 10’. Fully loaded down with all my camping gear, water, etc., I’m getting around 19 MPG on the road which I’m very happy with.
Source: Photos in this blog are Property of author.
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