Ford E350 Uhaul to Race Hauler conversion - Low Budget Totter Home Build
For those of you that have done such a project your input is very welcome.
I have googled countless internet pages on "Uhaul to RV conversion" and figured a fleet maintained Uhaul would make a great hauler/RV camper for towing from race to race. FIRST: This build will most likely take a few months, if not more. I only have 1 day a week to work on it, so sorry if the progress is to slow.. What It will be used for: This will be used for Motocross and to Tow my race boat to and from the races. I would like something that will sleep 3, have a small restroom (or closet) dinner and comfortable. The back needs to have lots of storage and still have a wide enough floor space to hold a larger 4x4 ATV that will be used to tow the boat around the pits and to a from the crane area. The Truck: Ford 1999 E350 Uhaul (std. 200k) Engine - V10 (runs strong, shifts strong) Body - 14ft Box with 3ft "attic" and the body has no rust. Mechanically she is pretty strong, plus I race boats with a guy who owns a performance car/truck shop and can fix most anything. (Big Bonus) What I'm looking for: I would like the back shop area to have a small NASCAR hauler feel with lots of cabinets, stainless steel counters, rubber floors, overall a clean professional look. Couple examples: https://s18.postimg.org/t8s0bv2u1/idea1.jpg https://s23.postimg.org/66x6hi2p7/idea3.jpg The inside or lounge area will be in darker brown cabinets with lighter brown cloth, or basic earth tones. But this can change. https://s7.postimg.org/tp277juor/idea7.jpg |
Outside:
I will cut in a couple windows up front in the lounge once I'm sure of where they will go, but I just drew a couple in the art just as an example. I want the "Hauler" to look like a RV, not a U haul or work truck. Once the conversion is finished I can register it as a RV, but I want it to look like a RV. Plus I don't want the Police messing with me, if your towing a race boat they say your a race team the truck must be registered as a commercial vehicle cost much more for plates $$ I have 4 basic color / graphic ideas I designed at work. All are cheap (500-600) , use standard vinyl and can be cut and installed at home. #1 Red / Blk https://s7.postimg.org/iw3vqis63/Red_01.jpg https://s28.postimg.org/ex1c7exsd/Orange_0_1.jpg https://s23.postimg.org/8v0x3ztbf/Silver_01.jpg https://s16.postimg.org/xsd78zk0l/Tan_01.jpg Lean toward the Silver, Gun metal / Black.. |
The inside is laid out to scale, or really close.. The rear shop area will hold a 4x4 ATV that's used to tow the boat from the pits to the crane. Storage is a big concern, I need enough room to carry all my spare parts, tools, radios, intercoms, video, helmets.. all that crap.
We travel with 3 so I would like each person to have there own bed in this small space.. The attic will sleep 1, the dinette / sleeper can sleep 1 (or 2) and I'll have a fold down bunk above the dinette that will sleep another. https://s30.postimg.org/zai8fcpbl/Layout01.jpg Restroom: Every race site we visit is on the water (its boat racing after all) so they have shower / bathroom on site. But I would like to prep a small 2ft x 3ft room for this unit. If my wife wants to ever take this camping, it will be needed.. but then again every camp site has showers/bathrooms... but its best to build the room and just and use it as a closet / storage. https://s23.postimg.org/zdsr476sr/idea6.jpg The rear shop will have stainless counters, stainless pull out cabinets with lots of storage for nuts, bolts, tools, radios, life jackets, helmets and normal race stuff. The front wall will also have a small kitchen area to prepare food with a microwave. https://s4.postimg.org/oqhxeosbx/Layout02.jpg |
step one was removing all the metal brackets in the cube..
https://s10.postimg.org/ygtkuabe1/Van_04.jpg than found some really thick and cool "coin" rubber flooring that was cut and placed over the whole floor. I know Home Depot sells a diamond plate rubber floor, but I saw this is a NASCAR rig and liked the looks. https://s11.postimg.org/x8z278543/Van_07.jpg I than installed the ceiling in the lounge area with a 1/2" insulation board under the sheet of shinny white plastic board. Than we build the rough wall in place bolted to the floor and screwed to the walls and ceiling. I used 2x3 for the walls thinking that extra 1" of room would help..each wall was bolted to the floor, screwed to the walls and ceiling. I than tied the corners together with truss locks to help reduce twisting. https://s16.postimg.org/b4az64ljp/Van_13.jpg https://s17.postimg.org/du41tdf0f/Van_10.jpg |
I used a thin 1/2" insulation board to bring the lounge walls out flush with the upper and lower aluminum tracking. I than covered it with 1/4 OSB. I was not sure if someone might lean into the wall panel and push into the foam so the 1/4 OSB gave it a little more strength.
I personally think any insulation is not needed, but I needed to raise the wall surface out 3/4 so its lighter than 3/4 plywood I also started pre-wiring - I'll run a 220 to the back shop area and a few 110v lines up front. https://s15.postimg.org/7a6omixhn/Van_12.jpg https://s14.postimg.org/fz5rziuz5/Van_18.jpg The bathroom / closet I used a mobile home shower board on the walls, if its ever used as a shower the water wont damage it (much) https://s13.postimg.org/eyhzh0snr/van_21.jpg and the door was installed. https://s28.postimg.org/ed5572f0t/van20.jpg |
For the passenger side rear I'm using wall mounted black garage cabinets that are supposed to take the hot / cold weather change pretty good.
Most all stock ATV fit between a truck wheel well (4ft), I wanted a little extra room in case we have a wider than stock ATV parked in the shop area. So the 12" deep wall cabinets worked great. https://s2.postimg.org/e8ldc18ux/Van_19.jpg I made a tow kick, wrapped it in the coin rubber flooring and bolted it down, I than stacked the cabinets till I found a configuration that worked for me. Also I hung some coin flooring on the back wall above the cabinets. I'll use this space to hang spare props for the boat. I would also like to use Aluminum "L" angle in all the corners, I think that will be a nice clean look and much more durable than wood. https://s23.postimg.org/ek7ywtkq3/Van_22.jpg |
Good start, I think your living quarters is going to be real tight though. Work looks good, and you will appreciate the insulation when the sun is beating down.
A lot of the toy hauler 5th wheel trailers use the back garage as sleeping area with fold-down bunks. You might consider the same. |
Wish we had more room to work with, but I'm limited to the 14ft box (3ft attic) - I needed 8ft in 7'8" in back to fit dirt bikes or the 4x4 ATV
I did look at the larger 24ft trucks, but I thought the length would be a negative maneuvering around city streets getting to the race sites, the height overall and step height getting in and out, plus the extra money to operate kept me in the smaller truck. As far as room.. I raced the past few years out of a Ford E250 Extended cargo van, so this should feel like a mansion. :D |
little teaser of the trim work going around the cabinets and counters. My wife actually suggested that I weld, grind and finish each seam so you cant see them.. way to OChttps://s2.postimg.org/wh07tgxc9/van_24.jpgD for me.
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Wow, looks great.
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Looks good!have you done any graphics on the outside yet?
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Nice work. Just be aware of your gvw with the mods and cargo. It adds up quickly.
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No graphics yet, that will most likely be done last unless some indoor shop space opens up this winter.
As far as weight.... the mods wont be light, but they will still be far, far less than loaded cargo. So its a wash... Last week I had my underground powerline running to my garage shorted out.. so the truck was placed on the back burner till I ran a new line and re-wired ... I'm using 1"x1" aluminum channel as trim. Works great, looks good and not much more than "wood" https://s4.postimg.org/jkdzm36hp/van_24.jpg I took the left over rubber flooring and used in to the walls to help reduce scuffing and normal wear and tear. Plus it looks good I thought.. https://s10.postimg.org/yv302kfmx/van_25.jpg The tool boxes still have lots of trim work to be done so they dont look like tool boxes just stuffed under a work bench, but I did get the counters installed. I was going to go with stainless steel till I seen the price.. I punted and used sheet aluminum over 3/4 plywood. https://s18.postimg.org/s9iah0l1l/van_27_1.jpg More trim - https://s21.postimg.org/rg32f4huv/van_30.jpg |
To trim out the door I used a 2" aluminum flat stock used for a carpet to hard surface transition. Little difficult to cut, but I used a hand grinder to fine tune it.
https://s3.postimg.org/objnb0xtf/van_31.jpg https://s23.postimg.org/j87drapfv/van_32.jpg |
Little more work from last night. I built the outlets into a shelf trimmed out in 1 x 1 aluminum. Same as before - 3/4 chip board with .32 aluminum sheeting.
The vans 120v power is now finished. I can run the rig off a small Genny, or I can plug it into any household outlet. https://s27.postimg.org/sn65wew0z/van_33.jpg https://s8.postimg.org/nbypen99h/039.jpg https://s1.postimg.org/l01lmbcu7/042.jpg https://s1.postimg.org/ppw4ont8f/041.jpg |
Nice work, I like the clean look of the alum angle trim.
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That is really shaping up nicely! You do great work.
We had a '79 E-350 extended that we used for all of our hauling and road trip needs. It had a 460 V-8. The old joke was very apt: "it would pass anything but a gas station!"…even with a load. |
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I bought some cheap LED Tape lights off ebay ($16) and aluminum channel from amazon ($50) to attach them to the walls.
The channel has a nice frosted white lens that helps soften the lights. The lights can be changed from White, red, blue, green... and everything in between.. you can even buy a pulse puck thing that can be attached near a speaker so the lights fallow the beat of your music. https://s27.postimg.org/k4yez5mer/LED...um_Channel.jpg [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ZlfLLE5_k[/youtube] |
I found the plastic storage bins like the NASCAR rigs use on Ebay, pricey.. but worth it. One of the best prices I found was 112 bins for $116.00 (free shipping), right around 1$ per bin.
Not really bad, but considering the size of the bins I would need a couple hundred bucks worth. https://s17.postimg.org/us8hkjucv/044.jpg But while looking online I found this plastic case from Harbor freight for 8.99 with 20 removable plastic bins. Thats .45 cents each, seemed a little thicker, a littler deeper to hold more parts and has a Plastic case I can use as a goggle box or maybe GoPro camera box once I cut a piece of carpet for the bottom. https://s21.postimg.org/d0tqplbev/045.jpg Over all not bad. Every company make there tool boxes a little different so I used skid plate foam cut around the back and one side to fill in extra space and to keep the boxes snug. These are just 4 draws, but offer lots of storage for stainless steel hardware, pumps, impellers, wire..etc. 1/2 the price... https://s14.postimg.org/uo9e3iopd/043.jpg |
I use these in my garage...probably not right for you (since you can put stuff in a drawer), but these have reconfigurable slots (move the plastic dividers)...and the lids are helpful for me, so that everything doesn't go all over when i drop them.
Amazon: Plano Molding 974 StowAway Organizer Rack https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg |
The LED's lights are wired to a large marine battery in one of the cabinets along with a REALLY BRIGHT halogen 110v light for when I might need some serious light. The back is finished.. now I'll start on the front.
https://s7.postimg.org/5cdt5mf63/046.jpg https://s15.postimg.org/ho09auajv/047.jpg https://s7.postimg.org/ukymzak3v/048.jpg |
very nice!
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Thanks and after a short winter break I'm back at it..
I cut the hole this weekend, I was going to buy a rubber accordion seal but after talking to the body shop guy at General RV I'll be doing something different. His words " Every Class C RV and Most Ford Cube truck have the cab bolted to the chassis" it wont twist, if it does you bent your frame and will have bigger issues.. The advantage for me is only cosmetic, a rubber seal wont look as nice.. https://s22.postimg.org/hdcisttwh/049.jpg Also most people don't like the a table/bed combo and would prefer a couch. So I punted and will install a couch.. one problem I ran into is finding a couch small enough to get into the area and thrw a 24" door way. Problem solved (i Think) I found a 74" W couch for 169.99, but its short.. so I'll cut off the legs and build a base from Overhead kitchen cabinets to raise it up to normal tall people height. This will also add a little more storage.. https://s16.postimg.org/d595ywnut/Couch_Bed_Idea.jpg |
we make good use of our pull-out sleeper sofa....either with the kids (when they come meet us now, that theyre on their own)....OR when i go to the track(s).
generally speaking i don't like having more than 2 couples or 3 singles in the coach - it gets too crowded. SO on those track weekends where there might be a 3rd (guy) - someone draws the short straw and gets the jackknife sofa (no one seems to mind or complain). We also use the jack knife sofa going down the road - folding it flat (and tossing a thick quilt over it) for the dog. |
RV Panel is up and glued into place. I also used the plastic snap pieces between the planes for a clean finished look.
https://s16.postimg.org/vabv1vqz9/image.jpg Upper crown molding is 9" chip board with carpet glued on. Each piece is 4ft long and attached with screws to a wood block that was fastened to the box. This way I can remove it to run my lights or to install speakers. https://s14.postimg.org/7hk4jadlt/051.jpg https://s29.postimg.org/qzyebwlxj/054.jpg Between the doors I had a funky size gap that would have been difficult to finish, so I wrapped some carpet and screwed it in. https://s7.postimg.org/osa82mdwb/053.jpg |
Total cost including the truck and mechanical repair is around 4k so far.
I bought CHEAP carpet with padding already attached (.64 cents) sqft from Menards. It was thin enough to roll around round corners yet has a little insulation and sound deadening properties. https://s21.postimg.org/90hfz4dk7/055.jpg The thin trim board is nothing more than OSB with the carpet stapled to it. The reason I need todo this was the corners are metal so to cover them I need wider wood to reach over to the box area. https://s11.postimg.org/j1zafo5ab/056.jpg https://s21.postimg.org/p8xo8lmef/057.jpg https://s29.postimg.org/7tos8h7wn/058.jpg |
Is $4k the real number, or what you're telling the wife? lol.
Beautiful work. Having done that, and knowing what a trip to Home Depot costs, I can't believe $4k unless you didn't add in all the receipts for every time you went to the hardware store for $50 or $100 worth of screws and glue and wood and what not. That's what got me on my build, not the big $$ items. But if you really pulled it off for that kind of money, you are our new hero here. |
I'm at 1823.80 to this point (truck not included). The plus is I didn't have to buy electrical wire, some outlets and switches and most every self tapping screw, build plates, bolts, finishing nails and glues. I'm sure that I lost a couple receipts along the way, but I'm normally pretty good at keep track for taxes.
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Found another a couple hundred in receipts in the garage. lol
so I'm at 2000k truck 300k brakes, rotors, sway bar thing. 2155.63 parts 4455.63 so far... now the trick will be windows and wrap for under 550.00 to stay under my 5k budget..lol But thanks for the kind words, I do enjoy killing time in the back yard working on this kind of stuff. |
It was a nice Febuary weekend for Michigan so I spent a few hours
finishing up the back of the van. I finished up the end cap on the drivers side boxes along with finishing the aluminum trim around the boxes. I also mounted a dry erase board on the wall for race times, lane assignments and general info. https://s9.postimg.org/updtamonj/049_3.jpg https://s9.postimg.org/mz715hmbz/049_4.jpg Also finished up the floor trim with that "plastic" molding and found a great (REALLY GREAT) Deal and a Flexsteel leather RV couch that folds out into a bed. I wanted something with more brown, but I could not pass on this.. and the wife likes it so I'm happy https://s23.postimg.org/5l8psibez/image.jpg Now my one negative.. I removed some wrap material over a bump in the outside. I knew it was damaged, just did not know to what extent. The FRP was cracked and never sealed allowing water into the wood rotting it out. I just cut the fiberglass layer back to dry wood and will dig out the rot, much like a transom in a boat.. should be pretty simple, but will add some time onto the project. *The white patch was done by U Haul, not the best but I can work with it. https://s10.postimg.org/y5d575y61/060.jpg |
nice! keep up the progress!
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Getting closer to the summer race season so I must keep moving even though the weather sucks ... :/
* ran into a problem I never thought of.. My small kitchen area cabinets are to big to fit into the standard 24" RV doorway. So I was going to use overhead cabinets and build a toe-kick, but I used a Bathroom vanity instead. The vanity offered draws witch IMHO offer more storage. I found this on Craigslist for 100 BUCKS! Score..... I looked at building a counter as my width is only 20" instead of the standard 24" but after a quick trip to Menard's picked up a *Blem 4ft counter top.. 16$ :smokin: https://s21.postimg.org/vco7m7ws7/060.jpg I had to saw cut off the backsplash and will finish it clean at a later date. https://s13.postimg.org/ucxi0r77b/065.jpg It's filling up quick... https://s7.postimg.org/uilqw5wfv/066.jpg |
If you're using residential style cabinets how are you going to secure the doors and drawers when going down the road?
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Quote:
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I used residential cabinets in my trailer, just went to the local rv robbery store and picked up rv latches. Just used the kind that are sort of a plastic button on the door sided that snaps into the bracket on the cabinet side. worked fine even for a cabinet where the door faces forward.
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Yesterday at the salvage yard I picked up a new RV window for only 50 bucks! .. I need to start watching my pennys to come in under 5000.00 budget.
I hung the window in place with a couple drywall screws, outlined the inside lip (or smallest ring) and cut with a jigsaw. https://s11.postimg.org/dj8bvvqgz/20160220_103253.jpg https://s13.postimg.org/5sa4ezhdj/20160220_111955.jpg https://s22.postimg.org/5iflw5pu9/20160220_113126.jpg Window slide into place with little effort. https://s9.postimg.org/vvridak73/20160220_113426.jpg |
*One thing I found is most RV windows don't have finish trim rings inside when bought off eBay or the salvage yards. So simply run upto your big box store and buy some cabinet finish screws. They offer black, have large heads with a aggressive thread. I drilled and screwed the window in from the outside aluminum lip.
The inside trim ring was made by 1 x 3 wrapped with a tan fabric. The corners are cut at a 22.5 degree angles to mimic the rounded window corners. https://s21.postimg.org/a3kh8ytnb/20160220_170332.jpg Finished project for Saturday.. https://s11.postimg.org/a96xspjgj/20160220_180302.jpg |
Looks great!
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Dang, that window looks great!
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very nice....almost too bad it doesn't look "u-haul"-ish anymore....very stealth!
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