I think I'll check in over here...

[BOSTONBERNIE]

Just one more note as you have said you will be full timing.now make no mistake i love my wife dearly and i am sure she feels the same but........just say one thing wrong on a rainy day and you will soon find out how small that rig can get.........jus sayin

[mrhlc]

get a car towable 4 down and tow it is nice to have someone to help navegate and hand you a cookie once in a while. as far as no black tank rethink that because fulltime it you will need it
mrhlc
tradewind le
fulltime 19 years

[Wildbuckaroo]

Originally Posted by Grand Tour

My wife and I think we're ready for our next adventure. We're considering an early retirement, tentatively February 1st 2019. I'll be 56, and she'll be 41.

We're thinking of paying off everything, selling all but one car, and ordering a new 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 170" Extended tall-roof 3500 rear-wheel-drive dually turbodiesel cargo van for us to spend about 6 months doing a custom conversion build ourselves, and then embarking on a Grand Tour, living out of it full time, for as long as we're able. I'll have free medical for life, and we'll have a modest pension to live off of. We would probably establish legal residence in Texas, using the Escapees mail service.

My vocational background includes auto repair, specializing in 12VDC chassis electrical (among other things). I've built my own race cars for years. I'm fairly comfortable with that kind of stuff.

After owning an old home for 20 years, I'm also fairly comfortable with plumbing, 120VAC electrical, and stuff like that. The only part I'm really concerned about, is building the cabinets. We may simply purchase ready-made cabinets and adapt it to our build.

We have spent a lot of time researching and discussing this project, and we have some very specific goals. If we're gonna be living in it full-time, it's gonna be exactly how we want it.

We want to keep our two motorcycles inside the Sprinter, which at this point looks like building a "garage" inside the back with a loft bed over it. We're working up options to retain as much headroom in bed as possible, and some of those options include alterations to the basic vehicle.

We're going to keep her car as a free-standing "chase" vehicle, so we're not going to be towing anything.

We also want to retain the ability to camp discreetly without the Sprinter looking like a motorhome. For this reason, we're thinking of discreetly mounting our 50A shore power connection under the edge of the body (although we don't plan to stay in campgrounds often), having our fresh water fill located inside the right rear cargo door, and using an AC/DC refrigerator to avoid having to mount two vent grills on the outside of the bodywork.

We are planning a shower with an instant hot water heater.

We are planning to NOT have a black water tank. We'll use someone else's toilets, with a porta-potty as a backup.

We are planning to insulate well and have plenty of AC, as we would like to be able to travel to places that are hot, and to still be comfortable inside. We're looking at the Coleman Mach 8 15,000 BTU unit with a black cover.

Which means that we're also planning a generator. A quiet one. We're currently considering our options as far as mounting an electric-start Honda EU3000is under the Sprinter, leaving the oil drain and fill ports accessible by me on a creeper, and refueling it via a sealed trap-door arrangement or something from above.

But we're still gonna have a ton of questions, and after spending several hours last night poring over these forums, I think this may be a great place for us to ask them.

Well this sounds like a very ambitious but very odd project as well but each to his own. Personally I would highly recommend having a black water tank as holding your poop may get old fast and emptying a porta potti is still carrying your poop around with you and emptying a black tank is much nicer than emptying a porta potti.
Now as far as towing a vehicle, why not buy a Blue Ox tow bar and flat tow it on all 4 wheels, then you don't need a trailer or dolly. The Blu Ox we have only take 2-3 minutes to hook up and unhook, very user friendly.
I wish you luck with your venture.

[5spd97]

FWIW. I'm in the process of converting a 14' boxtruck into a camper/toyhauler although not for full timing. While I frequent this website for general information relative to camping, campgrounds, etc., it is not the first place that I would turn to for build guidance. There are tons of blogs, youtube videos, and build threads dedicated to Sprinter builds with virtually the same design parameters that you have described, including under bed storage for bikes or small motorcycles. No need to reinvent the wheel.

I can tell you that the weight of the conversion will add up very quickly and weight distribution becomes very important. Try to keep the heavy stuff low and evenly distributed front to rear and left to right.

As a general note about the availability of new Sprinters; Sprinters are built in a new factory near Charleston SC. The annual production capability is somewhere around 40,000. Amazon recently placed an order for 20,000.

At any rate good luck on your new adventures.

[rvvolunteer]

As I was reading your plans:
There are a number of codes which commercial manufacturers must follow to license and sell their product. Since you are not selling you don't necessarily have to follow but they do represent good practices. Foremost among those are the NFPA codes for life safety. All RVs have an emergency exit in addition to door. Will you be able to open the rear doors with the garage floor and mattress in place? Will propane storage be isolated from living space? NFPA codes are read available at nfpa.org. See standards 1192 and 501c. All modern RVs that I'm aware of have propane accessed from exterior. Valves do leak.

As for the oven the propane one we had would never cook even; to get top cooked the bottom would burn. We now use a convection microwave and it works well.

Best wishes in your endeavor and be safe.

[magicbus]

Originally Posted by rvvolunteer

As for the oven the propane one we had would never cook even; to get top cooked the bottom would burn. We now use a convection microwave and it works well.

From my boating days I would have to agree. On our last liveaboard we had no oven but a convection microwave and good sized toaster oven and we loved it. I guess propane would be good if you don't want to run the genset. Lots of trade-offs.


Dave

[fuchsteiner]

This has been an entertaining thread. Not much from Grand Tour recently... Maybe he is rethinking his poop carrying strategy...

[magicbus]

Originally Posted by fuchsteiner

This has been an entertaining thread. Not much from Grand Tour recently... Maybe he is rethinking his poop carrying strategy...

Or maybe he got tired of people thinking they understand his marital relationship better than he does!
Dave

[hclarkx]

Maybe, but I mentioned Grand Tour's plans to my wife last night. She said "really" and went off on a list of issues from motor cycle odors to having clothes on board for all seasons to the difficulty of keeping two vehicles nearby on the highway to finding parking for two cars on travel day stops to the size of refrigerator and freezer (6 cu ft or more I hope) ....... and on and on. I had to agree with all of her thoughts. Most of us could not deal with that kind of full-timing. Or at least the DWs couldn't. I hope he and his DW are successful.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by hclarkx

Maybe, but I mentioned Grand Tour's plans to my wife last night. She said "really" and went off on a list of issues from motor cycle odors to having clothes on board for all seasons to the difficulty of keeping two vehicles nearby on the highway to finding parking for two cars on travel day stops to the size of refrigerator and freezer (6 cu ft or more I hope) ....... and on and on. I had to agree with all of her thoughts. Most of us could not deal with that kind of full-timing. Or at least the DWs couldn't. I hope he and his DW are successful.

I agree with you and your DW - the plan looks short-sighted on issues of practicality - but they are free to do as wish, for the most part.


Most of the negative advice strikes me as mostly well intended. Face it, we see some of our own mistakes and misgivings represented, or mistakes and misgivings we've seen in similar situations. Part of our beings do not want others to needlessly experience those and we try to inform others of the potential downsides. Sometimes that doesn't come across well (especially on the internets).


If they decide to DIY this build I hope they document it so we can follow along.

[Lmacy]

Originally Posted by Grand Tour

My wife and I think we're ready for our next adventure. We're considering an early retirement, tentatively February 1st 2019. I'll be 56, and she'll be 41.

We're thinking of paying off everything, selling all but one car, and ordering a new 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 170" Extended tall-roof 3500 rear-wheel-drive dually turbodiesel cargo van for us to spend about 6 months doing a custom conversion build ourselves, and then embarking on a Grand Tour, living out of it full time, for as long as we're able. I'll have free medical for life, and we'll have a modest pension to live off of. We would probably establish legal residence in Texas, using the Escapees mail service.

My vocational background includes auto repair, specializing in 12VDC chassis electrical (among other things). I've built my own race cars for years. I'm fairly comfortable with that kind of stuff.

After owning an old home for 20 years, I'm also fairly comfortable with plumbing, 120VAC electrical, and stuff like that. The only part I'm really concerned about, is building the cabinets. We may simply purchase ready-made cabinets and adapt it to our build.

We have spent a lot of time researching and discussing this project, and we have some very specific goals. If we're gonna be living in it full-time, it's gonna be exactly how we want it.

We want to keep our two motorcycles inside the Sprinter, which at this point looks like building a "garage" inside the back with a loft bed over it. We're working up options to retain as much headroom in bed as possible, and some of those options include alterations to the basic vehicle.

We're going to keep her car as a free-standing "chase" vehicle, so we're not going to be towing anything.

We also want to retain the ability to camp discreetly without the Sprinter looking like a motorhome. For this reason, we're thinking of discreetly mounting our 50A shore power connection under the edge of the body (although we don't plan to stay in campgrounds often), having our fresh water fill located inside the right rear cargo door, and using an AC/DC refrigerator to avoid having to mount two vent grills on the outside of the bodywork.

We are planning a shower with an instant hot water heater.

We are planning to NOT have a black water tank. We'll use someone else's toilets, with a porta-potty as a backup.

We are planning to insulate well and have plenty of AC, as we would like to be able to travel to places that are hot, and to still be comfortable inside. We're looking at the Coleman Mach 8 15,000 BTU unit with a black cover.

Which means that we're also planning a generator. A quiet one. We're currently considering our options as far as mounting an electric-start Honda EU3000is under the Sprinter, leaving the oil drain and fill ports accessible by me on a creeper, and refueling it via a sealed trap-door arrangement or something from above.

But we're still gonna have a ton of questions, and after spending several hours last night poring over these forums, I think this may be a great place for us to ask them.

Hey GrandTour, I just ran across this. Thought it might have some tips as you start this journey. It's a live course (just missed it) and an online course with tips on doing exactly what you are trying to do.

Van Conversion Workshop Near Austin, Texas: October 2018

Larry

[Igeaux]

Originally Posted by BOSTONBERNIE

Just one more note as you have said you will be full timing.now make no mistake i love my wife dearly and i am sure she feels the same but........just say one thing wrong on a rainy day and you will soon find out how small that rig can get.........jus sayin

I once crossed the Atlantic on a 36' Islander with the woman and dog I thought I most loved.
Then my brother taught me about big catamarans. His and Hers hulls makes for a happy marriage.

[Grand Tour]

Originally Posted by Crazedfooter

Hope to see the conclusion to this thread one day. Can’t imagine the prospect of full timing in a partial rv setup from 41 till.... sounds crazy to me but that’s what make the world go round, I can/will live vicariously through others lol.

She really wants to retire. She's a lot younger than me, but she's been through an awful lot with my career. She just wants me to be safely at home with her, wherever home happens to be at that particular moment, without having to worry about me getting shot (again), stabbed (again), hit by a car (again), injured while subduing a combative subject larger than me and half my age (again), injured while chasing a violent felon (again), attacked by a pit bull while making entry into a drug house (again), or any of that other fun stuff.

[Grand Tour]

Originally Posted by magicbus

Or maybe he got tired of people thinking they understand his marital relationship better than he does!
Dave

There is that...

She is an exceptionally unusual girl, in the very best way.

This is the last vacation I let her plan for us:

[youtube]