We just purchased a 2018 Ford Transit 250 148 inch wheel base, long length (but not extended), medium roof, 3.5L eco-boost. The dealer had some great specials for the 2018 models, they are new with full warranty but obviously they want to move them since the 2020 models are coming. Under $30k for a brand new van with over 10.5 feet of cargo length and a engine that will do 0 to 60 in 7 seconds but gets 19mpg on the hwy? Yes please!
My wife can stand up in it at 5'8". I can't but I didn't want to get the high roof for reasons (wind resistance and looks really). I think the mid roof is about perfect. The length is just right too for fitting in a normal parking space about what a regular pickup truck would take.
Anyway, we want to keep it open for cargo and tools but could not resist a few simple modifications to make it a reasonably comfortable camper van. I want to be able to go from cargo van to camper van in under 20 minutes or so and I think we have it. I also didn't want to do a 6 month conversion since we already built a complete RV from scratch a few years ago.
Rather than wiring in a bunch of batteries, fuses, inverter and such, we took advantage of the recent Goal Zero sale and bought a YETI 3000 for $2250. It has 3075 watt-hour of lithium ion batteries, a 1500 watt continuous, 3000 watt surge pure sine inverter, USB 3.0 and USB C outputs, a MPPT solar charge controller, all in a package that is slightly bigger than one car battery and weighs only 66 pounds. In testing it can make a Keurig cup of coffee AND toast a bagel using only 1% of the capacity. It could run a laptop for days, maybe weeks. We got the 25 amp AC charger which was also on sale for faster recharging. So now everything we need to power tools or make coffee or even cook on a AC burner if we wanted is contained in a small package that is easy to take in and out. It took me several weeks to wire our RV with batteries, inverter, outlets, fuses, etc.
For the bed we wanted to have a lot of comfort, so we wanted a full queen size mattress.
First we mounted two six foot sections of aluminum L-track using 1/4" stainless steel 1" flat head bolts with washers and nylon locknuts. The L-track is very cool stuff and you can position all sorts of things along it with great ease and holding force. Cost was $50 per track.
https://www.uscargocontrol.com/Aircraft-style-seat-track-6-ft?gclid=CjwKCAjwxrzoBRBBEiwAbtX1nym8seKP7qub0ACu-wB9r_71K83HPblL2Qiz-3G9t88ZSlBmDKG0QxoCfUUQAvD_BwENext we bought a 16 foot length of 1/8" thick angle aluminum with a 2" x 1" profile for $25 from a local steel/aluminum dealer and had it cut in half for hauling home (1 free cut per purchase!). I could have done it outside with my cordless skill saw but hey!
We then cut each piece down further to 73.5" which happens to be the length alongside the wall from the sliding door to the rear door. I didn't want anything sticking out into the sliding door area.
We drilled five 13/32" holes 1" from the long edge at 2", 19", 36", 53", and 69". We then used 3/8" L-track studs to mount these aluminum rails to the L-track. (expensive buggers, $55 for 10 from Amazon, but sooooo easy to use and so strong, overkill)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CREBAQE?ref_=pe_2640190_290165290_E_304_dt_1Next we set seven Skorva rails on the lip of the 1/8" aluminum on each side of the van. Skorva rails are just an amazing deal from IKEA. $10 each, super strong and they expand to fit a wide range of width. Again, seven was probably overkill, but we ain't lite. $9.99 in shipping....IKEA has to be losing money on this purchase.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90124534/And that is it! Simply toss on the mattress of your choice. If you want to use the van to haul cargo, lift out the rails and collapse them, unbolt the aluminum angle and you can then use these tie downs anywhere along the L-track for holding your cargo:
($0.99 each! and they can hold a ton (literally) )
https://www.uscargocontrol.com/Double-Stud-FittingHere are some pics of our setup:
