new here, new to vanlife, new van purchase FULL WALKAROUND

[iamchrisstone]

Hi Chris , welcome aboard ! Good to see a new member actually post. (And right away to , I just approved your account !)
You must be anxious to get started . Gathering clues first is a good idea , being much more likely to be happy with the rig without having to redo stuff is priceless .
Sorry about the link , our spammer policy limits posting links right away.
Keep posting and before you know it your account will open up.

Thanks Popeye!  Yeah, once i can post links, i'll show everyone the build.  but glad there is discussion on here.  i have been to a couple forums that seem like there was no discussion going on at all.

Meantime back at the ranch,,,,,The 7.3 is legendary (at least to my old mechanic anyway).
So , you're pushing the GO button huh ? Congrats ! 

Thanks again.  Yeah, i'm STOKED!  Everyone tells me that the 7.3 is a million mile engine if maintained so with all of the traveling that i do now and will do even more after the build, that just feels like a perfect fit.

What do you envision your new home interior looking like ?  
Do you plan on building from scratch or maybe used take out kitchen cabinets or goodwill finds , maybe a combination ?
Reusing whatever is already there if any is a possibility , there are ways to make anything beautiful.....

i have a video coming out with details of my plan, but basically on the inside, i think we will completely gut it and start fresh.  i am picturing something very similar to Ryan Twomey's build, even though we have completely different vans.  mini split for a/c and heat, full kitchen, no bathroom but a dry flush toilet for emergencys, fresh water, water heater, bigger fridge/freezer with a dometic freezer for stuff i need to freeze longer.  i was debating on cabinets and stuff.  i was thinking something unique like use old pallets and custom build something, and then since i am a trucker i was thinking of trying to get cabinets out of old trucks and customize them to what i need, but i think we are going to custom build all of our cabinets as i have a buddy who does that anyway and wants to help.

I imagine you are going to incorporate some amount of solar power , a 12 compressor fridge , sub woofer stereo with volume from God ?  Think you'll find what you need here.

again, a video coming out, but very short answer is maximize the solar i can get from the roof and run 1200ah lithium batteries.  seems most full timers are running like 300ah so my thought is 1200 should be more than enough.  the brand name "Chins" has a 400ah lithium battery for a very nice price point.  i am hoping i can incorporate shore power and on my exterior build, have a place to install a generator at a later date if it appears i need one.

So where ya from , where ya wanna go to , do you have a budget , is it raining ? do you have a indoor spot to do it , ????
LOL

hahaha i am currently in the chicago area.  i am an over the road truck driver for ups so i already travel all over the country... literally.  yeah, i have a budget.  need it done as cheap as possible ahahaha.  ok, plan is that from now until february, keep trying to find mechanical stuff that can be repaired, replaced or maintained.  during that time soak in research and find mentors.  also using that time to pay down bills and try to get close to debt free.  around february, the goal is at that time being the build.  just every week, or couple weeks or whatever buy what we need and have it as an ongoing project.  it is me and i have 3 buddies that have agreed to help.  i would like to have it done by april/may but it seems that most people that do a complete build takes like a year.  so i may be naive, but thats the goal.  from there i want to give it a month and live in it without giving up my apartment just to work out any kinks and then if all is good, go full time.

i have the seniority to chose the type of run/shift that i want, so i will probably go to a 3 day a week schedule that gives me a 4 day weekend.  can begin all my journeys regionally and even a little beyond that.  on my vacation weeks i will travel a lot further and a lot more.  i also own 2 jet skis so that will be part of my adventures quite a bit... weather permitting.

I feel your pain. I'm restoring mine , an old class C .