aVANger Build

[ElwoodWander]

So it all comes down to how much you want to spend. Commercial van racks are expensive; I see a lot of the Flatline van company racks on Transits and they're $1,700 plus shipping. Now that I know what hardware to get I'd use unistrut again as I still saved a ton of dough with that approach. You definitely want to go very strong with any rack you use. We were in a wind storm on a trip and the van ceiling was shaking a scary amount while we were driving. That's why I want the fairing...

Bruce

Mind if I ask about how much you have invested in your rack?

Thanks again, Bruce!

[bdosborn]

The roof brackets I used from DIYvan have really gone up in price, you'd be spending $640 just for the brackets. I'd use an approach this guy did if I was doing it over now:
https://notwaitingtolive.com/diy-solar-panels-camper-van-roof-mount/

This guy has a cost summary for his DIY rack:
https://www.dwnshifters.com/blog/2020/9/21/our-roof-setup

Bruce

[ElwoodWander]

These are great! Thank you

[bdosborn]

It's small detail but it really dresses up the rear of the van. I added a cover over the rear doors to hide the wiring that is run from one side to the other. I stuck it on with magnets so I can take it down easily in case I need to get to the wires again. I purposely covered up most of the cargo lights as they're glare bombs and now just enough light leaks out to show the area. It looks better than I thought it would.

Before picture:


After:


Bruce

[lfhoward]

Looking good Bruce. That panel looks like it belongs there from the factory.

[bdosborn]

Thanks, I like it a lot. I've got some tweaking to do, it slides down when I'm driving. I think I have a fun idea to fix that.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

I used a squirrel to keep the panel from sliding down:

I had a choice between a squirrel and a bunny but the squirrel seemed to fit the best. I'll use the bunny if the squirrel breaks.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

I had to redo the countertop edge banding. I used black this time. It looks good for now but we'll see how well it holds up. I used contact cement to glue on strips of laminate originally and it started coming off as soon as it got warm. The new stuff is iron on and much easier to work with. Edge banding is one of those things I think you need to do a few times to get any good at:

Bruce

[featherliteCT1]

Beautiful!

[bdosborn]

Thanks!

[bdosborn]

I finally found a fairing that works with my DIY PV rack. The mounting hardware seems like it's plenty stout and it bolted to the unistrut on the front PV panel with the addition of a few flat angle braces.









It just clears the cellular antenna:

We took a quick ride on the freeway and it definitely cuts down on the wind noise generated by the roof rack. Now I'm hearing wind noise from the side mirrors that I don't remember hearing before. We'll see if it helps with mileage since the roof rack is a 1-2 mpg penalty.

Next up is the Fiamma 45S awning.
Bruce

[lfhoward]

The fairing looks great, Bruce. I would be interested in if you get a mpg or two back. Either way, quiet is worth it plus it gives your rig a cleaner look. (It was already awesome before.)

[featherliteCT1]

Awesome van build.

[bdosborn]

Thanks guys!

On our trip to Florida last year we were headed south on I-75 into a strong headwind. Jean was driving and I was in the back trying to track down some rattles. I put my hand on the ceiling and it was shaking up and down. A *lot*! The roof on the Transit is notoriously thin and I think there was some sort of resonance going on between the PV panels and the roof. Based on that observation, I think more turbulent air goes between the PV panels and the roof that you'd guess. I'm hoping the fairing will raise our mileage but most of all keep the roof from shaking.
Bruce

[bdosborn]

I got a Fiamma 45S awning and installed it last weekend. DIYVan came out with a slick awning mount that made me finally pull the trigger. The whole thing was the single most expensive item for the van so far but it is pretty spiffy. The mounts slip under the roof rack supports and the awning hangs from the side of the van. Why not just hang it off the rack itself you ask? Well, two reasons: I would have to build some kind of custom mount, which I didn't want to do for something big and heavy that might fall off and hurt somebody. And secondly, Fiamma recommends you set the awning legs down with only 3 feet of the awning out and I'm too short to reach that high if the awning is above the roof. So store bought mounts it is. Of course the front mount came down right where I had installed an exterior light so I had to remove that.



Hein @DIYVan did some nice bending to get these to align with the curves of the van:


Tada!


I've got a little more drag now, we'll see how that affects the mileage.


We took it up to the cabin last weekend to make sure all the bolts stayed tight on the highway and no problems there. The awning itself rattles a little on dirt roads and the mounts transmit the sound right into the van. It quieted down a little by the time we got home so the awning might have found it's level, so to speak. We're going camping this week so we'll get to try it out.
I'll let you know if it was worth it.
Bruce