So this isn't really IDI specific, but the van is a 7.3 IDI and I thought you might get a kick out of it.......

In a couple of weeks I will be taking my 2 youngest to a weekend soccer tournament a few hours away. We end up going to these tournaments 3-5 times a year and I always hate having to spend a few hundred dollars on a hotel room for the weekend. Since this time it is just me and the 2 boys instead of the whole family I decided we were going to make use of the van instead of a hotel room. Not sure if we will be getting a campsite or doing some urban camping.......but the first step is sleeping accommodations. Pulled the 2 back benches and went to work.
Took some measurements and build the first frame. I was able to go 28"x72":


Then I built the 2nd frame to match and left an isle in the middle:


Threw some OSB on top of it so there would be a solid surface for a couple of air mattresses:


My boys showing how they fit on them:



A couple of shots with the doors closed:



I tested one out. They are smaller than a twin bed, but I am able to stretch out and they are wide enough that I don't worry about falling off if I move around. Width wise it feels kind of like sleeping on a couch. They are light and easily installed/removed with 2 people. You can also attach them to each other if you wanted to make 1 larger bed, or remove one if you are solo and want to maximize your interior room for something else. The best part is that it was a little under $50 in materials, so even if I only end up using it once i still come out ahead. And yes, feel free to crack all the "Cheap skate" jokes you want.......I wear it like a badge of honor.

I am sure I will find good and bad things during the weekend of camping out...

 

Cheap skate? I'd just call that being cost conscious. . Be careful though, you've started down a path that is like a black hole for money, regardless of how much or how little you have to spend.

I'd vote for a campsite for you and your boys. No lawman hassles to worry about, they're fairly inexpensive, especially if you don't need all the hookups of a big RV, you get the use of bathroom and shower facilities after those soccer games, AND the big bonus is you get to sit around a fire with your boys while turning hotdogs and marshmallows into charcoal. Those kinds of memories can't be beat.

Above all, have fun!

 

I am leaning toward a campsite. Contacted a few in the area that look like $20-$30 a night for a site with electric. The showers are a big plus. If not, there are always other option for showers/bathing etc......but I would prefer one at a campground.

 

????? What are the hassles to worry about? Will the cops hassle families who are camping out in a van?

 

Jayro, we are very much alike. I love the wood bed idea. And i'll give you another "cheapskate" solution:

buy a 5-gallon jug for water and campshower
Then install the jug on top of the van, and use the gravity to feed the campshower. Use the side of the van and the shower curtain to give privacy.

Bonus points to boiling a pitcher of water with the campstove and adding it to the jug of shower water to take the edge off.

 

Double bonus points for figuring out how to use engine heat(from the radiator?) to heat your shower water!

Personally, last time I went traveling I grabbed a cheap camper for my truck. Spent less on the camper than I would have on a hotel room for a couple of nights, and I much prefer camping than a stuffy hotel room anyway!

 

i used to really enjoy going to a hotel .. but nowadays .. i don't know if it's true or just hype ..

but all the reports of bedbugs freaks me out .. i put my clothes and suitcases up on a closet rack and put things in bags ..

so i generally also avoid them .. probably just paranoid ..

but i like your setup .. are they big enough for a twin size matress?

i have a great little twin .. a jamison firm matress .. it sleeps better then my bedroom matress .. it's so nice .. it's old but still so nice .. tangent alert .. Jamison makes awesome mattresses .. they don't advertise really .. they're kind of expensive .. and made in tennessee .. they been making them in usa for like 100 years .. springs 2x tougher then 'regular' mattresses .. tangent off ..

but anyways .. a twin mattress fits into a little 25$ pop up tent perfectly .. i throw one up and chuck the ol' mattress in there .. and sleep like a big baby .. great !

the van would be better though .. esp if u can fit a mattress on there

 

Meh. Super easy:




Splice in on the heater core line, then run it to the back of the van. Since Jayro has the rear heater core circuit (like I do), he can just cut the metal lines along side the driver's side of the tranny.

Then run the inlet and outlet hoses to the 5-gallon jug, with a rotory pump on a drill pushing the water thru the heat exchanger. Idle the van for a few minutes to get the heater core circuit warmed up. All you would need is about 50ft of hose.

 

My friend who moved to Nicaragua bought one of these. he swears it was his best investment, and it's a huge space saver. I think it'd be a solid addition to a van for someone who like to save space on the inside.

 

I have seen those. I was looking at this too. It would require you to recharge it from time to time, but for $40 I figured it would be worth a shot. It also doesn't require mounting anything overhead like a gravity one. I have been looking at using the barn doors on the side of the van and a curtian for privacy. I would still wear swim trunks when showering, just in case. How do you set yours up? My 2 biggest concerns are storage of the items while not in use and blocking off the interior of the van so it doesn't get wet while showering.
https://www.amazon.com/Ivation-Batte...20AYB1XT193X8Y



That does look cool, but what I really want to do is this. I have been keeping an eye out for a used one for cheap since all I really want is the penthouse top. No luck so far.

 

I have read up on these. If I ever convert my van to a full time camper I might install one. Only thing I am not sure I would like would be having to idle the van. It would be fine if you had been driving recently and it was still a little arm, but if you were parked overnight or at one location for a full day it could take a while to get the coolant warm enough to heat the water. It could just take a little planning on timing.

Right now I am trying to set things up so they are easily removal for versatility. Sometimes I need it to be an 11 passenger, sometimes a camper and sometimes open in the back for a cargo carrier. It is great that it currently can be used as all three fairly easily, but it means that I have to forgo some permanent stuff that would be nice.

 

OP mentioned urban camping. Depending where "urban" happens to be LEOs can be a concern.

 

Awesome. Two-word reason why this option is superior to any hotel room, regardless of the economics: bed bugs.

We just got back from an 11-day "health-cation" where we chose to stay in the truck rather than hotels. It was a blast. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16639603 .

Yes, in town, it can vary widely based on city, even based on neighborhood, how you're treated just parking on a street and sleeping in a vehicle. There's always the truck stop option, and seems like most cities have a small county or state park near the edge of town with a small campground. In a city like Madison, there are certain blocks where the LEOs and the locals just look the other way, and you see vans, campers, etc. in relatively the same place for weeks/months on end. But don't try it in some residential neighborhoods, esp. one populated with busybody-types.

 

The nice thing about the rear circuit on our vans is, the hot starts flowing almost immediately. You can check this out easily, by starting a cold engine and crawl underneath the van. Touch the two metal pipes going back to the rear heat core. Within seconds, it'll start warming one of them. I learned this when I rigged up my biofuel circuit on these lines.

Now that I'm thinking about this, I'm considering installing a FPHE on my circuit and installing this permanently on my van, so I can heat my water for my campshower. I'm glad this thread got started. Then I could use some hose that quick-releases from the other side of the FPHE so I can run the shower water from the jug and back again with the rotory pump. But now that I think about it whatnot, might as well install a small 12-v water pump so it's just a switch instead of fiddling with a drill + rotary pump.

My camp shower is just cold water jug rigged with a campshower head hung off the side of my roof rack, and the curtain is a semi-circle along side of the van near the barn doors. But, I'm not very bashful. A better idea might be to rig it up over the barn doors or the rear doors.

But hot water from the heater core heat exchanger WOULD BE NICE.

 

Oh yeah, also install a shutoff valve for the front heater core, cuz it'll push more hot coolant thru the rear faster, for better heat transfer.