Just picked up a van in Phoenix and driving back to Ohio. 5.4 with 120k. Have three of the 4 benches. No hitch. It was a church van. Nice shape. Drives nice. I’m pumped to start playing


1: so for starters I figured there is some power in the side behind the drivers seat since conversions often used that area to hook things up. I want to add a power port there for my kids so to charge phones or tablets on trips


2. How about mounting a DVD player to the headliner? Would I have to chase power and AB cables etc? I have a screen and separate 12 v DVD player already

3. Already read up on here about upgrading the mirrors so I plan to order the 03 trek tow mirrors when I get to it. That will be great pulling a small camper

4. Mud flaps? I’ve got full length runners on it but I’d like to do something more. I was on some gravel roads in Wyoming and could feel them hitting the floor boards. Also like to add to rear to protect quarters better then the normal small flaps.

5. Anybody put the step bumper on the rear? Where did you get it from? I will be hauling dirt bikes in it sometimes and would like a step back there.

Thanks a lot for reading if you’ve made it this far.
-Ryan

Im not even home yet from Phoenix and thinking of all sorts of ideas.

It’s listed as a 95 amp alternator already. I think that will suffice for now. Mainly now I just want a convenient way to tap into the 12 volt in the back so the kids can charge their devices.

I would assume that power is still run there even if they didn’t hook a port to it and maybe even if they left the fuse out. Mine is just a Clubwagon and I was surprised it even had pop out cup holders. Which I need to replace. ——I don’t want to feed the power to the rear using the front ports so I’ve got them for my/wife’s phones or a GPS if I’m running one separate as well as not having cords run through the entire vehicle. If I can solve the power issue then I likely won’t worry about a DVD player, for the moment at least, for the reasons mentioned. I can rig up a tablet holder and keep them occupied with games or movies on them- if only I can charge them.
if I find power I’d likely split it between benches so they could both plug into it and minimize the cords.

I will I’ll check the local junk yard for a step bumper but the one yard he has only had two conversions in it so They didn’t have step bumpers. I may not miss it but loading bikes I think it would be helpful.

I found a set of power glass/manual extending mirrors on eBay for $180. They were new takeoffs. I don’t think I’d find them much cheaper short of getting lucky at another salvage yard, and maybe not even then.

Quick update on the auxiliary power. I found a plug below and behind the speaker which is located directly behind the drivers seat. There are a couple body harnesses coming through this area. There are only 5 or 6 wires in this plug but it is about a 14 pin grey plug. There is a black wire with white tracer going into it with constant power to it. I am going to do a little more digging just to see if I can find a name/ fuse location for this circuit but I plan to attach a fused 12 volt accessory outlet in the small ~2”x4” pop out panel that is in the side panel just above the speaker.

Sounds like you've got the electrical part figured out. I agree with @Clubwagon in that my kids all had their own "personal electronic devices" and preferred them over my ceiling mount, so I took out the old VHS/DVD players with ceiling mount TV, and that eliminated a lot of unnecessary wiring (and arguing over what movie to watch !!). I bought my last set of "oversized truck mudflaps" at Advance Auto … they are quite a bit bigger than the standard "car" ones and were fairly easy to install. Much bigger than that and I would have stopped by my local Peterbilt dealer !! As for rear step bumpers, I've seen some older vans that have adapted pickup truck bumpers to the rear, so you might look into that angle??? Best of luck and enjoy that new van !!!