radin2son

Kiddo certainly makes your day. Congrats. All kiddo needs is a bench seat, bunk and toy chest. Then all will be good.

Look for “bunk style” windows. CR Laurence may have a Sprinter or Transit window that fit. No issues with their windows over the past 12+ years.

Based on what we see in the wild, it’s Sprinters, ProMasters or roof top tents on trucks, Jeeps and SUVs. Add in the fact that aspiring van campers still have no idea NVs exist. Andy, Good move adding sleeping space for 2 and the passenger seat.

How did this turn out with your insurance company? Will they go with an eBay (Nissan?) part to fix your main harness or total your van over a nationwide, unavailable “$3000” part?

Welcome to the vagaries of Nissan keys. Original key will not manually unlock doors. Didn’t know this as we always used the key fob. After thinking we lost a key and fob, bought new. Fob works fine, key unlocks doors but dead in the ignition. Crusty most likely has the info you need.

Thanks. Staying off the pavement is one of our compromises. No longer willing to risk getting stuck. Did you camp at Arches? Last time we did, we got caught in an early November snow storm. Too windy and temps in the teens, so we pulled the top down and slept below. Learned we needed better winter gear.

Grand Canyon: Rain then snow from Kingman, AZ to GC, south rim. High temps in the upper 30s with snow showers for 2 days. (Snow level about 7000’.) Lows in the 20s. Considered bailing but a hot cup of coffee does wonders. Lots of empty sites, either no shows or 1 nighters. Can’t see spending just one night. A little over 1000 mi trip that didn’t settle our debate or dilemma.

We are in the process of deciding whether to keep our van or move on. Depends on how many compromises we can live with. When the weather was perfect in the SW, I made reservations for 2 nights at Cottonwood CG in Joshua Tree National Park. Again, since the weather was perfect, I made reservations for 3 nights at the Grand Canyon. (If you plan to stay more than 1 night at JT or GC, you have to make reservations thru Recreation.gov to ensure you get a site.) Joshua Tree: We have yet to find a level site anywhere in JT. Very windy and low temps in the 30s. So much for great weather.

The “penthouse” or poptop will be hard to replace in a new(er) NV or some other van. Colorado Van possibly will do it for $15k or so. They may still have a kit if you are comfortable with cutting a very large hole. Same for Quigley. Too costly to add to another van. Both are reason enough to keep it unless you want/need a high, fixed roof. Or if no one sleeps on top. There are plenty of diy posts here to give you some ideas.

Try painting it with bed liner. Brush on version has lasted for years and can be touched up when needed. Should cover any filler you use.

I assume the back ordered part is only available from a dealership Makes sense to wait if you have warranty left or the oem part has Nissan warranty. If you can’t wait, try an independent/chain AC shop to see if there is a different diagnosis/fix or find a donor NV. Both will be out of pocket. If you’re not happy with the latter, you can always buy/install the Nissan part. Depends on how soon and hot it gets in TX.

You are right. David Anderson, a climber and videographer originally posted his build, Magic, on his web site. I couldn’t find it there either. He eventually sold it. Did find a lot of diy build videos.

Searching this site can be difficult but you should be able to find info on swivel seats etc. Post some pictures of your van project and how you use it.

Under “Cargo, Hauling,Towing” first page, scroll down to “Got me a front receiver.”

Van wobble, full bath? My post from 7 years ago makes no sense at all. Why did I even post it? Death Wobble? Are you referring to braking? An almost as old post under brakes was started in 2018.