NVinNE

Came across an online vendor that makes & sells window covers for NVs and wanted to share this find. The business is called American Field Wares, based in CA. Their covers are designed, made, and shipped from CA from fabric & insulation sourced from the USA. AFW has been quick to reply to questions and they ship promptly. I recently ordered and received covers (black-black) for my rear windows and they fit like a glove. I couldn't be happier and now I have two less things to make for the van ? https://www.americanfieldwares.com/

Want to thank everyone who posted photos and descriptions of what they did to fix the problem! A few days ago, I added the details of my sliding door saga to @Nancy's post. @aztec replied saying that the fix described by Nancy (tighten the tension on the wire to the middle latch by adjusting the sliding bolt) is a known solution. So decided to try it. Here's what worked for me: I adjusted the tension about 5 times and the door wouldn't budge from the inside or outside...was ready to give up. In one last attempt, I tried (from the outside of the) pushing the bottom of the door with my foot so it sat flush w/ the side of the van; and, at the same time, pull on the handle...the door slid open. This last maneuver would have been much easier with two people. Have opened and closed the door about 20 times and each time making sure that I used enough force so that the door closed completely flush with the outside of the van wall. Clearly, the door was jammed somewhere so I'm not sure which fix worked -- the bolt or pushing the door flush and pulling. Maybe the combination????

@aztec Hey, thanks for the reply. Just found a youtube video by Alexander von Guggenberg that shows the same fix. I'm going to give it a try...fingers crossed?. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFb4gGKuNyY

Adding to this post rather than starting a new one...apologies in advance for the detail... The sliding door on my 2021 Nissan NV 2500 HR is stuck. It will not open from inside or outside. I bought the van new and have been slowly converting it to a camper. The side door worked fine for the first couple of years and then became stuck in the early winter. Took it to the dealer and they managed to open it...said that I needed to make sure that the door was completely shut so the outside of the door was flush w/ the side of the van. Had to slam the door really hard to shut to get it flush...all was well for a little while...then, I managed not to close the door completely and it became stuck again. I took it to the dealer about 10 days ago, they couldn't open it but finally must have because they replaced the hinges. The service manager acknowledged that the new hinges likely wouldn't solve things because the door is out of alignment which is causing it to jam???? He also said that it may have gone out of alignment from the weight of large stationary window that they had installed for me when I bought the van???? He went on say that the door has to be closed flush and demonstrated that not doing so would cause it not to open...said I'd then have to pull on the door and slam my shoulder against the door to bump it open. He demonstrated the body slam. All was fine for a few days at home...wonderful to be able to open that door to work inside the van on the hot days. Well, one day, I didn't slam it shut properly and bam...stuck again. Tried to body slam it from the inside like the service manager showed me but to no avail. I'm just not strong enough and my old bones & joints just can't be doing stuff like that. Climbing through the cab to access the living space on a permanent basis isn't a real option...old bones/joints. I'm at my wits end and thinking about throwing in the towel on my build. I have not yet tried the fix that @Nancy and @aztec have used because I don't know it doing so will void what's left of my warranty. I'd greatly appreciate any direction/suggestions. Thank you!

Thanks, LAF!

Hey radin2son, Thank you. I haven't been checking any of the trading sites since I've been overwhelmed with planning my build ? I did take a look at the cab shelf in the 2104 NV w/ Murphy bed...nice build. I like how they added a center pullout section to the shelf. Very handy. I'll take a look at the new listing too.

@OpenRoad Using screws for the door panels might be less risky than drilling holes to insert rivets...good to know that you haven't had problems with them loosening up. Thanks for the info. Your bed lift system and the one in the video are very cool...it's a perfect solution for freeing up space. Your photo of the frame and cranking mechanism helps me visualize how it works. I love hearing and reading about such feats of engineering but attempting to design and build one would put likely put me over the edge, if you know what I mean. I'm planning to build an elevated pullout bed and hoping for the best ? I'll definitely share photos as things progress.

@radin2son I'll check it out...thank you.

@OpenRoad, Thanks for your reply and good wishes with my build! I completely understand your reasoning to forego framing out the walls. Every fraction of an inch matters in the NV. I've gone from thinking about using 2"x3"s to considering 1"x 4"s on the walls and ceiling ribs. Great that you were able to remove & replace the cabinet and wall paneling without a problem. I'm thinking about building for future maintenance and want to be able to do the same. Good point that extending the OEM shelf will decrease head space moving from the cab to the "house." I completely missed that. My hesitation about extending the OEM shelf is mainly because I'm not comfortable messing around in the area where the air bags live. I think that I can design it to angle above the air bags but not sure I want to go down that road so now that I've seen how you handled that space, I'm going to consider doing something similar. Well, the bed frame lift is so cool and love that it's all manual. Well done, you! I have another question. The plywood panels on your rear doors...how did you attach them to the metal? I'm reluctant to use wood to metal screws only because I suspect that the vibration will loosen them in no time???? The plusnuts I have seem way too long...small rivets, maybe?

@OpenRoad Very nice work! Thank you for sharing your info and photos. I also have a NV2500 HR V6. Just finished installing the plusnuts to start framing the walls & ceiling...do you have any photos showing how you did the framing? Also, why did you opt to build a storage shelf above the existing overhead storage shelf rather than modifying the one that's already there? P.S. I'm fascinated by the hand crank mechanism to raise and lower your bed...no motor there at all?

@radin2son That's funny about the towing...the photo looks very impressive...like you've been towing things forever.. Yes, I've been looking at build posts here to see how folks have done their framing, etc. and what size plus nuts they used to fix the wood wood furring to the van walls. I bought a batch of 1/4 -20 plus nuts a while back and discovered that they fit in just a small % of the existing holds. From the posts here, I learned that M8s are used and M6s. I can use the 1/4-20s that I have if I drill out the holes -- then prime. Just bought a step drill bit at Harbor Freight and it seems to be a safer bet than a drill bit in terms of controlling the drilling -- step bit doesn't seem to want to pull through the metal like the drill bit does (I almost went out the side of the van). ?

@radin2son Thanks for the info...I'll check out the video(s). The larger water tank makes perfect sense for two people. I'm going to put off too much thinking about the plumbing until I finish the DC wiring and make some progress on framing out the walls & ceiling. Cool...I'm so jealous that you can tow a car with your van! I didn't consider that possibility at the time I made my purchase. It'll probably be a royal pain to break camp to make day trips here and there.

@radin2son I have the 30 amp shore power inlet too...need it w/ the AC which was was a must have for me. Even at the shore, the for summer humidity & heat here in the northeast can be pretty intense especially with pets aboard. Between the vent windows, vent fan, and AC things should be bearable. I have AGM batteries ...two Firefly Oasis @ 116 AH each. They were recommended by the upfitter as a good lower cost alternative to lithium batteries. I'm curious about your mods underneath the van...did you add the gray water tank yourself and how big is it?

@radin2son Thank you. The dealer put in the sliding door window in lieu of one of their contractor packages that were part of the sales offer. Don't love the idea of having all that glass there, but it improves visibility! Had a Chevy van back in the 80s that didn't have any side windows -- making left turns was always a challenge . The bunk windows look better that I thought they would and I'm glad I went w/ the awning style rather than the slider. Like your pop top and all of the vent screens. What are the inlets by the back tire?

Hi folks...Promised I'd post some pics on the van build progress when the electrics were done (mostly done). This isn't my work... I wasn't comfortable doing the heavy duty electrical stuff myself so I subbed this part of the job out to professionals. Now I need to get my act together and continue working on the interior including running wire for the 12 volt items. Hoping for some more warm weather to get going.