Nimbus

We installed ours on a bulkhead behind the driver's seat. It's attached to a piece of 1/2" plywood. The bottom is hinged so it's easy to tilt it out for fueling through the driver's door.

OpenRoad, Thanks for posting that. That is just what I was looking for. radin2son, for me it was mainly curiosity. I just wanted to see how much suspension squat the weight of our new camper build caused. It still drives nice with the extra weight, maybe even better than before, so I'm not too worried about it. I haven't measured it yet, my driveway is at a slant, but I will soon, and if radically different from the stock height I might consider upgrading the springs. By "fully loaded to spec," are you asking what the ride height is when the vehicle is loaded to max GVWR?

OpenRoad, sorry I don't have any shock suggestions, but I am curious where you found the unladen ride height specs? And how would a person go about measuring it? We have a 2012 NV3500 High Roof with a camper conversion. It's still well below GVWR but it definitely seems to be riding lower than before the conversion. Wish I would have measured it and wrote it down but didn't. Thanks.

We used Windoweld as recommended by the manufacturer. It was pretty spendy and hard to find but I think it was worth it. We also used Dicor lap sealant for sealing around the edges of the roof fan and flange.

You are correct, sir... Charley Nobles have been in use for centuries on sailing vessels. They had a little water basin so that the heat of the coal fires wouldn't set the wooden decking afire. I'm a recovering sailor too... have had several sail boats from 20 to 32 footers over the years. I figure since I can't be on the ocean having a van is the next best thing.

Dang, the punch list is just about all punched out. Today we hooked up the roof vent for our on-demand propane water heater. We had installed the roof jack last summer when I "machined" a piece of 3/4 " UHMW plastic to roughly the same approximate profile as the van roof and stuck that down with 3M Window Weld adhesive followed by a coating of Dicor sealant and a then a silicone rubber roof jack, followed by more Dicor. Very similar to the roof fan installation and we've had no leaks on either so far (knock on wood). The stainless-steel vent camp is from Defender and is designed for boats. It has internal baffling to prevent wind-blown water from entering and we added an internal sleeve of stainless-steel bug screen to ward off mosquitoes and yellow jackets. Also installed a tree branch deflector made out of 1/8" aluminum bar stock since it does stick up about 3" past the plane of the roof rack.

I've been using one of these for many years. It rolls up small when empty and can be used as a solar shower. A 10 L size runs about $50 or so. They also make a lighter weight version for backpacking.

Thanks, that pic was taken near McCarthy, AK, an old mining town at the end of a 6o mile dirt road with the Kennicott Glacier and the Wrangell Mountains in the background. Amazon.com: ORIA Indoor Outdoor Thermometer with 3 Wireless Sensors, Digital Hygrometer Thermometer, Temperature Humidity Monitor Meter with LCD Backlight, Wireless Thermometer for Home, Office, Bedroom, Black : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Thank you. I admit I got a bit carried away on the electrical panels. I probably could get by on half the circuits but it looks kind of cool in a spaceship cockpit sort of way. The panels are hinged and swing out to access the back side wiring. This feature is very handy. There is a fuse panel, master on/off switch, lighted switches for all the house circuits, a switch for a roof rack mounted LED perimeter lighting system that lights up the surroundings like daylight if something goes bump in the night, a Victron battery monitor, lighted voltmeter so I can keep an eye on battery voltage at a glance, USB charging ports, the remote display for the solar charge controller, a breaker and disconnect switch for the 350 watts of solar panels, a Pioneer stereo head with Bluetooth and DVD player (can watch movies on the 12v television on rainy evenings), and a 4-station temperature monitor system that reads room temperature, refrigerator temperature, battery compartment temperature, and outside temperature. We have little LED lights to illuminate the switch panels and some spare switches for future gadgets if needed. There is also a separate "always-on" fuse panel inside for the refrigerator, propane sniffer, entry light, etc. so that these circuits don't get accidentally turned off. No, sorry, I don't do Instagram and swore off Facebook a year ago. We are in Southcentral Alaska and we typically do trips to McCarthy, Dawson City (Yukon Territory), the Denali Highway, and the Kenai Penninsula. We do plan to drive Nimbus down through Canada to lower 48 (SW states) once a family health issue gets resolved so perhaps our trails will cross.

That weight was with full gas and water tanks, most trip gear except food, and one person (me) inside. Hopefully we're fine on the weight. Glad we bought the one-ton version. I have materials to make some nice window covers but will wait until winter to sew them up when I have more time.

Thank you. I guess no van can be called finished until the shower curtain gets installed, so here's a pic of that. Somehow the decor scheme came out a little bit posher than I had originally envisioned. Not sure how that happened. Just a couple small jobs remaining: install vent through roof for water heater (already have the roof jack in) and hook up the perimeter lights on the roof. I will probably think of some other tasks but no hurry on those.

This build thread is a bit different than most as we waited until we finished to post it. In closing, I'll just say that this has been a helluva lotta work. Not just the actual work but lots of planning, sketching, scheming, and ordering. We've been working on this for well over a year now. I can now see why van upfitters charge so much. But we have gotten to use it on several trips this so far summer and it is working out well, gets a lot of attention wherever we go, and drives like a dream. If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask. I did gloss over some of the steps of this van build. Thanks for reading.

And one more head shot. We still need to hang the shower curtains. Tomorrow's project.

Moving on to the bathroom, we located it just inside the rear doors to make it seem larger than it actually is. The walls are lined with white FRP board (fiberglass reinforced plastic) that is waterproof and easy to clean. We had to make a custom fiberglass shower pan to fit over the wheel arch. The PortaPotty is mounted to a teak "Head Sled" that slides on T Track and allows the toilet to be slid out in order to take a shower. Otherwise it stores the toilet securely yet ready to use inside the bathroom. The sink is located just across the aisle.