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1997 Dodge Custom Van
The near Van is my B2500. The far is a 1500.
I have owned four large vans. But the Dodge is the first custom van that I can stand up in.
Actually, my head just touches the ceiling; I am 5 foot 7 inches tall.
Since I was young I have enjoyed dry camping in a van,
and this is the first one that I can get my pants on while standing up.
I have no internal tanks in the van.
Those are true class B RVs, and are too claustrophobic for me.
They qualify as small motor-homes.
Van, 1997, 2500 RamVan, 3/4 ton, Light Duty Truck
modified Custom from Coachmen, extended Sport Roof
Van, trailer-tow pack, 3.50 axle ratio, oil cooler, 46RE Tran, 4sp Ovr
Power: 5.2L, 318cc, 220HP, 300 ftlb
Gas capacity: 133L, 35gal Tank
Drag Coefficient 0.48, Frontal area is 36.27 sq ft
Alternator: 117 Amps.
I drove 400 miles, 200 miles in each direction from Chico to Fort Bragg.
I had the front of the van well waxed, as well as the sides.
I measured these gas milages:
19.6 miles/gal straight roads, (optimum driving, less than 55 mph)
Just above 19 miles/gal both directions.
Other measurements:
19 miles/gal freeway speeds
10 to 16 miles/gal town
10 to 12 miles/gal towing
Van GVWR Gross Vehicular Rating (Vehicle and contents): 6800 lbs.
Van Curb Weight: standard van aprox 4200 lb, my Custom Curb W eight 5,345 lbs
Van Cargo Capacity while with seven 150lb passangers: 407 lbs.
Van GCWR Gross Combined Weight Rating (Tandem, GVWR+Trailer): 12,500 lbs
Van Pulling Weight Rating: 8,900 lbs towing. I believe this to be an error.
Van supportable Tongue Weight: 800 lbs vertical. (Measures 330 lb)
I think this is without a Weight Distribution Hitch.
Van GAWR, Gross Axle Weight Rating:
Van Front 3300lbs with tires 35 lbs,
Van Rear 3850 lbs with tires 41 lbs
Van tires: P235/75R15XL
Turning Radius:46.2 feet measured
Ground Clearance: 7.2 inches
Measured Wheel Base: 10 ft 7.5 inches, 127.5 inches. Front bumper 33 inches.
My Measured Back axil to hitch ball: 50 inches. (Determins trailer wag and sway, and instability)
Total length of van, ball to front bumper: 17.5 feet, 210 inches, 5.33 meters
Van height: 7.5 feet
Van + Trailer: 17.5+22.5 = 40 feet
The combo fits perfectly in most tandum dual parking spaces.
I never realized that both the Van and Trailer where a whopping 40 feet long...
I needed a way to see the hitch ball.
I needed a way to hitch up the trailer without getting in and out of the van,
hopping in, hopping out.
All just to check the alignment.
The camera is the type that normally is mounted on the two top screws of a licence plate.
But if you do mount this on your licence plate,
and a police officer has ulterior motives,
then he or she can legally stop you because this camera will obstruct part of the lettering.
I personally have never heard of this infraction being enforced.
I married into an extended family of officers,
and this minor technicality and lapse of judgement,
is just another convenient tool useful to the officer; not to you.
The camera is rather high, but it works, and by keeping it on, I can see cars behind me.
The auto industry is making Backup cameras
that must be turned off when not backing up because they are an integral part of the mirror.
I do this myself so that I do not have this limitation.
I have more cameras on the trailer RV, so that I can see behind it too.
And they stay on. They must stay on.
I can select which camera to see from the drivers seat.
On all cameras, the guide lines are unfortunately upside down.
All cameras are mounted upside-right. As you can see, the monitor is mounted upside-down.
The base is mounted above, on the celling, next to the visor.
So the video has to be manipulated, electrically reversed, and turned upside-down, at the monitor.
I have to be consistent: I started out with cameras mounted upside-right,
and I would have to change all of them. Too much trouble!
Also, there is the problem of switching the video left to right.
With the up and down, and the left and right; It hurts my head to think about it.
I can not get my head around the gymnastics.
Also, some day, a manufacturer will figure a way to keep the guide lines with the video,
and not dependent on the monitor mount.
But, overall, it works, and that is good enough...
Behind the monitor is the visor, where I store my sunglasses.
That monitor has solved another problem: where to store sunglasses.
Those are my new sunglasses, stored on the visor, still with the label.
I use this van to tow, and when you tow, you have to see what is going on.
The meter on the left is Outside Temperature at 75.6 degrees in red LED.
The meter in blue LED is Transmission Temperature at 117 degrees.
The van was supposed to have the Towing Package,
but without a Transmission gauge, it is not a full towing package.
The center meter in green is the Engine Temperature, and it is very important.
The stock gauge is not quick or fine enough.
The bottom meter in green is my tach.
And when pulling up hill, I can keep revs optimum
for both engine efficiency and clutch fan cooling.
With wind noise and tire noise, I can not always hear the engine.
You might think it a bit cluttered, but you have to see what is going on.
For example when pulling up hill, to capitilize on effeciency, and to keep temperature down, you may have to drop speed,
and increase RPM to max torque and horspower; about 3800 RPM.
Max torque is at 3k, and max HP is at 4.2k RPM.
I have had this flexible solar panel for over 10 years, and it still works, but I do not know how:
It was severely damaged in a hail storm.
The fiberglass roof of the van survived, but the steel hood over the engine took some dingoes.
During the storm, I stopped all forward motion to protect the windshield from breaking,
and I stopped under a tree to be totally smothered in torn green leaves and small brown twigs.
The solar panel surfered several bad dents, but still works. I do not know how.
Originally, the van could seat seven people comfortably: Four Captains Chairs, and three across a couch.
But I don't like people, especially in my van.
Although the coach is motorized, I keep it permanently down in a bed configuration.
The woofers can easily look out in comfort.
They can be lying down, and be watching squirrels or people.
In a car or SUV, they have to stand up to see out a window.
This is convenient for them.
When Linda is shopping I can pull the shades, lay back and read a book.
And this is regardless of away from an RV, back in a park somewhere, or away from a brick house.
The woofers and I have water and snacks at our finger tips.
One chaptains-chair was permanently removed. Now with this floor plan,
there is a small living room for the woofers to run and play.
A large Van has an advantage over a SUV: more room for storage and activities.
Also, you can haul 4 by 8 sheets of plywood. Normally, this task would require a pickup.
There are times when you are too far from the RV, or too far from the house.
And you choose to sleep in the van. And it is cold. I use Reflectix insulation.
The large loft is perfect for storing Reflectix window insulation.
Three of the pieces are large, to fit the three large windows.
You can not put shiny Reflectix directly in the windows for stealthy habitation; it shows too much.
I have glued decorative paper to one side of the Reflectix Insulation.
It is that side that faces outward, and it is non obtrusive, and it is difficult to see.
And each peace is cut exactly for each window. Looks nice.
Parking lots are probably proud to have us.
A different concept is used for the RV however; Obviously, it is not stealth.
Pulling around such a big thing is difficult to hide, and definedly not stealth.
For the RV, one side of the Reflectix is painted flat black, the other side left reflective.
If the inside of the RV is hot, then the shiny side is faced outside to reflect heat and the sun back outside.
If the inside is cold, the shiny side is faced inside to reflect heat back into the inside of the trailer.
Many windows have screens. This is a must.
Just so much as one invisible, barely audible, blood thirsty mosquito will drive you nuts.
How many SUVs do you see with screens? None?
To better insulate the van, the window panels are made of two layers.
One layer is the pretty corrugated paper. This shows to the outside.
The other layer is the Reflectix.
And it goes to the inside, and it reflects infrared heat back inside the van.
Also the corrugated paper is designed to fit inside the window frame.
And the Reflectix is designed to fit inside the intire window cavity.
There are more or less two gasket seals.
Also, the corrugated side touches the glass,
so that if the glass is improperly sealed and there are air currents that allow condensation,
then the water will not soak the paper.
Here the two layers are being glued together.
This side of the paper is not corrugated and sticks well.
Also by applying glue to this side, both glued pieces will still bend.
Heat is reflected back into the van.
Also, there is a conduction "R" insulation value to Reflectix due to the bubble wrap.
It can be in the low 40's out, and I still can not feel any coolness to the Reflectix.
There is one thing that I have learned from my RV, as well as from my van:
Always provide for fresh air - no matter what!
With most vans, truck cambers, and cars, you have no choice but to crack a window.
Vans like mine have an advantage. Some windows are screened, and are designed for ventilation without bugs and mosquitoes.
Do NOT crack a window near any exhaust, including stand alone generators.
I am the only person that I know, that has built dedicated ducting for fresh air in and out of a travel trailer with all windows shut and locked.
This is more important than keeping warm.
Things short of death are headaches.
I have found things that give me a headache when I wake up:
One is falling asleep at high altitude. By law, public aircraft cabin pressure is to be less than 8,000 ft.
But I have gotten a headache in the van at 7000 ft.
May not kill you, but I am just saying...
Another is sleeping in an air tight box, like the Van. Human respiration both diminishes the oxygen and also, at the same time, adds carbon dioxide.
Stale Air is detectable from Alcoholics, illegal and legal drug users, and people with medical conditions.
Be grateful that you can detect it. You need fresh air.
Or breathing polluted air, such as unventilated cooking or heating gasses. These are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitric oxides.
Cooking and heating gasses may not be detectable. Thousands of people have died from this, and for the very reason that it is not detectable.
Lesser amounts are very probable, and will make you not feel well.
In all cases your oxygen levels go down. Personally, anything less than 90% gives me a headache.
And any O2 level less than 95% is of concern. My wife and I run about 98%, 99% all the time, sometimes 97.
It should be remembered, any combination of the above will compound the problem.
From the outside, and behind the glass, it looks nice.
Where the vent is open, you can see the corrugated paper.
This should either be closed off by closing the glass, or opened for a vent.
My van looks good in any parking lot. But particularly in a place like Safeway, that stays open all night.
Recently, the two woofers and I stayed in a Safeway parking lot in South Shore Lake Tahoe where the temperature was 43 degrees.
We were warm all night long without starting the van.
