VAN TOUR _ MODERN STEALTH CAMPER _ DIY Budget Friendly Promaster Tiny Home for Full Time Vanlife!

Welcome back to Lewis the Van. If you've been following along with us for any amount of time now, you know that I am not, in fact, standing in front of our 2004 Sprinter van named Lewis. Instead, I'm standing in front of our 2016 Ram ProMaster that we took on as a conversion project during our time in quarantine. Now, this van is a low-roof, 118 wheelbase, just like Lewis, although because the vehicle bodies on the ProMasters are wider, it definitely feels a bit roomier in here. With this conversion, we wanted to prioritize a design concept that was stealthier and more modern than Lewis, yet still featured all the functionality. If you're interested in seeing how we built this low-profile stealth rig, be sure you're subscribed to our channel because following the release of this tour, we will be uploading weekly build videos that take you through the entire build process from start to finish. With that being said, let's take you through this one. Kicking off the tour, let's start with the one thing that does wonders for opening up this 50 square foot space. These swivel seats function very simply just by pulling a lever and rotating. We have a swivel seat in each of our vans now and would never think of converting a van without one. They're just that worth it. Coming into our kitchen area, we have our sink and faucet. We went with a matte black finish for the faucet. We love it because it has two stream cycles and is retractable. The whole system runs off of a 12-volt water pump and pulls from our 21-gallon water tank that we have housed inside the vehicle. The system then drains into a 16-gallon water tank that is mounted under the van. Next to our sink, we have our two-burner propane stove, which hooks up to a one-pound propane tank. This was something we knew we wanted to feature in this build due to the fact that we don't have any sort of mounted stovetop in Lewis and highly regret that decision. Although you do sacrifice some amount of counter space for a mounted stovetop, it is definitely more convenient than storing a portable stove elsewhere. Located right above our kitchen area, we have our max air fan. Because it's located above our burner, it's the perfect placement for sucking out any extra odors or gases that may be hanging in the air after cooking. Safe to say, after installing this fan, Seth and I are thoroughly convinced it's 10,000 times better than the fantastic fan we have in Lewis. I say that because this fan features 10 vent speeds, works in the rain, and is super quiet. Our counter is a simple vinyl. We went with this particular vinyl for its awesome marble finish. It was our first experience with covering a surface in vinyl, but honestly, it's just like a very large sticker and the whole application process took under an hour. All in all, we're really happy with the finished product. Because we had such a great experience covering our counter with vinyl, we figured why not go ahead and make our lives easier with some vinyl backsplash. Our switch panel is inlaid to give it a seamless look. It has six touch dimmable light switches, which control our six different lighting options featured in this van. The top three control our overhead lights, which are these circular lights that run the length of the ceiling and under our overhead cabinets. The bottom three control three different LED light strips. The first running along the top of the cabinets, the second running along the bottom of the floor, and the third running along our backsplash. In addition to our light switches, we also have our water pump switch, our voltage meter, two USB outlet ports, a 12 volt port, and our 120 volt house power wall outlet. Running along the top of our backsplash area, we have a faux moss wall with a floating magnetic shelf. These are spice containers that magnet directly to the shelf. Above the kitchen area, we have two large cabinets that run the length of the area and are secured with magnets. Again, always be thinking about how you're going to secure the items in your van. Below the kitchen area, we also have four more drawers that offer even more storage options. In a space this small, drawers can make or break you. We custom designed ours so that we would be able to make the most of the space as possible. So this drawer, for example, is only a partial drawer due to the fact that the sink sits lower here. This drawer was created with the dimensions of our 45 quart fridge in mind. Our fridge runs off 12 volt like the rest of the van and draws very little power. We found that custom cabinetry is without a doubt the single most difficult and frustrating part of a build, but if you truly want to utilize every space possible, prefabricated cabinets just won't cut it. This drawer divides in half to give you two drawers with the appearance of only one. This is the kind of stuff that takes a ton of time but in the end is very rewarding. Speaking of creating custom pieces to utilize the space best, this is a table concept we came up with. It pulls out on one set of drawer slides like so and then folds up and out on another set of drawer slides to basically double the real estate. It was designed with the thought that you'd have access to the table from all areas of the van despite where you're sitting. Like this, you could easily fit four around the table for a meal. On this side of the van, we have one area of seating with both upper and lower storage options. We have two decently sized cabinets overhead and then this large compartment that can be accessed by lifting the cushion. Here we have our battery bank and solar setup. In terms of power, we've got a 200 amp hour Renogy AGM deep cycle battery, which we've learned is plenty for two people. In addition, we have a 1500 watt inverter. In terms of solar, we went with Renogy's flexible panels this time to fit this low-profile stealth rig. We've got two panels on the roof, each bringing in 120 watts for a total of 240 total watts of solar energy. This drawer can be accessed from both the inside and outside of the van, but we'll show you how that works later in the video. Something that's always worth installing, in our opinion, is an isolator. If you're unfamiliar with an isolator, it works by charging the in-house battery using the start battery of the vehicle. So basically, anytime your vehicle is running, you'll be charging the battery at a rapid pace. Coming over to the opposite side of the vehicle, we have more seating and storage. Underneath, there is this cute little pull-out drawer that would be handy for storing shoes or something that you'd want to get to quickly. Next to that, we have this other large storage compartment, which is very deep. Although this van doesn't feature any toilet facilities, this would serve as a great space for installing a composting toilet. Above, we have three more cabinets, all secured by the same heavy-duty magnets. Because ProMasters are wider than most vehicle bodies, we were able to incorporate a wall-to-wall bed that measures 5'11". So if you're looking for a good night's beauty rest, just pull out the slats, lock them in here, and stuff your two smaller cushions into the remaining gap. I mentioned earlier that we have a 21-gallon fresh water tank that is housed inside the vehicle, and this is where it is located. This is our water fill port that you just unscrew to fill, and this is a super cool fill line that Seth crafted and backlit using another LED strip, so that you can always see where your water level is sitting. Our 16-gallon gray water tank is sitting securely just under the van and has a spigot for emptying. So all in all, we're working with a capacity of about 37 gallons of water. With the open, there are two large push-pop drawers, the first of which can be accessed from inside the vehicle as well. These would be perfect for outdoor equipment or camping gear. If you're interested in buying our van, please use the contact link in the description box provided. As for now, we'll be uploading a new build video every Wednesday, so stick around and see how we went from an empty cargo van to exactly this. If you're not already following us on Instagram, we are at LouisTheVan, and there we get a ton more personal. As always, we value wholesome community on our platforms, so please be sure to leave a comment or just say hi. Thanks for watching. We'll see you Wednesday in the first episode of our build series.