Van awning

[George426f]

I have a Ford E250 cargo van that is my do it all adventure van. It hauls crafts for my wife, hauls dirt bikes, pulls a boat, goes camping, pretty much whatever I throw at it. It’s cold weather camping could be helped immensely. I’m about to jump on insulating the walls and ceiling and throwing a roof vent in it. That should get me through this year I’m only planning on a couple cold trips this winter. But looking ahead I’m wanting to build a DIY awning for it and then some detachable walls for it so I can have an attached closed in tent/room and leave the side van doors open. I’ve got the design pretty much figured out from looking at other people’s DIY awnings and factory made stuff. My question is the material to use. I want it to hold heat reasonably well. I would like to have the option of putting a hole in one of the walls for a chimney from a small wood stove for a tent I’ve got. I first thought about a canvas tarp and waterproofing with oils and wax but I’ve read that makes the canvas stiff which I don’t really want. What other materials would hold up, be water proof and could handle a chimney pipe? I’ll be insulating the van next week but the awning/tent will be a longer project I tackle this winter when I get more down time.

 

[Rjschatts]

This is the insulation that I used for my converter cargo trailer to camper.

Thermasheath Rmax Thermasheath-3 1 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. R-6 Polyisocyanurate Rigid Foam Insulation Board

I bought it from The Home Depot $16 a sheet, works great in my opinion, foil faced on both sides, good heat resistance, and easy to work with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tcmetrohunter]

If you want to go down the rabbit hole of van building go check the expedition portal forum. They have guys on there that are wizards at building vans and attaching tent rooms. If I remember right ARB sells a complete 270* awning kit with walls. I think it's a bat wing style.

If I were to build one and it was to be coming right off the side of the van I'd make it out of canvas and do a tarp bath tub style floor. Floor and walls attach to the awning via zipper. Walls have magnets to seal to the outside of the van. Then I'd put a small wood stove in the tent and keep the van walls untouched.

 

[George426f]

If you want to go down the rabbit hole of van building go check the expedition portal forum. They have guys on there that are wizards at building vans and attaching tent rooms. If I remember right ARB sells a complete 270* awning kit with walls. I think it's a bat wing style.

If I were to build one and it was to be coming right off the side of the van I'd make it out of canvas and do a tarp bath tub style floor. Floor and walls attach to the awning via zipper. Walls have magnets to seal to the outside of the van. Then I'd put a small wood stove in the tent and keep the van walls untouched.

I don’t want to jump too deep into van building. Want to keep a it a cargo van with an open back end, since camping is just part of its duties. I just want to insulate the walls of the van. Your description is about what I have in mind for the awning/tent. Wasn’t sure about putting a floor in the tent area. It’s something to think about.

 

[tcmetrohunter]

I'd seriously consider the floor in the tent. Keeps the floor dry and a small piece of outdoor carpet would be a nice little touch to keep the feet warmer. I'm almost certain ARB makes a tent room awning setup that might work for you. Problem is they will be expensive.

Makes me wonder if a guy was real knowledgeable in sewing he could buy one of those cheaper tents made for going off the back of a van/suv and replace the tent material with some thing nicer like canvas that you could plumb a heater through. Issue might be the frame not being able to support the weight of the heavier fabric.

If you have kids or you wanted to sleep high up you could even go roof top tent. The bottom room setups might fit off the back of the van.

 

[tcmetrohunter]

As to insulating the van itself the pink foam stuff should work well. Might have to do two layers of the thin stuff to get 1 or 2 inches of insulation because of the curves but I bet the majority of the van could be done with with the thicker stuff. Definitely install the roof top vent fan at the same time.