Thank you Mark. I appreciate that. We had specific needs when building our van so I wanted something that worked for more than just one purpose. I had to get creative but I made it work! Thanks for the comment. 🤙🏻
Thank you and thanks for watching! I feel it was a video that was way overdue. Haha I never really show added it. I just got straight to traveling and using it. 🤣 I still have tons of detailed photos I plan to put together in a blog post along with this video.
Great tour Pete. You can tell you really thought it through. That ability to bring two bikes or two motorcycles with you is very cool. The build quality looks really good.
Thank you Victor. I put quite a bit of time and research into the build. It has held up great and worked amazing for my wife and I so far. Thanks for the comment.
Hey, awesome build. One of the best set ups I have seen. I have been looking into building something very similar to this for also riding my dirt bike, and mountain bikes. Hope you don’t mind, I have a question that will help me as a newbie; we’re a family of 4 (2 sons), what would you recommend for seating in the back while driving? I wont always be out with the family, so having the flexibility to remove the seating will be ideal. Many thanks, super enjoying watching your videos!
Thank you Ashley! I'd recommend a removable middle bench seat like what comes in the crew vans. Obviously you'd probably have to have it set back a little bit more and have a smaller kitchen galley, but it's probably doable. Or maybe put it as far forward so you still have room to put a dirtbike in with it in place. It becomes challenging once you add more seats for sure but it came be done.
Curious as to why you decided to put the galley next to the window vs the sliding door? Also - hows the 2WD treating you on the trails? And shoot, looks like I'm already kinda living like Pete. Bought 2 KTMs (first an EXCF then a 300 TBI ;) ), just rode warner valley (toquerville looked a little sketchy for me) and now I'm looking at building a moto sprinter that also works as a camper for me and my wife. LOVE this build, looking to do something very similar in the next 6-12 months.
Thank you! Couple of reasons. 1) we wanted to keep an open floor so we could load two motorcycles. 2) I never liked the galley in front of the slider. It limits the use of the van. I also just like it by the driver side window. It just seems right there. 😆👍 Nice! We should meet up and camp/ ride sometime. Toquerville isn't hard. The videos make it seem way harder than it is. There's only a couple tricky spots but that's why you go as a group and get through it together. 👍 Hit me up if you got any more questions. I also documented my whole build on my blog if you want to see the process.
@@LiveLikePete makes sense, I saw the config at the end of the video. checking out the blog now! looks to be a ton of useful info in there. me and my riding buddies are a bit scattered all over the west coast, so we're only in mesquite/st george once a year (end of march). If my riding skills dont completely turn to shit by next march I'll give you a shout and see what you're up to - hopefully with a sprinter :)
@@ModularMuscle sounds good man. Good luck with the van build! Oh and I forgot to answer about 2WD...no regrets. It gets me everywhere I need to go. Only got stuck once in 5 years because my own dumb fault. 😆
Thanks. For cooking I use a single burner butane stove. It's portable and fits in the slot above the fridge. I also have a collapsible electric kettle for boiling/ heating water as well as an electric Keurig style coffee maker.
Hi Pete! Incredible can build! I’m about to start my build over and considering your layout… open is rad. How much electricity does the water tank consume from your battery? Neat solution. I’m running 200ah battery and don’t want to use all of it for water. I like my coffee make too! Does It run constantly? Thanks! Nate. Keep the rubber side down!
What's up Nate. Thank you! I'm not sure what you mean. The water pump only runs on demand if that's what you mean. Or do you mean water heater? We only heat a tank when we are ready to take a shower then turn it off so it doesn't continue to cycle on. When we turn it on it's 1500 watts. It's alot but it consumes about 40ah to heat an entire tank. It's a 130 amp DC draw and it takes about 12-15 minutes. The battery can handle it though. It works great.
@@LiveLikePete thank you! The 40ah was the number I was looking for. Considering a heater via the coolant system. But yours is so simple with electric! Great build. I’m middle of a remodel. The moto I want inside rathe than on the hitch. Plus I ride an XL mtb. Combining all the toys and having them inside is a challenge. Your bed in the low position must be huge. Thanks!
@@sinjin65 thanks man. I really love having the indoor cargo/ hauling option. I also looked at those coolant heater things but that seemed like way too much plumbing to possibly fail and seemed old fashioned to me.😆 Battery technology is so good these days I figured heating electrically wouldn't be a bad route and it's proven to be a good choice. 👍🤟
@@LiveLikePete coolant heater is pretty complicated. The motos, bikes inside for security and to keep them clean is key. We have 2 people and two dogs. @thefiftyproject van build is what I made now. It’s too small for everyone to move around. A little carpentry and I might make yours!
Great design. Would it be possible to raise the L track slightly higher for the upper bed platform so you can have motorcycles under while bed is out or does that hinder with the usability of other things?
Not really with the way I have it set up. It would also put the bed uncomfortably close to the ceiling if it was able to be raised up that high. That's why I didn't try to execute that design. I've rarely ever needed to sleep in the van with the dirtbike inside, but it's entirely possible with one bike and one person. I just use the lower/ side couch for a bed and have the bike next to me.
Hi Pete, love your van and truly you have built exactly what I want to do. My wife and I ride MTB and Gravel together and live to camp so a van is perfect. Additionally, I have a KTM 300 and ride race as much as I can but I am provide Medical Response for all of our Harescrambles. A van would enable me to drive up on Friday or Saturday and simply stay over night…read no 05:00 wake up call to drive to an event. Quick question…what wheelbase is your van? I am considering a Ford Transit in a 148 regular length but really do need to be certain it is big enough for our needs. I am really hoping it is!
Hey Grant. Thanks man we really love it and it suits our lifestyle perfectly. It helps tremendously for trips. As for our van, it is a 144 wheelbase and is plenty big enough for even 2 dirtbikes. I listed more information in the description. There are links to my blog where I documented the whole build and talk even more about the van. Hope this helps! Good luck with your van.
@@LiveLikePete Pete, awesome! Inwill definitely go view and read! Your van is almost exactly (Scratch that it is exactly) what we want to do! Thanks for confirming and of course for posting!
have always enjoyed your content, especially the emphasis on bikes, curious how you would rate the noise in your van while driving? does stuff rattle around and make noise more than a typical vehicle?
Hey thanks Davie! Our van is very quiet inside. I absolutely hate noises and rattles. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to them so no, it's not noisy at all other than stuff that might shift in the valley or cabinet. I'm working on that though. 😆
@@tayaray I've debated over an awning. My wife and I have found that we probably wouldn't use it enough to justify the cost and having extra crap attached to the outside of the van. We are always on the go (exploring) and rarely sit and camp somewhere especially when it's hot and sunny. Most of the time we're in the mountains or arrive to a camp spot at sunset anyways. When we know we'll want shade for a particular trip, we bring the $40 ezup that doesn't really take up much room when stowed. 👍🏻
Genius. I have been looking for a long time for a quick collapsible bed to set up once my bikes are loaded so I could sleep in the van when going from spot to spot with the bikes still in it. Do those braces adjust longer and shorter to compensate for the bed height? How do the bolts attach to the LTrack? So how long is the bed? Thanks for the idea!!!!!!
Thanks, Chris. Yes, those beams adjust shorter or longer depending on your needs. I made special brackets attached to quick mount L track fittings. The platform bed is about 74" long if I remember right. I have the whole build including more details on my blog if you want more info on how I built everything. Let me know if you have any other questions! livelikepete.com/sprinter-van-diy-3-panel-platform-bed-on-l-track/
Nice work..did you get the exhaust modification for 2016 blue tech...i have the the big van 2500 4cyl del. get 26 miles a gallon hwy @ 65mph dont want to screw myself after mod and get 19miles a gallon..i heard that it starts to eat a lot of DEF fluid after the mod.
Thanks! Yeah it's all been done. I didn't notice any difference at all. I've never got that good of mileage because my tires but I'm usually about 20-21 mpg.
How much weight you added to it!? what's your true mpg at the pump? how often you use it, how many trips you did on it so far !? those bike are a tight squeeze but it works! I always wanted a motovan, but it would have been the biggest mistake , I don't really care about bikes lately so i would have been stuck with it! I'm thinking to build a van that I can fit a bike in but not a moto van ! How you like the diesel heater !? is it efficient!? my Dad wants one of those ... Anyways , this comment helps with RU-vid analytics , also if ill have some big purchases on amazon ill use your affiliate link , but I'm cheap so I rarely buy anything !
Wow, that's a mouthful. hahaha Thanks for the comment man. I have not weighed it yet, but I am pretty sure it's about 7-7500 lbs. With the turbo diesel 4cyl (which is amazing BTW), my true calculated mileage ranges from 18-24 mpg. Most of the time it's 21 mpg. We use the heck out of it. I can't even count how many adventures we've been on over the last 4 years. We rarely ever drive the van to work or commute, so all of the miles driven are adventures. We bought it with 19K on it and we now have about 54K miles. The two bikes are a little tight, but understand that the second bike is a 690 with racks and pannier bags. I rarely put 2 bikes in there but it is possible, plus I can still access and open the fridge with both of them in there. If you bought and built a van, you would never lose money. Look at the market. They are going for quite a bit of resale. The diesel heater works great, but it's still new. It kinda smells but I think it needs to break-in still and burn off that new smell. We don't camp in cold weather often, but it is very efficient on fuel and keeps the van nice and warm. Thanks for always watching and commenting.
@@LiveLikePete sorry should have been more specific. I looking to see what you did structural underneath the wall to support the L Track where it goes across the "window" area. Thanks
@@johncasto8941yep, it's all on the blog. I dive in a little deeper into the structure for the L track in this post (which is mentioned and linked in the post that I linked earlier) livelikepete.com/adding-upholstered-wall-panels-in-our-sprinter-campervan/
