PROS & CONS of Framing Your Van Conversion with Aluminum 

I try my best!

Lol, omg, I actually googled "ACME Plywood Welder"... 🤦‍♂️ Well done!

And I'm excited to see another comment from you Raymond! Thank YOU!!

@@ErikJohnson2020 I want to share with you my van progress. I've cleaned/derusted, building the subfloor n floor, sound deadened, installed my ventilation fan, n last night I finished building my roof rack from 3030 extrusion. Next week my solar panels/mppt/dcdc converter n batteries arrive. Its an important milestone because it'll give me power for my ventilation n 12v cooler. So I'll be able to camp weekends n climb in it. Super excited. I'm delighted you made this video because I decided 2 weeks ago to frame my van with extrusion too. Its all delivered n I'll start that soon!

@@PresidentBust 3030! That's some serious aluminum! And holy cow you've done a ton! Yeah the Electrical is hands down the complex category, but also the most satisfying once you start powering your stuff!

Thank you! I'm glad you appreciated the content!

I think if you're framing everything in wood, it makes sense to put up plywood on your walls first, which then gives your wood cabinet frames something to screw into. However, overall that seems less than ideal, since it forces you to decide all of your electrical and plumbing runs first, and if you change your mind on anything, it's a major hassle to open up your walls and reroute those utility lines. With aluminum, you can wait to cover your walls until the end, and you only neef to cover the sections you can see, which in turn means you need less materials, and leaves you with a lot easier access to your utility lines should you need to service anything down the road. Also, having open-back cabinet structures promotes airflow throughout all of your van, minimizing the chance for moisture buildup. Hope that helps!

Thank you for the kind words, Francois! I'm mighty fond of my ceiling as well! As for man hours to design, cut, assemble, realize I forgot to add several t-nuts, disassemble, reassemble, etc... everything shown thus far, I'd estimate about 80-90 hours. But I'm an over-thinker, so honestly a huge chunk of that time is my analyzing it all, before, during, and sometimes after I tighten every bolt.

So the adhesive really is a permanent bond. It's the exact same adhesive I used to install my flarespace flares, and it's the only thing holding those flares to my van walls (no physical fasteners whatsoever). So, mounting all of my internal cabinet structures to my plywood subfloor via wood screws and angle brackets bolted to the cabinet frames is just as strong as any physical fastener solution, but much easier to achieve than trying to install plusnuts within the aluminum substructure (not to mention issues of trying to align your anchor points in 16" intervals.

Hey Brian! I used the 10 series exclusively for my entire build, with most of my material being the 1010, and then in areas that will hold more weight, like my bed, or my freezer slide out tray I used the 1020 profile vertically, which is actually more ridged and has a higher load capacity than a 1515 profile.

@@ErikJohnson2020 excellent, thank you