The VanLife Store, all the tools and products you need build and live your VanLife.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nHow I Insulated My Van<\/h2>\n
One thing I found during my research period is that it seems people want specific, individual instructions for their specific, individual van. Thing is, vans is vans and as long as you understand the principles, it doesn’t matter what van you have. But for those wondering, I have a 2004, Ford E350 extended body.<\/p>\n
Meow…<\/p>\n
Preparation and ‘Inner Walls’<\/h3>\n
When I bought my van, someone had sprayed the entire cargo area (except the ceiling) with Rhino-liner. Awesome. It provides a little structural support and a little sound deadening so that it’s not just a giant tin box rattling and flapping in the wind as I drive down the road. However, the dealer that I bought it from also sprayed the entire cargo area with Armor All. Not awesome. Adhesive will stick to Rhino-liner, but it won’t stick to Armor All. I spent the entire first night of this project de-greasing and scrubbing the van walls.<\/p>\n
![\"Van](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lowgravityascents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Inner-wall-300x225.jpg?resize=330%2C247\")
And then we got to work.<\/p>\n
Insulating between the inner and outer walls<\/h4>\n
Contrary to popular belief, the van is not single-walled. As in, the sheet metal you see on the outside of the van is NOT the sheet metal that you see on the inside of the van. There are a ton of huge pockets and wasted, dead space. While I was rolling sound deadening material on the ceiling, my dad got to work stuffing fiberglass insulation between the walls.<\/p>\n
There is so much space between them that it took nearly an entire roll of insulation INSIDE the walls. And there was still more to do.<\/p>\n
Where there was empty space, but too small for fiberglass insulation, I used spray foam to fill the gaps. It took 6 cans of gap filler:<\/p>\n
\n- 2 cans of 12 oz.<\/li>\n
- 2 cans of 16 oz.<\/li>\n
- 2 cans of 20 oz.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There’s no science to knowing how much foam you need to spray in the walls. Mainly because you can’t see what you’re doing.<\/p>\n
Anyways, fill in obvious gaps in the walls, but don’t forget the ribs on the ceiling and the other struts along the top. When you get done, your van should look like a pubescent teenager with whiteheads popping out all over the place. (Too graphic?)<\/p>\n
Furring Strips<\/h3>\n
Furring strips are the pieces of wood that you attach the metal walls and then the furniture to them. You don’t actually screw furniture or cabinets directly to the van metal. This was no easy task either.<\/p>\n
The walls are curved, not flat. They are also not smooth; they have a lot of contour. That means every furring strip had to be measured, shimmed, eyeballed, and custom installed to make sure that when the wall panels went up, they stayed square, flat, and smooth.<\/p>\n
![\"VanLife](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lowgravityascents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Leaving-CO-e1425149093578.jpg?resize=3670%2C2088\")
<\/p>\n![\"VanLife](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lowgravityascents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Finished-Insulation-300x300.jpg?resize=330%2C330\")
Yes, this is my life.<\/p>\n