Before setting up the electrical system, I used a simple wooden ladder to access the sleeping area of the truck. I didn’t like the ladder. It was quite steep, so leaving the sleeping area was a little inconvenient. It also blocked the area in front of the wardrobe, so each time I wanted to open the door of the wardrobe, I had to move the ladder and make sure it wouldn’t slide away. I also had to stow away and secure it while driving. I really liked the idea of a foldable staircase that would be mounted to the wall and provide the possibility of clearing the space in front of the wardrobe easi ..read more

After installing the solar panels, I focused on the electrical system of the cabin. I envisioned a setup comparable to a regular house providing sufficient capacity during the winter, several 230V AC, 24V DC, 12V DC and USB power outlets for all kind of consumers. I also wanted to be able to operate professional power tools without having to worry during cloudy days, so the setup I envisioned for the truck was meant to become a little more complicated than the one of my van. Picking the components Similar to how I had increased the total power of the solar system by a factor of four, I also bo ..read more

The roof was renovated and equipped with custom mounting points for the solar panels. It was about time to install the panels that I had ordered during the winter when the prices and delivery times were still appropriate. The 500W solar system of my van provided sufficient power from spring to autumn to operate all my electric devices. But when staying in Germany during the winter, I had to give up on some comfort: On an average winter day, the system made only about 300Wh a day, so there was only enough power to run my laptop, the WiFi router and the LED lights. I couldn’t use the boiler, ind ..read more

After repairing the broken parts of the cabin, I was able to prepare the cabin for the first layer of epoxy resin. A seamless cover all around the cabin seemed more robust than local patches, so I wanted to follow the same approach as I applied when renovating the roof. I started sanding the front, and made all my way around the cabin. Although the old paint was a little fragile, it took me quite some time to sand the entire cabin. Laminating the cabin After a couple of days of sanding, sanding and more sanding, I finally applied the first layer of epoxy and fiberglas mats. I rolled one fib ..read more

While fixing the cabin, I also continued the work on the roof. To make sure that the front roof was properly protected, I decided to put another layer of epoxy resin on top of the fiberglas and epoxy resin that I had applied during the winter. I slightly sanded the glossy surface to make sure the additional layer would adhere well. After my adventurous attempt to work with epoxy during the winter, I really appreciated the easiness of processing epoxy resin on a warm and sunny day outside. The resin hardened quickly and after a couple of hours the roof was covered with an additional layer of ..read more

During the winter I had to pause my attempt to fix the roof because the temperatures were too cold to work with epoxy resin. The weather was still quite cold at the beginning of April. However, in the middle of April, the weather changed and spring came back to Germany! :tada: I finally seemed able to continue the work on the outer cabin. Discovering rotten wood The cabin had been exposed to the weather for a long time. Over the years, water had seeped trough tiny cracks, unprotected edges or porous paint. After constantly absorbing the water, the wood had become rotten. After thoroughly exa ..read more

After building the skeleton of the bathroom, I continued preparing the panels for the wall cladding. The temperatures were still quite low, so I took advantage of a sunny day to oil the panels. Similarly, as in the bedroom, I build a bunch of wooden stripes to hold the panels together. The strips nicely covered the gaps between the panels and made sure they were properly aligned to each other. Mounting the panels When the oil was finally dry, I put all the panels into the cabin. I only used screws to mount the panels on the doors. All the other panels were just loosely attached to each ot ..read more

The wooden shower was one of my favorite features of my van. The space in the van was very limited, so I always had to move the wooden toilet out of the bathroom cabin before taking a shower. Luckily the truck offered much more space, so I envisioned a bathroom cabin that would provide enough space for taking a shower next to a permanently installed toilet. As usual, I sketched the rough vision in my head on a piece of wood to get a better idea of what I wanted to build: A small bathroom cabin measuring about 75cm x 98cm x 195cm. Installing fans for better ventilation The fans that I installe ..read more

When working out of my van in warm areas, I either had to close the doors to keep flies and mosquitos out of the van or accept a bunch of insects invading my office while enjoying a fresh breeze. The cabin of the truck had a lot of windows and I wanted to be able to keep them open without having to worry about insects, so I mounted pull-out mosquito nets into the sidewalls. With the help of a spring, the nets were automatically rolled up and could be easily pulled down to keep insects out of the cabin. I cut five of these roll-up nets to size and installed them in front of each window. I al ..read more

A part of the left sidewall wasn’t insulated and provided enough space for a fifth window. The previous owner gave me a window similar to the other ones that he never managed to install. It seemed reasonable to install the additional window before applying the wall cladding, so I started the project right away. After marking the position of the future window, I cut out the wood with a skill and a jig saw. Cutting the hole into the wall went quite well. However, finding a rubber seal that matched with the thickness of the wall and the frame of the window turned out to be very challenging. Aft ..read more