You guys are making me reconsider getting an f150. Will 4 by 8s fit in any transit (not Connect)? From my reading there is about 126 inches behind the seat for the short version. So it seems so.

The van gives me the ability to securely and safely carry both materials and tools.  I no longer have to crawl around in the dark trying to dig out seldom used tools.  Now I can get to all my tools without unloading half the vehicle!

Take a look at my 26 Jan post.  4x8 sheets fit easily even with the bulkhead and storage area.  10' stock fits easily the way I am configured.  Without the bulkhead I could get 16' trim in.  Mine is a 148" wheelbase but is not the extended version.

For example did you consider light weight materials, such as honeycomb panels instead of plywood. Much like aircraft cabin construction. This is more of a curiosity question. Considering you seem to be thorough you planning, I was wondering if it a consideration, or like most engineers, I am simply over thinking this.

Thank you for your kind words!

I did consider the CG and weight, but only in passing.  I quickly realized I was going to end up going down yet another rabbit hole.  I took the easy path and simply compared what I was doing to what I'd seen others do, and decided I was going to be ok.  I did choose a 3/4 ton chassis as I knew I was overloaded in my 1/2 ton pick up.  What I did not do was to get a vehicle weight at delivery.  Perhaps one day I'll stop and get a current weight and use the manufactures curb weight and then see where I'm at.  I will say that the van drives better today than it did when it was empty. 

I've been using the set up for 4 months now and can say that I am very pleased with the layout in general.  I keep adding to my list of things to upgrade and finalize:

• Add a bank of drawers
• finalize the top of the drivers side shelving
• Improve my tie down system
• Devise a method to transport trim, thinking something like the system that @Kevin C. has in his rig
• Add cab lighting
• etc, etc....

All in all, I used a very unscientific approach to the weight and weight distribution and seem to have gotten away with it at this point.

I just bought almost an identical van and starting the process of racking it out. I like the charging station. Where did you get the inverter setup?


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Thank you!  My goal was to provide interior lighting and charging.  I don't have enough power to run power tools, I figure if that's necessary I can bring a generator.

This is the Inverter from Amazon.  Note that I also installed a separate house battery, isolator and fuse panel to distribute the house power.  There are lots of resources for Transit camper conversion and wiring schematics available.  Check out Pinterest and the Ford Transit USA Forum

Here is my list of electric supplies and materials, it's not totally complete but includes the major components.

Drawers!

When I did the initial FitOut I knew that I wanted to include drawers in the middle bay of the curb side rack.  I wasn't sure exactly how they needed to be configured so I used Ridgid tool boxes to get started.  The Ridgid boxes are great but quickly getting tools and supplies was difficult.  Several tools were kept in the blow molded cases and some were stored behind other tools.  Now I can get to all those tools quickly and easily.

I settled on Paulk Style Drawers in two different sizes.  Several of the drawers have been fitted out for specific tools and others I have left open for the time being.

Before:
(Attachment Link)

During:
(Attachment Link)

After:
(Attachment Link)   (Attachment Link)   (Attachment Link)

Can you tell me where you found your black buckle straps so your equipment doesn't come flying off the shelves?  i love that idea and i need those

Rear Door Storage

The front left corner had become a catch-all for long objects that didn't fit any place else.  The space is mostly dead space but is primarily needed to store my ladder.  After battling (and losing) with retrieving my pry bar one too many times I finally moved much of the mess to the unused space on the rear doors.  I'm really afraid that all I've really accomplished is creating space to carry yet more 'stuff'!

Nevermind, i just saw one of your previous posts.  Is the house battery just for charging while the van is turned off?

Does your m12 battery ever fall out of the charger while you are driving?  Just curious if a good bump will knock it out. 

I've made several updates to my 2020 Transit over the holidays.  I modified part of my racking to allow for the use of the Sys3 Rail System and a major upgrade to the electrical system.

Racking

Like many, I have all three generations of Systainers.  I now have enough to the Sys3 versions to make it worth updating my van shelving.  I chose to update the two bays closest to my parts bins to permit the installation of the Sy3 rails.  I had to increase the with of each of the two bays 9mm (18mm total)  to allow for the width of the rails.  Finding that 18mm was easy but executing it made it necessary to remove the entire drivers side shelving system.   The result was very much worth it!  The removal of the racking also allowed me to add shore power to my electrical system and run the wiring in the body cavity rather than leaving it exposed along the interior of the roof line.




I also added a long overdue storage platform for the space over my table saw.  I've been trying to put stuff on top of the saw since I first started storing the saw in the side door opening.  I used a bit of RV J-Channel and some plywood to make a removeable platform.  At one point I thought I'd make a box for the saw with a bin for my tool bag on top.  I think this is  a much more elegant, and flexible, solution!  I'm still playing around how to best secure the bag, for now it's just clipped to the grab handle.



Electrical

The upgrade to my house electric system was not so much functional as it is performance oriented.  There are two major areas of improvement. 

The first is I added shore power.  This was primarily to add on a hardwired 110v battery charger for the house battery.  The removal of the drivers side racking gave me easy access to add the shore power port and run the wiring inside the wall rather than surface mount the wiring along the interior roof line. 



The second area of improvement improved the performance and safety of the overall house power system.  I added a fused bus bar to separate the feeds to the inverter and general 12v circuits.  The bus bar also provided a way to easily connect the onboard 110v battery charger.  I also added a 12v DC to DC battery charger to more effectively charge the house battery when the engine is running.  In my first installation I used an isolator to provide charging to the house battery.  The issue with an isolator is that it feeds the house battery with whatever power it can.  The DC to DC Charger is a 3 stage charger that also isolates the house battery from the vehicle battery to prevent discharge of the vehicle battery.

I moved the power management and charging portion of the system to the area behind the drivers seat.  This has the advantage of keeping the equipment safe and provides me with easy access to 110v power in the cab.

The electric improvements would not have been possible without the superb videos from Nate at Explorist Live - DIY Campers




So, two years in to my Transit I can say that I am very happy with both the vehicle itself and the fit out.  I have a few more minor improvements in mind.  I'll likely add a few more drawers and some task lighting in the near future.

@gunnyr  - the level of seasoned refinement displayed in the most recent version of your van upfit really shows others who are still stuck with Pick-ups and low roof height vans what is possible.

Thanks for sharing here for everytone's benefit!

Keep it up while keeping everyone posted.

Hans

That's a fantastic looking, well equipped set up you have there. Great job.

What's in the TSO Systainer? since the GRS is hanging out on the wall.
Also, I see Match-fit clamps, but nothing obvious to use them with?

Thank you!  In my case I am generally able to haul materials, deliver product and work out to the van.  Only occasionally do I need to rent a straight truck for deliveries.  In my Silverado it seemed that I was limited to hauling tools or materials but not both....

The TSO Container holds my GRS 16 along with some TSO parallel guide bits and pieces.   

As for the Matchfit clamps they are used primarily to clamp material using the slots in the shelving during transport.  I also have added a 2x4 to the top of my sawhorses that have Matchfit grooves on the top and sides along with a table saw sled with a grid of grooves that I used to hold work.  I'm always finding new used for the Matchfit clamps;   I've ground all of mine down so that they will fit into my Festool Guide Rails.

This picture shows the slots in the shelving in use to secure sheet goods.  I like to use the screw type MatchFit clamps because they have a longer reach than my Festool Clamps.  I've secured as many as 10 sheets of plywood using combinations of clamps and straps.  The system also works very well for transporting doors!  Transporting sheet goods on edge makes it much easier to load and unload and leaves room for other cargo.

In this case I'm transporting some drywall for the much less fun part of trim carpentry.  I had the pleasure of ripping out a 4x8 section of tile back splash this morning, tomorrow I get to replace the drywall in preparation for the new backsplash.....