Building the Ultimate 4×4 Adventure Van!

If you get lost in the Jungles of Mexico, don’t sweat it. Your adventure VAN has everything you need and it’s safer here than most people think, so ask a nice local to give you directions.

As a filmmaker and a paragliding pilot along with my wife we need my gear and want to be able to go anywhere with it. Turns out optioned Toyota Sienna retails for $50,000 and while moms seem to love those, it won’t cross a river with an RV in tow or climb a mountain with your gear.  We needed a van that was ready to roll anywhere; so we built it and created an adventure van that mom and dad both love.

The (mostly) finished product. The epic one and only truth van.

Swan was our 5th and she came last year; that meant my crew cab pickup would no longer haul the family. More than that we needed a vehicle that would be self-contained and was ready for on the road adventures in since we spend months of each year exploring. Our van setup turned out to be very timely for our travel to Mexico as we expose the propaganda that the USA is the best country in the world.

I’ve yet to settle down enough to do a full video tour of the van but it’s coming. This 2013 Chevy Express 3500 15 passenger with a Duramax engine. The Diesel is pretty rare but you can find them used. The latest Diesel’s have the new wimpy engines and are not great towers. We bought this last Summer pretty much stock and just under 100k miles. It cost about $24,000. My Summer project begins in everything from changing the ugly carpet to a custom powder coated diamond plate floor with the help of my metal working brother in law.

We installed triple Yakima racks and then the largest roof boxes they made, a rooftop tent and a wood platform with a solar panel that I could also stand on to shoot from. We redid the electronics adding with a Pioneer 8200 nav stereo, new speakers, a small sub and finally 360 degree lighting. And that floor, that would allow us to have a sturdy surface to attack toolboxes and accessories inside; everything is modular.

Getting started with a clean canvas.

Next we drove it to Utah with our 10K lb travel trailer in tow. The van went to Advanced 4×4 in Salt Lake City for the really good stuff. A full 4×4 conversion, a lift, 33in tires with 17in wheels and of course these epic front and rear bumper system from Aluminess. The suspension was upgraded and airbags were installed for better towing as we rolled out.

That was finished in a few different phases then it was back to my work adding things like hi-lift jack, a 12,000lb winch to the front bumper and filling those rear boxes with tools, camping supplies, a stove Rotopax tanks and more. The rear bumper also carries our extra fuel and everything we need from water to food. Finally, we had the Duramax custom tuned by Starlite Diesel with a 5-way switch on the fly tuner to change the performance of the engine depending on what we’re doing.

We did not make the inside into a full RV van since we usually pull a trailer. One great thing about vans is from the roof to the chassis they are like a canvas; so build it however you like. We opted to keep the inside open for hauling families and paragliders but added things like extra plugs, improved LED lights and an inverter for AC power right inside the cabin. We also have a truck beds mattress so the entire area behind the two bench seats can become an extra bed.

We can sleep in the rooftop tent or inside when not towing an RV and the essential supplies and tools are always board. I have a few ideas up my sleeve for a modular bed inside that won’t interfere with cargo and people hauling abilities. The metal floor is rugged, but all the seat slots still work so you can configure it as needed. We leave the 2 rear seats out when traveling so there is room for bikes and gear and it still seats 8 with plenty of room for hitchhikers in the back.

We the van buried on the the other side of this dune in Mexico with the RV attached. But some friendly locals and a Hi-Lift jack solved the problem.

This was a big project. All told we have about 55k into this rig. That’s with the van itself, 4×4 conversion, racks, floors, lights, tent, everything. It gets 16-19mpg when not towing and averages 12 with a 10k lb RV behind it. If we had found one this nice already done I figure it would have been at least 65K, there are very few like it. There’s been a few glitches and fixes to dial it all in because it was a used rig. Then again a new diesel would push 60K just for the van and still have glitches.

Jungle Camping without a trailer with my wife and 5 kids in Jalpan de Serra, Mexico.

 

In central Mexico and a guy came over and did a full exterior detail and polish for $30USD, It reflects the sunset today.

Tips for building your own. Ford and Chevy are good but many things the Chev rides better. I say get a gasser unless you need the heavy towing like Diesel is great for that, but they are harder to fix and cost more initially too so if you don’t need 600lbs of torque, save your pennies for your adventures.

We did lights, floors and rack work ourselves. But the bumpers and mechanical conversions were all done by Advanced 4×4 and done right. They are the largest 4×4 conversion shop next to Quickly back east. You could grab a gasoline van like this stock  for around 16k and new I think they are only in the 20’s. Then convert it to your liking. You could also look at the Nissan vans, they are sweet and convert well to 4×4. The Sprinters are nice too but getting a 4×4 conversion is not easy so, bear that in mind when planning.

We call her the Truth Van. It’s not a sports car, it’s better and it cost less. A practical vehicle that goes almost anywhere and takes the people and the gear you need to get there, get the shot and spread the truth. We feel blessed to have been able to rig this out when we did and it’s seeing lots of use as we travel the continent.

 

The van gutted to redo the floor with powder coated plate.
The kids love chilling on the front bumper cross bars. It’s like an extra seat.

 

The beefy tuned Duramax will tow our big RV up ttheower..pass at 70MPH. It’s nice to have that p

 

Outfitted and towing the RV with the roof top tent out.

 

Exploring the Jungles of Nayarit Mexico.

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  1. Your build is awesome! It's very much what I'm building too. I'm currently sending my newly purchased GMC Savana to Advanced 4WD for customization and have a question. My van is primarily a tow vehicle. How is the towing turn radius with the rear mounted tire and storage boxes?

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About the Author

Glad you're here.

I'm from WA State USA and started studying photography in 97. I started work as a pro (using that word loosely because I sucked) using film at age 16. I learned fast but was not as easy to find training then. Sometimes I beat my head against the wall until I figured stuff out.

As digital dawned I went all in and got to study with masters like Ken Whitmire. In 09 I founded the Pro Photo Show podcast. I started promoting tone-focused editing. When Lightroom arrived, I started developing tools to make editing and workflow better.

20 years of study and photography around the country earned me a Master of Photography (M.Photog) from PPA. I got to see my workshops and tools featured in publications across the industry. Once I even won the prestigious HotOne award for my "EXposed" light and tone workshop.

Wanting something calmer, I moved to Mexico in 2017. It's a land of magical light. I'm here now exploring light and trying to master my weak areas. I make videos of that for my Youtube channel, sharing what I learn. I hope you'll stick around and be part of Light Hunters Tribe... Gavin

Gavin Seim

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