Prius Campervan Storage Design

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Last year traveling in my Prius I knew every cubic inch was valuable.  Having downsized from my Class B campervan a lot of work went into finding items that would replace full size items.  These changes were not necessarily cheap.  For example I had a standard folding camp chair that slide into a cylindrical draw-string bag.  I had no room for it but wanted a chair so I bought the REI backpacking folding chair at a tenth the size.

Even with doing all this planning, replacing items, and replacing the Prius foam fold down rear seats with 1/2" plywood  it was still tight for space to live in and out of the Prius.   

The 60% side is where I sleep and under the rear passenger wheel well is where I stored water and my clothing. The water tank was the 7 gallon tank from Walmart. 

This worked ok but it's size was difficult to manage the space around and above it.  I put my clothing in waterproof pillowcases to keep them together and clean.  The problem was that this method also allowed the pillowcases to slide and catch on things and rip the bags.  I also didn't need 7 gallons as I was able to live on a gallon a day on average, and carry 2 one gallon water jugs on the front passenger floor that I fill from my tank so when I want water I don't have to pump the water.

The space under my bed is easy to access as it is under the folding plywood platform I made last year.  The space and access is key to my redesign of the space for this year.

First I needed to come up with a replacement for the 7 gallon water tank.

My choice was this 6 gallon freshwater Poly tank with off-set fill.

The tank fits perfectly in the wheel well behind the passenger seat and the seat is still positioned if I want to take a passenger.

Now I needed to design the space around the water tank.

My first step was to Design and build a fixed wall container for my clothing that sits on top of the tank.

I decided to make it out of 1/2" PVC plastic leaving a notch for access to the water tank.  The plastic wood needs no finishing.

The water tank comes with 4 threaded inserts on top in case you want to use an electric pump.  I use a hand pump to extract the water right now so I used 2 of the 10-24 inserts to hold the storage unit to the tank to keep the plastic from sliding.

Here is the water access left open to access during my travels.

You can see I can easily access the water fill from the side door. And my bed platform mostly covers the storage.

The shape of the plywood was necessary for it to fold up when I wantt he space.

I needed to add a tapered shim to support the plywood sleeping platform.

This also will save me from carrying and using a rod to hold the corner of the plywood up when I sleep in it. (a bonus)

Here is a side view of the plywood platform supported by the shim top of the storage unit on top of the water tank.

Just to the left of the tank (above photo) is my hand pump in a void space created in the design.

To the center console I still had some space for storage.  In the photo above you can see a matching insert to fit next to the storage that sits on top of the water tank and uses all the space from the floor up.

The picture above shows how the matching box I made rests to the side of the first storage box.  I could have made one box to fill both spaces and save a 1/2" of plastic wood thickness, but I thought the modular aspect of this space may be useful.

Here is my top-down view of the storage.

To the left in this picture is a detergent bottle I use for waste water.  

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

RTR - Rubber Tramp Rondevious

(Photo from http://www.cheaprvliving.com/gatherings/)

The generic name for living in a van, camper, car, or other converted vehicle is Vandwelling.

Each January there is an impromptu gathering of like minded people in Quartzsite, AZ.  (See web link under photo)

My last two years of travel took me to the southwest leaving mid January and driving my mother to FLorida and leaving her with her mother.  I enjoyed this trip and visit to Florida and meeting Cuz Dick who hosts the Southeast RTR, but missed the southwest RTR hosted by Bob Wells, who is renowned for his efforts in helping all with Vandwelling.  His website Cheaprvliving.com and related blogs is s wealth of information for anyone looking to vandwell part time or full time.

My departure is set for Monday 1/4/16 and travel without delay to AZ to first visit some friends in Tucson before heading over to the RTR in Quartzsite.

I will arrive a few days after its official start but will plan to be there until it it finishes on 1/19.  I met Bob and a couple others  after the RTR last year in nearby Ehernberg, AZ on BLM land.

At this southwestern RTR there are seminars where you can learn about how to do just about anything with your vehicle.  There are also many other groups in Quartzsite at this time we'll into February.

My goal is to stay with the Vandwellers and socialize with them but also check out other groups that my be close by.  

Since cell service has been good in Quartsite during my past visits I plan on blogging each day.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Prius Tire Chains

I traveled last year without tire chains for my Prius.  Last year there were places I could not travel without having chains and I am going back to Park City Utah in March to spend a week with one of my sons and family.  Last year I stayed in Salt Lake City and didn't drive up the mountains of weather was bad or left early of snow was coming in.

This year I am staying with the family at a rental house so I need to be more prepared for dealing with snow.

I chose a more aggressive tire chain (not wire cable) that uses chain links and they crisscross for better traction.

When I got the chains I noticed I had bought a tire chain for my Prius that has a bonus.  It will also work off road.

Now I traveled last year without getting stuck but but not without worry.  I crossed many a wet and dry wash and traveled on some sandy roads that could have been problematic for the low clearance Prius.

Now I have an option to help me if I spin my front drive wheels on BLM and Forest Service Land, as long as I don't hang up the body of the car.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

New Fresh Water Tank

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted.  Work and more work around the sticks and bricks.  Well it is now less than 2 months until I leave on my 2016 Travels.

I now have over 12,000 views on my Brent's Travels Blog so I know there are a number of you that are interested in Prius camper conversions or living out of a car.  I decided some time ago to travel again with my Prius but I wanted to make some changes and as of the cold weather returning to the Northeast US my focus is now on design and build.

I am replacing my blue 7 gallon Walmart water tank with a commercial 6 gallon tank that sits lower on the rear passenger side floor (picture above).

This tank sits lower but also allows the front passenger seat to slide nearly all the way back when I travel with company, which is rare. The taller blue tank would hit the reclined front passenger seat.

I will show the install of the new tank in another post.

What is nice about this tank is that it is for drinking water and the fill is offset so I can easily access the full when I open the rear passenger door.

Now focus is on designing the space around and above the tank.  I am sure you will find this more interesting

I'll be posting more soon.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Prius Bumper Repair

My Prius bumper had been scraped & brused by the privious owner & then by me on my 2015 Travels.  Then in Kansas on the way home in April, at a park campground, in the fog, I dented it by bunking the 4x4 post with the site number on it, leaving early morning darkness, in very dense fog.

I didn't see the post because of fog, darkness and the front drivers pillar blocking the view.  

The Autobody shop in town offered to take the dent out by heating the plastic bumper wrap but with all the scrapes and dings I decided to replace it.

I'm all ready to start my 2016 Travels in January but I need to find a solutuon from hitting / scraping / dragging the bottom over curb stops.

Solution to follow.

Proximity Sensor Install

As the summer winds down my thoughts are turning to my 2016 Travels that start in January. It's time to start to make design changes to my storage space and solve some problems.

I drive a Tavoma truck & the Prius.  The truck is four-wheel drive and has a lot of ground clearance. The Prius has a very low ground clearance and my 2015 Travels with the Prius this year resulted with a number of run-ins with curbs scraping the bottom of the bumper.

When I bought the Prius used it already had a number of similar marks on the bumper from the previous owner.

On top of this I do of off road travels in BLM & Forrest Service Land to boondock and they have many less than improved dirt roads.  Keeping the Prius from scraping is a challenge when driving in these conditions, although time has helped with my skills to gage them and navigate better.

On my trip home in Kansas in a park campground I woke to very dense fog and I turned out of my camping spot too soon and dented the bumper.  I had the bumper replaced this July (see previous post) and now the question is how do I keep my bumper from getting beat up again.

I was going to add a forward facing (front bumper) camera to my existing backup camera system, but then I ran across this bumper (proximity) sensor that I decided to add to my list of mods to my Prius.

My choice was the BrandMotion's system.

There are 3 main parts.

1. Proximity sensor that is mounted to the bumper

2. Control Module that goes under the dash

3. Speaker that goes on dash

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Step 1

I installed the bumper sensor first needing to get the wire around the grill area and through the Prius firewall.  I chose the rubber boot going through the firewall that the main wiring harnes goes through.  I used an awl to punch a hole in the rubber boot  and filled the hole with a coat hanger through it to use as a wire pull.  I first pushed the coat hanger through from the engine compartment and attached the pull wire to it and pulled through the firewall.  I then used this wire to pull the cable from the sensor back in the engine compartment into the passenger area.  The Prius is tight on room to work such things, so I got a few cuts and scrapes with some minor bleeding on the back of the hand.

In the front of the car I removed the plastic panels under the dash and it was not difficult to catch the wires inside the car.

I did not stick the sensor to the bumper yet.

Step 2

Next I installed the control module.  I then remembered the fuse box is in the engine compartment so I needed to run the red/black power wires through the hole I put on the rubber boot in the firewall.

This took some more work but did get the power wires through the firewall too.

I did not mount the control module yet as it needs to be setup/programmed.

Step 3

I rain the power wires along the route other wires are run to the fuse box.  I put the power wires with the front sensor wire in a plastic loom.

The power wires split before the fuse box and I mounted the ground wire to the Prius ground location next to the fuse box.  I ran the power wire up into the fuse box  along other wires.  

I connected the red wire to a micro fuse jumper I got at the auto parts store.  This device allows me to remove the fuse in the fuse box and install it in the jumper, supplying power to the original circuit.  Next I added a 5 amp fuse in the second fuse position on the jumper that feeds the red wire that I connected to the control module.

Then the problem.  I chose the radio circuit only to find out that the radio fuse is always hot although the radio isn't, so there must be a control relay somewhere.

I got my volt meter out and found only a couple fuses are tied to the ignition on.  I chose the circuit with the label ignition and finished the wiring by tie wrapping the run.

Step 4.

The next step is to connect the sensor by just plugging it in as it has a micro USB connector.  

Then I plugged in the speaker.  

Step 5

Final setup & programming.

Turning on the power gives a few test chirps.  

I found a cardboard box with the same height as the Prius front travel height.  Then I fixed the sensor mounting it on the Prius front bumper lower grill opening.

I pointed it down on an angle and put the cardboard box 12 inches in from of the sensor. The unit started beeping And to set the distance I pushed the red button on the control module to lock it in.

I didn't permanently install the control module and speaker as I am running the unit at these settings to see if more adjustments are needed.

I have had the opportunity to test it approaching curbs and since the sensor is very directional and it works.  As soon as I approach a curb slowly it sounds & I stop & the 12 inches gives me some grace to not hit the curb.

I haven't previously thought about diagonal curb parking without a curb stop on the angle and the 12 inches worked well as it was 12 inches away in the direct center and 1 inch from the passenger side and 18 inches on the drivers side,so I didn't hit.

As I started off saying I thought of a camera & this sensor and there are benefits to both, but I chose this for now and it appears to work well.  I did get one false notification coming down a steep hill where it meets a level cross road and the sensor picked up the cross road facing down hill.  I would guess that the same would happen going up hill if perpendicular.

Brent

Prius House Battery Upgrade

When I originally designed my Prius House Battery System I decided on 2 12 volt 7 amp hour gel cells as I calculated that two would be sufficient for overnight running my 12 volt Engel compressor fridge without using the Prius 12 volt battery alone or in "Ready Mode".  I didn't want to run the fridge on the Prius 12 volt battery as it's capacity is not that large.  I only use it to charge my phone when not in "Ready Mode".

Note: In "Ready Mode" the 12 volt Prius battery is charged from the the Prius high voltage drive battery.  When the Prius high voltage drive battery needs charging the Prius starts automatically when in "Ready Mode".  This may happen only once an hour running the compressor fridge this way.  

During the day when I went on long hikes (8 hours) I would run the fridge off the Prius 12 volt system, leaving the car in "Ready Mode".  This allowed me to save my Prius house batteries charged for my night stay.  You leave the Prius on and use a key to lock the door.  You can't use the remote door opener when in "Ready Mode".

The design for the house batteries worked well as the 2 house batteries lasted from 8 pm to 6 am on 80 degree days 60 degree nights and longer when colder.  

In April I stayed on BLM land at Lake Havasu  and it was 95 during the day and 70 overnight.  I ran the Prius in "Ready Mode" to power the fridge until 10 pm in order to get through the night on the house batteries.  I also didn't want to stress the house batteries while I was sleeping.  My goal was not to drain the house batteries below 12.0 volts.

The resting voltage for the 12/7 gel cells are now 12.5 volts.  These were used batteries when I started my trip but I was able to keep a resting voltage of 12.9 volts for nearly all the trip.  It is time to replace them.

I decided to replace the 2 12/7 gel cells with 2 12/8 gel cells that are physically the same size.

When I was swapping the batteries I noticed that I had space to add a third battery to allow for better management of the house batteries.  They physically fit in the rear drivers corner and allow full access to the trunk storage area and removal of trunk storage tray.

This will now give me 50% more amp hours for next year.

The importance of the house batteries is multi-fold.  Most important is I don't have to leave the Prius in "Ready Mode" at night.  It would be disruptive for my sleep and others camped nearby will not want to hear it and there are quiet hours in many campgrounds.  Another important factor is that the house batteries provide for stealth sleeping in parking lots while keeping my fridge running.  The compressor fridge is quiet and I have stayed in many crowded parking lots and I don't attract attention.

At the top of the photo above is the multi chemistry charger that I charge my house batteries with.  When shore power is available I plug into this.  Most of the time I plug the charger into my 400 watt pure sine wave inverter that is connected to the Prius 12 volt battery that I only use in "Ready Mode".  I charge mostly as I drive but may charge parking at friends and relatives.  I can charge at 2, 4, or 8 amps.  I mostly charge at 2 amps unless I am short on time to charge for the night.

I use a heavy duty short flat cable as a shore line so not to pinch it when I close the rear hatch.

This is how I charge the house batteries at home.

The multi-chemistry charger will charge all lead acid batteries gel cells, wet cells, and AGM.  I have a connection to the Prius 12 volt battery for charging it and to desulfurization that the charger does after its charging cycle.  The charger is designed to give the right voltages based on the type of lead acid battery you are using.

The upgraded house batteries will is one of the key upgrades to the Prius Campervan that came out of this year's travels.  I am working on a redesign of the floor space behind the passenger seat under the fold-down bed platform.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com