Building a Tiny Home on Wheels - Custom Box Truck Build - Pt 5

The last couple weeks have been really exciting on this build. We've got the bathroom door up, the electrical is gone in, plumbing is running. Now we're going to start working on the feature wall. One of the most exciting parts of the build, the motorcycle garage. So let's get started on that feature wall and knock out this final checklist. We're designing a feature wall that's based off from the region churches. They have the cedar shake shingles on the side. What we're doing is we're going to be cutting them down at 60 degree angles, making them a little bit shorter than what you typically see on a Norwegian church. Make them a little more modernized and then we're going to be staining those after. We first checked at the big box stores and couldn't quite find what we're looking for. We wanted some barn wood that was kind of rough on one side and stainable on the other. I ended up doing some research online and came across woodplank.com. I started talking to them about their wood plank and they told me that it was kiln dried which was something we were looking for as we go in a lot of different areas in our travels and didn't want to see any bowing due to the humidity. They were as excited as we were about our feature wall project so they ended up sending us some and it turned out exactly as we hoped for. They came with one side that was rough and gray and another side that was smooth and of natural wood color. We ended up using the rough gray side just with its natural gray color and also did black as well but the back side we also stained a golden oak. For our bedroom and garage area we wanted to keep it really clean and simple especially for our motorcycles. For the flooring what we did was a vinyl sheet flooring. After we saw how much garage flooring cost we decided to go that route so we could allocate some of our funds and resources towards other areas of our build, things we really wanted. For our bed system we went with a very slim profile so we can maximize the storage area for motorcycles underneath and then have enough room for a seating on the bed area as well. So what we did was we have two by fours running across the sides and we have some aluminum square tubing going across and then we're also putting a sheet of three-quarter inch plywood as planks across north to south in the truck. We've used this system before and it's worked out really well. We wanted to do it in our truck because it's actually a removable bed system so we can take out the aluminum square tubing and planks any time and we can haul things in there as needed. When looking for a mattress for our first van build we came across the Zinus green tea memory foam mattress. We've been using that one actually ever since. We were able to speak to them directly. They provided us with our favorite one a six inch queen size mattress that we're going to be putting into our truck build. This is a mattress that we'd recommend for anyone living in a tiny home on wheels or in a traditional home. You definitely want a comfortable night's sleep and also a comfortable place to sit. We've always wanted to bring little motorcycles along with us but we've always been limited on space so for this build we dedicated the whole entire garage for those specifically. Before we get started on that final checklist one thing we haven't talked about yet is the pass-through. So we wanted to pass through in case of emergencies so that we could go from the box to the cab. It was actually a pretty easy process compared to what we thought it might be. We didn't want to mess with the structure of the cab so we actually just took the rear window out and put in a piece of metal right in place of that area. From there what we did was figure out the size of it and make that same identical hole right in our aluminum box as well. After we were finished with that the process was pretty simple because of an accordion boot that we found. So the accordion boot just attaches on clips to both sides of the box and the cab itself. Then we were able to have a pass-through to go from the box to the cab. It's not the most convenient size ever but we didn't have to mess with the structure and we can get from the box to the cab in case of an emergency. Now this truck is just old enough and it's a base model that it doesn't have some of the features that we're used to like bluetooth, carplay, backup cameras. Right before we got started building out this truck Carpre Ride reached out and told us about their multimedia player and it does all of that plus more. We connected our phone to this device with bluetooth and the device is connected to the speakers on the truck with an FM transmitter. We've been able to listen to music and podcast through the speakers. The cool thing too is on a pretty large nine inch screen we've been able to view our maps. An added bonus with this one is it does have a wireless camera so installation with that was pretty easy. It's about 20 feet from the front of the cab to the back of the box and we haven't had any connections issues. I can definitely see that this device is going to bring us a lot more comfortability when traveling and it's nice that it's just super easy plug and play install. So finally we've made it to the fun part of the build in my mind, the stylizing part. Just in the last day or so we've gotten the rest of the painting done. The couch has officially gone in and we've built some little shelves for some decor for our plants. Abe gets to step in and do his favorite part of finishing those last final pieces to really bring the design together. Got all my stuff laid out here. Not quite sure where it's all going yet or if everything is going to go up here or not. Just going to play around with some places and see how it looks. So with the finishing touches complete let's head out and show you the complete interior and exterior tour of our Expedition truck. This is our completely custom home on wheels built on a 2012 Ford F-550 chassis with just under 20,000 miles. We made quite a few exterior upgrades starting with adding a 14x8 box. Typically the first thing we do when we get to a campsite is pull out our stairs and open the windows to let in all the fresh air. These aluminum adjustable stairs are great because they allow entry to our home much easier on a variety of terrains. With three windows in the main living area it provides plenty of natural light and fresh air. These windows open out awning style and have a built-in bug screen as well as a blackout screen. On the driver's side is our pull-up bar which allows us to add a variety of ways to work out on the road. Our adjustable dumbbells can be found right inside the cargo door on our heavy duty slides creating an easy and quick access. On the roof we have a couple of fans for ventilation, a slim air conditioning unit, five 200 watt solar panels, cell booster and starlink mount, along with an awning in the back. Down on the cab is an additional small roof rack designed for both aesthetics and functionality. It features a cargo box, some traction pads, and a 42 inch led light bar. To wrap up the exterior the front bumper and wheels called for a major upgrade. The heavy duty bumper adds a rugged look and our larger all-terrain tires will allow us to get to more places. Upon entering the first thing you'll notice is our simple rustic modern minimalistic design. We went with black gray and wood tones along with some green plant accents. Comfortable seating was very important to us. We chose to install a couch rather than custom building a bench and cushions. The base of the couch stores our dumbbells and other miscellaneous items. Since we work full-time from the road having a desk area to work at was also important. We have a pop-up desk with additional comfortable seating. Below the desk houses our signature solar electrical system. Servo rack batteries are the way to go because of their small footprint. We have two 400 amp hour lithium batteries. Beside it is our 3000 watt inverter and right above that is a slim area that mounts the rest of our electrical system. Above the couch is two upper cabinets for some extra storage. Our ceiling is the shiplap that we painted black and added some warm dimmable puck lights. Across from the living room is our kitchen that features a lot of storage an open counter space and a wishlist item our fridge. With having an eight cubic feet fridge this will allow us to stay off grid much longer and be able to stock up. For cooking we have a microwave above our fridge, our induction cooktop in the top drawer and an oven inside our l-shaped kitchen cabinets. We wanted our cooking methods tucked away so we could have an ample counter space when not cooking. The l-shaped counter top provides that. To complement our design our sink faucet combo is a nice matte black 16 by 20 which allows enough room to wash your dishes but also doesn't take too much counter space. Our plumbing system including our 42 gallon tank pump and water filter are in the kitchen cabinets as well to allow for weight distribution across the build. Below the sink is our hydronic heating system that serves as both our air heater to warm up our rig in the colder months and also our hot water heater. Before entering the bathroom we have a beautiful custom-built pine door. Inside we went with a simple but elegant install. With red guard behind the vinyl for waterproofing we were able to find a beautiful design to complement our matte black shower system. Having our own toilet is a must when living full-time in a tiny home. We have a composting toilet that has an electrical churner and vent system for moisture control. In the back is our six inch queen memory foam mattress. We prefer a platform stationary bed over other options. Alongside is our custom feature wall made with kiln dried barnwood planks. Tucked away in the corner behind the bathroom is our dresser. Enough storage for plenty of clothes and a few other personal items. Below the bed and dresser is our garage area. On the right is the mini garage to store a variety of items along with our ladder and weight bench. On the left is our toy hauler garage for our motorcycles. We only have our toolbox and yoga mat here to make getting the bikes in and out easy. We can't believe we're able to achieve all of our wishlist items with this setup. Thanks to the guys for working with us to turn this Ford chassis into the ultimate expedition truck home on wheels for our full-time traveling. Also thanks to all our sponsors and making this home on wheels exactly what we're dreaming of.