Dane-Everett Engineering

10/19/2026

Never let Car Audio guys get involved with this stuff... Let's see if anyone can tell me what's going wrong here.

10/10/2026

Am I allowed to say FAAAHWCK! on here? Nothing like waking up to a flat tire.😒

10/08/2026

Six months on back order... Apparently you cannot buy a 500 amp offset 10mm lug terminal anymore... I suppose that I will have to make one.

10/04/2026

According to Google some form of "How to, and what materials are best to use for insulation in a van?" is the number one most asked question on the internet...

And from what I have seen it is a hotly debated topic in just about every Vanlife forum. Arguments about R values, thermal bridging, v***r barriers, VOC toxicity... ad infinitem.

Okay, so let's talk about insulation in a Van.

The entire point of this is to keep hot or cold, either in or out with the added bonus of keeping sounds either in or out as well... Yeah it's a good idea, but there is no point in going nuts over it.

If you have an unlimited budget I would say go ahead and build an inner can inside of the outer can (the van it itself) like a vacuum sealed thermos, that would be awesome... and completely TF impractical.

So do it like this - See image and * :

* if you intend to use your van in a more severe climate, than say, southern California, where I am from I would double the amount of roll insulation (two layers)... and if we are talking extreme well below zero, adding a layer of mini cell foam between the air gap and the inner walls can be helpful (but can also be problematic as it can trap moisture)

3M 77 spray adhesive works very well (90 is completely unnecessary) to keep the insulation in place, it doesn't take a hell of a lot, spray the adhesive evenly onto the surface you are sticking the insulation to, not into the insulation fiber.

And if you must insulate the floor, 1 inch XPS foam sandwiched directly between the van floor and half inch hardwood plywood is a reasonable way to do it... Do Not fill in the corrugations of the floor, allowing some airgap will help prevent an eventual wet mess... if you must secure it to the floor, a thin bead of adhesive silicone will do.

10/01/2026

YouTube video engineering not going so well for this guy.

09/26/2026

UPDATE

So something unexpected happened (and it only took asking "WTF Guys? once) that worked out remarkably well. The tow yard shredded the paperwork and gave her the van back.

The only downside is that it sat for a month or so and her battery is completely flat, not just needing a charge flat, but deader than a door nail... I think I can take care of that for her as well as pointing out safe places to park at night that are tolerated.

Again NOTE: I had chatGPT give her a generic face in this image

09/25/2026

Hmm... Yet another reason to upgrade my DC to DC charger. The Orion XS was not available when I built my own van, though I have installed several since then... I'm seriously thinking it is time to swap out my 12 | 12 30 for an XS 50

Never get stranded by a flat starter battery again with the Orion XS!

Orion XS introduces starter battery emergency charging, available on all models (the 12/12-50A, the 12/12-70A, and the 1400) with just a firmware update (Orion XS firmware v1.15 & VictronConnect app firmware v6.43).

If the starter battery is too flat to crank the engine, the Orion XS can now charge it from the service battery. When the feature is activated, the charger temporarily reverses its charge direction for 15 minutes, then stops for a 5-minute settling period with the charger disabled. During the settling period, the engine can be cranked again, so you can get back underway.

To learn more, have a look at the Orion XS manual: https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Orion_XS_1400_DC-DC_Battery_Charger/en/operation,-configuration-and-monitoring.html -b06994ce-8dbb-e723-8d19-307edcdb630b

09/23/2026

I have been asked often "What does it actually cost to build out a van?"
..Do you really wanna know?

I happen to be sitting in Starbucks, trying to sort things out with this pile of papers at an iPad I almost always forget that I own so I'm gonna ramble here for a minute, so if you want the short answer to the question skip down to where there's dollar signs in the sentences.

First of all, I'm beginning to think I'm too old to do this (at least the way I've been doing it) anymore; I'm pretty sure that I was too old when I first got started so there's that... I would really prefer to simply consult for people that are doing their own van and get paid a little bit of money for my knowledge, experience and time but I know I'm gonna get suckered into it (a full build out) two or three more times before I drop dead.

Also I don't think I will ever build another: custom fabricated rack, for solar, shower, enclosure of any sort, anything that needs a black water tank, anything that has an on board gas powered generator, anything that operates on propane, anything at all inside of a ... I know there's other things I'm never gonna do twice, but I can't think of them off the cuff.

So here are the actual numbers for a decent basic van build for full-time or part-time (give or take a few hundred) this applies to starting at one end and working your way to the other without any backtracking (that is to say starting with a plan and sticking to it to the end utilizing standard off the shelf materials and equipment because when all is said and done zigzagging around, cobbling things together, trying to cut corners, or what have you always costs more in the end.

This breakdown is aggregated from an actual build utilizing a "kit" rather than a complete custom build... It should also be noted that the van is suitable for relatively mild climate conditions and on-road use. If you intend to go someplace really hot or really cold, I figure you can add something in the neighborhood of $3000... and if you wanna go drive over rocks, the van itself is gonna cost you a hell of a lot more money.

So...

-Mercedes-Benz Base Model Cargo 144 inch wheelbase High Roof I4 diesel $61,000 (approximate current price)
-Chassis Prep materials, including sound deadening, insulation, floor, receiver hardware, conduit, etc. $11,00
-Build out kit: $17,395 ( current availability and the current price)
-Rack $2,095
-House Power System $6,750
-Water supply and gray water System: $1,700
-HVAC system $1,800 (current price with a better unit)
-Basic necessary appliances $900
-Soft cabinets, headliner shelf, insulated, partition curtain, "Bug" screen curtains, panel storage covers $1800

Total labor (from empty to road ready) $36,000

Grand Total: $130,540

Yes, that is a handful of money, that is 43.5133 months worth of what I was paying for rent the last time I lived in a stationary box... Of course, then when I built out my own van, the only labor I paid was about three pints of blood and my second hand Ford Transit didn't cost anywhere near as much as this brand new Sprinter so I think I broke even on rent after about 18 months.

So there you have it, my answer to you.

09/22/2026

Adding an additional seat position in a Cargo Van.

I've seen a lot of questions about this in a lot of venues there are a lot of fair and a lot of really bad ideas tossed around about it. First of all, it is problematic in order to be DOT, NTSB, TUV or what have you legal and compliant is expensive and complex... but let me tell you how to do it truly safely

This information comes for many years of experience getting in the aviation industry, many years in the automotive industry, and a number of years in research and development of equipment for race cars.

In the first image, what you see is a seat built for heavy equipment (everything from forklifts to D9 Caterpillar bulldozers... the reason for choosing one of these is they are remarkably inexpensive (until you get into the ones that have built-in suspension)

After taking an awful lot of measurements holes are drilled up through the floor of the van (pretty easy not to drill a hole through your fuel tank, brake lines, wiring, harness, etc. doing it that way)

The holes for the rear of the seat anchors are drilled through the stamped floor plates are doubled and overlapping where they are joined (This is also one spot that is not corrugated.) The front anchor points are drilled through where the frame is joined to the floor plate.

Coming back up into the inside of the van using the four pilot holes drilled up from the bottom, the floor is cut with a TCT holesaw and steel spacers are dropped into those holes (be sure to remove any metal and wood debris, and then treat the bare metal to prevent corrosion)

I've fabricated two 3/16 inch by 3 inch plates from cold rolled steel and dropped M8 10.9 grade through the seat mount, through the steel inserts, through the cold, rolled, steel, backing plates, through thick steel "fender" washers, and are fastened with NyLoc nuts.

This particular seat is fastened in one of the safest places of the van ( Ford Transit 350 right in between the C pillars  and ride in between the "frame rails."

These seats typically come with a lap belt attached. This particular seat will have tether anchors (single piece steel D rings designed for motorcycle tiedowns.)

At any rate, this is one safe (whatever truly safe means) to retrofit a seat... and is actually by far more crashworthy than factory seat installations... but be aware, even though it is "safe" it is not exactly "street legal" and comes with those possible pitfalls and ramifications.

09/21/2026

I ran into a situation a few days ago that has me deeply disturbed and it goes like this.

For the past six or eight months, I've been staying in and around the city that I lived in for many years and because of the nature of I see a lot of people doing the same thing and have an nodding acquaintance with many of them.

So as usual, I'm driving over to the gym and going to grab coffee before I start my working day and I see somebody sleeping essentially under a bus bench... something that I have seen a lot over the past several years and it always strikes me, "but for the grace of God, there go I" I mean it's become a tough world and I'm lucky enough that I've been able to stay ahead of the curve.

This particular person seemed fairly squared away, a decent backpack, what looked like a rolled up, hiking, sleeping bag and clean durable clothing. It's kind of odd that this isn't the norm for people that sleep on or under a bus bench or in the bushes in and around in industrial areas in the city.

That very same day after work i'm parked in front of Trader Joe's because we were grabbing stuff to make something for dinner. Low and behold, I see the same backpack, lightweight tent, and I see that it is this woman that I had seen around in prior weeks in an older (but fairly neat) Dodge van... I didn't still don't know her name, but I've seen her around and I know she had seen us around and I decided to ask if she was okay and what was going on and her story goes like this:

She had been living in her van for about a year after never being able to catch up on anything since the Covid lockdown and she was evicted from her apartment. Like me and many others, she saw the writing on the wall and was able to put together enough to purchase a van and make it comfortable enough and functional enough to get by.

But what had happened is because like most people raised middle class she was not terribly street savvy and she had been ticketed several times for sleeping in a vehicle in violation of the city ordinance here in Ventura, California... She had enough money to eat and take care of herself, but she certainly didn't have enough money to pay the violations and they had gone to warrant so they straight up, arrested her and locked her up just long enough for her van to be impounded.

All I could say in response to her story was "Holy s**t, is there anything I can do to help you out here?" I mean, I'm broke" but I asked her if "I might have anything she needed to stay warm." She said she was fine and truth be told it was obvious that she was managing the absolute necessities to stay healthy... I assume that she is pathologically self-reliant, like I am. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

So now I've been walking around for a few days basically pi**ed RTF off at the entire top to bottom... Well off people that have no compassion, and broke people that live like dogs throwing their stuff around neighborhoods and parking s so the well off people can easily make it illegal across the board for those of us that choose a lifestyle that isn't connected to a foundation (the )as well as those of us that are just doing the best we can to get by ( or )

*note: the image illustrating this has been altered by AI (machine learning)