Whereas gaming and van life sound like they don’t have any connection, what if I informed you possibly can benefit from the full gamer expertise even whereas touring in a cell dwelling? The rig I am discussing at this time not solely has a sophisticated gaming setup but in addition gives the consolation of a studio condo. Meet Jasper and his transformed field truck.
What we now have here’s a 2004 Ford E450 field truck sporting a 6.8-liter Triton V10 engine. One of many first belongings you’ll discover about this car is that it is totally lined in Line-X, a particular protecting coating. It is unscratchable, and Jasper says it acts as a sound barrier and additional insulation layer.
The box truck rides on completely different dimension all-terrain tires: 235s within the entrance and 225s within the rear. As a result of it was beforehand used as a utility car, it is outfitted with 13 leaf springs within the again. Which means its finish sits greater than the entrance, and placing on imbalanced tires solved this difficulty.
This rig options all kinds of sensible exterior parts. As an illustration, it is outfitted with a big mild bar on the entrance, in addition to two yellow flood lights, one on either side.
There is a drawer housing Jasper’s instruments on the passenger’s facet. Proper subsequent to it, a door results in the again of his fridge and to his propane locker. Furthermore, one other door hides his sizzling water on-demand system.
And at last, the final door on the passenger’s facet will speak in confidence to Jasper’s plumbing system. It contains two 30-gallon (114-liter) freshwater tanks, a water pump, and two gray tanks. What’s extra, the battery system, made up of 550 Ah batteries, can also be built-in into an exterior compartment.
You may discover the dwelling space is separated from the driving force’s cabin by a wall and a door for safety functions. It additionally helps the area really feel extra like a house or condo when you do not continuously see the steering wheel.
When you step inside via the rear doorways, you may uncover that Jasper selected a modern aesthetic for his dwelling, mixing darker colours with picket parts. In your left, you may discover a spacious bathe that includes a stainless-steel bathe pan and partitions with the identical vinyl planks Jasper used for the truck’s flooring.
Subsequent, we now have a seating space with a window, a lagoon desk, and two benches. Jasper maximized the obtainable area by creating compartments underneath the benches: one is for storage, whereas the opposite homes a Dometic fridge/freezer.
On the other facet, Jasper devised a big kitchen. It incorporates a lengthy bamboo countertop, a deep double sink, many overhead cupboards, a full-size oven with a three-burner stovetop, and varied different cupboards and drawers. Oh, I nearly forgot, there’s even a tiny wooden range.
{The electrical} system is situated on the kitchen wall, simply by the rear door. It is made up of two photo voltaic cost controllers, a fuse field, a 3,000 W inverter, and extra. By the best way, Jasper has a number of solar energy, having put in two 370 W panels in the back of the roof and two 340 W panels on the entrance for a whopping whole of about 1,500 W.
As you’d count on, Jasper’s favourite a part of his dwelling on wheels is his PC gaming setup. Particularly, it incorporates a Founder’s version RTX 3090 graphics card, an Intel i9 processor, 64 GB of RAM, and a 2 TB SSD, with a big, curved show and two small audio system, all mounted on a picket desk. These specs would possibly sound like gibberish to you if you do not know quite a bit about computer systems. However these of you who’re avid gamers, similar to I’m, will perceive that is fairly a robust PC.
That is the primary time I’ve ever seen somebody mine cryptocurrencies whereas dwelling in a van. Jasper explains his crypto-mining operation nets him about $250 to $350 (€ 237 to €332) a month, all powered by way of photo voltaic. That is fairly a powerful feat, particularly since crypto mining requires a major quantity of energy, round 450 to 550 W in his case. Fortunately, his photo voltaic panel setup is as much as the duty.
And lastly, we now have the bed room. It has an RV-sized double mattress, a Sirocco fan, a ceiling fan, and a small window. Subsequent to the bed room, Jasper put in a coat rack with shoe storage beneath.
All in all, Jasper did a unbelievable job together with his field truck, particularly contemplating it is a DIY creation. It is sensible, spacious, and really handy since lots of the utilities I discussed will be accessed from the outside.