Conversion Van Wheel Well Covers

December 26, 2019 by Ben 3 Comments

We built some curved Wheel Well Covers for our Conversion Van.

Now, we could have just layered the wheel wells with carpet and been done with it, instead, we decided to build…….

Conversion Van Wheel Well Covers

Deciding On A Design

Square VS Round

I battled with the design for a while, square is easy. But, because our van has a walk through floorplan, and we walk close to the wheel well, I wanted to avoid having a sharp edge cause someone an injury. A bruised shin bone is never a fun thing.

Insulation And Sound Deadening

We already layered the wheel well panels with sound deadener, but, one thing we noticed during cold weather was how much heat is lost through the wheel well panels. To help with this we will build the cover with space for two layers of the same thermal acoustic insulation we used on the Van Conversion Walls and our Campervan Conversion Ceiling. This product has worked noticeably well on the walls, so much so that we feel that is all we need on the wheel wells and wheel well covers.

Low Cost

To keep costs down, we will use wood leftover from our Campervan Flooring as well as some low-cost framing strips. The total cost for the two covers will be $30 and that includes the glue.

How We Built Our Rounded Wheel Well Covers Video

Tools And Materials Used

Jigsaw
Extra Strength Wood Glue
Surform Pocket Plane / Rasp
Compound Mitre Saw
Irwin Quick Clamps
Carpenter Pencils
Paint Brushes
Self Adhering, Foil Backed, Thermal Acoustic Insulation (eBay)
1×2 Framing Lumber
1×3 Framing Lumber
⅝” Construction Plywood
Varathane one-step stain and polyurethane (Classic Black)

Step-1 Cutting Out The Side Wall

For this part, we simply traced the outline of the wall panel cutout. But, adding the thickness of the 1×2 Framing Lumber. Then cut out with a Jigsaw.

Step-2 Cutting Out The Framing Pieces

We cut the framing pieces at 9-½” this gives space for 1” of insulation on the wheel wells. This task was quick and easy using our small Compound Mitre Saw.

Step-3 Glue All The Pieces Together

This step was staged over a couple of days. Each piece glued and clamped in place for a minimum of one hour before removing the clamps and moving on to the next.

Step-4 Smooth And Round Off All Edges

A Surform Pocket Rasp is a very useful tool for deburring and rounding off wood corners.

#ProTip • Care needs to be taken to go with the grain, as the Surform can sometimes take more wood than intended.

Step-5 Customize Mounting Brackets

To hold the Van Wheel Well Boxes in place we re-drilled and cut down some corner braces. Then we used ¼” machine screws to bolt the brackets to the Boxes.

Step-6 Test Fit

Step-7 Stain and Seal

Next, we sealed the wood with two coats of Varathane One-Step Stain and Polyurethane

Step-7 Insulation

We layered the inside of the Conversion Van Wheel Covers with foil-backed closed-cell foam, thermal acoustic insulation from eBay.

Installing The New Conversion Van Wall Covers

Two and Done ✅

All in all, we are extremely happy with how this project turned out. They are extremely solid and even so, they are still easy enough to remove. Now we won’t have a sharp edge to catch a shin or even worse have a little person fall on.

We learned Some Good Tricks Installing Our Van Walls And Ceiling

Before you put up your Conversion Van Walls, you should think about Soundproofing your van

Need some simple tricks for installing a floor in your Campervan Conversion?

Thanks for reading, and remember to always take the road less traveled!

Weekender Van Life – Van Life Blog – weekendervanlife.com

Comments

Preston says

January 12, 2020 at 6:48 am

I am curious, are you planning on using the unistrut to attach all your cabinets etc to secure them down? I haven’t seen this approach, just studs, but it does seem simpler and cleaner if it works.. I haven’t used Unistrut, would you just drill holes and attach to the unistrut with bolts etc? Also, is the sheet metal for the wall panels attached to it as well?

Reply
- Preston says
  
  January 12, 2020 at 6:49 am
  
  Unistrut*…autocorrect. Also, is the sheet metal for the wall panels attached to it as well?
  
  Reply
- Ben says
  
  January 12, 2020 at 4:22 pm
  
  Hi Preston, Thanks for reaching out.
  Initially, I had planned to use L-Track on the wall frames. But, after researching, the cost, as well as the fact I would have to drill countless holes, quickly turned me to Unistrut as an alternative. My cheapest source for L-Track was $10 per foot VS $2 per foot for Unistrut.
  Most of the Strut is mounted using Nuts and Bolts in existing factory holes and backed up with Fender washers for added pullout strength. Getting the nuts into the frame recess was a little tricky, but I eventually got them fastened using a magnetic pickup tool along with a short Ring Wrench.
  As for cabinets and wall fixtures, the plan is to have the freedom to securely mount different options, as well as adjustability and easy on-off capability. I found some nice, low-cost gun cabinets (think RB Component Cabinets) that should work perfectly as van cabinets, keep an eye out for this.
  Finally, to answer your question about the wall panels, Yes, the top panels are held in place using hidden strut channel shown in the earlier process shots.
  I hope this answers your questions and feel free to ask more.
  Thanks,
  Ben
  
  Reply