My Safari Gt mini-rv

[John B]

My Safari Gt mini-rv. All original. It only has 90,000 miles on it. It features an ARB 50 qt. fridge-freezer, a Seaward propane locker, a 3 burner propane stove, a Fan-Tastic roof vent + fan and hood, a Rapid-Wing awning from Supra-Peg, a full double bed with 7" memory foam mattress, a Kanz camp kitchen, 2 deep cycle golf cart batteries and supporting electronic equipment (inverter, wired in battery charger, etc.), a shore line setup and noseeum screening in all of the windows. The van is 100% rust free and in showroom condition throughout. Being a Gt makes it all the more unique. Please forgive me my bragging. I'm pretty proud of my unique stealth rv. It allows me to travel in comfort inexpensively, conveniently and comfortably. John B.

[donh97]

Congrats! Your van is one to brag about. Tons of work went into it, obviously. Would be real handy out here in Colorado. Gives me ideas for my 97 Safari AWD. I recently bought a 02 Astro AWD for daily driver. I love your van & mine, & this forum! Have fun, most importantly!

[Smiliesafari]

Very nice. You have bragging rights.

[T.Low]

Nice package, alright.

Where do you have your auxiliary batteries located? Pics?

Where and how do you stowe the 5 gallon propane tank while traveling? Any safety concerns with the propane while traveling?

[John B]

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you T.Low. I've been pretty busy lately putting the finishing touches on the Safari in preparation for a trip on the the Skyline Drive And the Blueridge Parkway in mid-October.
I had intended to put up a gallery of pics of the total finished project a few weeks ago, but as is often the case, life got in the way.
Now I'm thinking that, since I'm having a professional appraisal done on the van on Nov. 1st, I might as well wait and see who's the better photographer! I might just go with the appraiser's pics. So expect to see those pics sometime in early in November.
In answer to your questions, the deep cycle batteries are mounted underneath the van. They're in a dual battery vinyl box and suspended in a largely open cradle of aluminum diamond plate metal. Pics later.
As to the propane tank, it's in a propane tank locker, in the van, under the bed. If that seems like a risky proposition, know that the propane locker is sealed, and vented internally by means of a hose that goes through the floor of the van, and out towards the back of it. Since propane is heavier than air, it will drain out of the locker in the event of a leak at the tank. By the way, it turns out that it's really an aluminum 2.5 gallon tank. The locker is a 93271 Seaward 10# 2.5 Gallon Propane Tank Locker Kit.
By way of a preview, here's a partial list of some of the van's features;
1990 original and 100% rust free Safari Gt with 145,000 ams, or about 93000 miles
Rapid-Wing awning covers the left side of the van as well as the back doors
2 100W solar panels
1000 W inverter
shoreline connection wired to 3 outlet boxes
Nocco Genius battery charger hardwired into the ac system
interrupter switch switches from ac to dc as van is started/shut off
2 deep cycle 6 volt batteries in series
full double bed with 4" memory foam mattress from Ikea on angle iron frame at about the mid-point of the van's interior
Kanz field kitchen
Seaward propane tank locker
ARB 50 qt. fridge-freezer
Fantastic-Vent roof vent + fan

If I think of anything significant that I may have missed, I'll add it later. See you again soon, with pics.

[T.Low]

Very nice. Thanks. Have a great trip.

[SilverBullet1997]

Wow! Nice Van Man!! I think you just made me a little Jelly!

[Herbie]

How does that bed height work out for you? Enough headroom?

I wanted to do something similar, but the height of the fridge makes the bed pretty high. I was worried it would be too claustrophobic for my wife, as she wouldn't be able to sit up...

[John B]

"as she wouldn't be able to sit up..."

Well, you're right about that. My wife and I are fine with the claustrophobia part, but it would have been nice to be able to sit up in bed. In fact, we found it so challenging to change clothes in the bed, or in the front seats, that we added a collapsible change room to our gear. Two minutes to put it up; two minutes to stow it away again. Fits in a bag about 2 ft. in diameter. I'll let you know how it works out when we get back from the Blueridge trip. We didn't have the change room last time out.

[Wiley]

Nice! That awning looks sick, is it easy to setup? I was going to try and make something like that and decided my fab skills wouldn't be up to the task.

My bed was above the fridge for my trip south (I got it within mm of the fridge to try and squeeze as much space out as I could). It is tight, and I had to change clothes lying down. Being a small guy I would often sit up a bit diagonally to roll/crawl up front, and often found it uncomfortable about halfway through and wondered why I kept doing it. Not a bad height, but a bit more room would be nice. I am going to be doing the bed across the rear of then van as others have done with a side bench in the center half of the van so I can have some room for things mentioned, like changing. Wont work for you tall fools though.

Long story short, its adequate, but a bed above an ARB will be tight with 2 people, or a beer belly.

[Herbie]

Thanks John and Wiley!

I'm glad to have the confirmation of what I suspected about the headroom issue. I did a lot of measurements just sitting on the floor with my back to a wall and measuring approximate headroom, etc. and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't work for me. The layout appeals due to conservation of space, but we'll have to trade a more crowded cabin for the headroom.

My current setup is 90% right, but I can't quite slide the driver's seat far enough back, so I'm going to have to revise again. Someday I'm going to pull all the trim plastic and just build custom cabinets.