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a clean slate!

Maybe it's being cooped up because of COVID-19, or maybe it's a little bit of a mid-life crisis, but I miss road trips. Who knows when we will get back to normal, but in the meantime, I thought it would be a fun distraction to build a road-tripping vehicle, so we can travel and have a place to sleep along the way.

The van life appeals to me, but panel type vans are generally big and bulky and not the best as daily drivers. So based on that, a minivan seems just the ticket!


Introducing "Chrissy", our new to us 2018 Chrysler Pacific Touring L, S Edition. Never thought I'd be driving a "minivan" but the Pacifica just seemed to have a bit more style than all the others with its blacked-out trim and eighteen-inch black alloy wheels.

About that clean slate...


Like most of the other minivans on the market, the Pacifica can fit a full 4x8 sheet of plywood when all the "stow-n-go" (henceforth SnG seats) seats are folded down into the floor. As we won't typically have more than the two of us as passengers, well humans at least, and of course, there is ROSE.. We are going to leave the 2nd-row SnG seats in place and just remove the rear SnG seats. 

By removing the rear SnG seats, it opens up a large 40x20 cavity that is between 17-18" deep we can use to store our BIG 45-quart Yeti cooler. But leaving the 2nd-row SnG seats presents some challenges due to the extremely LARGE doors that hide the seats. Because of this, a standard bed/floor frame will not work, because the goal is to have "driving mode" and a "sleeping mode" and possibly a "work mode"

In "driving mode" I hope to have the possibility of using the 2nd-row Sng seats, which means the front section of the bed platform needs to be storable. "Driving mode" would also include a "dog run" between the front seats and the rear. Without a platform from the front console to the rear, Rose has a difficult time jumping onto the console between the front seats from the rear area.

In "sleeping mode" the SnG seats will be stowed and bed deployed.

In "work mode" the 2nd-row SnG seats would be raised and possibly desks would be available on both seats so either Liz and I could work from the van.

There are a few Chrysler Pacifica van builds on Youtube, but I could not find any that met exactly with our goals, so this will be a custom build. Stay tuned!


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