If you are looking for more storage space in your Vanagon here is a tip. This user built an extra cabinet that resembles the stock cabinets in his 91 Westy. The cabinet resides behind the passenger’s seat and offers a drawer, cabinet, and counter top. This is definitely on my short list of hacks that I will add to my Carat. Goodbye jump seat. Hello cabinet!
Hit the source link below for a few more suggestions from a well traveled Vanagon owner.
GoWesty and Van Cafe sell the Rhino Design Studio Center Console for Vanagons. One customer decided the console would make a nice place for a subwoofer, and he set out to make his dream happen. The results are quite nice as he hacked up that console very well. The best part is he published a step by step guide on how he did it. Click through to see how he did it.
Most people run with carpet in the back area, but some people change it up a bit. Check out this vinyl tile installation in the back area of a weekender. The folks at VanagonTravels.com ripped out the old worn carpet, popped in some underlayment, then adding vinyl tiles. Looks great and it’s easy to maintain!
Check out their website at the link below for more.
I have a hard drive full of video content that I wanted to stream in the Vanagon. Placing an iPad on the table works, but it is not as handy as having an iPad permanently mounted and out of the way. I purchased this iPad magnet mount with hopes of being able to mount it in several places throughout the Vanagon. The magnet was not strong enough to hold the iPad because there isn’t enough bare metal in the van. I then moved to the second option of modifying the mount to fit my needs. Click through to see how we did it.
The fluorescent light in the hard top Vanagon comes with a push button switch. I have always wanted a toggle switch instead, but never gave it a thought until my push button switch died. One of my lights was getting increasingly more difficult to turn on so I knew we had to change the switch. We decided to change from a push button to a toggle switch and results are fantastic. Hit the jump to see how we did it.
The back hatch of the Vanagon does not include lights and we decided to solve that little problem. Whenever you open the hatch to get something out of the back it’s just too dark to see. I’ve stored flashlights and magnet lights back there for years, but we came up with a better solution. I purchased a couple of dome lights from Go Westy, and some LED interior lights from Van Cafe and we were ready to go. Click through to see how we did it.
The Vanagon lighter plug has always us because it was loose. Even after installing a new plug it still felt loose when you pulled out an accessory. Searching the Internet gave us few clues about how to solve this problem. Some people have tried adhesive, or clamps behind the dash, but none of the suggestions seemed right.
We finally found the fix, courtesy of our friend Joel. By removing the plug assembly and placing an O-ring around the outer green assembly, the problem is solved. The O-ring sits behind the dash and keeps the lighter plug in place. Ideally, the plug should have a threaded nut behind the dash instead of clips, but the O-ring is a nice substitute for the nut. Hit the jump for more the rest of the fix.
This isn’t really a hack, but a nice addition to the Vanagon. We have all sorts of lights in the van just in case we need them. We decided to mount a MagLite next to the driver’s seat for those emergency situations. We bought these mounting brackets and screwed it right in. It works very well!
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