HI Mike, The fabric is a nicer look that bare plywood. Its pretty ugly, and I will likely replace the panels next summer. However, the wood frames proved to be not quite deep enough, and I had to add a 1/4 inch thick wood spacer to the wood window frames. Insulated van liner kits for RAM ProMaster vehicles that you can install yourself. Some parts of the wall paneling have developed what looks like water staining. I am not handy and looking for practical but cheap solutions. Ram ProMaster RV Camper Van Conversion - Walls, Ceiling and Overhead Cabinets. This means leaving them without support in the span near the edges, or adding a 2nd thicker nailing strip to above the first one to come down and support the ceiling panel in the high curvature section. If you are looking for the index page of this project, click here.If you want to see the new build, click here. Features of Our Van Liner Kits for Ram ProMaster. It is easy to abrade off the pattern, but the only time I got a little of this was when I installed the paneling. Would it help any? To do this, I glued a wood frame to the van roof metal around the fan opening. Hi Kevin, This section covers planning and installing the wall paneling and ceiling panels for our ProMaster camper conversion van. Trimming off the corners and rib notches is easily done with a Sabre saw with a fine tooth blade. There are some better pictures of the window install on this page: One of my favorite features of my Promaster conversion camper (Miles Van Camper) is the wet bath with a shower and toilet. One thought to keep in mind, however, is that the insulation and lining you put on the walls can eat into this space. One of … We went with a middle of the road approach and built out from one of the van’s outermost vertical struts. However, I wanted a cleaner look. The next mission was to cut some of the 1/4” plywood we used for the walls into furring strips. But once we got on a roll, the walls went up pretty easily and the finished product looks great. . I wasn’t 100% sure how tall to make the paneling on that wall, but I went about half way up to where we built out the frame. We had to decide if we wanted to save as many inches of space as we could, or sacrifice a bit to have a completely square surface to work from. https://www.buildagreenrv.com/our-conversion/promaster-diy-camper-van-conversion-adding-windows/. It pulled the finish right off. First wall panel in place but not screwed down yet — a 2nd panel will go below this one to finish this segment of the wall. When we get back home I’ll put up a picture of the staining. Stay tuned! The windows already had wood frames around them that the wall panels could be forced against by the window trim ring. The nailing strips!!! Our vertical studs really could have been placed anywhere as well. Did you glue the fabric to the plywood? I even considered making up one big panel in the shop and installing the whole thing as one unit. In my … I’m so happy to have found your site. 2) Add Flooring: If you need flooring (in addition to ceiling, walls and doors), we offer a 1/2″ Marine Plywood floor panel. Tom. Note that the curvature of the van roof becomes quite tight at the edges of the roof, and the hardboard ceiling panels cannot be bent sharply enough to make this curvature. The trim piece that runs along the top of the wall panels over the length of the van hides a bunch of screw heads, gaps, and also provides a place to install down pointing LED strip lights. The plus side of this is that you gain a bit over an inch of width and you retain easy access to the main frame cavity (where you will probably run a lot of wire. At 5′ 10″, I can fully stretch out without touching the walls. Added noise treatment and insulation to the sliding door, and finished the openings in the sliding door with paneling. Getting the opening in the wall paneling for the windows was the most difficult. Not a terrible choice, but I decided to just use some caulk/filler to hide any exposed seams. Seems a little strange when you look at where they are, but I guess your head can move a lot in an accident? So, the trim ring not only holds the window frame in place, but also captures the inside wall paneling. Picture showing cardboard template with the marks to indicate where the final cut should deviate from the template. I’m going with the DPI paneling that you referenced and the smooth white panels in places that will not be very exposed. One caveat is that wWe have not used the van in really hot weather. If you have not used them before, I’d just try driving a couple in scrap metal to get the feel for them. Update 2018:  The DPI paneling we used on the walls has not proved to be a model of durability. I would recommend a thin 1/8″ plywood panel if I was going to start over. You have to work out some kind of template or measuring scheme to cut out the wall panels. This looks great. So what staining issues have you had? Van Conversion Wall Ideas First thing is to lay down some Van Conversion Wall Ideas and think … Hi Kevin, We were varnishing our wheel well boxes and so put some painters tape on the panels. We weren’t sure how the install would work out, if just screwing the plywood to the metal frame would hold it well enough, or how it would look. Some web sites say to use pilot holes and some sources say pilot holes are not necessary? Added removable shelf between the two beds. Furring strips on my van conversion walls were a little different. Polyiso has a high R-value and doesn’t absorb moisture, both important qualities when thinking about van insulation. The Vinyl floor has been fine — no sign of bubbles. I really like your build. The end result is that the ceiling panel butts up against the back end of the headliner just where the headliner bends up toward the ceiling. I had planned to come back and cover the ceiling panel joints at the ribs, but have never gotten around to it. We would attach them to the struts on the ceiling so that we could use a finish nailer to hang the cedar. Wall Covering The van came without anything other than paint on the interior walls… Also, no bits were provided. I’m not really sure why I used a little of it, but I’m sure I just glued it to the wall with some Great Stuff, which is a very good adhesive. Unfortunately our big box store didn’t have anything like that at the time. The van has moisture sources inside (like people and cooking) and the outer skin is totally non-porus metal that will be very cold at times. Thanks for the info on the self tapping screws, the 3/4″ #8 work great. The pictures below show a few small updates we made after a few trips. I guess you could do without the bead of Great Stuff around the edge. I have used many of your methods on my own build out. Those two black foam blocks on either side up there seem to be awkward and in the way. Had I thought of this earlier, I would have used the same screws that hold the fan to the van roof to hold the wood frame, but these screws were already installed and carefully sealed, and I did not want to disturb them. Using this technique, all 3 windows came out right on for the first try. I am building out a PM into a mobile boutique and am super lost as to where to start. This results in four ceiling panels that each measure about 62 inches side to side, and 27 to 30 inches forward and aft — pretty easy to handle. The 2nd nailing strip runs full length of the ceiling along each side above the first nailing strip. Then, holding the cardboard up to where it is actually to go, I trimmed back any places that went too far, and marked the places on the template where it fell a little short of where it was supposed to be — usually these were just an eighth of an inch or so. Once those were up, we measured down from each of the struts on the ceiling to give us a nice reference of where they were behind the walls once we had the paneling up. I had some left over Kreg pocket screws that were the right length and they worked great to attach the nailer strips. This didn’t give us much space to nail the very ends of the cedar to, but it was enough since the cedar is so light. 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 … As the floor expands and contracts? I knew I wanted to add cedar tongue and groove planks on the ceiling and roll it down one side of the van. You could use this technique with all of your windows to minimize the gap between clamp ring and window frame. See the diagram in the window section…. ... but this still left room for more thickness of insulation in the side walls. For the first panels, I used large pieces of cardboard. The sidewall to ceiling trim pieces had to have notches taken out to fit the ribs and main frame. In Part I of the DIY Promaster Camper Conversion Guide we covered how to come up with a camper van layout and how to install windows, fan, insulation, and electrical.. We marked them and it was useful to have photos for reference. In these cases, I added wood nailing strips to screw the paneling to. Peninsula Glass is installing the Motion Windows in Sept and I didn’t want to wait until then to put in the wall panels so I’m planning on doing the ceiling first. I did not use any Reflectex on any of the wall or ceiling panels. These pieces are ripped to about 3/8 inch thick by 3.5 inches tall from 2 by 4s. 4. I’ll re-post here links to pics of my own solution if/when I get to it. While I think this would work OK, the continuous 1 1/4 inch nailing strip shown above appears to be both easier and holds the roof panels more securely. Won’t be too difficult since the old panels can be used for templates. We were trying for a fairly finished look and got about 80% of the way there. Once the paneling went up, we weren’t going to be able to see them. I did this because the gap would have been even wider on the sliding door window as the paneling will sit further inward due to the depth of the door framing. But, in other areas there is no backing for the panels. Much of what is out there really doesn’t provide this level of detail. edit: you could probably use some black silicone caulk to fill the gap between the clamp ring and window frame — I think this would make the gap near invisible. Van Conversion Walls How-To Guide Scroll to the bottom to see how we did our walls. I’m thinking that it may work in the ceiling, if you didn’t have lighting or wiring up there. As you no doubt saw, we did not use any adhesive between the Vinyl and the subfloor, and this seems to be working fine. Not really much of a fan of Reflectex. Gary, We did think about wood paneling, but our last couple RV’s have been wood paneled and we decided to try something different. Like most conversions I’ve looked at so far, I decided to keep the paneling below the level of the main frame and to have one set of paneling forward of the main frame and one set aft. I agree it doesn’t look bad as is and, as such, the incentive is low… and there is always something else to get done. The paneling is fairly light-weight, easy to work with, and not too expensive. No new insulation was added to the ceiling as the spray foam insulation was close to filling the cavity. (WINDOW SECTION NOT INCLUDED) Also includes all mounting hardware (headliner not included). If you have bikes or other equipment that you move in and out a lot, the abrading might be more of an issue. If you want to add more insulation to what you have, I think you might be better off just adding more foam. Cicioni Commercial Vehicle HVAC is an authorized distributor of Legend Liners for your RAM ProMaster vehicle. Our ProMaster Van Conversions — First Trip Lessons, Popup, Car Top, and Attached Camping Tents, Getting your tall van into a not so tall garage, Go back to the main camper van conversion page…, spray foamed with polyurethane spray insulation, https://www.lowes.com/pd/loctite-13-5-fl-oz-bonding-multipurpose-adhesive/3621154?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-google-_-lia-_-133-_-glue-_-3621154-_-0&kpid&store_code=1693&k_clickID=go_625682584_34615017790_111134780110_pla-93900021875_t_9032911&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6tq67LvJ4QIVjFqGCh1DRgBjEAkYBSABEgJ3fvD_BwE, https://www.perfectfit.com/15994/157084/Upholstery-Fabrics/Marathon-Fabric-54.html, https://www.perfectfit.com/15285/154137/FoamPaddingBatting/Landau-Plus-Padding-Foam.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI9NlF7YWdY, https://www.buildagreenrv.com/our-conversion/promaster-camper-van-conversion-curtains-for-windows/, https://www.buildagreenrv.com/our-conversion/promaster-diy-camper-van-conversion-adding-windows/, https://www.buildagreenrv.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/COOCBDIMG_5206.jpg, https://www.pinterest.com/craigmwilson/rvan-idea-book/, http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Vehicles/PMRV/Windows/Windows.htm, Our ProMaster Camper Van Conversion – Flooring. Is it necessary to vent flooded lead acid batteries in camper vans? Down the rabbit hole we go….I’d say I’m one of those people who needs to know ~85-90% about something before I go through with it. Shows the LED strip light installed in the groove — its a nice pleasant light. Any other issues over the few years? It has very little insulating value and is really only effective as a radiant heat blocker. A Promaster can be purchased for a reasonable price whether it is … How did you attach the reflectix on the upper wall? The ceiling panels come from Home Depot — they are a tempered hardboard with a hard white finish. Love it! What are the Dimensions of a Ram Promaster 159 WB? See the comment by Kevin in the comments section for more on this. Hi Dana, @damn.vaniel. There are a bunch of open holes in the PM back wall just above the back doors. Gary, regarding interior panels: there must be a reason not to do this, but I can’t help wondering why I couldn’t glue fabric around the front (and around to the back) of polyiso insulation boards. 1. For the areas where wood nailing strips were added (see above), the wood paneling was secured by wood drywall screws. The bright white ceiling paneling is particularly at good showcasing small flaws or changes in slope. Thanks for the info, it appears like screwing a forward nailing strip would pop through the roof, hence my confusion here! In Part II of this conversion guide, we will cover how to do everything that’s actually seen: how to build an awesome bed and kitchen area, storage, finishing the walls … Thanks again Hi Kerry, 5 VANLINER 3/16" PLASTIC WALL PANELING, PROMASTER. Knowing how well you have planned out your build I was curious why you did the panels in that order and if there was a particular issue I am overlooking as to this order of install. The Kodiak will more than meet our needs and is so much simpler. Thx! I’ve also been using them to start holes for longer screws needed for the nailer strips. We went with a … Hi Gary Upload attachment  (Allowed file types: jpg, gif, png, pdf, xlsx, maximum file size: 15MB. I’ll try to get some pictures up, but will be a few days as I don’t have the paneling yet. You may have to adjust the line in our out the thickness of the trim ring material depending on how your trim ring is made. I guess you saw the pictures here: http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Vehicles/PMRV/Windows/Windows.htm, Your email address will not be published. The Ram ProMaster is very popular for camper conversions, and this 2019 model by SKALA Conversions recently caught our eye. Hello! I used 1/4 inch plywood and covered it with upholstery material “outdoor” fabric. Or, redo the ceiling with stained wood strips. Jul 5, 2016 - ProMaster DIY Camper Van Conversion -- Adding Windows Hi Lance, That conjecture about them protecting heads is one that I simply can’t wrap my head around. Lots of helpful information! From your window configuration (left and right side, rear), I can see that you removed the vertical stabilizing ribs that are built into the van from the factory – any issues with structural integrity, flimsiness of sheet metal, etc.? Probably put some type of fabric over the ceiling panels? This was quite the process and definitely took 2 people to accomplish. Hi Gary Required fields are marked *. For one of the other panels, I just took a lot of dimensions without the cardboard template, and that also worked pretty well — aided by the relatively square shape of the PM cargo compartment. I put a picture of the staining in at the bottom of this page, just above the comment section. Promaster Campervan Conversion Guide-Part I. Tom. If I were to go into Lowe’s today for the ceiling panels, what would I ask for? I think about it once in a while and having been looking for what others have done without a lot of luck. All rights reserved. To be effective as a radiant heat blocker, it has to be facing an airspace on at least one side. When I go to Home Depot, I check the 2 by 4 pile and sometimes (at least in our location) you can find some very nice, near clear, and near vertical grain 2 by 4’s — I just pick them up when I see them. 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. You might be able to avoid the staining by making sure there is insulation right up to the window frame with no cold gaps and maybe a thin strip of foam under the paneling where it goes over that horizontal longeron. I was able to use them without a pilot hole on the PM roof ribs, but it does depend on the type of metal and how thick it is. Very bad idea. My guess is that these are condensation probably caused by there being very little or no insulation under the paneling at these points. We were planning to add one panel every 48”. Thermal insulation is important to make it easier to heat and cool the van when its cold or hot outside. Hi! The wood trim strips that go along the top of the wall panels have a dadoed groove to hold LED strip lights. The Ram Promaster is as wide as it is from the floor to the ceiling for the most part which isn’t the case with the Transit or Sprinter vans which become more narrow towards the ceiling. https://www.buildagreenrv.com/our-conversion/promaster-camper-van-conversion-curtains-for-windows/. Maybe you could send a picture along when you finish it? The lip on the trim ring is not very deep, so the cutout in the panel has to be to better than 1/8 th inch. Building out a couple of inches further from the wall could have provided that completely square surface. You can see many of the shared elements like a fixed platform bed with a bench in front, and storage area pushed to the right. Hi Anne, I guess ideal would be a clamp ring that is designed for a slightly thicker wall, but I don’t think offer one. I wanted the ceiling panels to be supported around the fan opening. Work out what to do over the main frames to cover the exposed frame and all the holes. Removed the black panels in the back corners and replaced with wood face that allows small storage cubbyholes behind where the plastic panel was. The wall and ceiling covering used in our campervan conversion, as well as overhead cabinet construction. Delivery time was actually faster than what they promised. My gut feel is that it would end up being not such a good way to go — but, my gut has been wrong many times . The choice of paneling is a personal one. Hi Kevin, I could imagine it might do this once there is some furniture constraining it at points. Using FRP edging and caulk, the interior corners are waterproofed. I’ve described what I did in quite a bit of detail below — this is not to say that I think this is the ultimate way to go — there is probably room for improvement in a few places. Penda Van Liners for ProMaster Vans bring a stronger enclosure for commercial applications. Again thank you so much for sharing all of your efforts. As always, we used some scrap cardboard to make a pattern for the harder parts like around the wheel wells. Appreciate your help. I put the same Windows as you and will be using 1/4″ ply. Just starting to put up a ceiling panel with the two props holding it in place. I thought working on old houses was a challenge! Van Life Part 2: DIY Dodge Promaster Campervan Conversion. Tom. Repeat for all 3 sections of the van and you’re ready to hang your paneling. In some places, the wall paneling can be screwed directly to the ProMaster ribs or frames (be careful not to poke a screw through the van skin). I don’t think they are caused by leaks as I’ve checked pretty carefully for this. If you own a RAM Promaster, installing furring strips is pretty simple. They maintain a flat enclosure profile while bringing … Only the Promaster City Conversion can be shipped (at additional cost of course), currently they do not ship the bigger Promaster Van Conversion Kit. I’m thinking of also adding it to the ceiling. The wood strips shown above are screwed to the PM frames — the wood strips are used to screw the paneling to. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. In the end I went with the same scheme as most of the conversions I’ve seen. One of the questions I get asked the most about my DIY Promaster camper van is what I used for the walls and ceiling. Its generally considered a bad no no by the building science people to have two vapor barriers in one wall. https://www.perfectfit.com/15994/157084/Upholstery-Fabrics/Marathon-Fabric-54.html, Some use a 1/4″ closed cell foam underneath as well for a bit of insulation and comfort: Layout & Must Haves. I think they all look nice, but I liked the brass the best — maybe I always wanted a boat? Your top 3 Ram Promaster Conversion Kit options: 1. Flat as a pancake. Of course, you’ll have to consider the width of the walls in your conversion but the skeleton of the Promaster gives you a good amount of space to work with. Waiting on wool to insulate and install floor and walls. We have had RV’s in the past that had plywood paneling, and just wanted a different look. I did not take any cost credit for all the scrap paneling I’m left — probably a lifetime supply. I was reading through but didn’t see it, how did you attach that nailing strip to the forward part of the celing? Please let us know how it works out if you do give it a try. If you choose to have this kit installed, it is only available for pickup from the Colorado Springs, Colorado location. We’d recommend putting a bit of time into planning where you might need additional supports for any shelves you plan to install (see our article about planning). It probably also makes the surface of the paneling more uniform without a sort of gradual bulge for the main frame. I’m not sure how that would work out. These conversion kits are … I should mention that one of our objectives was to be able to easily remove the paneling to gain access to the wall/ceiling cavity if needed in the future — so, we did not glue anything down. The variable surfaces of the framing members are making it a real challenge to install the wall paneling. The picture above shows the close to finished wall and ceiling paneling for the camper van. Dodge ProMaster Conversion Ideas. Thank you so much. You can find wall liners, door panels and ceiling panels for ProMaster vans from several different sources. Hi Tom, In this Van Conversion Walls – How To Guide we will cover everything you need to know about how to build walls in a van. I found the self tapping screws would spin the fabric, so I pre-drilled the holes and used small black metal screws. This has occurred below the two aft windows and along the main horizontal longeron on the drivers side. If you do a good job of cutting out the panels, they go up quickly — most of the work is in marking and cutting out the panels and installing the attach strips. The screws holding the ceiling panel to the wood frame around the Maxx Fan have not been placed yet. Love the site and all the feedback. Can the holes be reused if you take the panels down? I made the trim strips from Douglas Fir. And in order to mount the ceiling paneling, the furthest forward rib is covered by the rear of the over-cab storage space headliner. Thanks in advance! When you drill a hole in the wrong place the fabric covers it up. It looks like you solved this by adding a spacer to your window frame. I used #8 self tapping screws — mostly 9/16ths long. Of course, you could play around with this spacing if you want to be really meticulous and hide your seams behind cabinets. As near as I can remember, the forward “nailing” strip is attached to the van with sheet metal screws. You use 4 separate ceiling panels with each panel spanning a pair of the ProMaster metal ceiling ribs. Second mailing strip to reduce curvature of ceiling panels as they come into the wall. https://www.perfectfit.com/15285/154137/FoamPaddingBatting/Landau-Plus-Padding-Foam.html, An excellent youtube video detailing how he installed it on his wall panels: On the ceiling, I would try to work out a way to put some thin insulation between the panels and the cross ribs and the side frames. One of the biggest headaches we ran into during our build process was trying to get our walls up and keep everything as square as possible in the process. Maybe someone knows a more durable product with a similar selection of patterns? Your site has been a very useful resource for my own Promaster conversion. This is also speculation on our part since we haven’t approached the build in that way. But, it seems to me that moisture control may be just as much of an issue. We installed the exact same panels and while cheap, flexible and nice looking, the durability is not there. We went ahead and attached a piece of 1/2 plywood to the wall right above the back door that we scribed to match the curve of the ceiling. For details on the window install…. I’ve checked both windows for leaks and I don’t believe that there are any leaks. Hi Dave, Colin and Lisa from @damn.vaniel saved ideas from Instagram and created their own version of a ProMaster conversion. I think that plywood paneling is a little more forgiving to work with than this hardboard paneling with a vinyl skin that we used. The forward end of the forward ceiling panel also has to be supported by a nailing strip as there is no PM rib at that location. The scheme I worked out for the window cutouts was to measure from the edge of the template to where the window is, then cut an undersize rectangle in the cardboard template that is a half inch or so smaller than the final window cutout will be. It’s one of the best sites I’ve found. Adhesive? The studs were more than enough to secure the walls and shelving units we eventually made. There has been some conjecture on the PM forum about what the blocks are for, and the top running theory is that they are there to protect you in case of a crash. Ram Promaster 136 High Roof Ram Promaster 159 High Roof Ram Promaster 159 Ext High Roof. Insulation. The right photo shows the trim strip in place.The first pictures shows the trim pieces used between the upper and lower panels to cover the edges and screw heads. If it does get to the point where we want to change it out, I figure it will go fast as the old sheets can be used for patterns to cut out the new sheets. Wall, floor & ceiling panels. Not sure what to use for the replacement as I really like the patterned finish on these. In the above picture, most of the screws are not in yet, but the arrows show where each type goes. This isn’t the case with the Ram Promaster. Hi Greg, While it does not look like it, the right face in the picture above is ripped at an about 10 deg angle to match the side wall angle. It has been such a wealth of knowledge. I think the water staining is probably due to condensation which is happening in these areas where there is little to no insulation, so the inside surface gets cold and condensation occurs on the cold surface. Even a slight rubbing of just about anything pulls the finish off and leaves the brown hardboard showing. But there are many reasons to choose from our selection, foremost of which is the quality of our products. I just installed my floating vinyl floor, have you seen any bubbles in the vinyl once the furniture was secured over the floor? Most of the ProMaster conversions remove these stiffeners and I’ve not heard anyone report a problem. The ProMaster contours are generally pretty rectangular and not to difficult to get right — mostly its just trimming the corners to a rounded shape and working out how to handle the window openings. From Home Depot. I’m not sure about the labor as it was spread out over some no activity on the van periods — I think it was about the equivalent of six or seven 6 hour days. You can also subscribe without commenting. I removed the headliner up in the cubby area, and am insulating behind it. We looked through a LOT of van conversion forums and this method of insulation seemed to have good … As for the wall finish, I plan use 1/4 inch cork panels to 1/8 plywood sheeting. Something to test for the next one! Why??? They are very flimsy and I think the window frames actually provide more stiffness than the ribs did. I wasn’t 100% sure where my upper cabinets were going to end, so I didn’t have an additional stud to support the end a bit better, but the other attachment points were solid and strong enough. https://www.pinterest.com/craigmwilson/rvan-idea-book/. Starting on the bed platform. I also will leave the main ribs exposed in order to maximize the rest of the wall paneling. Thank you so much for writing all of this. In the next article, we’ll show you how to install cedar planks. The wall panels are also hardboard with a coating that has a decorative pattern applied to it. Conversion kits for the larger ProMaster get a lot fancier (and roomier!). The trim pieces for the van were ripped out of some of these 2 by 4’s. Maybe we should just make a business out of making durable panels for camper vans. Since I have hanging cabinets across both sides of my van, it feels much bigger inside because the walls … We ripped a handful of 2-3” strips and hung them up with some sheet metal screws. The hardware I ordered from is not a national one, but you may find the same kind of offering from a place like Home Depot online.