Bakum Family Van.

Jerome, an experienced Van Lifer came to us with his brand new 144 Sprinter. He wanted a clean, comfortable, efficient layout for he, his wife and their teenage daughter.

On their wishlist was a complete galley with sink, DOT seatbelts, and sleeping for 3. They also wanted room for gear for life outside; a pretty tall ask for a 144” van. Nevertheless, I am really stoked with the result of this 144 Sprinter van conversion.

We boosted the Highlander bed up a bit to accommodate the 3rd bunk under, significantly increasing the amount of storage inside. The galley was placed partially into the slider opening for inside/outside cooking.

The cabinet under the bed has electric pressurized H2O with 5gal of fresh water and 6gal of gray water storage. Electrical needs were pretty minimal, so the house battery system consists of 110AH AGM battery under the hood kept topped off by a 365W LG panel on the roof. Front seat swivels and Ruhne Racing’s ‘Airline arrangement’ single rear seat along with the two flip up tables create a living room/dining room. Another feature unique to Ruhne Racing builds is our ‘Flares without Flares’.

If you are under 6’2” we are able to set up your van for sideways sleeping, therefore freeing up much needed space in short wheelbase vans. In conjunction with Strawfoot Handmade we utilize custom panel inserts. They look just like Strawfoot’s window covers (instead of paneling for the rear window stamps). This adds an additional 4-5” across the back of the van.