- 5 weeks ago
What makes the E-Phoria by Nomad RVs the ultimate off-grid Ford E-Series 4x4 campervan? This custom 4x4 conversion prototype pairs a heavy-duty U-Joint Off-Road chassis—featuring 35-inch tires, a Dana 60 front axle, and a 7.3L Godzilla V8 engine—with a luxury 48V off-grid habitat. Inside, it boasts 16.9 kWh of Victron lithium power, 1,200 watts of solar, a custom cedar ceiling, a full wet bath, and a garage massive enough to haul four mountain bikes.
Whether you're exploring deep into RV life, researching custom camper van builds, or looking for inspirational trailer tours, this full walkthrough breaks down what's possible when rugged off-road capability meets residential comfort. Watch to see how Nomad RVs and U-Joint Off-Road built this incredible one-off overland rig!
Key Takeaway
The Key Takeaway: Square-box campervan builds maximize interior living space far beyond standard van bodies without sacrificing off-road performance. By combining a 4x4 U-Joint chassis conversion with high-capacity 48V lithium systems and 1,200W solar, you can achieve complete off-grid independence in a heavy-duty, highly maneuverable rig.
Note
This is a one off build and they will not be producing
Whether you're exploring deep into RV life, researching custom camper van builds, or looking for inspirational trailer tours, this full walkthrough breaks down what's possible when rugged off-road capability meets residential comfort. Watch to see how Nomad RVs and U-Joint Off-Road built this incredible one-off overland rig!
Key Takeaway
The Key Takeaway: Square-box campervan builds maximize interior living space far beyond standard van bodies without sacrificing off-road performance. By combining a 4x4 U-Joint chassis conversion with high-capacity 48V lithium systems and 1,200W solar, you can achieve complete off-grid independence in a heavy-duty, highly maneuverable rig.
Note
This is a one off build and they will not be producing
Category
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TravelTranscript
00:02On today's episode in New Jersey Outdoor Adventures, we're going to take a look at
00:06the E-phoria by Nomad RVs.
00:27Alright, what's going on Patrick, welcome back.
00:30As you intro suggested, this is a prototype, so the E-phoria, we didn't get too fancy with
00:36the name, so we're still working things through, but we wanted to show you this, kind of a
00:40special edition, it's a one-off right now for a customer, so it is pretty sweet.
00:44This is a collab with U-Joint, so there is a video of this whole build prior to us doing
00:48everything, so it shows the subframe suspension, all that stuff, we'll put that in the description
00:52below.
00:53But you can see 35 inch tires from them, their bumper, this customer, you know, we built the
01:00inside and the box and all that stuff, and everything else was kind of piecemeal from
01:04him, so we're just, it wasn't really a build from, direct from us.
01:07So there's a lot more going on here than I even know with the winch and all the Baja lights
01:11and all the switches.
01:12I know there is airbags in the back, rear locker, you know, they do that whole 4x4 swap.
01:18Again, a better description, we'll be going to that video and seeing, but I've just been
01:22driving it around to the parking lot a little bit and it's just awesome, it drives amazing.
01:26I know Patrick, you have that.
01:27That B190 everyone seems to love with the same conversion on it, you know, pretty much.
01:31So actually you have 33s or 35s on yours?
01:3435s.
01:3535s, okay, so same conversion, but everything else from us is fairly much, pretty much the
01:40same.
01:41So this was the Euphoria size box, though it is 6 inches bigger, and that's because the
01:46way the front cab will say is a little squished, so we wanted to push things back to get the
01:51seats to fit in.
01:52But you're still going to have the gray tank on a heater pad there that we probably need
01:55to bed line, you're still going to have shore power, the 50 gallon gravity fill.
02:02This is something we had to add because it's, you know, the way the Euphoria has, the Euphoria,
02:08that's the, the E-Series has the fuel tank there, so we added a whole piece that goes through
02:12the bench and down to the tank, it's pretty sweet.
02:15You know, you'll see these fender wells, Justin did a great job on these, though we just switched
02:21the connection a little bit from that video because he had it connected to the frame, we
02:24connected it to the body, the subframe, just so it would move with the body itself.
02:29But our normal turn door is here, so our normal pass-through, you're probably hearing a little
02:36bit of heat because there is a Sterling DC to DC on this, so there's no 48 volt alternator,
02:43so we did a 48 volt system, and then a Sterling that's going to take that 12 volt and convert
02:48it to 48 to charge those batteries, so that's our DC to DC on this unit itself.
02:53But all this is the same, so you're still going to have 32 inches, 36, the full width, the
02:58box is the same size as it, as our Euphoria on the 144, you know, outdoor showers, and then
03:05all the venting and things of that nature throughout here.
03:08Rear bumper was done by Justin as well, and this prototype is actually just the standard
03:14bumper that would be on an E-Series, that's why it doesn't quite fit the width of the newer
03:18build, but it kind of gives you how much we really don't go that much wider than vans,
03:23but the interior is just so much bigger when everything's nice and square, so it's a big
03:27help there.
03:29You're going to have the Rickston's system in this now, you know, so we put that in there
03:35with their gas burner, obviously, because this is a gas unit, so, you know, pretty slick little
03:39setup there.
03:41You know, other side of the actual storage there.
03:47And again, you've got the outlet here, some passive venting, lights and all that, you know,
03:53everything, L-Track throughout, so just a blank slate, this customer was going to use
03:59this, I believe, for mountain biking and stuff like that, so you can fit four bikes in here
04:02easily, obviously take the tires off, put the bars in, but I believe it's for sale.
04:08So, a little bit different setup here because of the subframe, so, you know, we didn't get
04:13too involved in that, but the customer and Lemker kind of made this a little bit lower.
04:16It's hard to tell, there is a small departure angle on it, but still hiding that frame and
04:21giving that uniform look, it's still 35s, plenty of departure for off-roading, and I don't
04:27know if this customer will take it there, it's actually potentially for sale, probably
04:30do a short, that'll come out before this video, but up top there, it's all standard.
04:35So, it's our 10-foot awning, 1200 watts of solar, a 48-volt air conditioner, the Starlink
04:40entry gland and fan.
04:42So, we're going to jump inside, you'll see this step is, again, the same, the torque lift
04:48steps that we always use, it does have an additional step because this,
04:51this body is just a lot taller, you know, from the actual ground, so it just has that
04:55fifth step there, otherwise, exactly the same as we always use, same turn door.
05:00So, yeah, we're just showing you guys this, it's a, with some prototype, just bump into
05:04the camera, but the reason we did this prototype is to start messing with Fords because we are
05:08doing an F-series, so it'll be an F-350, we'll do a crew cab long bed, obviously mine is
05:13a
05:13long bed, we'll build our box on it, so that's in development right now, still in the drawing
05:17stages, but we're finishing math, finishing layouts, and it's just already coming together
05:21pretty sweet.
05:22Let's jump inside.
05:25All right, so we took our shoes off, we popped inside, so there's a few things different.
05:31The overhead is a lot different, so it's a lot lower, that's just due to the way the
05:35E-Series built, so this customer kind of kept the same overhang, so in order to, you know,
05:41make this storage, we just built this whole bamboo enclosure, a bamboo floor, I'll just
05:44back up so the camera can see, and you'll be able to tell that these bump-outs on each
05:49side is what we did to push everything backwards to get the seats back, so it's a lot more comfortable
05:54up front now, otherwise it would have been really squished, not so great, but you'll see
05:59Justin switches right above the stereo there, you know, for everything, and we got to clean
06:04this rig before we get it to the customer, we just wanted to make a video of it real
06:08fast, so we'll start, let's say, driver's side and whip around, so we'll circle back
06:12to that shower, but again, being that it was, I know we keep saying off the Euphoria, and
06:17if this is the first time you've seen it, go see one of our Euphoria videos, you'll see
06:20the same exact sink and setup here, the only thing different on these is you'll see a
06:25toe kick, basically, so because the way the wheel and the travel is needed, the wheel
06:30well is a little bit different, so we had to carry that across, and then by default
06:35it kind of stopped halfway through, so instead of making mismatched cabinets, we just brought
06:38a toe kick and brought everything, actually shrunk these a little bit compared to our
06:42standard, just to get it to the right size, but anyway, underneath there will be a toilet
06:48that will strap in to the back there, you're going to have their normal 18 by 18 sink, you're
06:54going to have our soap dispenser, the ratcheting paper towel holder, so water pump switch, outlets,
07:0212 volt, all standard, a couple of windows throughout, convection oven, so it's air fry
07:09convection microwave, which is pretty sweet, everyone seems to love them, then you have
07:16nine feet of cabinets up there, and because I said we grew six inches and we only took three
07:21to the back, there's a shelf at the end of that whole run there, but, you know, every
07:26two cabinets is a setup, so that's a whole cabinet, cabinet, and cabinet, so again, three
07:3336s, nine feet, and then the camera will be able to see if there's a shelf back there
07:37too, and that just kind of eats up all the rest of the space, so nothing's wasted, so all
07:42aluminum powder coated cabinets, everything's lined down there, salad in between, so you see
07:50it sounds just crazy solid, everyone thinks they're going to be tingy when they're aluminum,
07:52but they are not, then you have a bunch of drawers here, that's all the goodies everything
07:59comes with, and all the things, but again, those are carpet lined as well, solid surface
08:04countertops, and then we kind of mentioned how things shifted across the top, but what
08:10also happened here was 36 inch benches instead of 30, so those are pretty cool, so while it's
08:15not quite big enough for two people, it's just nice to have six inches extra capacity
08:19for you on this model, just to kind of fit it, fit everybody easily, you know, if you
08:24could squeeze, not two of me, but two smaller people, you're going to have just a lagoon
08:29style table come out, that way people can get in and out, you can kind of spin it to get
08:33on that side a little easy, and then push it out of the way, if you want the lounge, on
08:39this side, you will have full storage, so through there, that little box notched is
08:46because of that fill for that fuel tank we kind of mentioned, this would make to another
08:52table, or sorry, another bed if somebody wanted, so 36 by, I think, 73 or so, so a little over
08:58six foot, so you can sleep in, even bigger than that, you can go in an angle, so that's
09:01pretty sweet, behind me, in theory, should have zero, nope, we got a little storage down
09:06there, because it's a little bit bigger, so, a little extra storage doesn't hurt anybody,
09:11you're going to have your fuses, your breakers, and everything like that underneath here,
09:15so it's super accessible, another set of drawers with countertops, so three more drawers there,
09:22and it's muggy, moving to the back, residential queen, so everyone always asks the size, it's
09:29residential queen, meaning it's a full 60, the full 80, even though there's 82 and 3 quarters
09:32between the wall, so sheets are super easy, underneath you have the Frohle system, and
09:39all that fun stuff, you can still hear that sterling that was running, that's that DC to
09:44DC, we'll just take a quick peek there, even though things aren't fully finished under here,
09:50Orixen's, again, concept, we've now switched it for the future, wires still need to be tightened
09:55up, and all that fun stuff, but 50 gallons of fresh, two lithiums are down there, and then
10:00everything else is Victron, so it's 16.9 kilowatt hours, the battery bank, your Starlink router,
10:05and all your main Victron components, but that guy's screaming, so we'll keep this closed,
10:10keep the video, so you guys don't hear that the whole time, you're going to have nightlights
10:17on the bed there, so we position the one in the back a little bit further out than normal,
10:22that's just for someone to, say, cozy up in that corner and read a book, it's just not,
10:26you know, on top of their head, you're going to have, you know, everything has blackout,
10:31bug screen, and then if you press the little gray guys there, and spin it all, they're all just
10:36awning out, you know, each one of those notches, kind of a spot where it stops, and if you kept
10:41going all the way, but they're dual pane, acrylic, so they're lightweight, but the dual pane, you know,
10:46helps with that heat and cold and all that, back one, as always, does not open,
10:51for safety reasons with carbon oxide, all that fun stuff, so you're going to have an induction cook
10:57tap, kind of floating probably somewhere in here, so whether you put it here and plug it in, this
11:01side plug it in, or we showed you that outlet in the garage, table outside, cookout there, we just
11:05like doing options, 42 inch cabinet above, so you have a ton of roof locker storage, plenty of drawers,
11:13plenty of big storage, and then that garage space in the back, so if you kick it around over here,
11:18you're going to see the Nomad logo there, so that's the main Victron screen, it's how you're
11:22turning on that inverter charger, the AC mode, and then if you kind of scroll, this is the heart
11:27monitor, so we're discharging a little bit, we're under the shade and trees, so that's not going to
11:31get any solar, but you can kind of see everything that's happening, this is the main screen where
11:35you see your fresh waste and all that fun stuff, Rickson screen there, so I mean, not to go through
11:41it, but if you turn on the furnace, then you turn on the fan or the hot water, depending on
11:44what you
11:44want, or both for that matter, but main switches with dimmers, shower, dimmers, Starlink, awning
11:52with lights and all that fun stuff, and then just more outlets, more DC, customer did a cedar roof
11:58on this, so you'll see a ton of the hickory roofs, especially at our dealers now, we might make this
12:03an option, and we kind of move the way for it, just for speed, but if we do, it just
12:07takes a lot more
12:07time, so if someone's willing to pay, we're willing to do. Everything on this here, the fridge stack,
12:12so this is what I call the linen closet, because if that shower door is open, you can reach in,
12:17grab towels, all that, put command hooks, hang them to dry, big old drawer down here,
12:23comes all the way when it doesn't hit my foot, and then you have your fridge freezer, so NovaCool
12:29fridge, separate freezer below, which is pretty awesome, we'll just hit you with the specs,
12:35again, it's pretty much just like our normal stuff, so 1,200 watts of solar is up there,
12:3948 volt air conditioner, fan above me, 16.9 kilowatt hours, the battery bank, you're going to have
12:44all Victron components, besides lithium batteries, and then he has 50 gallons of fresh, so again,
12:51just a quick show you what the prototype kind of was, we probably will develop one, but it's not
12:56going to be for a while, because we're going to that F-series, so just for the truck, we're going
13:00to do that F-350 first, I don't know if it'll go bigger, if someone wants one, the 550, we'll
13:05probably
13:05play in that game, but for now, just something different than Sprinters, we're going to show you
13:08what we can do on an E-series, and what we can learn from it, and again, we're doing
13:11that F-series first, so Patrick, I appreciate you having me, all that fun stuff, we did forget
13:16about the shower, it's behind me, so ready, there he is, Patrick, cameraman, and then you
13:21have a teak mat in there, Patrick actually changed to that there, with his on-off, set your
13:27happy temperature, and then you're out of this door.
13:29That's a great faucet, I was bumping my faucet, and burning my legs, or getting ice cold, and
13:35once you set your temperature there, you set the speed, the flow, and that's it, just on-off,
13:42so it's pretty sweet, we love it, but, and there's our normal size shower, still 28 by 34,
13:47so, to make it easy for you, we'll wrap it up, nomadrvs.com, nomad underscore, RVs on Instagram,
13:56it's a great one to see us on, we have our own YouTube channel, which shows you a lot of
13:58shorts
13:59behind the scenes, we're not afraid to show anything, but, still working on our terrible
14:02website to get dealers listed there, but, again, Patrick, I really appreciate you having me
14:06to show you one of the prototypes.
14:08Thanks for coming over, man, it got really muggy out, it was like raining and chilly before,
14:12as soon as we start filming here, it's 80 degrees, and muggy, one thing I want to say,
14:17this is a U-joint, off-road, uh, four-wheel drive upgrade on a Ford E450?
14:24Uh, this was a 350, but you can do it in a 450, same thing.
14:27So, this had single rear wheel, or did you do the...
14:30Uh, it was a dual.
14:31Okay, it was a dual.
14:32So, you have the super singles on the back.
14:34Yep, and they did the 60 front, 456 gears, um, did you do, I think, E-locker back,
14:41airlocker front, or vice versa, something like that, just all the U-joint stuff, again,
14:44that video's out there, but it's just, it's a badass rig from them,
14:47for sure.
14:47I'll try to find that video and link to it, so the viewers can click over this,
14:51if they're curious to see how this was built.
14:52It's nice that you were able to do the collaboration and the prototype of this,
14:56which just shows you all the different possibilities of your Euphoria product.
15:02Now, it's an E-Fouria.
15:03An E-Fouria, we didn't get too clever with the name.
15:05Or an E-Series, or a Conoline Series.
15:07It won't be an F-Fouria, we'll come up with a different name for the F-Series.
15:13Well, this thing's a monster.
15:15When you start it up, it sounds like a race car, because this has the Godzilla 7.3 liter V8.
15:19It is a monster.
15:20This thing is a monster, and I'm sure, you know, I'd love to have it as a diesel,
15:24but that's why the F-Series is going to be great.
15:26Yeah, we're going to offer it in probably diesel only,
15:28but we might, some people want gas, and they can order it for the,
15:31you know, we're not going to stock gas chassis,
15:34just because so many dealers want that diesel area trim,
15:37but I'm pretty sure you can just switch that up to a Godzilla,
15:39so if someone wants to order through the dealer with that,
15:41again, drawing stages, and then we'll prototype it and get it built.
15:44I'll put those links in the description.
15:46Always a pleasure, Steve, to have you on the show.
15:48I'll see you next time.
15:49Appreciate it.
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