Since this is our first blog post, firstly let me introduce myself. I'm Shawn Wickam, co-founder of Rypen. I've been a software developer, via many titles, for 25 years. In 2018 or so I fell in love with the idea of the idea of what a van could do for my wife and I's many road trips. So in 2019 I started designing my dream van in CAD and in 2020 after COVID happened I decided to pull the trigger on a used 2015 Ford Transit 350 HD.
Upon receiving the van, I immediately got to work and built BoostiBeluga. I did most things unconventionally and built a lot of it myself. I can pretty much guarantee that my bed is one of kind. The air conditioner is part of a 1997 Toyota Camry mated with a Chinese A/C pump I purchased and for the most part it works great! Why do things differently? I like engineering and my layout required unconventional designs.
Fast forward to September of last year. I had designed and built so many things for "BoostiBeluga" I decided it might help to release some of these things and help others out. The prices were insane for everything DIY Van related, so I tried to come up with elegant solutions that weren't overthought.
A month ago I decided it was time to purchase a 2024 Ford Transit and do everything all over again. Now that I have this store, I felt this was a great time to document things as I go. This also brings the opportunity to design and update a lot of my products for the new 2024 interior, mainly the dash. But as I need to design and develop things for BoostiBeluga Mk2, if I think they will be helpful to others I'm going to release them as products.
In a very near future post I'll be going into what the new van will have for a build out, but I plan on pushing the envelope on features as far as I can.
Instead now is a great time to post what is in the works for new 2020-2024 Transit products.
- Cluster/Steering Column button panel. I found that in the new dash they don't have any good panels or places to put custom buttons for things like light bars and whatnot.
- Phone mount above the shifter, close to where the < 2020 mounts are now.
- Upfitter Guards
- I found that the vents don't work well with the new vans, due to rubber seals being a lot stiffer so I'm working on making them fit even better.
- Cubby magnetic drawer (will work with all Transits)
- Below center console magnetic drawer
- Collapsible center console for things like pet beds