I want to make a cabover wagon that BeamNG doesn't have.

I don't know if I'm allowed to start a thread about this, but...
I'm trying to create a Japanese van that doesn't exist in BeamNG, but where do I start?　I'm new to mod making.

 

Well, this type of car is, usually, body on frame. So, a good start would be to choose a frame donor, either the D-Series or the Pigeon (don't know how big your van is). Lets say the D-Series is the right size for you, so you choose the variation with the closest wheelbase length to the van it is based off.
With the wheelbase set, you can start modeling the body around the frame you chose.
How you do that? I don't know, I'm not really good in creating new content like cars and so on.

 

Well, apart from the frame shape on the front, I don't see a big difference between a cabover and a standard van frame, specially considering the suspensions, engines and transmissions. Even if the frame model is different than a pickup truck frame, making a new frame from scratch just for the front part sounds a bit unreasonable, especially for a newbie modder. You now the pain it is to make a good suspension, don't you?

And, I mean, most of the vanilla cars have "steer by wire" steering systems, since we only see the steering rack/box, the linkages/tie rods and the steering wheel. I wouldn't be surprised if it was possible to edit the H-series van bodies to accommodate the front axle under the driver seat. Maybe the cabin floor would need to be raised.

Here are some concept pictures, using the extended van body and the D-series Short frame:

Engine position inside the cab;


Side profile;


So, im my opinion, for a guy that is new to modding, I'd suggest at first, to convert the H-Series into a cab over van, since all the Jbeam behind the front doors would remain almost untouched, and would make sense lore-wise that if Gavril made a Cab Over version of their van, it would share the most parts possible with its standard version.

 

Usually, the same thought was used in Europe in their semitrucks, like the Scania R and T cab, that shared the same frame behind the cab. On that case, the only difference was that the T series had a extended frame that kept the driver on the same relative position only moving forward the engine, transmission and front suspension.

Also, a clear advantage of a cab over H-series would be the smaller wheelbase and same overall length compared to the short wheelbase standard one, but with the same cargo capacity of the extended one.

Take a look:


If I had the modeling skills...

 

the problem is that the hiace is unibody, so that completely throws using an H-series chassis out the window.
still, you could probably take the suspension from the pickup as a base, and use the floorpan of something from the same era, like an etk 800, or 200bx.

 

I know that the Hiace is unibody. The mais thing to consider is the fact the guy is new to modding, so, guiding him to make a entire car from scratch is setting him/her to failure. Making something based on in game vehicles would be a lot easier. Also, his Japanese cabover van doesn't need to be a perfect copy of the Hiace.

By starting with a H-series conversion, he will already need to learn how to model and Jbeam, although it would be way easier than a scratch made van. With everything he learned, he will be way more capable to model and Jbeam a Hiace body for that same frame. Then he would be fully prepared to go unibody.

 

for anyone to get into modding, and to familiarise yourself with all the intricacies of a vehicle (to make it even remotely accurate), and then to blatantly disregard a major part of the vehicle's mechanical layout, is setting up for failure.
realistically, monocoque cars are much simpler to jbeam than BoF cars, since you don't have to fiddle around with a ton of breakgroups and fit two self-supporting structures (the chassis and the floor) in the same space.

 

That's true. Anyways, for the drivetrain and suspension parts, I'd suggest using the D-Series suspensions and ETK engines, since they are easier to get and are really close to the Hiace parts.

 

there is a Toyota Hiace automation mod. Maybe you can ask the creator to borrow the model.

 

I don't think those cars are big enough. The Hiace is on the same segment as a Mercedes Sprinter, so it would be similar in size to the H-Series anyway.