SFR SFR - Recommendations for Limited Van Conversions

[DFG]

I'm looking for suggestions on vans and limited van conversions.

I'm now about a month away from my retirements date (!) and thinking seriously about buying a van for limited conversion. I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole on conversion vans the other night, and saw lots of interesting examples and got enough 'how-to' to inspire me. Most of the people wanted something much more elaborate than my wants/needs, and none of them seemed primarily interested in a rolling base camp for fly fishing, wing foiling and skiing.

I want a comfortable bed with lots of storage space under it, a system to power some lights and my CPAP, and some seating space, - that's about it. Most 'living' will happen outside the van. (I might want to add a retracting canopy to the list).

Even though I'm not planning on off-roading or overlanding, I think that 4wd or AWD may be smart so I'm able to drive rough gravel roads. I will probably sell my current car once the conversion is done, so the van will become my primary vehicle. Because of this I don't think I'll want an extended body or tall version. I surely don't want something uncomfortable or difficult to drive around town. I'll want the ability to tow my raft, but since my 1.6L turbocharged Ford Escape does this I'm betting it won't be too much of a factor in the choice of van models.

I'm thinking of this mainly as a way that I won't have to sleep on the ground in a tent each night.

Has anyone else has done something similar? Do you think I go to the trouble of insulating it and installing a roof fan? What type of van would be best? Any sage advice?

 

[kmudgn]

I have 2 friends who have converted vans. One has a Mercedes Sprinter. I believe the van alone was about 50k & the conversion pushed it up to around 100. He bought the van "naked" and took it to a shop that specializes in conversions. In addition to a comfortable bed he has sink (no shower)/toilet, heat & AC along with a fridge. The other guy got a Ford Transit. He got a kit conversion package from the dealer. It has about the same stuff as the MB. I believe total cost was about 80 for the vehicle & conversion. Both are AWD (4WD?)
I have ridden in them both, but not slept in either. The MB was certainly more comfortable, I will say that.

 

[Dustin Chromers]

I agree with the above. Naked sprinter and build as budget and imagination allows.

 

[Brian Miller]

I'm now about a month away from my retirements date (!)

Congratulations

 

[Peyton00]

My friend bought a mercedes winnebago van. It was around 200k.

Its all ya need......if ya got 200k to spend.

 

[RCF]

It has been my experience when someone says "limited conversion" it is budget limited. Not what you want and really need 'limited' wise When one says 'may' go for an outside canopy probably should look at a more realistic list of must have's. Then when selling a primary vehicle is in the picture really think about it even more... If you are thinking about skiing and a base camp and asking questions about insulation - hmmmm....

Really think about what you will need and if it is worth it.

For a $100k+ you can rent a lot of places (cabins, hotels, VRBO's), be very comfortable and have a lot of fun...

 

[flybill]

I have a friend who built one on a Ford Transist van.. it's beautiful! The Mercedes Sprinters look amazing, but if you check out the reviews on some of the van conversion sites, be prepared for some big repair bills.. even if you can do the work yourself.

My aunt and uncle have a Sportsmobile and it rocks. It's on a Ford chasis.. they bought new a long time ago and paid 80k or a bit more.. today they could sell it for a lot more! True 4wd / high and low.. amazing!

Decide if you really need 4wd.. I would have thought I would, but I probably wouldn't.. there's a place in Fife that sells finished ones.. 250k to 300k is a starting point! Northwest Auto (Jay Bunher company) has used vans you can buy.. won't be cheap as the demand outpaces supply now..

I'm ready to buy one, a small piece of land.. and live down by the river.. better than the box I currently have setup! Ha!

Cheers!

 

[jaredoconnor]

My dad built his out of a Toyota Hiace. I don't believe they're sold in the US, but they're everywhere in Australia.

He bought it at a government auction. It is just big enough to fit a queen mattress, a fridge and an open floor area, where you can pull out the portable toilet and take a dump. The roof is covered in solar panels. All the storage is under the bed. The rear door opens vertically and is used as a cover, for the kitchen stuff that pulls out from under the bed. He also has an awning, on the same side as the sliding door.

When my parents retired, they lived out of it for about 6 months and drove all over Australia. They still use it, throughout the year, for most of their vacations.

One thing that I rarely see Americans talk about is the importance of a bull bar. Vans that make the most use of their length don't have much of a crumple zone; more often than not, your legs are the crumple zone. If you're going to put in serious miles, having something to transfer impact to the chassis seems like a smart move. An added bonus is obviously that your radiator will survive wildlife encounters. When my dad was researching all this, he determined that polymer bars were the best. See below.

SmartBar Bull Bars - Australian Made, Lightweight and Tough

Made from an incredibly durable and strong polyethylene material, our bull bars use the latest manufacturing techniques to deliver a safe and lightweight bar.

smartbar.com.au

 

[SurfnFish]

Here in the Bend area factory 4WD Sprinter aand AWD Transit vans are everywhere and have test drove both at the dealerships.
The Sprinter van is a true 4x4 beast with rugged construction, factory lift, and a spacious drivers cockpit. The turbo diesel engine, which requres DEF fluid refill for its exhaust sytem, has a great power band and an unfortunate issue with engine warnings that can force the engine into 'limp' mode, and cause the driver to head home at crawl speeds. There is a growing number of Sprinter mechanic specialists now in business, providing an option other than the hella pricey Benz dealer for service.
The Transit AWD van comes with a mild factory lift, there are after market higher lifts, and offer two gas engine options, a naturally aspirated V6 or turbo V6. The former is reliable with adequate power, the latter turns the Transit into a high powered ride that devours hills, requires frequent synthetic oil changes, and is prone to the standard problems with turbo engines. Any Ford dealer will work on the Transit. The driver cockpit is more compressed then the Sprinter cockpit, so driver fit is a thing. It's AWD system is very popular with heating and plumbing vendors drawn to the turbo boost to offset a weighted van full of service gear.
rough sketch - Sprinter for true rugged 4x4 needs, higher interior headroom, comes with more maintenace costs. Transit AWD for mostly asphalt with snow and ice, light offroading, lesser maintenance costs.
I personally owned full size Dodge, Ford and Chevy conversion vans for 35 years, would buy low mileage factory conversions with the fibreglass roof extensions using them for surf and fishing trips galore, some Baja runs, served me well. Change out all the fluids, new shocks, after market robust anti sway bars, have the local gear shop install posi in the rear end if not already there, good to go.
The Fords were 'truckier', put a 2" lift on mine for Baja, upsize tires, tire deflators and a quality air pump kept me rolling on the softer roads, The pre' 2000's Dodge were robust, well made drivers, the after 2000 Chevy's have more driver legroom and are smoother drivers.
Wish I still had one. These days I would select a Chev built after 2002 for the 5.3 engine, driver legroom, smooth drive, rear clamshell doors, and a roof coversion.
Fiberine will sell/ship a fibreglass roof for owner or local shop install, or install it at their factory in SoCal, where they are usually three months out on same. Here's what they look like (web pic.)

 

[Peatbog]

I bought a Ford E150 high top conversion van and built it out pretty much as you specked. I drive it now daily as a work van hauling tools and a fishing camping van on my time off. It is 2wd and the only time I miss 4wd is like now in the snow. I built a bed platform that my cooler canopy cooking gear and all fit perfect. I went heavy have a twin mattress from costco. Istripped the ground effects skirting and sealed it with bed liner. It has a secondary house battery charged of the alternator via a DC to DC charger.

 

[NukeLDO]

We bought a 2021 Toyota Sienna hybrid AWD for my wife to camp out of by herself (she refuses to drive the RAM 3500 and pull a trailer). I pulled out the middle seats (have to install air bag system jumpers to keep the system functional), leveled the floor with the rear row of seats folded down. She picked up a nice cot from REI, which fits perfectly and adjusts from flat to sitting up. Mattress topper on that, a Camco portable toilet, a LiPO4 battery pack that charges off the 12V outlet, and a 12V refrigerator running off that. A WeBoost antenna that works okay to maintain connectivity and internet access via hotspot. Made blackout shades from coroplast and insulated with reflectix. 32 mpg, AWD, and probably less than $1000 in materials. And it works for her as she's already made a couple of cross-country trips with it.
If I had it to do over again, and were building something for 2, I'd go with a stripped RAM Promaster and be looking at the available conversion kits.

 

[_WW_]

I would buy this:

Autotrader - page unavailable

Take it up to Vancouver and have this put on for about $3500 US

Conversion Van Tops for Ford, GMC & Chevy Vans - Installed | TUFPORT

Feeling cramped? Stand tall with a professionally installed Tufport Van Top. We transform Ford Econoline, Chevy Express and GMC Savana vans.

tufport.com

And then outfit to your needs.

 

[Guy Gregory]

I did pretty much what you're asking for about 11 years ago. The design model was "rolling tent", not RV. I picked up a 2003 E250 5.3L (I think) 2WD as a lease return with about 110K on it. I planned out an interior layout, including a fantastic vent fan in the roof, a big bed area (I'm 6'3 and heavy) with storage for all my tent camping stuff aft (cooking kit, dry food, water and chairs), storage forward under the bed for personal gear, room for a cooler, led lighting, and 12V outlets to charge phones and such. Small gooseneck led lights aft near the doors for reading, A deep cycle house battery powers all the electrics, with an onboard charger and outside shore power connector. I can run a small 500W electric heater off of shore power. I do not charge the "house" with the "engine system"....too complex and a failure point.

Recent additions include a Thule box for the top for golf clubs and extra rods, a swivel mount for the passenger seat, and a 2000W Chinese Diesel Heater. The heater has expanded the utility quite a bit, making 3 season camping in cold weather off grid much more comfy.

I don't have 4WD, these old vans go damn near anywhere with all season tires. I don't have an awning, I got a tarp so I can set it up wherever I want if I need to. All up, including last year's rebuild of brakes and bearings is a total cash outlay including tires of about $9K. Instagrammers have made vans more expensive, but look seriously at the corporate lease return market...and drive it a while, but you'll likely find something else as a daily. Most of the lease return vehicles have excellent carfax and maintenance histories, and of course most modern vehicles are good for 200-300K miles. Gas mileage for 2WD is poor, (~14mpg) and toting around all your stuff isn't really efficient.

Over the years we've stayed in state and national forest CG's, National parks, boodocking on the side of BLM roads throughout all western states, and we're gonna do some more. We grab a family owned motel in small towns every 3-5 days, grab a shower, supper at a local cafe, fill up the ice chest after breakfast in the morning and hit it again. I've looked at the new vans, and the insistence on a bathroom and inside cooking space makes their utility for folks the size of me and my wife simply stupid, Neither she nor I fit the instagram model of 5'2" tall, 104 lbs. There's lots of great bathroom/outhouse facilities on state and federal parkland and rest areas without toting your own, and I've no need to park with Class A RVs, though I have from time to time.

It's not immediately recognizable as an RV, so you can overnight park virtually anywhere, parallel park on a street, negotiate all primary and most secondary and tertiary forest service/blm/state roads, fill up with gas and keep on rocking.

Good luck in your planning, you can build better than you can buy.

 

[Rob Allen]

I'm looking for suggestions on vans and limited van conversions.

I'm now about a month away from my retirements date (!) and thinking seriously about buying a van for limited conversion. I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole on conversion vans the other night, and saw lots of interesting examples and got enough 'how-to' to inspire me. Most of the people wanted something much more elaborate than my wants/needs, and none of them seemed primarily interested in a rolling base camp for fly fishing, wing foiling and skiing.

I want a comfortable bed with lots of storage space under it, a system to power some lights and my CPAP, and some seating space, - that's about it. Most 'living' will happen outside the van. (I might want to add a retracting canopy to the list).

Even though I'm not planning on off-roading or overlanding, I think that 4wd or AWD may be smart so I'm able to drive rough gravel roads. I will probably sell my current car once the conversion is done, so the van will become my primary vehicle. Because of this I don't think I'll want an extended body or tall version. I surely don't want something uncomfortable or difficult to drive around town. I'll want the ability to tow my raft, but since my 1.6L turbocharged Ford Escape does this I'm betting it won't be too much of a factor in the choice of van models.

I'm thinking of this mainly as a way that I won't have to sleep on the ground in a tent each night.

Has anyone else has done something similar? Do you think I go to the trouble of insulating it and installing a roof fan? What type of van would be best? Any sage advice?

Not a Chevy fan but if I was to do one and if I were trying to keep costs down an old AWD ASTRO van would be my choice. As I know their AWD system is good and the vortex v6 is powerful and reliable. It's a 350 with the back two cylinders chopped off. So parts are easy to find too.

 

[rattlesnake]

It’s funny as @Rob Allen says those old Astro cans were awesome. Had a teacher in high school that ran the FF club that would take us all over in an Astro van, all sorts of terrible weather too and with that van and some caution, we never had an issue. Was surprised and disappointed they discontinued them.

 

[Scottybs]

Not a Chevy fan but if I was to do one and if I were trying to keep costs down an old AWD ASTRO van would be my choice. As I know their AWD system is good and the vortex v6 is powerful and reliable. It's a 350 with the back two cylinders chopped off. So parts are easy to find too.

In high school I used to drive my dad’s AWD up to Baker skiing… damn was it amazing in ANY snowy condition

 

[Peatbog]

I did pretty much what you're asking for about 11 years ago. The design model was "rolling tent", not RV. I picked up a 2003 E250 5.3L (I think) 2WD as a lease return with about 110K on it. I planned out an interior layout, including a fantastic vent fan in the roof, a big bed area (I'm 6'3 and heavy) with storage for all my tent camping stuff aft (cooking kit, dry food, water and chairs), storage forward under the bed for personal gear, room for a cooler, led lighting, and 12V outlets to charge phones and such. Small gooseneck led lights aft near the doors for reading, A deep cycle house battery powers all the electrics, with an onboard charger and outside shore power connector. I can run a small 500W electric heater off of shore power. I do not charge the "house" with the "engine system"....too complex and a failure point.

Recent additions include a Thule box for the top for golf clubs and extra rods, a swivel mount for the passenger seat, and a 2000W Chinese Diesel Heater. The heater has expanded the utility quite a bit, making 3 season camping in cold weather off grid much more comfy.

I don't have 4WD, these old vans go damn near anywhere with all season tires. I don't have an awning, I got a tarp so I can set it up wherever I want if I need to. All up, including last year's rebuild of brakes and bearings is a total cash outlay including tires of about $9K. Instagrammers have made vans more expensive, but look seriously at the corporate lease return market...and drive it a while, but you'll likely find something else as a daily. Most of the lease return vehicles have excellent carfax and maintenance histories, and of course most modern vehicles are good for 200-300K miles. Gas mileage for 2WD is poor, (~14mpg) and toting around all your stuff isn't really efficient.

Over the years we've stayed in state and national forest CG's, National parks, boodocking on the side of BLM roads throughout all western states, and we're gonna do some more. We grab a family owned motel in small towns every 3-5 days, grab a shower, supper at a local cafe, fill up the ice chest after breakfast in the morning and hit it again. I've looked at the new vans, and the insistence on a bathroom and inside cooking space makes their utility for folks the size of me and my wife simply stupid, Neither she nor I fit the instagram model of 5'2" tall, 104 lbs. There's lots of great bathroom/outhouse facilities on state and federal parkland and rest areas without toting your own, and I've no need to park with Class A RVs, though I have from time to time.

It's not immediately recognizable as an RV, so you can overnight park virtually anywhere, parallel park on a street, negotiate all primary and most secondary and tertiary forest service/blm/state roads, fill up with gas and keep on rocking.

Good luck in your planning, you can build better than you can buy.View attachment 46683View attachment 46684

Rolling tent fits perfect. I am outside and only use it to sleep. Check out the Renogy DC to DC chargers for house battery charging. Super easy to install and hands free cordless charging for the house battery. I also have a giznotchy that monitors the starting battery and if it dips below 12V for thirty seconds it shuts off everything but the PCM. It came with the van and if you leave your head lights on, when you come back, hit a switch and it comes back to life and you start it. I also rebuilt all the existing house lighting and my additional lighting with led pucks. For the record you have a triton 5.4 2 valve arguably one of the most dependable engines Ford ever made. Not to be mistaken with the triton 5.4 3 valve the worst engine Ford ever made. I own one of each. These old Ford vans are kind of like dogs they find their way into your heart.

 

[Driftless Dan]

One thing that I rarely see Americans talk about is the importance of a bull bar. Vans that make the most use of their length don't have much of a crumple zone; more often than not, your legs are the crumple zone. If you're going to put in serious miles, having something to transfer impact to the chassis seems like a smart move. An added bonus is obviously that your radiator will survive wildlife encounters.

SmartBar Bull Bars - Australian Made, Lightweight and Tough

Made from an incredibly durable and strong polyethylene material, our bull bars use the latest manufacturing techniques to deliver a safe and lightweight bar.

smartbar.com.au

When I visited Perth many years ago, it seemed like every car and truck had bull bars - it seems like a very Aussie thing.

 

[SurfnFish]

When I visited Perth many years ago, it seemed like every car and truck had bull bars - it seems like a very Aussie thing.

had bumper thumpers on my trucks for decades...was driving from the coast to my gig in Silicon Valley in the early am, 65 mph on #280, center punched a deer that ran across the highway, threw it up and over my Tahoe, into the front of the brand new F150 driving behind me, taking out the entire front of the F150 well into the engine block.
After making sure the other driver was ok (well beyond pissed off), waited for a Highway Patrol cruiser to show up and take my info, then drove off with zero issues while the Ford was getting winched aboard a flatbed carrier..
They work.

 

[Cabezon]

When I visited Perth many years ago, it seemed like every car and truck had bull bars - it seems like a very Aussie thing.

Kangaroos are even more suicidal than are deer. My wife rented a camper van on a visit to Western Australia; we drove as far north as Cape Range National Park by Exmouth. At dawn and dusk, we watched the roos wait by the side of the road and then try to hop across when a vehicle zoomed by. The roos often stoped in the middle of the road in front of traffic. The next day, the giant wedge-tailed eagles and kites would scavenge the carcasses from the roadsides. And in Australia, you never know when you are going to run into open-range cattle or water buffalo or donkeys or feral horses. I can see why bull bars would be a necessity.
And because many outback roads do not have bridges over seasonally-flooding waterways, the trucks typically also have snorkels to the air intake system so that you can drive through the floods. There would be a gauge in the waterway to let you know how deep the water would be. It would be your call as to whether to proceed.
Steve