2-Person Van Conversion

[Matt71]

Most of the van conversions that I see online are built around one person. My wife and I will be traveling together in our van and I'd like to see how more couples have set up their vans.

Post links to some good 2-person van conversion that work. Preferable converted cargo vans, as that is most likely what we'll be buying.

 

[Almost There]

I don't have pics but my parents travelled extensively for several months at a time in an extended body van with a high top on it.

They had: 2 swivel seat bases so that both the driver and passenger seat turned into seating area. Dad always got the drivers seat so that he was out of Mom's way when she was doing stuff. A table dropped down into the pedestal base that was mounted just behind the two seats and in the middle.

Behind the drivers seat was a small kitchen unit (maybe 40"?) with a sink and water faucet. The counter space was used for an electric appliances. Remember this was 25 years ago so they didn't have solar. They used propane stove outside if no electric but depended mostly on camping in electric sites. The lower kitchen cabinets held the fresh water 10 gallon jug and the 10 gallon gray water tank as well as pots and pans storage etc. in one side, the other side was a smallish 12v fridge. The upper kitchen cabinets were used for food and dish storage.

The porta potty pulled out from a cupboard that was on the passenger side just behind the side cargo doors. The cabinet was built with a drawer above the porta potty that all the personal hygiene and medicine cabinet stuff went in.

The bed was a full size that ran back to the rear doors. It's only possible with an extended body, a regular body is too short. It ran from edge to edge at the window height. Beneath it was 2 huge drawers accessible from inside the van that ran the full width between the porta cabinet and the kitchen unit.

From the back doors you had access to open storage under the bed. Lawn chairs, propane stove, tool box etc, etc. was under there.

Above the bed in the hightop were overhead cabinets much like you'd find in an RV...maybe 10 inches deep by a foot high. They ran all three sides around and provided all the clothing storage that was needed.

And of course there was the storage area above the cab that held a whole lot of stuff.

Back then it was acceptable to have the propane tank mounted on the back door so it was there...high up so that cars couldn't run in to it. Also, the spare tire was mounted back there on the other door.

The amount of storage and the size of the bed was only achievable because it was an extended body and they put the high top on it.

There were rules of the road...one person only could get up, dressed and out of the way at a time. When mom was preparing food, Dad either got out or sat still in his corner (drivers seat). There was no room for passing in the 'hall'. Oh, and everything had it's place and had to be in it...no messy people allowed.

Hope this helps some.

 

[Matt71]

We're aiming for an extended van, preferably with a high top. We have some time to look, so I'm hoping we can find the ideal van for us. I have a template set up for designing a layout, but I'm really having a hard time finding a bed setup that works for us. We'll be traveling for at least 7 months, so I want it to be super comfortable. I've been looking at 6" futon mattresses, but they are too long to run from side to side.

I'm also trying to find a nice love seat sized futon that we can put in the back so it opens towards the front of the van, but They're either really expensive or look really uncomfortable. They generally run 60" to 65" wide which should fit if I can make adjustments to accommodate the wheel wells.

I'm kind of hoping I can set up the bed so it is also seating facing towards the front of the van. I have a short throw projector I'd like to mount to the ceiling, and a pull-down movie screen I want to put directly behind the from cab, so we can watch movies in the fashion we are accustomed to

 

[Almost There]

Rather than buying a commercially available mattress, look at upholstery shops as a source for high density foam and just buy a slab that is big enough and then cut to fit. An electric carving knife or a serrated bread knife work just fine for cutting foam.

The other option for a bed for two is one that is expandable. You sacrifice a lot of storage but if you really want 'sofa' then it's the way to go.

Again no pics so you'll have to follow along with my description.

I put in a base that was the width of the van by 38" deep, cupboards below from the front and open storage from the back. In front of that I put two cabinets, one on each side that were the height of the finished bed platform, less the depth of the plywood. A piece of plywood 37" deep by the width of the van slid in between the mattress and the main platform. When in the 'away' position you had a sofa, in the extended position you had a 75" long bed.

The mattress foam was cut with one piece being 38" by width of the van, the other piece I cut in two sections. They formed the 'back' of the sofa and slid down into place on the extended bed.

Because I sew, I made a fancy cover that held them all together on the top but had separate pockets for them on the underside so that they held together with no gaps when used as a bed. If you want to do something similar I can do the write up for it separately.

 

[Matt71]

That's similar to some ideas I've been playing with. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable sleeping on a foam mattress though.
I will probably end up building something that's expandable, but I'm not very handy, so I'm trying to find stuff I don't have to mess with too much or build from scratch.

 

[Almost There]

After sleeping on nothing but foam for the past 30 years, I wouldn't go back to a 'regular' mattress. The only thing more comfortable to me than my foam is my hammock but that's another story. Maybe if you've never tried foam, you might want to try at least a mattress topper to see how you like it. BTW, foam is available in different densities which gives different levels of comfort...the hard stuff is used for sofa seats so that they last. You might be happier with a medium density. Ha, can you fall asleep on the sofa like I do...it's foam!

I suspect that you're going to have to bite the bullet and learn how to use a drill/screwdriver and at least a jigsaw unless you're prepared to pay the price of someone to do the work for you. It's really not that difficult and H/D will make the bigger cuts for you on sheets of plywood - it's actually the way to go considering the equipment they use.

Or, if you're really loath to use a drill, you could use some of the space age tape that's available to put things together! I'm looking at it for the wall panels so that there are no screw heads showing. They can build trailers out of it!

RV manufacturers aren't bound by the space restrictions in cargo vans when they design sofa beds so most of them won't fit. There just isn't the market to support commercially made furniture for in vans unfortunately. A futon frame will be too long to go across the width of the bed and the futon itself, too wide. Easier to build from scratch than to try to modify.

 

[corky52]

Is stealth important to you?  That question sets many variables to one side or the other?

Corky

 

[corky52]

Couple of other questions come to mind.

Is this a one shot trip or a change in life style.

Do you hope to strip and resell the van, or are you going to keep the van for future trips?

I live and travel in a TransVan, it could work for two, with considerations being made.

Corky

 

[Matt71]

Don't get me wrong, I can use a saw and drill, but I don't use them often enough to put out the quality I'd be happy with. Straight lines are my nemesis; I can barely draw them (with a ruler) let alone cut them.

Stealth is not particularly important, though we also don't want to scream, "hey we packed everything we care about into the small metal box, please come steal it". We plan to stay primarily in campgrounds, RV parks and friends' driveways. We will be using the van for general driving swell so we'd be parking it in towns, just not sleeping there.

Not sure if this will be a change in lifestyle for us. We're primarily doing this because we are few up with our lives and going nowhere. We're going to take a year and see what happens. We figure we'll either love it and never stop, or we'll decide it's not for use and either go back to Michigan or resettle someplace we liked along the way. A lot of it will depend on if we can make a living on the road that will let us live in the health and comfort we require while allowing us to still meet our debt obligations.

If we choose to end the journey we'll keep the van and use it for vacations. I'd feel bad stripping it down after putting all the work into it.

 

[corky52]

Matt,

I'd spend some time looking at RV's and think about towing a small car or truck.  A small Type A rv or a Type B+ rv lacks the stealth, but has much of the work done and is ready to roll.  Even a Type C would save time, energy and likely money.

You likely need to spend the time learning to work and earn money on the road rather than perfecting the van.  CraigsList is your friend.

I'd opt for twin beds, not romantic but much more practical on the road, crawling over someone to hit the bathrooms gets old, VERY QUICKLY!  




Corky

 

[Matt71]

Any RV I could afford would be either too old to be reliable or too dumpy for me to comfortably live in. At least from what I've seen on craigslist and auto trader. I'm also not comfortable driving something bigger than a van. I have a hard enough time parallel parking my car. lol

If we went bigger, I'd buy a box truck before I'd buy an RV

I'm budgeting about $4500 for our van and any customization, then another $1000 for a solar setup. And I'd like to cut that down further if I can.

 

[corky52]

Matt,
I don't think I can be much further help, sorry.  You might notice that most vandwellers are singles, there are reasons for that.

My wife and I traveled for many years and if you don't need stealth an RV is what will let you stay on the road together.  


Corky

 

[corky52]

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/rvs/4870413538.html

Matt,
I looked at this one for a friend, I guess it has 20k trouble free miles in it.  2500 cash would buy it and it would tow about any small car for local transport.  You would need to put good mattresses on the beds, but other than that, pretty much ready to rolll.


Just an example of what you can find if you're patient and willing to look a bit.


Corky 

 

[Matt71]

That's not bad, I could work with that. Still not sure how comfortable I'd be driving something that big though. I'm certain I'd hit something every time I put it in reverse, even with the backup camera.

 

[Matt71]

Then there's the gas milage which I'd completely forgotten about. That 5mpg difference is thousands of extra dollars for the year in gas.

 

[corky52]

Matt,
Solve two problems at once, flat tow a car, you can't backup with one and you just drive the RV from point A to point B, using the towed for all the local stuff.  

I tow a small car that gets about 30 mpg, it gets 5 times the miles on it that my RV gets and having a towed makes life on the road much nicer.

It's really not hard to learn to drive an RV and towed, you need about two days to get comfortable with it.  Biggest thing is getting used to the slow acceleration, and that you'd also have in the van.


Corky

 

[Matt71]

Something to think about. I will have to do the math on the local driving vs highway driving to see where we fall. Will also have to calculate in the insurance on a second vehicle.

 

[corky52]

Matt,
Quick insurance tip, the towed is the main driver and under 10k a year.  RV insurance is cheap, dirt cheap, especially with second car discount most companies offer. 

If you don't have to break camp to sight see life is MUCH better, you will do more and enjoy much more of things around you.  Also having two vehicles is a nice safety valve, for a quick break from each other, shopping , etc.

You can either flat tow or get a tow dolly, ups and downs for both, I've used both and like flat tow better, but not by much.

Corky

 

[GrantRobertson]

Still not sure how comfortable I'd be driving something that big though. I'm certain I'd hit something every time I put it in reverse, even with the backup camera.

Matt, have more confidence in yourself. I'm sure you could handle it just fine with a bit of practice. I once parked a 24 foot U-Haul parallel to and less than 1 foot away from my house on the first try. Just take things slow and careful. There are videos on YouTube about how to drive an RV and how to figure out how far up to pull so you can back right into the spot you are aiming at. Just think of all the old people who are driving RVs around just fine. If it were that hard, you would hear a lot more about RV accidents.

The only reason I am starting with a van is because I can't park an RV in my son's neighborhood.

 

[corky52]

Matt,
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/rvs/4870519450.html

Even cheaper and mechanically sound.  The unit is needs someone who can read the manuals, everything actually works, but I sure wouldn't tell the owner that when I looked at it.  A little elbow grease and for $1200 you'd have a home on the road.

Corky