New Member with Questions

[Mattkcc]

Hi, I'm getting ready to get my first stealth camper van and have a few questions. I live in Missouri and don't plan on doing a lot of stealth camping due to the abundance of public land. The reason I need stealth is my homeowner association doesn't allow parking of RV's. Due to a double spinal fusion I'm semi-retired and have lots of free time to explore the outdoors. It's hard for me to drive more then a few hours so will be using the van for trips to the Ozarks chasing smallmouth bass and in the winter taking my two Brit birddogs to the North part of the state in the winter. I've started looking at vans and found several 90's low mileage Ford vans , under 100,000) and lots of high mileage late model Chevy vans.

Questions:

Is there any advantage to registering the van as a RV, rather then  truck registration?

Determining a fair price of a van, I've plugged the information on vans into Kelly Blue Book and the asking price is often over double of highest blue book value on private sales. Is Kelly Blue Book a good guild for prices?

I noticed a lot of people use golf cart batteries is there a reason for using two six volt over twelve volt battery?

How small of a solar panel could be used just to keep the batteries maintained?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Almost There]

Hi and welcome!

You really don't need a 'stealth' van in the terminology used here - normally used for parking on side streets in urban areas while the owner is sleeping in it without all the residents on the street becoming aware of the vehicle being used for living in or out of.

The stealth you need is a vehicle that can be used for camping while NOT being recognized as an RV. To that end you don't want the vehicle registered as an RV at all. A regular van, either cargo, passenger or a conversion van (semi-high top, luxury interior) doesn't carry an RV registration and therefore won't contravene your neighborhood association rules.

What you use it for and what you carry inside it is none of their business now is it!!...

If you've been looking at the conversion vans when you find the prices are way higher than KBB, it's because the KBB prices are for cargo or standard passenger vans. How those prices stack up is largely regional. If you want to post links to some of what you've been looking at a bunch of us will chime in with what we think of the vehicle and the price asked.

With your spinal situation you might also want to look at a high top van - one with the 24" high top on it so that you have complete standing room inside...much more comfortable for those of us who border on ancient and/or have back aches. It can take some time and diligence to find the right van for your needs so be patient.

Golf cart batteries and solar systems I'll leave to some one else cause I'm only beginning to understand them myself.

 

[highdesertranger]

the reason you might want to register as an RV is, registration and insurance is usually cheaper.

the reason for the two 6v batteries over a 12v is that the 6v golf cart batteries are true deep cycle batteries. very few 12v batteries are deep cycle and the ones that are very expensive.

the size of the solar panel is determined buy the amp hour and type of battery bank. highdesertranger

 

[East]

Might want to check your local DMV to see if there are any real benefits to register as an RV/How hard it would be. Sometimes it's not really worth it for people. Here it's pretty easy and registering as an RV also exempts the vehicle from smog checks.

 

[jimindenver]

6 volts have their advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantage is durability. They are designed to be used in golf carts are deeply discharged daily. In the same situation a marine battery would not last nearly as long and the deeper discharges will shorten it even more.

The disadvantages are that it takes two of them to complete a 12v battery. They have internal resistance that means the power is there but it can't be used for high load applications like starting your van or running a microwave. You need four to run a microwave.

There are 12v golf cart batteries that have the same durability. It has to do with the thickness of the plates and the room at the bottom for the sludge that sheds off the plates over time. Once that builds up to a point it shorts out the cells of the batteries.

So if you have limited space for battery and will be deeply depleting the batteries daily, GC batts are a good choice. Other batteries have different advantages depending on your needs.

 

[Mattkcc]

If you've been looking at the conversion vans when you find the prices are way higher than KBB, it's because the KBB prices are for cargo or standard passenger vans. How those prices stack up is largely regional. If you want to post links to some of what you've been looking at a bunch of us will chime in with what we think of the vehicle and the price asked.

Thanks, I'm looking at cargo, passenger and conversion,  http://kansascity.craigslist.org/cto/5169587078.html .
Using KBB with a generous excellent rating the van should sale to a private party for $2900 in my area.
I have noticed in the past when buying used items people don't know the value of what they are selling and often price items way to high. I have been looking at vans with normal roof height because I have a small canoe to carry on the roof. However, I'm not sure I could get it on by myself due to the height of vans. It's hard enough getting it on my car without hurting my back.

One more question, I heard older vehicles AC's can't be recharged does anyone know what year Freon was outlawed?  I did find a 1992 ford van with 14,000 miles, sounds great it was a FBI surveillance van and well maintained. However, I know a retired narcotic detective and he told me the problem with surveillance vans is they spend huge amounts of time idling. This is very hard on the engines and is one reason police vehicle have such high maintenance cost. 

Thanks everyone for your help. 

 

[Almost There]

I asked the same question about A/C types a little while ago.

Here's the link I was given:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090704060726AAStMok

As to the canoe on top, yes, there's no way you're getting it on top of a fiberglass high top unless you're the jolly green giant and even then it would be a stretch. 

I solved the dilemma by getting an inflatable unit. Mine weighs in at 5 lbs. and is meant for portaging and hiking with. It takes some practice getting used to but it gets me on the water which I couldn't do solo before.

A gentle hint... when you're quoting someone, the highlighted box is the same color as the reply section. If you start typing without moving the cursor to outside the quote box your reply ends up inside the quote box and no one can quote you in their reply.

Price and condition from type of use are two things I stay clear of. Canadian prices have absolutely nothing in common with US prices.

 

[Ella1]

Since you live in an hoa you must read the ccrs, (including the ones that may not be published *) the incorporation documents, and maybe the by-laws about what constitutes a truck. Many hoas DO NOT permit trucks of any kind or size, and a cargo van would be considered a truck. Research thoroughly, and get a response in writing if the board permits you to park a cargo van, remembering that it is just an election away and that permission may be revoked. You would be better to consider a passenger van.

* I lived in an hoa for several years before getting on the board. It was then that I discovered that besides the published ccrs--the ones they gave everyone-- there was an OTHER booklet: about 9 pages of small, single spaced print on both sides of the paper, with ccrs that didn't get recorded OR published to the residents.