Tips for van shopping from Alaska?

[Summer]

Hi all.
Our hopeful plan of using my my mom’s vintage travel trailer to get on the road is looking a little dashed due to repair costs, so we’re now looking at buying a van or possibly a very small bus to make our first home on the road. (We’ve thought about RVs, too, but Amy, my spouse, is concerned about the potential for ongoing repair expenses more than a van might need, based on what we’ve seen people talk about on YT.)
Anyway, we live in Alaska, where the roads definitely get salted in the winter. If there were not a pandemic on, we’d probably fly down to one of the places we have family in the lower 48 where they don’t salt the roads and shop for a vehicle there, then drive it back to do the conversion here, but we’re both immunocompromised and aren’t comfortable risking that during the pandemic.
Any tips or suggestions?


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[user 423]

First and foremost....stay safe.

Do you have family members who you would trust in finding and evaluating a van?

Someone that could deliver the van to you,maybe.

Or someone who needs to travel to AK for a seasonal job.

What time table do you have in mind?

 

[crofter]

What all is wrong with the vintage trailer? May be usable parts for you.

You could also build out a cargo trailer, and use a reliable 4x4 truck to pull it with. This type of rig would get you in to more locations in a state with fewer paved roads. 

Also you could use the good stuff (stove, sink, bathroom unit, anything else that still useful) in the cargo trailer build out.

Check where you will be camping. Private campgrounds often want the RVIA label to be on the rig, wheras boondocking or national forest is not required.
-crofter

 

[bullfrog]

Build your own using parts of the old trailer. See Teardrops and Tiny Trailers web site.

 

[Summer]

Thanks all! I’m taking notes!
I should probably have mentioned that our original plan to use Moms trailer was made partially out of sentimental reasons, as she passed away a year and a half ago and had always wanted to take a big road trip. Now that we’ve decided her trailer isn’t going to work out for us, practicality wise we think a single vehicle, rather than a tow vehicle plus trailer, will work better for us, so though we’ve considered a cargo trailer or other trailer options, we’d rather keep things to just one parking space/easier maneuverability for the times when that’s a concern.


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[Summer]

First and foremost....stay safe.

Do you have family members who you would trust in finding and evaluating a van?

Someone that could deliver the van to you,maybe.

Or someone who needs to travel to AK for a seasonal job.

What time table do you have in mind?

We’d ideally like to get working on it in the next couple of months; we’re living in my Mom’s house right now as we get it ready to sell, but it will be sold at some point so we want our new home to be ready to go on the road with when that happens, and we’d also like to get some practice trips in beforehand if we can to work out any problems.

We do have her family down in Florida that could do purchase/pick up for us, but less sure about getting it up to Alaska to us, with the borders being closed to all but essential travel. None of them are particularly vehicle savvy as far as I know. Having someone who’s coming up for seasonal work deliver it is a good idea, though; I hadn’t thought of that.


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