to van build or not to van build, that is the question.

[lenny flank]

^^ When you live in a space that is smaller than the average prison cell, you learn pretty quickly what is a necessity, what is a luxury, and what you can do without.

 

[QinReno]

Besides the prison cell gambit, it also helps lenny and myself that we've been campers all of our lives, so we know "exactly" what you need to get along and do it well.

In regards the floors, I imagine the ribs are there to make it easier to slide heavy cargo in and out. Also, as mentioned, the thicker you make the floors, eg adding boards on top the ribs, means that much less headroom.

I have enough floor space that I can erect my folding chair inside, and still have 3'x3' to move around. I've not seen any of the youtuber builds have enough space for that. I originally had the mattress lengthwise in the van and I only had 3'x'3' of open floor space, and that was horrible. I would tilt the mattress upwards to the side, but because the van is not so tall, it would stick out into normal headroom space, so it wasn't very ideal. You can cut a foam mattress down to 30" wide, using just a carving knife, and then it will flip upwards to the side, but having the mattress crosswise in the back is 10X better.

I do plan to redo the solar electrical business to remove the cabinet and put the panel on the wall, and which will give me more open floor space, almost 5'x6'.

 

[travelaround]

I like that 8" foam mattress ... but 30" wide would work better for me, I think.

I've been thinking of buying:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P6BGYI/

or...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UI45XBE/

 

[B and C]

The ribs in the van floor are for strength.

The best use of space in a van is the bed across the back unless you want to use it as your couch/chair for working on a table on the other side. You will end up with a very narrow walkway though. A 30" wide bed across the back of a long van would give a lot of floor space to play with.

You may want to buy some painters tape and layout the van interior dimensions on the floor in your apartment somewhere. Mark where the doors and wheel wells are and start playing with the layout full size so you can see what space you have to work with. If you got real ambitious, you could build the van out of cardboard leaving cutouts for the doors. Then you could put some of the stuff you are wanting to take along to see how it fits. Van space goes fast when you start adding stuff.

 

[becida]

I bought a travel trailer. I’m happy in it. I can stand up. I have a bathroom and a kitchen and a bedroom. It is comfy.

I've lived in several vans over the years, in my 87 Ford I had a full time bed, full time seat & table plus a stove to cook/coffee. I rebuilt it four times seeing if I could make it "better".  The Pleasure-way had all that & a real toilet, other than modifying the bed for two of us I didn't have to do anything.  Right now I'm in a class "C" RV, pulling a car. Not my ideal but my wife is happy.

I've had 2 different class "A"s over the years too...

My ideal... a travel trailer ("just" enough TT, with a full time bed, a table to sit at, a kitchen and a shower) pulled by a full sized van.  I don't like to have to secure the van to drive somewhere, a TT & van takes care of that. I can find a place I like and stay for awhile... 
The van has the toys, I can take it too the store AND it's a place I take vandwelling should I choose


If you don't like building a van to live in there is nothing wrong with that, I do it because I enjoy it!  There are plenty of other options.
To me, this whole thing is about the lifestyle not the color or shape of your house.

 

[QinReno]

I like that 8" foam mattress ... but 30" wide would work better for me, I think.

I've been thinking of buying:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P6BGYI/

I would not get the cot, it is too wide at 40", and those bars on the end stick out and would get in the way all the time. Your legs would have constant bruises. Typical single-wide mattress is 38". CaravanCarolyn cut down her foam mattress herself in her recent van build, very easy to do - but I would use a little more eye and leg protection than she does.

- 

 

[rm.w/aview]

Lenny, thanks for the "Hike Your Own Hike" reference earlier, as appropriate within this thread as it is in life in general.

 

[travelaround]

I like the idea, to tape out the shape of the van on the floor, since I don't have the van yet. It could help me be more realistic about what's going to fit in there. Thanks, Brian.

The foam mattress cutting looks easy enough . . . I didn't think of doing it with an electric knife!

 

[lenny flank]

Lenny, thanks for the "Hike Your Own Hike" reference earlier, as appropriate within this thread as it is in life in general.

There is much wisdom on the Trail.

 

[QinReno]

I like the idea, to tape out the shape of the van on the floor, since I don't have the van yet. It could help me be more realistic about what's going to fit in there. Thanks, Brian.

What you end up doing is first figuring out where you want the bed, and then everything else goes from there. How wide and how long the tables and/or cabinets should be. On and on. The position of the bed defines everything else.

 

[QinReno]

I forgot to mention, apparently a 30" wide bed is common in semi cabs, so there should be properly sized sheets available.

 

[ckelly78z]

The van the OP originally had sounds perfect, diesel, extended, high top. I have been wondering this also, but will probably also go the truck camper route. I really like the LANCE 865 for my 99 Ford powerstroke 7.3L diesel F250 truck. My truck is currently a 6.5' bed, while, I would like to find an 8' bed truck.

LANCE truck campers are way too much money new, but hopefully, I can find a nice use one.

 

[tx2sturgis]

This is Cheap RV Living, it annoys me when I get dissed for living in a TT.

You tell me who's 'dissing' you, and me and Cammie will break their kneecaps!

 

[GraceinMotion]

I used a box cutter to cut my 38" memory foam mattress to 28". A bit rough on the edges, but does the job just fine.