Very new

[plant seeker]

Hello - I'd like to start out by taking a van for road trips now and then and see where that leads. What are recommendations for ( certain types of) vans, and where to look for a converted or even part conversion, to buy? Thank you.

 

[bullfrog !]

Welcome! There are lots of rental companies that you might consider and gatherings you might attend to get some idea of what will work best for you. Best options are often custom builds.

 

[shadowmoss]

You can start with what you have. I have a Mazda 3 sedan. I can sleep in it, and I bought a small 12V fridge and a Bluetti power station to run between the car plug and the fridge. I have spent 10 days at gatherings, admittedly in campgrounds with electric and bath houses, with no issue. I know that if/when I am full time in the more mobile rig I would like something bigger, and hopefully a hybrid so that I have heat and air conditioning while parked. I live full time in an older Class A now.

 

[maki2]

I think renting a cargo van now and again would be fun for a summer adventure. . I actually enjoy driving the cargo sized or large full size passenger vans as the drivers seat is higher with great visibility. I much prefer driving them over minivans. But do remember an empty cargo van will be noisy to drive as there is no insulation or wall panels to absorb and dampen road noise. Also no insulation to moderate temperatures. But all of that can be fixed by fitting out the interior. Do take along some extra sheets and blankets or tarps for creating privacy on the windows and blocking out excess sun heat from the sun directly heating up the glass on the windows. Maybe even some pieces of screen you can hold in place with magnets for keeping bugs outside. I have a very small USB/solar rechargeable bug zapper. It makes a huge difference to have it indoors at night. No bugs driving me nuts inside landing on lights or the lighted screen on my phone or tablet and flying into my face. They head for that little light and it takes care of that issue noiselessly without chemicals all night long.

 

[INTJohn]

 

[Tony's Dream]

I started out in a cargo van. I stripped and converted it myself. I took several trips, totalling over 10,000 miles. It was a little tight for my old man body, not being able to stand up fully, so I upgraded to a high top van last August. I stripped and converted it myself. I have taken several trips with it and it is doing fine. I wanted to convert it myself because I wanted to make it fit my needs. Most companies will charge anywhere from $5,000-$30,000 to convert the van. No doubt it would look really nices, but it was out of my budget. Also I wanted to keep things simple so it was easy to maintain. RV's have many bells and whistles but when things break, and they will break, you will pay big money to have them fixed. My conversions cost me less than $2,500 for both vans and I can easily replace anything that breaks down while on the road.

 

[eDJ_]

Bob Wells (the innovator of the "Cheap RV Living") made this 10 minute youtube video to show how he temporarily converted a $20 dollar a day U-Haul Rental Van. He went to Alaska to visit his son from Denver and saved money by doing this. Even though he spent money he believes he came out ahead opposed to driving his own rig there and back.

You could replicate this method and if you have room in a garage at home or have to rent a small storage space to stow the camping gear....until the next time you want to rent a Van put your gear
back in it to set it for your next camping weekend.....it could be a solution until you can find a deal on a Van to be your own "rig".

Watch Bob explain his thinking.

 

[vanbrat]

I have an older road trip van that I am still and always will be converting into a camper van. And I say camper van because I wont be giving up my house anytime soon. But I still want to be comfy while tripping around the country side. We had planned long trips when starting the project but those have gone away for now.
I would say keep it simple and don't bolt anything down permanently yet 'cause you will want to change things around at first until you get it right for you. Think about what you want that is a must have. For me it is a good kitchen and bed. Every time we go out, I find something I need to tweak. For hubby his big deal is driving and parking. I like that my van is able to fit in regular parking spots. Though the ferry system charges me extra because we are to tall to fit except on the bottom level.

 

[LargeMarge]

Hello - I'd like to start out by taking a van for road trips now and then and see where that leads. What are recommendations for ( certain types of) vans, and where to look for a converted or even part conversion, to buy? Thank you.

.
Box-van, stand-up and walk-around head-room.
Old, zero computers.
Two-wheel drive ('2x4', '2WD').
.
Toss in some car-camping gear, go have fun.

 

[SLB_SA]

My son and I have a 14 foot Penske truck (not yet fitted out for nomadic life) and a Prius towing an 1100 pound Harbor Freight foamy trailer conversion (to California at the moment). The trailer has AC, a fridge, etc. powered by a Bluetti AC300 (+B300) and 400 watts of solar (when driving) + 100 extra watts of solar when camping.

 

[VanFan]

Prius towing an 1100 pound Harbor Freight foamy trailer conversion...

Will you keep us up-to-date on that?

 

[maki2]

Hello - I'd like to start out by taking a van for road trips now and then and see where that leads. What are recommendations for ( certain types of) vans, and where to look for a converted or even part conversion, to buy? Thank you.

Start by looking on Craigslist and Facebook Market place. Sometimes they show up in the for sales area in this forum. The commercially produced conversion vans will be listed in the RV for sale sections. The partially converted ones might be there or might just be in the regular vehicle for sale section.

Use keywords to sift through those sections. The most obvious keyword being Van. But you can then add to the word Van some extra keywords such as camper, conversion, solar, toilet, sink, bed to further quickly through the results.

 

[plant seeker]

Thank you

 

[SLB_SA]

Will you keep us up-to-date on that?

The Prius hated the hills in New Mexico and Arizona. Otherwise it worked well. We need more solar (but who doesn't?).

 

[SLB_SA]

My granddaughter texted on Monday to say that the water heater was leaking. Told her how to turn off the water and drove straight through to arrive home at 5am today (Wednesday). Got home exhausted to discover (fairly limited) wet carpet in the basement. I am supposed to get a new water heater installed in a bit today. Not bad for July 3 and everyone going on vacation. After that is done, I will pull up the carpet, remove the padding, dry and put in new padding. But the trailer worked. Talked with a couple full-time nomads on the trip and they each liked the trailer. But more solar!!!

 

[bullfrog !]

You might consider a catch basin under the new water heater they are fairly cheap.

 

[maki2]

My granddaughter texted on Monday to say that the water heater was leaking. Told her how to turn off the water and drove straight through to arrive home at 5am today (Wednesday). Got home exhausted to discover (fairly limited) wet carpet in the basement. I am supposed to get a new water heater installed in a bit today. Not bad for July 3 and everyone going on vacation. After that is done, I will pull up the carpet, remove the padding, dry and put in new padding. But the trailer worked. Talked with a couple full-time nomads on the trip and they each liked the trailer. But more solar!!!

good thing you have family at the house. Otherwise you would need to follow the away from home for a long while protocols of draining tanks and shutting off the water.

 

[SLB_SA]

You might consider a catch basin under the new water heater they are fairly cheap.

The basin they installed looks great!!

 

[VanFan]

The Prius hated the hills in New Mexico and Arizona. Otherwise it worked well. We need more solar (but who doesn't?).

Thanks for the update. We've never tried to tow with the Prius, and I find the foamy concept intriguing. More solar? We have zero, because our power needs are either too great (a/c; cube heater) or nearly none.

 

[SLB_SA]

Thanks for the update. We've never tried to tow with the Prius, and I find the foamy concept intriguing. More solar? We have zero, because our power needs are either too great (a/c; cube heater) or nearly none.

We only took 300W of solar this trip. We plan to add up to four 245W panels, depending on the weight. ("four" may be unrealistic)