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Hey
We’ll I need to do somebody work repairs as my camper is a little scruffy, and I’m going to give the inside a spruce up as well.
In terms of getting away I’d love to go back to Carcans Plage in France, where we went a few years ago. A great area.
I’d also love to go to Le Mans with a friend, and I go to the Silverstone Classic with my dad every year.
Also a few local trip (Brighton South Downs) as we didn’t do many last year.How about yourself?
Hi David
Welcome to the site.
I would recommend you see as many other vehicles as possible to see their layouts and ideas, and use all of those that suit you.
In terms of construction start on the outside and work in:
– Underfloor water tanks
– Windows
– Bodywork
– Insulate
– Line walls
– InteriorHi
Option 1 is best.
Insulate the shell of the van. This makes it easier to attach the ply to the van.
Insulate as much as you can, including the ceiling.
The floor isn’t necessary for a non-winter van, it’s also harder to do.Hi
Nice to hear from you.
What campervan have you bought?
What are your plans with it. Weekend camping, longer trips abroad?Hi Tony
Nice to hear from you.
Are you looking for quiet areas to camp in the Sittingbourne area?
Are you living full time in your van?Hi
Im not sure if there is space under the seat.
Can you post a pic?
Does it need to go there?My Propex lives in the rear seats.
They both draw similar power, about 17W. They only draw power when heating, then they go to standby when the temperature is hot enough, and then draw less than 1W.
These heaters heat a small space quickly.
Once thing to consider is the placement of the exhaust from the heater, which typically goes directly out the floor of the vehicle, then you bend/direct the exhaust pipe to the edge of the vehicle.
The Propex will need access to you existing gas supply, the Webasto access to your diesel tank.Hi
Sorry to hear about the troubles you’ve had.
I’ve not been able to find out the legality of not having the correct colour declared on your vehicle document.
It’s likely as the police use this sort of data to identify vehicles.
Probably the easiest option is to get your V5 document updated and sent to you so that you have the correct documentation.Hi
You can drive most common panel vans such as Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Transit, etc.
These vans typically come in 4 weights
2.8 tons – Normally slightly smaller and lighter.
3.5 tons – Medium and large wheelbase versions.
4.6 tons – Normally has 2 wheels side-by-side on the back, often mini-buses.
5 tons – rare heavy duty versions.The weight is the maximum the vehicle is allowed to be when on the road, not what it actually weighs when empty.
Your license allows you to drive the 2.8 and 3.5 ton vans.
Almost all panel vans are 3.5 t, but you can easily check them.
Most of these vans weight 2.1 tons when empty, which allows you 1.4 tons to add the conversion, people, fuel, etc.
Then on the road the vehicle must not weight more than 3.5 tons.So you can consider almost all of the panels vans our there, just check the listing.
Hope this helps.
Hi
Nice to hear from you.
What will you use the van for? Long trips, day trips, weekends?
How many people need to sleep and travel in the van, and what’s your budget?Hello and welcome
You are correct.
To travel in Europe the vehicle has to be legal in its registered country.
So a UK vehicle must always have an MOT, if it’s on the road and older than 3 years old. Even when it is outside of the UK.
The only way to avoid this is to register the vehicle in another country, and do this each year as you move around.
In some countries, e.g. France, it is not straightforward to change vehicle registration, compared to countries such as the UK.
Germany might be easier, and might be an easier location to get to each year.
In my experience it’s easiest to bring the vehicle home once a year.
Vehicles younger than 3 years do not need an MOT, if you have the budget.This varies depending on the power of the appliances you wish to use.
As a general rule I would say this1. Install at least 2 leisure batteries, as a 12v fridge will use a fair bit of power, as 1 battery wont be enough. You might want to consider 3 batteries if you will use the laptop a lot.
2. Install a batter-to-battery charger, or split charge relay to ensure the leisure batteries charge when the engine is running, as this is a much faster charger than solar.
3. Solar panels are fairly cheap now. Get as many as will sensible fit on your roof.I lived in my vehicle, using a laptop a lot.
I had 3 x leisure batteries and a 12v fridge, 180w of solar.
It was just enough. Sometimes not quite enough.
8 years later I still have the same fridge and solar panels, but have replaced with a single battery as the vehicle is only used occasionally.Have the original seats been replaced with different ones?
You’ll need to reconnect all of the original wiring to ensure the airbags deploy properly, and also to turn off the dashboard light, which is required for the MOT now.Hi
You should be able to get your vehicle reclassified easily.
Here is my guide to reregistering:
Legal Information, Requirements and Rules for Camper Vans by the DVLA
And here is some DVLA information:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/registering-a-diy-caravanC1 is for vehicles over 3,500Kgs. Almost all campervans are 3,500kgs and under, and so can be driven on B category license.
Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Transit, etc are almost always 3,500kgs.
Some are 4,600 and some 5,000, but these are normally clearly marked as such, and almost always have double rear tyres.
You can assume 3,500 kgs unless you read otherwise in the documentation. The V5 log book will list the weight.
