Forum Replies Created
- Posts
I have to agree with another poster, with your growing family, a motorhome would probably be a much wiser choice than a camper van, or just take up tent camping, since you’ll likely need a tent in addition to a camper van with your needs.
The first thing that needs mentioning is that cargo vans make horrible camper vans. Passenger vans are a much better choice… Better ventilation via opening windows, and no holes in the roof needed. They also have a pre-finished interior that you will never be able to improve upon.
It sounds like you are considering purchasing new or at least newish. The depreciation will kill your investment. You will rarely lose money on a fully depreciated van.
Depreciation aside, the last few generations of vans have been going downhill in the reliability and longevity departments. While a warranty might be nice, even brand new vehicles can be full of bugs. A warranty doesn’t help much when you’re stranded, and maybe without a home. Warranty work usually comes last, not first, and the wait times can be very long. I found this out the hard way on a couple of new vans.
I reverted back to a second generation Dodge Maxi-Van, and it’s been one of the moves I’ve ever made. Computerized BS left me stranded too many times, and they get worse every year.
I would also suggest a 1 ton van, so you always have plenty of capacity, plus they are just plain built better. For the slight difference in price, there is a huge difference in durability. Size matters too, and an extended length body can make life a lot nicer.
Keep us posted…
Since gas mileage seems to be a large concern, I believe I would get a high gas mileage vehicle and just switch to tent camping. A tent could give you a lot more room to spread out and be comfortable anyway.
I have my camper van, but when camping with friends, we use tents and have a blast. We have tarps we can string up to cover a large area if it’s raining to keep out entire camp site dry.
It’s a little more set up & tear down, but the expanded space makes for a more enjoyable experience.
Normally I heat my water by sticking a black water jug in the sun. When sun isn’t available, I use a Zodi Fire Coil on my camp stove, or in a campfire to quickly heat as much water as I want. Then I dump it into a converted weed sprayer with a kitchen sink sprayer replacing the original nozzle.
They also have battery operated shower heads/hoses with a pump that you can just dunk into your water source.
I don’t like the idea of wasting fuel to heat water when I don’t need it. I don’t have one, but they do have propane fired, tankless, on demand water heaters available. I just prefer my method because it’s cheap, simple, and not much to go wrong with it.
Re: Heater fan…
A friend of mine had a similar problem but on a different vehicle. In his case the heater fan was basically inaccessible for replacement. He bought an inline boat fan, and a PWM speed controller for it, and just bypassed the original fan altogether. Something similar might work well for you too if you can’t find a suitable replacement.Good Luck!
Re: Got a bed. What’s next?
The first two Engel 12v compressor fridges I owned lasted about 5 years each, the price was high, but I thought it was worth it not to need ice. In the following 5 years I went through an Engel, a Waeco, and an ARB. None of them made it past 2 years. I finally just switched back to an ice chest and buying ice once a week. The simplicity and power savings of an old fashioned ice chest are refreshing, and since I go shopping weekly anyway, picking up ice is really no extra hassle. I keep my block ice in a separate container so my food never gets wet, and it is easy to remove to dump any excess water out. That makes it much more convenient.Extra outlets for your leisure battery sound like a good idea.
Containers to keep everything organized and dry are a plus in my book. Some solar powered LED camping lanterns might be a welcome addition to your supplies, I like hands free head lamps too. Dollar store puck lights are also handy.
I would give some thought to foul weather days plans. Sooner or later they catch up with all of us, and having a comfortable place to hang out on those days/weeks when it happens can be huge. Laying in bed all day can be fun if by choice, but torture if it is forced upon you.
Make sure your vehicle is in good and reliable condition, breakdowns can ruin a good time very quickly. Towing insurance can be a great stress reliever.
Happy Travels!
Re: Hinges…
It seems to me that the hinge you are seeking could be easily made by combining 2 L brackets. One with the leg facing downwards, and one with the leg facing upwards, then simply add a nut and bolt where they overlap.Good Luck!
Re: Hinges…
It seems to me that the hinge you are seeking could be easily made by combining 2 L brackets. One with the leg facing downwards, and one with the leg facing upwards, then simply add a nut and bolt where they overlap.Good Luck!
Re: electrical wires, sound deadening material, insulation?…
You might be over complicating things from the start…Sprinters tend to be overpriced, and are very questionable in the reliability department. If high maintenance costs are higher than your fuel costs, are you really saving any money? Something to consider… If it’s a high top you’re after, they can be found on many passenger vans as well.
Passenger vans already have a nicely finished interior, and they are designed for comfortable driving, and the comfort of their passengers. Many of us have learned to take advantage of that, plus enjoy the enormous savings in both time and money by starting with a passenger van with a factory finished interior. Adding tint to the windows and curtains for privacy is a whole lot cheaper than starting from scratch. You could save enough to cover your full conversion right there…
I run my electrical in PVC conduit all the way around both the floor and ceiling, with an outlet box every 2 feet. In each outlet box is 2x 12v accessory outlets, and 2x 110v outlets. Some wind up behind cabinets and things, but there is always some of each easily available. The 110v outlets are GFCI, which amounts to each having their own circuit breaker, and each 12v outlet has it’s own fuse inside the junction/outlet box. By keeping all the fuses at the individual outlets, I never have to hunt for the right fuse. You can also get 12v acc. outlet to USB converters if you need those. Not saying what I do is either right or wrong, just describing it as an option that has worked very well for me.
Best wishes for all your endeavors!
Re: Renting a camper van
Camper vans typically rent out for $100+ per night…Your odds would probably be much better to buy a cheap camper van or motor home, then resell it later if you decide you don’t want to keep it.
Great care should be exercised when considering the purchase of any fleet vehicle. Fleet maintenance can range from very good to very poor, with majority of them much closer to the poor end, no matter what their doctored up maintenance records read.
Starting with a cargo van is also usually a poor choice to convert into a camper van. Starting with a passenger style window van with nicely finished interior can save you a fortune. Just take out the rear seats, and you can skip all of the floor/ceiling/walls BS that you have to contend with in a cargo van. Trying to reinvent the wheel is almost always a very poor choice. Multiple opening windows are far superior to no windows and roof vents. Contrary to popular hype, cargo vans make horrible camper vans, and they are the exact opposite of stealthy too. The public considers them creeper vans & rape vans, and they are targets for both cops and thieves. Hardly the definition of stealthy. Nobody gives a second glance at a window van, now that’s stealthy. Even more obvious camper vans or motor homes don’t attract the negative attention that cargo vans get.
Building your own camper van can often be more costly and produce inferior results from buying one already made as well. Many camper vans and smaller motor homes, even relatively old ones can be found with very low miles and in excellent condition far cheaper than you can create one.
Re: Renting a camper van
Camper vans typically rent out for $100+ per night…Your odds would probably be much better to buy a cheap camper van or motor home, then resell it later if you decide you don’t want to keep it.
Great care should be exercised when considering the purchase of any fleet vehicle. Fleet maintenance can range from very good to very poor, with majority of them much closer to the poor end, no matter what their doctored up maintenance records read.
Starting with a cargo van is also usually a poor choice to convert into a camper van. Starting with a passenger style window van with nicely finished interior can save you a fortune. Just take out the rear seats, and you can skip all of the floor/ceiling/walls BS that you have to contend with in a cargo van. Trying to reinvent the wheel is almost always a very poor choice. Multiple opening windows are far superior to no windows and roof vents. Contrary to popular hype, cargo vans make horrible camper vans, and they are the exact opposite of stealthy too. The public considers them creeper vans & rape vans, and they are targets for both cops and thieves. Hardly the definition of stealthy. Nobody gives a second glance at a window van, now that’s stealthy. Even more obvious camper vans or motor homes don’t attract the negative attention that cargo vans get.
Building your own camper van can often be more costly and produce inferior results from buying one already made as well. Many camper vans and smaller motor homes, even relatively old ones can be found with very low miles and in excellent condition far cheaper than you can create one.
My guess would be that your
My guess would be that your battery isolator is broken, bypassed, or wired wrong.Isolators are normally switched via the ignition, but some also have bypasses to allow the use of both batteries for starting. If it has such a bypass circuit, that could also be at fault.
Good Luck!
My guess would be that your
My guess would be that your battery isolator is broken, bypassed, or wired wrong.Isolators are normally switched via the ignition, but some also have bypasses to allow the use of both batteries for starting. If it has such a bypass circuit, that could also be at fault.
Good Luck!
Re: Need help with solar/power setup ideas.
Solar power is way over hyped for systems in use on RV’s or camper vans, because you really don’t have enough roof space or battery carrying capacity to make a good working system. That being said, it does work okay for maintaining batteries not in use, but at what cost? Simply plugging in a smart charger to shore supply would be a whole lot cheaper. I have a single 100 amp deep cycle house battery that I purchased from a junkyard for under $20. I charge it while driving mostly, but if I’m not driving enough, I have a 2,000 watt generator that uses about 1 gallon of gas for 8 hours of use, and a 50 amp smart charger. My battery will last about a week under normal use, and will recharge via the generator & smart charger in under half an hour, so a single gallon of gas will easily last me a couple of months. At current prices, it would take over 40 years for a solar panel system to pay for itself, and it still wouldn’t be as reliable due to weather conditions etc. Even -IF- I had solar (I used to…), I still wouldn’t be caught dead without my generator and smart charger.Cooking, heating, refrigeration, and water heating, are best accomplished by non electrical means if you don’t have shore power hookups. Generally heating can be supplied by a camp stove unless you’re in really cold conditions. Kerosene & propane are the most popular choices for both heating and cooking. Personally I prefer kerosene because it is so much safer, and both my heater & stove can both be run on diesel as well. Many of the non pressurized wick style kerosene appliances can use diesel as well kerosene. There are multiple options for stove top ovens, grills, griddles, and toasters too.
Typical RV style water heaters, and plumbing in general doesn’t work well below freezing. For this very reason, my camper van has no plumbing, and no water heater. Solar does work well for non electrical water heating. Solar showers and black painted containers placed in sunlight work quite well for water heating. In addition to solar heating, I also have a “fire coil” which can be placed on my camp stove or even in a camp fire. My water jugs are 7 gallons, and it can heat the full 7 gallons in just a few minutes.
While you can get fancy 12v water pumps, they are costly, and they are also prone to freezing. Many people use gravity fed water systems, or hand/foot pump non powered systems. You can also get portable hand held battery powered showers. These work well, and once drained, they are freeze proof. I use trigger spray bottles for my dish pan sinks, and a modified weed sprayer with a kitchen sink style sprayer attached to the end of an 8 foot hose for my showers. Water conservation is key, and these types of systems, rather than normally running water can be huge water savers.
Forget about those expensive 12v compressor fridges, the newer ones are junk. I went though 3 of them, all different brands, in under 5 years. Not one of them made it for 2 years. The old ones were marginally okay, lasting 4-5 years, but any of them are very power hungry and none of them are really a good deal for the price. Ice chests and ice are very cheap by comparison, and you don’t need an expensive ice chest either. A block of ice in it’s own container, or a couple of gallon size jugs frozen, should last the better part of a week.
Cheap 12v window fans are far cheaper and work just as well as expensive roof vents with fans. I have a couple of 10 inch 12v fans that cost less than $20 each, and they work great. I rarely use more than one. Just remember to park in the shade if the weather is hot… If you can’t find shade, try to park with the side of your van with the least amount of windows facing the sun, and cover as many as possible.
I drive some almost every day, and I tend to plug in all of my rechargeables while I’m driving, and by the time I’m ready to use them they are fully charged with no noticeable drain on my house battery. Even if I wasn’t driving as often as I do, I doubt my rechargeables would have much impact on my battery life.
Lighting is one of those things it’s hard to have too much of, but I’m not a huge supporter of built in lighting. Portable lanterns and head lamps seem to be a better choice because you can take them to where you need the light. I have a couple of solar/hand crank LED lanterns that have their own built in solar panels. I just sit them in a window and they’re always fully charged. I have a couple of others that use cheap AA batteries, and are dimmable, and a head lamp that also uses AA batteries. I get my AA batteries at a dollar store for 8/$1.00 and an 8 pack will last well over a month using them all the time. I also keep a kerosene/diesel powered lantern around too. I have trouble finding those button style batteries, so I am careful to make sure that everything I get uses AA batteries and not the button style ones. Dollar store puck lights work well too.
While I’m sure my 2k watt generator would power a air conditioner, there are many 12v low power options available that use just water or a water/ice combination for the cooling power. Mine is a DIY type incorporated into the bottom of my ice chest, and will provide up to about 30 degrees worth of cooling while drawing negligible power. All the parts required cost me under $50 and it was pretty simple to build. You can buy ready made 12v units, but they tend to be expensive. Not really sure how good the pre-made ones work either. If you are in a non-humid area, the 12v swamp coolers may work good for you as well, and they require only water, no ice.
Power conservation is your friend. Most deep cycle batteries I’ve encountered are good for 100-300 cycles. When I had solar and my batteries were cycling every day, they would rarely last a year, and they were also expensive batteries. Once I cut my power usage, got rid of solar, and started recharging them weekly instead of daily, I can get 5+ years out of a cheap junkyard battery. This is a huge improvement in both cost and hassles.
I am a full timer, and I became much happier when I changed my lifestyle from trying to emulate house living, to full time camping. Trying to emulate house living didn’t work out too well for me. A good old fashioned camping mindset and techniques has worked out perfectly though. Murphy waas a smart man when he wrote “Anything that CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong.”, and I find the simpler I keep things, the less there is to go wrong, so I can spend my time enjoying life than continually worrying about fixing stuff. Camping doesn’t need to be complicated to be enjoyable.
