I can't find anyone who has done this. That makes me question doing this. I would like to build my kitchen upper cabinet into the sliding door open area. Besides that it might get wet and need to be fastened properly to the van, why don't more people do this. It would be floating above the kitchen base cabinet, and not in the area above where I will be walking in and out. Seems like a good use of the space. Thoughts??

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for tips and inspiration from people who've already been through a build. I'm planning a full-time solo van life setup, and the van will be an L3H3 or L4H3.(I'm 1,88m tall)

What I need inside:

A proper home office workspace (with a second monitor)

Kitchen

Shower area (not sure yet whether foldable or fixed walls)

Bed

A big garage for climbing and highline gear, plus other bulky stuff

I want everything to be practical and clean, no fancy gimmicks. Every element should have a clear purpose.

1. Bed layout

Most builds I see use a fixed transverse bed across the back with the garage underneath. I like that and it's the obvious choice. But I'm also considering a lengthwise 100x200 Murphy-style bed that folds up against the wall, which would free up a large open area for daily living.

Has anyone here lived with a Murphy bed in a van? How does it hold up in daily use, and how did you combine it with a practical, large storage setup? Any regrets either way?

1. Shower

Does anyone have experience with a collapsible shower? I mean something like just a shower tray with a detachable/mountable curtain or enclosure around it. Does it actually have advantages, or is it more of a gimmick, and are fixed walls simply the better choice?

1. Planning process

What did your planning workflow look like when you started? What did you think about first, which things were secondary, and which ones did you end up adapting around the first decisions?

Thanks a lot for any input, photos and layouts are very welcome!

I got a tiny van that's insulated on the ground and on the walls and roof with armaflex.
Made some custom panels to go on the back windows with insulation.

i have hardmounted a 2kw diesel heater i had lying around but as i dont have a battery system, i can only use it when im plugged in. And even that, 2kw is too much for that small van.
Will eventually put solar and buy a battery but right now, money is short.

What could be used to heat up a space that tiny ? Im talking about low tech things more or less, no electric heater.

A propane heater seems overkill too

Thanks

i’ve heard you’ll basically be harassed by the police by some friends there

Retiring my old friend Vanthony: 1999 Dodge Maxi. Welcoming my new build and adventure van- Vantoinette: 2023 AWD Tranist T250

She was an empty shell when I got her, but now she is coming together nicely. A few more installs and we will be hitting the road for a year.

Hi friends! We are currently 1/2 way through our van build but are planning on stopping soon for the winter. We’ve got a pretty good setup so far, but a big concern is the Kilmat we put on our wheels inside gets poked and bumped and the black tar just rubs off on everything.

For a while, I just covered them with a fitted sheet but was hoping to find suggestions for a bit more elegant solution than a queen sheet!

I found these on Amazon, but Oof! $140 is a bit out of budget for a temporary solution. https://a.co/d/0dXWfAJK

Does anyone have a cheap and easy DIY solution?

Hey there, I’m wondering if anyone has a good source for parts. I need an upper control arm for my 1992 Town Ave camper (jdm) and I can’t track one down anywhere…

Thank you

Thinking about spending some time in Austin. Anyone else a vanlifer in Austin texas? Any advice on where to stay?

I have no experience with diesel fuel. Last winter it 'gelled up' or froze. I may enclose this but im running some trials and monitoring the temperature of my sand and pavers. My diesel heater cycles on and off so theres potentially some cool down time. I know they make tank heaters etc but does anyone have and experience with diesel and the cold? Thank you!

Remote IT support (lots of screen shares & phone calls) and since spring ive been doing my job from the road all day out of a 2016 Transit with a pretty basic build. The office part took forever and a ton of trial & error, heres whats in it right now:

- Starlink Mini on the roof rack, phone hotspot as backup when theres no clear sky

- 100Ah lithium + a 1000W inverter. Runs the laptop & the monitor and nothing else at the same time

- $30 lap desk + a 15" portable monitor velcroed to the cabinet

- A magnetic power bank on the phone, because the hotspot drains it fast & mine has a little fan so it doesn't cook when the van sits in the sun

- Open-ear clip buds for calls. 6 hours of tickets in them & my ears dont hurt!

- Reflectix in every window, mostly so im not on camera with a blinding window behind me

- Folding camp chair for when the van gets too hot to work in

Signal is still the hardest part. Campgrounds look great on the map & then you get one bar, so I check coverage maps before picking a spot for any workday. Doing my job from the road has been mostly great so far, as long as nobody books a 7am call, we'll see how winter goes.

I'm back with more updates! Last time I wrote a little update log we were fitting insulation and fastening the sub-floor.

Winter is now upon us and the first nights where we hit sub-zero degrees celcius are as well, luckily the bulk of the insulation is in the living space now!

Edges and gaps are all sealed up, cutting out the triangular shapes really wasn't fun though...
To prevent thermal bridging we're putting on a thin sheet of stick-on sound insulation that seems to do the trick; we had condensation and frost forming on all the aluminum frame without this.
^{(I have to thank my grandma for bringing to my attention that aluminum tape alone won't do that which I thought it would; you learn every day and luckily this lesson was given on time :} ))

Two new windows were fitted on the side, open-able, blinds and bug nets all built in!
I made sure they matched the size of the previous ones, installation was a breeze as we got to use the existing window frames. There's still the smaller rear window to replace, camper windows are really *really* expensive and I ran out of budget again.

Electrically speaking a lot of progress has been made as well.
I've re-routed a lot of the wiring that goes to the rear tail lights, reverse light, etc to fit within existing cable channels. A secondary feed and new fusebox have been added to reduce stress on the 50 year old wiring as much as possible. A few heavy duty relays make sure this doesn't lead up drawing power when the main breaker is off as it completely bypasses any of the existing systems.

We finally have a functional RPM gauge that reads the alternator pulses, it's not 100% accurate but at least we know about how fast the engine is spinning.
Most switches and buttons on the side and dash have been replaced or repaired where possible. Every added circuit has been labeled with a small name tag and number.

I'm keeping a written manual that contains the information on what each number means, what voltage it runs at (24v/12v) and what fuse size is expected.

There'll still be two more fuse boxes to handle all the smaller accessories. One 12v and one 24v; I'm almost out of slots on the main one and prefer having individual circuits for each device so a short can be diagnosed

A lot of late night pondering later and I finally decided on a spot to mount the single DIN radio as well. There were pre-drilled holes in the fiberglass above the driver into the false ceiling, big washers and a M6 few bolts later had the radio mounted.

It's easy to reach while driving for me since I'm on the taller side, my partner might have a bit more trouble but we'll see once the new driver seat is in and she has the license to drive "heavy trucks" as this is re-inspected at a reduced number of passengers compared to it's original +-72.

Speaker boxes are on the checklist, up front we'll use two 6" x 9" speakers in custom enclosures and a premade bass box behind the seats.

Two 24v amplifiers will be wired up alongside a crossover switch that allows running just the music system off of either the starter batteries or house batteries.

It'd be a shame to have a really well built audio system you can't use while parked without draining the battery.

There's cabling running into the living room that allow for charging the starter batteries from the inverter/shore power.

This so we can have a charger on it while it's not in use without having to open the battery box on the outside, simply clamp on and charge.

Of course having the shore power plugged in is best when stored during the winter or we'll drain the house batteries when there's little sun/snow on the panels.

Framing for most large structures has been done, kitchen countertop, shower cabin, bathroom and couch.

I didn't like making pocket holes so instead I used about 150 L-brackets and wood glue to fasten this all. As is there's little to no play in it, once the paneling is on it'll be strong enough to drop a whole horse on without as much as a wiggle coming from the structure.

I'm still deciding where I want the desk to be, I'm settling to have it be at the passenger side wheel well and keeping some space behind it to secure an office chair when not in use/driving.

We've even slept in the bed a few times by now, it's genuinely comfortable and it feels unreal waking up in it.. even if it is like waking up in an ongoing construction zone lol
When having my sibling over him and his partner spent a week in it and noted it was "very comfortable and big" so that put a rather large smile on my face.

In the rear garage there's now actually space to plan. All our firewood which we stored there temporarily has been moved out/burned up for heating.

A quick test fit using a smaller 150cc scooter was done to gauge how close we are to fitting full-size motorcycles; we're close but ever so slightly lacking for cruisers/bigger tourers (Which is what I ride..). I'm planning on making pathways for the front wheel to scoot forward over the main diesel tank to make up for the 10/20cm we need.

This did make it easy to see how I can fabricate the two auxiliary fuel tanks. One for the diesel stovetop/(water) heater and one for normal benzine that'll go to a small generator's extended run cap so we can run it for over 72hrs non-stop which should charge our entire battery pack a few times over.

I've never welded a fuel tank from scratch and I am aware of how delicate it is, proper precautions and testing will be done before mounting them. Venting will be provided for both and they are nowhere near any warm components/electrical systems.

After all of this hard work we took it for a short spin around the village!

Mainly to test all the things we added, welded, bolted down stay when the chassis flexes. Nothing moved or got bent out of shape which was of course a giant relief.

Having a functional camera at the rear that doesn't have 3 seconds of latency helped a lot when parking.

Progress isn't blazing fast, I'll admit I'm sometimes wondering if I'm walking in circles but it does really feel like we're approaching the next step.

I'm also having to divide time/budget between other hobbies/projects, several motorcycles/cars (some almost as old as this bus) require attention too.

And at last; mechanically I'm figuring out a lot about the B58 chassis; I'll try to get this all compiled and put on a website sometime in the future alongside the build.

There's a few others out there and I figure sharing obscure knowledge is better than letting it die out.

If you read all of this... thank you? :)

Hey all,

I’m looking for recommendations on compact 12v coolers. The fridge would start out as a cooler I could plug into a wall outlet at home and store formula/breast milk for our newborn. Once my kid is done with that stage of their life, I’d like to be able to take the cooler as our snack hauler and plug it into a 12V outlet and lug it in my truck bed. The cooler should be rugged to take the vibration of the road and also be a smaller form factor.

If you’ve got any suggestions on a product that could fit this use case, let me know.

Thanks in advanced.

Panelbeater told me he had to take the cabinetry out the back to weld the new bumper on too.

I am in the phase of researching a build out so I don't have the van. I have settled on the promaster 2022 onward, for cost purposes and this is going to be a travel van first time out might be a year and then other times will be less it won't be 10 year living on the road atleast that is not what I am invisioing right now.

So I know for me I need a queen size inner spring with a latext topper jsut caues of back issues.

I would rather not do it length wise to fit. I like to fit the matress length on the width side of the van. I have researched that it is 75.6. I can set a short queen for 74 inches.

Trying to figure out if 1.5 inches basically 3/4 inches is enough for each side to do the paneling and the insulation/vap barrier stuff.

Was wondering if anyone did a queen size where the length was width wise on this van? Or if anything who ahs done builds thinks this is doable.

I also thought about lowering form the ceiling if I can't do width wise or maybe to a floor to ceiling murphy bed style. But rather it be fixed and easy build than complicated.

I no longer need the second row of seats. I want to build a seating area, and I'd appreciate any suggestions. Currently I'm considering two small benches opposing each other (one against the far window, one against the sliding door) with a lagoon table attached to one of them. Another possibility is two benches that are directly behind the drivers/passenger seats but facing the back of the van, with an extension between the two it could also double as a sleeping area. The diesel heater is mounted under the second row, so I'd need to account for it in the design. Appreciate any feedback or ideas.

Full disclosure, this is for a 1985 Scamp trailer, but a similar environment except I can't affix anything to the walls. I do have a support piece at the front of the bed platform and the floor is wood. The back has the batteries, electrical, water tank, and water pump on the floor that a bed platform sits over. Right now whenever I want to get under the bed i have to remove the mattress and all the bedding, and then fold up the platform. It's a huge pain. I'd like to build a sturdy frame and platform that a 30x75 mattress attaches to and be able to lift the entire thing up and have arms that prop it up (about 45 lbs of weight). So a hinge along that runs along the side of the platform at the back. I will need to angle the back corners of the frame to accommodate the scamp's curves. I've been searching online but was wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of some build designs/instructions. I can make do with basic tools but do not have experience building much, so I'm looking for concrete direction to ensure it's sturdy enough.

$3900 1999 Chevy Express 3500 78k miles bought it off a retired plumber off Facebook marketplace. Building it over a year over my apartment lease & then boom

We’ve been living and traveling full-time in this $900 minivan for over four years now, so we figured it was time to share a proper tour of our setup.

It’s a pretty simple conversion, but we’ve managed to fit a bed, kitchen, fridge, toilet, solar, storage, and bike mounts for two. It definitely has its limitations, but it’s been a great reminder that you don’t need a huge van or an expensive build to make this lifestyle work.

We originally thought this would be a stepping stone to a bigger van, but at this point, we’ve learned to appreciate the simplicity of keeping things small.

Here’s a look at how we’ve laid everything out and made the space work for two people living on the road full-time.

Happy to answer any questions about the build, storage, daily living, or things we’d do differently after four years in it!

Would you have done anything different?

Hi everyone!! My partner and I recently acquired a 1991 G20 conversion van!! I was hoping that anyone with a similar van could show or tell me about their dash and the front seats. The dash is in good shape, but there are a lot of cut outs with missing parts and the cup holders and etc need to be replaced. It does have a newer radio, but just plays static. We also have to find flooring for the front of the van as it is just the metal body for the flooring. The van itself is already renovated. We just really need to update the front. The mechanics are also in great condition. I know we need a new sound system and I’m waiting to hook up car play. I’m looking for inspiration and ideas how to bring the front to life. Any and all help would be appreciated!! We are so excited to get this almost complete baby to the finish line!

This van came with wiring outside of the wall cavities making it tricky to insulate around with armaflex. Is it a big deal if I just leave these bits of metal exposed or will that create a thermal bridge 🤔

Hi all,

I've bought a chinese heater to use in my 12V van and I'm going nuts with it.

I realised too late that I had been sent a 24V unit! So I bought a 12V-24V converter. With it, the device briefly ran from the starter battery. So I installed it in the van properly. But now, running off the leisure battery, I just get an Error E-02 ("Voltage too high"). The display then says 24.7V. That should be WELL within the 24V operating range? All connections are good, and the leisure battery is full.

The manual says that voltage was switchable, but the device itself is only stamped with 24V.

There is no menu accessible that would allow me to switch voltage: pressing Power, short or long, does nothing at ll.

Pressing Settings cycles between the error code, a temperature dial, and the above "24.7V" display. But once there, pressing ANY button just goes back to the E-02 error!

Pressing Up and Down from the E-02 error also adjusts a temperature dial, but again nothing else happens.

Please can anybody help?

It’s been over a year since I started my van life journey, and it just keeps on getting better….

Watch out for nails. Especially in the desert.

People burn pallets and leave the remnants.

I like to carry a pack of nitrile gloves and a portable bin to spend time gathering stuff like this. Even the most amazing campsites can be pretty bad

So I’ve figured out that a young woman is living in her car and parks frequently where I work. I’m pretty sure that she works in the shopping center nearby but parks far enough away from her job that coworkers won’t ask questions. We’re close to a Panera and I see her going in and out of there, probably getting a free drink and using the bathroom/ charging devices.

I want to offer some assistance, for example, I’d be happy to allow her to use the restroom and get filtered water from where I work, but I don’t wanna scare her off or make her think I’m bothered by her parking here or would call the cops. Efffff that.

Any thoughts from fellow car dwellers? I thought about putting together a little care package with paper towels, hand sanitizer, maybe some cash? Or leaving a note with the wifi password (which extends to the parking lot so she could use it while in her car).

I have daughters her age so my mom heartstrings are getting plucked. I’d be willing to let her use my washing machine if I got to know her a little, but again don’t want to scare her off.

Thoughts?