my basic winter van

[jayjay31]

Well I have had my Renault trafic LWB for around 4 years now ! it started off as a normal panel van and still is kind of, its benefits from Air con with is a luxury option in these vans,



my whole purpose at the start was to keep it basic and as empty as possible when not using as a camper, I didn’t want to cook inside and have running water as things might have become fixed ! so that I mind the bed is made from wooden beams that sits on each wheel arch and can be picked up and removed in seconds, I made it high enough so we can sit on it when eating and also fit 6 x 60 L storage plastic boxes under it and also extra room for what ever else, this has been great as nothing gets clustered.







I had the side windows put in and completely insulated and carpeted the inside. The 110amp leisure battery has a 1000w inverter, I made a switch that moves the van stero onto just the leisure battery to save the start up normal battery from running low! The alternator charges both batteries when on the move. there is an extra cig socket i put in to run any 12v appliances.


The Bluetooth stero is great for pairing as I fitted 8 x 35w 3 way alpine speaker which makes watching films on the ipda like been in a cinema ! great.

Also I made a small side table that pops up and down with spring realize mech which again is great for quick and easy use, had to cut into the van metel to do this but it hold the wait of a person and doesn’t wiggle side to side. you can see it on the picture above.

We have done some summer camping and weekend stop over’s and festivals but not to much, we mainly used it to travel Europe especially in the winter !

I had outer thermol blinds made for the front and side from germany as you can not buy these pre made( worth ever penny as the internal ones alone dont stop condensation) Complete internal thermol blinds as well as a button press stud thermol blind i made for the back doors to keep any cold or draft out in winter


so far we traveled around France ski resorts , Germany, Austria Spain Netherlands. and its never let us down even with our heating system in minus 25 degrees its still been nice and warm inside.
The van also has a switch at the back so I can flick on the rear light which helps when cooking from the back tent in dark

All in all this is a budget campervan which is still classed as my work van when needed.

 

[afl777]

Its amazing what you can do with a panel van isn't it

Ange

 

[jayjay31]

yeah it is and cheap to do really ! , if anyone got any other simple good ideas for storage , seating anything id love to see or hear from you


here some more pics

 

[DRoader]

How much did you pay for the van?

 

[Viktor]

Excellent...that's what it is all about...what suits you.

 

[afl777]

I've got everything stored under the bed too. Just stuff i need and no extras

Ange

 

[ellisboy]

Nice looking van ! :cool1: :banana:

 

[REC]

That looks good Jayjay, Our van is a Citroen Relay fairly battered, but needed for work a lot of the time. We have just done a similar thing...will take some photos and post them. Had a window put in the side, and Dave saved the peice of plywood which was cut from the panelling and we slot it in and out at night...might get a blind but this works really well! We bought fold up foam mattresses which we put between the wheelarches and can use as a seat when folded. When the van is in work mode, they live in our sitting room to put feet on. Dave boxed both wheel arches in and put wood on top..we can sit on them or use a bedside/ sofa tables. He built in a narrow box which goes from the side of the wheel arch to the rear of the driver seat, this holds a surpising amount of stuff. We dont use the rear doors only the sliding side one, so we store chairs, silverscreen, and anything long and thin in the gap betwwen the foam and the doors. Put hooks up on walls to hang as much as we can. Got some great folding hooks from ebay which are just a flat bit of wood when not being used for camping. A cargo net fits on back of passenger seat and hold soft stuff, wellies etc. Our biggest purchase was a coleman extreme coldbox which works really well. And then theres the ongoing experiments with the Kampaloo! catlitter in a carrier bag with water absorbent crystals, and it all stays sweet if there are no loos nearby!
On our first trip out we had a hanging water carrier..looked great hung on rails at the back of the drivers seat...then it burst and 11litres of water landed in a tidal wave :sad:! had to abandon the trip! Now use a 10litre water bottle which fits under the seats. Do you have a tent / awning to cook in?? We have not sorted any outside space yet...have a autotent which fitted on the back of our berlingo but its a bit small for this van.

 

[al n sal]

nice van, you've done a good job

al

 

[jayjay31]

im looking for something bigger now if anyone is interested in a swop ?

my van is 1.9 105 psi 6 gears ! 2005 full service history , aircon & electic TAX & MOT ( 66,000 miles ) just had timing belt done i also have every fuel receipt and anything else thats been done !

looking for LWB high top to fit 3 or 4 people in