Project Wild Camping Van

[Firefox]

couple of thoughts....

I am 6 foot tall and have a bad back so need to be able to lay on my back in bed, so a transverse bed would be to narrow.
I had considered a bed above the main bed. I remember how an Autosleeper CF Bedford had two roll out beds in the elevating roof.
Ducato looks good in a LWB high roof. but are the boxer or relay better?

It's worth looking at an actual van in the flesh. The New Ducato/Relay are the widest I think. Measure at widest point internally (metal to metal) and put the bed at that level. I think you may be surprised. You can get 6 foot 1 or 2" bed on the Master Chassis and that is narrower than the Relay. The trick is to thin down the insulation just at that point only. Eg Radiator foil and foam mat with leatherette on 3mm hardboard is quite good insulation and takes up less than 1". If you ply line and insulate at that point it could take up 2 to 3 inches on each side and kill a 6 foot bed.

Another point is a double bed used solo or with smallish son/daughter/partner, you can lie slightly diagonally and have nearly 7 feet to play with. There's a few ways round this. Slight compromises I know, but then getting the features you want in a van that small will involve compromises.

 

[Deleted member 14127]

Where did you buy your van from Ste? - this is just the type of thing my friend is looking for.

 

[al n sal]

Phil, i have a self build ducato maxi, your welcome to look mine over and have a climb around it at buxworth.

 

[veedubmatt]

al n sal love the saying on your blog

as usual a selfbuild is never finished, its just waiting to be modified

its so true im changing some of my layout at the moment after out first trip out init

 

[n brown]

ducato more like 75 or 76 inches across,same body as boxer and relay

 

[vwalan]

hi can i suggest an iveco daily ex prison cell truck. doors good ,roof lights as vents . well insulated cheap . can be cut through to make a crawl through . nice steps built in .
heres a couple of a mates on the daf 45 . but if you ebay prison trucks or look on the iveco daily pages . you should find plenty. i have done a few now as expedition trucks they work really well. might even be possible to build a luton on the daily . i keep looking with a friend but she cant make her mind up. very secure windows . 16 ft box might do it ok. i normally make the side door into a stable door using bits not used from the inside gear you take out.
my neighbour as a 12 foot prison box on his 4x4 dodge 50 painted army green looks ok . but too short for a family. the purple one is 14 ft inside . 16 foot makes a good size one.

 

[Coolasluck]

Like the purple truck,alan just a shame about the caravan next to it:wacko:

These days i cant disagree with alan, but would add ,purple would not be the best colour for trying to hide anywhere

 

[yorkslass]

our first van was a selfbuild on a vw. when you have settled on your base vehicle try and look at as many conversions as you can then pinch the best bits from all of them. we used bits from caravan breakers , built all the wood frames then got a joiner to make doors to fit and give a better finish. enjoyed it for many years till him indoors descided he wanted to fit a v8 engine and managed to set it on fire.

 

[clobo]

I bought a 57 plate Ducato XLWB 2 years ago, converted it myself, fixed bed at the rear with garage underneath, its the widest van on the market, just over 6ft in width by the time you insulate and line it and nearly 14ft long in the rear. It sounds big but you soon fill up the space. TBH Phil I think you are going to have to sacrifice a few things on your wishlist unless you buy a big box van around the 7.5t mark. My Ducato used to average 33-36mpg. The birth of my daughter made me buy a coachbuilt as there is a lot more space, my sacrifice is fuel economy!

 

[vwalan]

hi purple is great in half light . it soon disapears into the shadows . as it is its a fulltimers van so it works for some . and coola knows the owner.
but try ebay iveco daily prison loads on there .vans as well.
course mini artic is the ultimate stealth camper . i never use camp sites park it any where hardly get asked to move and sometimes handy for joining the gypsy and fairground travellers . here we are in galicia parked up with the fairground had lots of fun.

 

[ellisboy]

Hello Phil! The X250 model is the widest internally, My bed is across the rear and just over 6ft long,but There is 50mm insulation each side + 6mm ply.This is ok for us as we are under 6th tall.Mine is a Citroen which has a transit engine,35mpg at 70 mph and really easy to drive everyday as I have 2 rear cameras.
You could always make a second bed by reclining the drivers seat and using a pull out on the rear travel seat,to give a small single.Check out my build blog, there are pictures of the rear bed.There's loads of storage underneath. :cheers: Stephen