Camper Van advice

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DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
There's a great You Tube series called Vandemonium by a lad called David Johns... he has a live-on-board narrowboat but bought and converted a van last year... shows what can be done from scratch to completion... and in particular what to look for when looking at buying a converted ones- he's very thorough and you'll pick up a lot of tips and hacks to watch out for.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdcqG-tIAWI&list=PLfKN-CJ2jz9OeK6P4HQQI-Wex-tk6UOUc

I’ll give him 12 months and I’ll put money on it that he wishes he’d never clapped eyes on that thing, horrible unreliable junk, the last three services have cost the leasing company an additional £1200 over and above the price of the cost of each service, plus they eat back tyres for fun, despite having the suspension geometry set up....again, sadly the same problems are now showing up on the facelift models, according to the mechanics at the local dealers.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
And lo & behold, opening line in video 2, I’ve had new rear tyres fitted because they were badly worn, and one had flat spots, due to a bad puncture repair......sorry mate, nothing to do with puncture repairs, that’s what they do, wear flat spots on the rears like a 50 pence coin, the drumming noise is absolutely horrendous, then the clutch will go, the drive shafts will fail on those 2 litre engines, the Bluetooth system you praised it for links when it feels like it, if your lucky the sliding doors won’t fall off the runners onto your toes, the starter motor will fail, and as a topper it will dump diesel all over the road when the the fuel system becomes terminally incontinent.
 
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aferris2

Guru
Location
Up over
We have been touring Australia for the past 11 months in a VW T5. Fantastic vehicle and we've not been too pushed for space so far. Plenty of room for two people, but is a bit tight with three. For us, some of the "must haves" are (in no particular order):
  • Swivel front seats - gives so much extra space and instantly gives seating for four instead of a cramped double seat.
  • Space heater. Ours fits under the rear seat so you hardly know it's there. Runs on diesel straight from the main fuel tank.
  • Slide out rear seat so easy to convert into the bed. Avoids the hassle of using table and extra boards and shuffling cushions around.
  • Pop top rather than hard top. Means you can get into most covered parking because of reduced height.
  • Rear (or side) drive away annex. As said above it only needs a bit of practice to line up and does provide lots of room to store things in or extend the living space when away or the weather is not so good.
  • Separate house battery to run all of the internal lighting, fridge etc. You really don't want to find you can't start the engine because of a flat battery.
Here's a picture of our van:
538939
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
With campers, it takes three goes to get it right.

We had a VW T2 back in the 80's
A VW T3 in the 90's
We now have a Mercedes Hymer MLT
(Stock photos below)

I would strongly suggest you hire before you buy.
We hired three different ones before we bought our latest one

The biggest issue with camper vans and motor homes weighing up budget vs layout vs length.
Until you have tried a few you wont realise the importance (to you) of the various advantages and disadvantages of each option.

VW T2
1596185648268.png


VW T3
1596185573383.png


Mercedes Hymer MLT
1596185792156.png
 

Drago

Legendary Member
As an aside how does the drunk in charge of a vehicle work? Whether it's a myth if you have the keys you are in charge, if you're sat in said seat 3 sheets to the wind can you be prosecuted?
There's has to be intent to drive. Not like the old days where parking the car in the street, going inside a house and getting drunk at a party with the keys in your pocket with no intention of driving where you would still have been committing an offence - that was deemed incompatible with European law so was rewritten decades ago. You need to be driving or attempting to drive, or supervising a learner in order for the offences under S.4 or S.5 RTA to be complete. You can be 3 sheets to the wind in a camper, and if you're not behind the wheel trying to get that key into the ignition you are safe.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
The Pilot Inn sounds interesting! Any others similar you would recommend? I've always considered wild campervanning but I really wouldn't want to upset any locals. Encouraged stays are a different matter though.:okay:
@Wookee There is an app - Mrs D is out round Daughter #3's until tomorrow so I can't ask her what it's called, but it tells you where you can pitch up in a camper/motorhome without being hassled, what rural pubs allow free overnight parking, etc. I'll rummage on the Play Store, see if I can find it. i think it might be called Van Life, or something like that. IOverlander also lists similar info.
 
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BoldonLad

Not part of the Elite
Location
South Tyneside
With campers, it takes three goes to get it right.

The biggest issue with camper vans and motor homes weighing up budget vs layout vs length.
Until you have tried a few you wont realise the importance (to you) of the various advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Would agree with that.

On Motorhome/Campervan forums, potential buyers are forever asking what other people think. That is all irrelevant IMHO, it is how YOU are going to use it, and what compromises YOU are willing to put up, because, there WILL be compromises.

Hope you enjoy your Hymer! ;)

We have Chausson 610 (4th Van).

We actually "got it right" on the third one (Autotrail Apache 632), but, it was over 3.5T, and, at 70, DVLA refused to renew my C1 licence, so, we had to go to 3.5T Van.
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
@Wookee There is an app - Mrs D is out round Daughter #3's until tomorrow so I can't ask her what it's called, but it tells you where you can pitch up in a camper/motorhome without being hassled, what rural pubs allow free overnight parking, etc. I'll rummage on the Play Store, see if I can find it. i think it might be called Van Life, or something like that. IOverlander also lists similar info.
@Wookee

(Some of the) apps are:

campercontact
park4night
searchforsites

There is also BritStops, which are free motor home parking places at pubs, farms etc where as long as you buy their produce you sleep for free
 

Wookee

Well-Known Member
Location
East Herts
@Wookee

(Some of the) apps are:

campercontact
park4night
searchforsites

There is also BritStops, which are free motor home parking places at pubs, farms etc where as long as you buy their produce you sleep for free
Thank you very much. The wife likes the 1 night pub stops - which is just as well as it doesn't look like we'll be able to go many other places for a while!
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
As will have been said...I've not read much of the thread.

From my limited experience, most people buy a camper and then get a bigger one asap.
So save the first mistake and get one you think is a bit big instead of it should be enough.

As @Fab Foodie will testify
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
As will have been said...I've not read much of the thread.

From my limited experience, most people buy a camper and then get a bigger one asap.
So save the first mistake and get one you think is a bit big instead of it should be enough.

As @Fab Foodie will testify


We’re thinking of downsizing to a panel van conversion :ohmy:
539125
 
I guess the basics are:

- do you need a toilet (then traditional campers like most VW are out)
- do you need a shower (some campers have them)
- weight capacity is a big topic to consider although with only 2 people you'll probably be fine
- how do you want to carry you bikes ? in an integrated garage (means you need a larger and traditional MoHo) or maybe you're happy to have them strapped on the back
- any thoughts about using the vehicle outside of camping ie do you plan it to be dual purpose (ie what VW's are perfect for)

We quickly ran out of space and weight capacity as we are a family of 5-6 (pending if No1 comes along, rare these days) so we usually take 6 bikes:wacko: of which i squeeze in my road bike and a Brompton for the family rides and shopping. But rather than upscale our ice cream van (they are all big white boxes on Italian chassis) we added a trailer last year to cope with it all and it's worked out really well.

Also consider where you can store the vehicle unless you're lucky enough to be able to keep it on your drive at home, this can be a big issue in some areas and storage can be quite expensive.

We average about 30 nights a year with plenty of short weekend trips and an odd longer week or so but we've managed about 50,000km in the last 7yrs with our current van covering about 10 different countries (currently in France by a lake having completed a nice but very hot ride in 36º heat so took a dip in the lake this evening upon return) and tomorrow is a family ride into town with all 5 of us and 2 dogs in their trailer.

Camping cars and bicycles fit together perfectly, a match made in heaven:wub:
 

Proto

Legendary Member
1 panel van conversions have their advantages., if an amazon delivery driver can get there, so can you. Plenty of coach built Motorhome struggle. Can be difficult to park.

2 you don’t need a shower. Ever. I know plenty of folks with vans and none of them use their shower.

3 you probably don’t need a loo. Porta potty maybe for emergencies. We toured Europe for three months In ours and managed just fine without a loo.

4 going to mainland Europe, get an awning. You can basically live outside.

5 get some solar panels on the roof and two leisure batteries and you can get off grid

6 become a minimalist. You really don’t need much stuff.

7 vw t5/t6 Great for short trips but you won’t want to live in one

8 get a van with a fixed bed. Bigger the better. Ours has a king size bed.

more as I think of ‘em. Btw ours is Citroen Relay - same as Fiat Ducati/Peugeot Boxer. H2 L3. I think L4 is overkill, and the extra length more a burden than a benefit. You’re not trying to recreate your house on wheels, you have to try and live differently and it’s surprisingly easy.

if it wasn’t for lockdown we’d have been spending the summer months in Scandinavia 🙁

539146
 
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