Building your dream van

[Just Jeepin']

I was reminded of this link by Jb boin’s archive of the Overland site.

Sadly the ads are almost unbearable and they don’t know how to spell Volkswagen, but if you were ever interested in #vanlife, this seems like a not-terrible place to do some research.

And, heck, what else do we have to do for the long, deadly winter?

https://divineontheroad.com/build-a-van/

[CoolMinivan.......Nobody]

No Grand Caravan, fail.

[just-a-scratch]

Excellent site. Thanks for sharing.

[WhoIsTheLeader]

I'm not impressed with their spelling and sentence structure and I think their assessment of "The Volkswagon" (and you say you know nothing about cars) isn't particularly accurate but there's some good advice in here.

[LimitedTimeOnly]

I lost a lot of productivity last week falling down the van rabbit hole after the wife decided that towing a small camper trailer would not be fun to do again. There are a lot of resources out there . . . I wish I had bookmarked the better ones to share.

Then last weekend I floated the van idea - just renting one, mind you - and was told that it was going to be tenting in perfect weather or a hotel or cabin in imperfect weather. This is a woman who has done plenty of backpacking and solo adventures. I think we are getting old.

I still like the idea of being able to go into the middle of the forest, park on the side of the service road, "camp" and be right near the trails in the morning. I guess I'll just be doing that solo in the Outback on those occasions where I'm not with the wife and dog, as I did a year ago when I drove the Georgia Traverse after Thanksgiving.

BTW, the best old option appears to me to be a 2003-2014 GM H-series van with AWD. 5.3L LS V-8 engine! Crappy fuel economy, though. The new Transit with the AWD is tempting, except it's new, and $$$ for occasional use (for me). There are 4x4 conversions for domestic vans, too, but if I need 4x4, then I might as well go straight to the overlanding options rather than vanlife.

Well, that was more than I expected to say when I started writing.

[HoustonRunner]

@long_voyager94 Came here specifically to see your reply.

[A Former User]

I thought this was going to be about vans.

Ford have lots of platforms to run with for conversions.

and models within each.

[Jarrett]

I find these van-life things fascinating. I would have loved to try it for a while, but I have too much in the way of it.

My van would have to tow my race car BRZ though.

[CoolMinivan.......Nobody]

@houstonrunner said in Building your dream van:

@long_voyager94 Came here specifically to see your reply.

I mean really, how can you have a van builder and not use the most common van on the street?

@jarrett said in Building your dream van:

I find these van-life things fascinating. I would have loved to try it for a while, but I have too much in the way of it.

My van would have to tow my race car BRZ though.

That's easy:
Mind you, that Accord was packed with scrap steel and junk, tipped the scale right around 7500 lbs.

[A Former User]

@long_voyager94 said in Building your dream van:

I mean really, how can you have a van builder and not use the most common van on the street?

TBH, this looks like it's specifically aimed at the #vanlife subculture, which is based around living in your van.

I actually do think the Chrysler minivans would be interesting for VW Westfalia-style camper conversions (and in fact, 5 Mars does exactly that (this is the Pacifica Hybrid, they also do non-hybrids)), but I wouldn't want to live in that thing.

Then again, that site does list Volkswagen vans, where you'd be suffering basically as much. However, there's absolutely an element to the whole #vanlife hipster thing where a rear-engine Volkswagen van gets you hipster cred (and therefore Instagram likes) that something more modern doesn't... and if you're not getting the Instagram likes for the sake of your suffering, you might as well get a larger van that actually has enough space to live in somewhat comfortably.

[VincentMalamute]

@limitedtimeonly yeah, we're all getting old. Sigh. I agree with her that towing isn't fun.

I think the Transit AWD is mostly using a proven drivetrain from the European Transits with adaptation needed for some reason. And maybe a few F-150 parts thrown in. So maybe not as new and proven as you might think.

OTOH, unless you're doing winter camping or skiing or serious off-roading, I doubt you need the AWD. For off-roading, anywhere you care to take a full-size van, you could do with RWD and LSD.

Transits have been around just long enough that cheapish ones are appearing on the used market.

I can't help you with the $$$ though

[LimitedTimeOnly]

@svend No Nuggets available in the US, though.

[LimitedTimeOnly]

@vincentmalamute I have struggled with certain poorly maintained slopes on forest roads with the FWD GTI. The Outback hasn't had any issues (as expected) and thus I lean toward AWD. Plus, the van would help with extending the season into snowy weather in the southern Appalachians, so . . . maybe?

But, yes a RWD van would probably do fine, as you say, pretty much anywhere I would take a full size van. And, yes, more benefit from there being more cheap used RWD options on the market.

[A Former User]

@limitedtimeonly Or any of the Custom model for that matter, or even the Fiesta van or Courier range.

[VincentMalamute]

@limitedtimeonly

This dude on the Transit forum says you don't need AWD. He's braver than I am. Long Canyon Road where-ever that is. He does have LSD and he's got to have AT tires.

I bet RWD with LSD would be better than FWD going up steep slopes; more weight on the rear driving wheels. I'm assuming the GTI also didn't have LSD.

[Jawzx2]

Vansvansvans.com

[LimitedTimeOnly]

@vincentmalamute Actually, the GTI does have a limited slip diff, which is the only way I got past the forest road spot where I dented my rocker panel and where I decided that I was getting a camping/hiking vehicle.

For many years I drove a RWD Ford Ranger with LSD through snowy Pittsburgh winters and muddy construction sites, and while it wasn't pretty at times I generally got where I needed to go, so it could work in a van.

Didn't know LSD was available on the Transit.

[VincentMalamute]

@limitedtimeonly ah. I don't think the Transit dude lifted his but the stock Transit would have a lot more ground clearance than the GTI.

yeah, I daily drove a RWD Toyota Van through Minneapolis winters. After I learned about winter tires, it was fine.

The factory LSD is a clutch pack type so apparently not the best according to the off-roaders. People on the forum add Eaton Tru-Tracs for like $1-1.5K.