r/VanLifeUK

Hey everyone, we just bought our first van (Renault Trafic) to convert and are very excited. We're hoping to kit it out with a fairly minimal setup, but I'm coming up against the campervan 'requirements' being strict for insurance and classification.

Our plan was to put in some windows, insulation, and simple plywood furniture, using a portable Campingaz stove we already have and maybe a sink (but on the fence).

I know we don't need it to officially be a camper for DVLA these days, but it seems even for lots of insurance it requires a 'fixed permanent gas burner and sink' to be a camper - have people come up against this issue?

Is it worth committing and putting in a permanent hob to save on insurance, would campervan insurance be a lot cheaper than modified van insurance?

Interested to hear people's experiences as I'm a bit lost at the moment. The first couple of quotes I got for campervan in conversion insurance were £800 and £900 so anything I can do to shave money of that seems vey worthwhile.

I’ve been trying to do my own research rather than just post and ask, but it’s a hell of a struggle because I’ve got some special restrictions and needs.

Basically, I’m a contractor who works at film studios all over England. I work two or three 6-8 week contracts a year. I’d like to live out of the van for those contracts.

Because film work has catering for all my meals, I don’t need a kitchen in my van. Weekends I’ll go home or visit friends.

The van unfortunately has to be automatic, and ideally electric (but also that seems to be the main options for auto vans). I’m based in Birmingham and need to be able to get to Manchester (80ish miles) and London (120miles) so I ideally would want a range of 150+ miles.

My budget for buying the van is £5,000 which may be unrealistic looking at the e-sprinters but if there’s any other options I’d love to know about them. Time is on my side and I can quite happily buy a van in December.

Any suggestions on vans?

Looking for some advice for charging leisure batteries running fridges in hot weather.

We have a new110amp leisure battery charged via the van when driving and a 200w solar panel. We also have a ring 8A charge and maintain charger for when we're on EHU on site.

When the weather is cooler it seems to work ok I.e. in the UK, or parked up on the drive. (Running just on solar). However it struggles when we're on road trips in Europe.amd the temperature rises above 30 Celsius,

Does anyone have a similar set up to this?

Would you use both solar and EHU together?

Our fridge is a THQ50 Apicool Fridge Freezer, we have it set to the lowest setting (1 of 3). Have been trying to run it on solar during the day and topping up with EHU at night, not working as by the afternoon we're getting an F1 fault and the battery is dropping below 11.2v.

Any help appreciated just want to understand the best way to manage it and keep the boss's Rosè cool!

Thanks.

Where did you guys find your van? I’m currently looking for a solid van and using only ebay and Facebook marketplace, and I’m wondering if I should be using more than just these two sites to try and find a good deal.

Hello there, I'm thinking about getting a van to convert so I can go away for 5 days at a time or perhaps sometimes a week. I know absolutely nothing about electrics, I can watch every video on YouTube and still not understand. So I was looking at power stations, has anyone got any recommendations for power stations? I don't think I'll have much in the way of electricals, phones, sup pump and maybe a mini fridge.

I know I can charge them while driving or with a solar panel while stationary.

Please be nice I'm new at this. Thanks in advance for any help. Have a good day!

If you couldn’t tell, I’m very eager to be able to live the full time off grid van life ASAP!!

There’s one slight problem, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.. so where do I even start?

I also need help in finding an actual van that would suit my needs properly. I plan on living in it by myself and I’m on the taller side at 6’3ish so preferably a higher roof but I’m not picky at all as long as the van is reliable.

My overall budget is no more than 10k, but I’m a cheap bastard so I would prefer to keep this as low as possible haha.

Any advice would be very helpful, thanks a lot.

Yea, i got a budget of £10,000.

I'm leaning towards a vw crafter with around 100k on the clock. I need a lwb panel van. But I know I can get a transit cheaper but it seems a roll of the dice as to whether it was serviced properly with the right oil.

Is there anything better or is the crafter / MAN the best bet?

Prob going for a 2017-2019 man/crafter

Particularly during the nights & those with less “fancy” setups.

I struggled in a house albeit no air con but I can’t imagine how hard it’d be in a van or car at night.

Vehicle living may be unavoidable in my near future & escaping the heat is a big concern, I’d like to have a plan setup before/if it happens.

During day if not at work I guess you can chill in library or a pub or anywhere with aircon really but night time it seems inescapable.

Thanks

Parked up in a nice little spot, a small car park by the river. Settled in for the night. Hear an engine running, for a while. I could probably just put my nose-cancelling headphones on but I've not come to this spot to have to do that.

I go to investigate. It's a 2012 BMW sportsish car with semi-tinted windows. There's music on. It's 11.15 and the engine has been running for about half an hour by now. I walk around to the side to see what I can see, which is moving flesh. Don't particularly want to invade their privacy so I go round to the back and start waving my phone flashlight in their direction.

This goes on for about 10 minutes, before I start losing my patience and shout 'would you mind turning your engine off please mate'. They clearly just want a soundtrack and need the engine running for that. Maybe they're having an affair, maybe they don't like either of their homes, whatever.

Anyway, the flesh slowly stops moving, presumably some pants get pulled on, the door opens, and a youngish face, maybe mid 20s, pops out.

'sorry mate, are you going to sleep?'

'yeah, would you mind just turning your engine off please?'

'no problem, sorry to disturb you, we'll be off soon.'

'thanks'

Left 5 minutes later.

Just a reminder that sometimes it pays to stand your ground. I don't know how lucky I got here, though.

I know with the Crafter-style vans the shape of the inside can be a bit of a pain to work with, and that others (Transits?) you have to add "pods" either side at the back to get a "proper" bed.

From talking to folks who own one, the Relay, the issue seems to be getting a bike rack that you don't need to dismantle just to open the back doors.

I see loads of delivery drivers out there with Iveco Daily vans, and many "commercial" campers that are based on an Iveco truck of some kind, but very few Daily conversions.

Is there a good reason to avoid this particular model? I mainly ask because they seem to be slightly cheaper in the UK than the other base models and cost is definitely a concern for us!

Looking to do some overlanding in a 4x4 with a tent box could i get away with using apps like park4night in a tent box or is it a massive no go. As far as i know law wise as long as its in the foot print of your vehicle you should be ok

My leisure battery has given up the ghost, so I was going to take the opportunity to upgrade to a lithium with larger capacity (currently an 83AH lead acid 😒)

However with the cost of having to swap out the split charger & mains charger I'm considering a portable power station instead. It would also allow me to use a portable solar panel

I'd appreciate your thoughts & experiences if you've done this, or use a portable power station instead of a leisure battery

TIA

Here’s where I get the looks. We have a tentbox and 100% wanting to keep it but just get a van for the storage and seating area. How does the transit custom l2 fair with height inside. We go on trips for 3 days normally then maybe 1 bigger trip a year. I’d make the back in both vans a lounge C shaped seating area with a little kitchen next to it. Main thing I’m concerned about is height and losing that 20cm. It’s not for living in so is the head room that much of an issue?