THINKING OF DOING A VAN CONVERSION? 6 THINGS TO CONSIDER
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 มิ.ย. 2024
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Part 1 of a 'Van Conversion Basics' series, with the aim to give people new to van conversions the low-down on what they are getting themselves in to!
This video goes through the things to consider before doing a full conversion (clearly it is different if you just throw in a mattress!)
My how-to blog: offgridvan.blogspot.com/
KIT USED IN THIS VAN (USA & UK links)
For more instructions see the ebook guide here: goo.gl/yXMNrR
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Half way through converting a van. Every word he says is spot on.
Did you finish? If so, what did you end up with?
No hot tub !?! But where am I going to sip the champaign from the onboard wine cellar served in cristal glasses from the china cabinet ?
Louis Dubreuil; from the sauna, obviously!
In the indoor swimming pool duh
It's only TECHNICALLY no hot tub. All you really need is a heliport to sustain your chopper housing a hot tub. Some people are so naive!
Mate, I literally just stumbled over your channel and having lived on/off in a van for close to 15 years and now living on a boat, but considering getting a van as my second home. I have been spending many evenings on TH-cam researching van builds and yours are so far absolutely the best yet. Well done
Thanks Christian! Appreciate the big compliment on my build! Best of luck with Boatlife! :D
another important point in terms of cost: the machinery to actully do wood/metal/electronics work ...these are not cheap as well.
300 hours in 17 days??? Man, meth is one hell of a drug.
Omy gosh..you're right i multiplied 17 × 24 hours in a day and got = 408.
If he worked even at 12 hours a day for 17 days...its 204 hours.
If he only slept for 4 hours a day and worked 20 hours for 17 days...that is 340 hours with no breaks or lunch times included in this figure. Lol
Yeah 17.5 hours a day for 17 days is not possible! Think the maths is wrong there.
The days were not consecutive. You can check the wether.
@@malerei9270 If you watch the video they were. He took a couple of days off but all of the other days were consecutive.
I definitely need a hot tub in there! Everything else will be build around it. Thx for the video!
1:03 Shower, fridge and freezers are "of course" as far as I care.
Two vans, five years of off-grid. Keep it simple, shower can be a garden sprayer. A good fridge system is essential. You need to plan it, including all the electrics, before you skin it so you can put in supports and run the wiring. A spinning roof vent is a really good idea, and if you live in England, a tiny coal stove from a Narrow boat. Build permanent ventilation.
Awesome van conversion. Very inspirational. Thanks for sharing your journey
Great videos man, gives me ideas to start a summer project with my dad! 💡
Absolute inspiration this is what i need in my life im a ski instructor and in the process of using my talents as a photographer to make money so this is really bringing me some fresh ideas many thanks Nate
Thanks for the advice, considering this as a project to do this winter and use next year for filming...
We learnt so many valuable skills when we converted our first van, skills we'd have never learnt anywhere else. After our first one sadly got written off, we took to converting our current on, which is ten time better because we already had the skills we needed. We found that although converting one is expensive, we still ended up paying less than if we'd bought one ready converted and we get the proud sense of achievement that we built it ourselves :) love seeing your videos!
I can imagine! I do not really want to do another van, but if I had to I would definitely do it a bit faster!
Nate Murphy we halved the time it took us to do the second one :) definitely not doing another one again though!!! Yours looks so smart! Love the 'mood' lighting :)
Hey Nate, loving the van videos, subbed after I caught the first one, it was my first introduction to the idea of living out of a regular old van with mods and your attention to design and detail puts you head and shoulders above other 'vanlife' vids I've seen since, which tend to lean towards 'van squat' than home away from home :P I've a question from the 17 day build, that being, where does your extractor fan actually extract to? I gave the video several skim overs after the initial watch and couldn't work out if it's got a hole in the roof or what.
It is a mushroom vent - the hole goes straight through the roof - the bottom and the top bold together. The top has a rubber seal which makes it waterproof.
Fair play mate. Solid work and documenting. I'll get one done before the summer!
Thanks Eamonn... best of luck with your project!!
Good things to think about as I'm turning mine into a workshop/studio.
Sounds a great idea!!
Nate, This Van is so amazing in design. You built it and I can see that design is your passion. Such a good eye for details.
Wait...
Saying that doesn't consider all your other passions. What got me to watch this channel was the 17 day conversion video, what really kept me was when you talked about your plans this year. I really wish you good luck! Kinda jealous, but one can't have everything. Psycheventure yaaaaeh!
Go to Switzerland in later spring, to Graubünden or Berner Oberland, and just adore the mountain flowers. It is good for the heart. P.S.
Yannick - thanks for the feedback! So happy that the plans video was of interest.
Nice.. I may go to the Alps again in the summer.. :)
Best of luck!!
Another great video Nate. I am dreaming of doing a conversion myself, I already own an old sprinter and I long to fit it out. A few people on different forums I follow recommend buying an old caravan and ripping the parts out of it, that might be helpful for people on a tight budget. Keep up the good work, best regards Phil.
Thanks Phil, appreciate the feedback :) - Yea I know someone who did this - I think it worked fairly well!
"do you really need a hot tub?" lols
thanks I have just begun to live in a van
Great video, as always
Thanks :)
First comment! First of all, great work, and great inspiration! I had a look at a bunch of videos, your van is my favourite! I have this idea in the back of my mind, but my dream vehicle would need to fit a road bike. Have you thought of how you would go about this? For skis, they could probably hang from the roof, so that's presumably less of an issue. I stopped rock climbing years ago, and now the stuff i do uses bulkier kit, it's a shame... Anyway, thanks and keep up the good work!
Probably would need a single bed - or a folding bed which you can fit the road bike along side. Just a different layout - that is all! :)
Great advice to rent a van and try van life before committing major funds and time. I fortunately rented a catamaran off Mauritius for a week, for my family (and me) to decide sailing around the world was not for us. Saved a fortune!
Haha yeah, that sounds like it was a good plan!
Hey Nate,
Top job on the conversion. I purchased your eBook also, really good information! I am taking the parts I love from your design and merging with some ideas I love from the sprinter van diaries couple.
I had a question about the floor beams, did you screw them down or just use glue? What dimension are the beams you used?
Thanks
Hi Doug, that sounds great! The ones between the insulation? I think that was 1.5inch sq wood. I glued them down and screwed my ply base down on top of it. Thank you for watching!
Dude, great videos I subbed after the first vid as well. I want a van for weekends to go surfing (I live in Devon) and maybe to France and Spain next year for some surf trips do you think ford Transit is too much for me? I do like my space and think i have the skills to convert one. The practicalities and convenience of not having to find accommodation and for chilling out in are too much for me to pass up on. .
What is the length of the book. How many pages?
Great information, thank you!
No problem, thanks for watching :)
At least one reasonable van builder. Rare!
Um yes, I definitely need a hot tub.
"Do you really need a hot tub?" LOL thank you Nate,
This is soooo useful, thank you! Would you recommend van life for an away from home uni student with no previous experience of building/fixing a van?
If you have some time to build it.. its going to take you longer to work it out and build things... but for sure it is possible with some perseverance, patience and LOTS of online research.
Thank you for your video
My wife and I have been so inspired from your videos and videos like these. We're tired of working our day jobs slowly saving up, that we almost dumped our savings on a ford e350 with high top roof 6 hours away on Craigslist. How did you stay so patient? We're so hyped :)
That is so cool! If you can make a projection for the 'quit date' then you can be dedicated to reaching it.. and you know it will come (time passes quickly in reality) and you can focus on trimming bullshit things and activities out of your life in preparation... that will keep the morale up as you get closer to bailing from the day jobs!
Hey another great video. only question I have is what software do you use to make your videos. think you've pretty much covered everything else. thanks.
Premiere Pro (Adobe)
Great advice , what was your final cost excluding the initial purchase price of van?
I was dreaming this since 1978, since i travel a lot around the world i was/still i am in the edge of Bankruptcy but always find a way.
Lately that dream came alive since maybe forced to live in such conditions in the US, this way of living is cost effective.
Probably the most realistic solution is to find and buy an already made one since building it from scratch while having no base would be crazy. I know im dreaming big and shooting for the stars tho.
What will happen...time will tell
Keep up the good work
Thanks Nikos - good luck with it all!
Hey Nate, i've been thinking to build something like this to myself. I watched your video about making the van. Is there any things you would like to change to the van?
Hi Nate
You look like your living the dream, I really admire what you are doing with your life. I have recently bought a new transit that I am converting also I have seen your climbing/adventure videos. I started climbing last year and love it only climbing at around 5a at the moment just waiting for "summer" in the UK to get out there. Where would you recommend around north and mid wales for sport climbing? Keep it up
Shane
Llanberris, Gogarth & Angelsy area has a lot of sport climbing - good grade spread from easy to 8s. Best to flick through a few guide books and see what is there at your grade!
Excellent helpful grazie grazie Mille ciao
Nate! how much did the total cost end up at after you first finished the van, including the van itself :) everything looks great man. Im inspired to do this!
See Q&A video :D
Hi Nate! Nice video again! I have two questions about your conversion: how much did you spend on wood? and how many meters or square meters of wood did you use, not only the visible panels, but also for the construction.
also, because the weight is an important thing: did you ever weigh your conversion? can you estimate the added weight with all the solid wood, gas tank etc? that would be a great information and also important to consider. at least depending on the rules of the country you are living in and register your van ;)
Wood.. not sure a few hundred quid for sure! I just kept buying it and it kept eating it! Not sure, 250-300kg maybe? MPG went down from 32.5 to 30mpg if that helps! In the UK its fairly chill and easy to comply with regs.
Hot tub is a great idea!
Hey Nate, can you give me some advice? I'm considering buying a School bus and converting it into an adventure vehicle for me and my friends to travel across the country skiing, biking, swimming, Rock climbing, and skateboarding. I'm 14 right now and planning on converting it over the next two years with an outside budget of $12,000 (US). Thanks so much Silas.
Firstly great job and great video thank you! I’m really rubbish at manual stuff, therefore I watched this to see what it takes, is it easier worth for my first van (weekend use / Europe maybe 2 weeks here and there) just to buy a converted one already?
Yeah it's worth that.. just depends on what you want and how much youre able to work on it / or pay instead.
Nate Murphy have you got any idea how much a Conversion costs roughly through a company?
Want :closet bed shower/bathroom and a tv 🙃
Hey man I'm trying to figure out what controller would work for me, would this controller goo.gl/jhpbSP work for 400 watts or 500 watts or both? I can't seem to find out.
Will solar panels work in the Highlands of Scotland?
Where is your Pinterest board linked?
Hey Nate, I was wondering what your thoughts are regarding 2wd vs 4wd. I guess your transit is a propulsion ? Have you ever been kind of stuck because of the lack or 4wd ?You seem to be enjoying a warm winter in Southern Europe but I'm wondering how fast this kind of vehicle would get stuck on a snowy road.All the best!
Mine is RWD. Nah its been pretty fine! Snow - you would need to change the tyres.. get chains - but otherwise it should be ok.
How he went from fridge to hot tube so quickly haha
Hi Nate!
I'm thinking about doing a van conversion, however I can only drive up to a 3.5t under my current driving licence.
I want to be able to stand up and have a shower space.
Do you cover weight issues in UK in any of your videos? Also predicting unladen weight after conversion 🤔
Can you help?
Thanks, Jade
Most panel vans with a conversion of sensible loading should be under 3.5 tonnes.
My doubt would between buying a camper van from a brand (like hymer or whatever) or converting one/buying a converted one. Here in Portugal I can buy camper van from a brand for like 35 thousand euros (second hand in good shape). I can buy a mercedes sprinter (second hand in good shape) for like 20 thousand. So I really don't know if it makes sense to save that 15 thousand to convert it myself, I believe 15k would not be enough to do a great conversion so... It's kinda weird why nobody talks about this.
One simple question. What wheelbase did you choose?
Long Wheel Base (hightop).
Im looking to uber and live out my car. So a prius.
small portable gas heater. ditto cooker. battery led lights
300hr in 17 days ?
idunneedachannelffs sounds about right
Yea.. more like 250hrs in 17 days.. but add 50 hours of planning. I got a bit muddled and when I came to edit I could not retake.
I just bought a luton to convert,any of you good people got any tips or advice?i have my bro to help me,he is a mechanic/electrics/welding etc,i am looking for shower/bathroom ideas,been all over you tube and seen some,but all and any ideas will be appreciated.
Will you show your lpg system ?? i havent seen any
Here.. offgridvan.blogspot.com/2016/10/gas-system.html
Nate Murphy really thankful keep making videos like this ones
I really want to rent a live-able (stealthy) van for August and September but am having a hard time finding anything that isn't targeting the 'glamping' population! Does anyone know anyone, or have any company recommendations? I'll be using it in London, and West Wales, as well as the rest of the UK but can rent from anywhere!
when you bought your van how many miles or kilometers did the odometer have? I'm worried about buying one with too many.
80k miles ish - yeah too many means it is not worth pumping in too much money.. maybe 50% of van cost as a max cost for the conversion might make sense.
Nate Murphy thanks for the feedback truly appreciate it. Wish you the best. :) On Wisconsin.
If you steel being in spain you must spend a few days in "sierra de gredos" south face of the mountain. Ask me if you need details
What area is it in? Maybe DM me.
Ávila, next to Madrid. If you type arenas De San Pedro would be a good place to start Your tour. Once there you should visit the little towns in that área like Guisando, El Arenal.. if you decide to go. Let me know and ill send you an email with a map explaining everything
Cool - thanks for the tips!! I will google them!
Only £300 on batteries, you must have very low demand :P I'll prob spend 7-10 times that. But a diesel heater is 100 GBP iirc
Where is the Pinterest link
Nate!! Are you Simon Quarterman (actor from Westworld)?!? You look like him ... but you also sound like him! It's uncanny.
Shhh...!
Nate, with your van you should add a solar still to collect water if you have 2 or more you'll have enough water to drink each day. I use this one when i'm out in the bush www.watercone.com/product.html.
new subscriber here.
yay!
but how do you get money while your on the road?
Freelance . You can make a hobby a career. If you are a photographer do landscapes or portraits on the go etc
could you put a wind turbine on the roof so when you drive it generates electricity? ik it seems dumb but yanno
it would cost you more in your fuel..
Yes, yes I need a hot tub.
Question for you. My name is Ray and I am a Sophmore in High school in The United States. It is my dream to live in a van and explore the world, but i know that this is not possible at my age due to money and not having a license or anything like that. my Question is should i go to college than live in a van or should i live in a van right after high school. I raise this question because after College i most likely will not have much money at all and i will be packed with debt
If you can live in a van while at college it could cut costs.. but could be socially less easy. I don't know - I guess whichever is right for you :)
oh snap! you right living in a van while at college would be DOPE thanks man
Ray Wisnewski I know you're asking Nate specifically :) but I wanted to give a little input. If money may be a problem, consider going to a community college for two years, then transfer to a four year college. I know a lot of people look down upon community colleges, but realistically, it's much more economical, and will give you the opportunity to save up money. :) In the end, like other's who went straight to a four year after high school, you will graduate with the same bachelors, even if you took a different route. Hope this helps a little, just coming from someone who did community college first. :)
I am the only one out of my three siblings who chose not to go straight to a UC, and in the end, we all got bachelors, but with different amount of student loans and debt. While I did miss out on all the freshmen rush week, sororities, campus events, etc, I was very happy with going to a community college, and saving money so I could travel the world, and build a van home. :) I am still saving, but getting there!
oh sweet! thank you so much Suzy! I hope you can one day fulfill your dreams aswell
oh sweet! thank you so much I hope you can fulfill your dreams aswell!
Can someone settle this debate once and for all for me?
Solar panels....sunlight only or light in general (be it daylight or downcast)
I live in Ireland and want to do a conversion...but we have shitty weather most of the time
They do work in cloudy weather - generally around 1/4 output (depending on how thick those clouds are!) How many watts can you get on your roof? In the UK it was totally find in summer... Winter I would be doubtful..
Nate Murphy
Thanks for the reply, I have the same van picked out as yourself, high roof ford transit, I plan on getting a roof rack so I suppose I could put two large panels on it, know nothing about watts yet, haven't delved in that deep, just wanted to know if solar was a waste of time in ireland and whether I should install them only when I plan to travel europe, but like you said, if i live thru a great irish summer it would be a shame to not have the solar during it. Cheers for info, I do plan on getting your e-book for when I'm ready to rock on the van idea.
Roof rack.. useful.. but big panels may take most if it up.. Just need to work out pros and cons! Good luck when you get to it! :)
Also from Ireland looking to do a van conversion some day in the future. Did you end up making it?
I did a mini version in a fiat scudo which I'm currently living in, saving for bigger van at the mo, need 3 months tops
4th
Took your advice and hired a van for a week travelling wherever the road took us...We loved it! We're good weather campers, and loved the freedom the van gave us, combined with the easy life of having everything packed and ready to go. Thanks for the advice. If anyone's interested, the couple who rent our their van are really nice and friendly...
www.lossiemouthcampervanhire.com/
Amazing! That is really cool.
Good job, Nate. Another considerations is which van is right for you? Full size, Sprinter, minivan or "micro" van. We choose a minivan which is economical as a daily driver, and still has room for a full-size bed for camping! GoneCamper.com th-cam.com/video/2bqkov9-FD8/w-d-xo.html
Van build tips vanliving101.com/
hmm I have so much respect and admiration for you dude it's tricky not to sound really gay whilst commenting..
right comment no. 1: I love you.
comment 2: I enjoy spooning most days.
comment 3: please can we run away forever and live in fields of gold.
?
that is all.
Haha thanks... but I hear the fields of gold are somewhat overrated.
Hot tub lmho!
I saw something that was cool the other day for a shower the guy took a hose from my kitchen sink with a spray nozzle on it in linked it up to a pump up type weed sprayer obviously you have to buy a brand new weed sprayer to do this one and that's the poor boys made up shower
Ah no way, cool idea!
Just buy a caravan ??
Matthew Spskater That may be an easier option for some people but van conversions or stealth campers make it alot easy to park in urban areas without needing to go to a designated camp/rv site and it also comes down to cost and personal preference 😊
300 hrs in 17 days is almost 18 hrs a day... that would leave you with 6 hours for sleeping and eating, assuming you did nothing else for 17 days..... I call bullshit. That being said, lovely van. Well worth 300 hours of work.
"do u really need a hot tub" .. ROFL
Hi
Marzbars 7 fuck off
Johnny Smart no thanks
300 hrs? Way too much.. Cut that in Half
Sorry one track thought, but what I ea b there to know is if your straight, & single? LOL. I'm a US. girl but still want to know.
haha.. yes, I am straight and currently single :P
Nate Murphy How you made out what my question was from the babble that appeared is beyond me...
(Stupid Cell Phones)
Sooo.. then the next apparent & logical question is, How in the World is that Possible? Your Adorable, Maybe your Happily Single like myself, FYI I would seriously consider changing that status if you fancy a visit to the US. LOL. ;-)
Oh by the way I do actually listen to your video's. I don't just stare at you & think salacious thoughts.
I promise LOL.
Stay Adorable,
Xoxo From A US Country Girl!
300 hours, doubt it. 300 hours in 17 days is approximately 18 hours a day (I didn't math well but you're suggesting that's all you did. otherwise good video.
Yea I should have clarified a bit - prob more like 250hrs work in those days, then 50hours of research and design work.
People please just stop adding this stupid background music in the videos for christ sake!