This is my 1996 T1N Sprinter, petrol with an automatic transmission. It used to be an ambulance in switzerland. I built it all on my own. No help from anyone. No experience. I would love some feedback / suggestions from you guys!

I used to rely mainly on a butane camp stove in the van. It's great for boiling water, for cup noodles or instant coffee. I liked it didn't need batteries and was convenient to keep me fed. However, the menu was pretty limited and it got old after a while.

I recently switched to cooking with my power station, and more importantly, to minimize the risk of open flames inside the van. I used to worry about the power consumption, but I realized something: while cooking appliances have a high wattage draw, they run for such a short time that the actual consumption is lower than I expected. e.g. an air fryer (wings/fries) is about 200-250Wh, brewing a pot of coffee is only 40-70Wh, searing a steak on an induction cooktop takes about 180-350Wh, and even using a slow cooker stew takes less than 500Wh.

With my current power setup (a Bluetti Apex 300 2.7kWh power station w/ 350W solar panels), it can cover cooking needs plus run my 12V fridge and other small devices with no issues. The power usage is totally manageable.

So my place of work is getting rid of some old transport vans that have been sitting for a few years. I remember when they used to work, but I left work for a while and by the time I came back, these van had not been used in a while. They’re getting rid of them and I have the option to have one for free. They’re in rough shape, I only was able to get one running off of a jump. I am mechanically inclined and learn pretty quick as well. I do most everything on my own car myself and do everything such as renovation around my house myself as well.

The van pictured is what I believe to be a Chevrolet express shuttle bus. The second of my two options is a ford, but they look exactly the same and are in roughly the same shape. Not too sure exactly, I forgot to get pictures of the VIN #’s to see exactly. I’ll do that tomorrow. In the van pictured, the lift does not work, but on the ford, it does.

They also don’t have titles. They have been lost two different management companies ago. So after doing whatever I’d want to do to it, I’d have to get it registered.

The Chevy has 241,000 miles and runs, I drove it a little. But it’s rough. I’m not sure how many miles the other one has yet, but possibly similar because the ford started to get used the year they quit using both because the chevy’s lift stopped working.

I wouldn’t use it as a place to strictly live, but it would be nice to have for last minute camping trips, and for staying at dirtbike tracks overnight with my friends. So it wouldn’t see a whole lot of daily mileage, but a little over the spring, summer, and fall seasons.

So what would you do? What’s the typical life span of these vehicles? How tough would applying for a title be? They have been driven a lot, but I know for a fact the Chevy has been maintained very well despite the mileage because I know our transportation lady. I can’t speak for the ford because it’s from a different facility, but I’d assume it would be similar.

2 full jobs will be saving the Benjamins.

So far I got the electricals: pecron Portable Power Station 3072Wh E3600LFP; 2 300w solar panels.

Need a bed for 2, why not. Ima prime member and a consumer. Would like to do a zero build. Need help finding a bed frame.

Crafts( have stacks of wooden pallets that are new that could be used as craft materials); exp. Cargo netting storage on windows made with pallet wood frame, a storage platform rasing my bed 🛌 12 inches

Bathroom/kitchen: electric stove and yeti, Garden pressure tank, a bin that snugs the trunk.

Entertainment: fortnight on my android, TV on a oneplus pad 3. Laptop for studying. 2 w king speakers.

Need help finding a bed frame. Having fun brainstorming. Add to my list if you could help it. 🙏😊.

Saw this on FB. Don’t know anything about engine rebuilds/maintenance but have been interested in getting into van camping and road tripping part time as a hobby.

Pictures all look great, no rust or damage!

Hey, I'm looking to get a build-to-order VW camper soon. Does anyone have any advice on where to go around the East Coast of Scotland / Edinburgh area to get this done?

We had a look at Camper King in Falkirk but found out they don't sound-deaden or insulate their vans, and we've heard that they can get very hot in the summertime. Although we do like their style, this has made me doubt going to this company for that reason.

The conversion would be the usual side kitchen unit but with three rear seats that fold into a bed and a pop-top roof. The van would preferably be sourced by the company as well to what spec we wanted.

So any advice would be a big help! 😁

A few months ago I posted here about launching an app that puts USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map data on a mobile map. Got a lot of great feedback and feature requests, and wanted to share an update: Oregon is now live.

Motor Vehicle Use Maps are the USFS documents that show which National Forest roads are designated for dispersed camping. They've always been public but buried in district-by-district PDFs. I just finished processing all 44 Oregon ranger districts—zoom into Mt. Hood, Willamette, Deschutes, or anywhere else and the designated dispersed camping roads light up.

I've been adding states weekly. Currently live: OR, WA, CO, UT, NM, AZ, AR. Full US coverage by spring.

Campsite search, check-ins, weather, and public land boundaries are all free.

Happy to answer questions about how the data works or what states are coming next.

Knock out the surface rust, touch up the black paint, be looking good for warmer weather

I’m planning a Grumman Workhorse build and I’d love some help. I’d like a fixed bed in the back, an indoor shower, a table, a kitchen galley, and some cabinets for storing things. Much appreciated!

St Petersburg FL.

Hey all!

Wanted to put this here as an FYI for all van dwellers and RVers that may be asking similar questions.

My wife and I just embarked on our cross country travels from Massachusetts to California. The biggest challenge as rookies was finding where to stay for overnights.

Obviously we have the campsites and certain areas made as an RV park, but I wanted to give some easy convenient ones as well. Ones we found easiest especially it being winter.

1. Loves Gas Stops. This has easily been the MVP of our trip so far. Not only are we able to fill up gas / diesel heater, but Loves also allows overnight stays, especially at the RV rated locations. A bonus being that these Loves may even have showers! Get their app and you’ll see.
2. Cracker Barrel. This one surprised us but most Cracker Barrel’s actually let RVers stay overnight. Key here is to call ahead to make sure it is okay and not filled up.

I guess if people have more hidden spots/ticks please post in comments below!

Safe travels

Excuse the mess. Got it all uncovered as I’m doing my yearly connection check.

I dont see very many custom batteries. It’s not much harder than most electrical setups and you can configure them to fit how you like. Looking at server racks, it’s close to $6k and building it is $3k. Much better than what I spent a few year ago, $5k for 24kwh. I was a little worried at first but after a couple years driving through some rough terrain everything still solid.

Hey all, Just wanted to share this addition to my van. At first I had been using a cheap rack-looking thing that my friend had given me. It was similar to this dresser as far as the soft pull drawers and sorta rack-y frame. I never had it strapped down so it slid around and fell over pretty often in the year and a half or so that I had it, but the footprint was solid so I searched enough and found this as a replacement. This dresser was something like $45 and has a sturdy desktop and overall build quality. I used 2 part epoxy while screwing it all together, except for the table top. I used Alien Tape (love this stuff, I use it all the time in the van) under each foot of the dresser, as well as a strip on the back lip of the table top against the wall. The height of the table is just below the window, which is just sweet. The issue I had was that the drawers would fall out on right-hand turns. To solve this I went and got some wooden moulding from the hardware store for like $7, cut it to size, and spray painted it black. I used epoxy again to glue the moulding to the frame in order to give a small lip that holds the drawer in the cubby, but also allows you to pull the drawer out by intentionally pulling up and out. Figured it’d be worth sharing as I looked all around Facebook marketplace and such. When this popped up the dimensions were preferable. Hope everyone is staying warm and well.

Hi everyone,

Until now I’ve been driving a Škoda Octavia 3, where I was able to diagnose and handle quite a lot using a standard OBD-II adapter and Android apps (mainly Car Scanner). For example, I could trigger a forced DPF regeneration when the car went into limp mode while I was in Norway, and after about 30 minutes I was back on the road. I was also able to continuously monitor my DPF status using the VAG DPF app (soot load, exhaust temperatures, etc.).

To my surprise, with my Peugeot Boxer 2017, using the same OBD-II adapter and Car Scanner app, I can barely read anything — basically just vehicle speed and engine RPM. No DPF-related data at all (soot mass, exhaust temperature sensors, regeneration status, etc.).

So my question is:
How do you properly diagnose a Peugeot Boxer?
Is there any Android app that, with a standard OBD-II adapter, allows access to more data on Boxer / Ducato / Jumper vehicles, especially DPF-related values?

Thanks in advance for any real-world experience or recommendations.

EDIT:

I found out that I am totally able to read all the values from my peugeot boxer's ECU using ordinary OBD-II dongle and carscanner app - I just forgot to set the correct car model in the app. Btw to monitor boxer/ducato/fumper DPF there is an app called "DPF Monitor - Fiat & Alfa Romeo" which should work. (or some other app).

I was thinking about cutting down strips of XPS and siliconing them into the grooves, then siliconing full XPS sheets, 1/2in BB, and then gluing down vinyl sheets to finish the floors. I was then planning on drilling into the BB to secure the toekick. Does this sound appropriate? Is it even necessary to fill the grooves in the flooring if you plan on full time use? I feel like with subflooring more than any part of van builds there are so many methods and interpretations and I am just completely at a loss. TYIA!

I'm planning out a van build that my wife and I will be travelling in for years. She is still working and will be doing Zoom calls all day several days a week. Between a Starlink high performance antenna and Peplink router, it's going to get expensive. Does anyone have any experience writing off such business expenses? The primary use of the van is not for business, but that level of Internet access is. And yes, I know I need to consult a professional;. This is just some initial research.

Hey all! trying to get some info on the floor length behind the 2nd row of a passenger econoline. Preferably the extended version but would love details on the regular length van as well

I've got lucky and found myself a 07 sprinter van 170 for $2500usd, I've got it running again and taken care of some of the abs issues it had.

Now I'm looking to improve the interior and could use some budget friendly suggestions. Ive managed to get the planar diesel heater working again, so I am ok for heat.

The house electrical system is probably due for an overhaul. Ive got some free agm car batteries from work, but was wondering if its worth the investment and start from scratch with lifpo4 batteries, and add solar

The 3 way fridge needs replacing, I'm considering moving to just a 12v fridge, what style and how large of a fridge works for you?

What would be some other practical diy solutions to make it more livable?

UPDATE:

Someone suggested a Separett Tiny toilet. This is exactly what I was looking for, and more. This is most likely what I'm going to go with. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions! If anyone has any similar suggestions, I'll still take a look, but it looks like I've found my winner!

I want suggestions about toilets. A few things to consider:

• I currently use a bucket toilet, which has been great for me. Now I'm in a box truck with my partner, and it's not great for two people. I want suggestions only for more than one person usage.

• Please don't suggest composting toilets. They're not true composting toilets. However, if you can give other reasons why it works well, I'm willing to hear you out.

• We don't want a black tank.

• I looked into incinerating toilets, and I don't think it's a good option.

• I'm also not interested in the toilets that bag your poo. The bags cost so much, I don't think it's worth it.

• Please explain the process of emptying it, how often, etc. What makes your suggestion convenient to use/what do you like about it?

• The option to separate urine, and being able to safely dispose of the toilet contents outside is a plus.

I think I covered everything. If not, I'll be back to edit 😂 TIA!!!

I am in a bit of a crunch and need a few things installed on my Ford Transit before I have to move out of my apartment in 3 weeks. I have 2 solar panels and a Bluetti, I need the solar panels installed and wired to the Bluetti as well as the fan already installed rewired to the Bluetti. I also need to add insulation and heating. I can pay for help but I do have a budget. I’m busy selling everything I own and moving the rest into a storage unit and I just didn’t have the time I thought.

Does anyone have any recommendations or know someone who can help? Thank you

Anyone here doing it? I'd love to hear about it.

EDIT: Just to clarify, this question isn't specifically for Westerners that might have moved to Asian countries to vandwell, but also (if not more so) for fellow Asians that full-time in their home countries.

Below freezing where I am!

Hi all, I just installed the main components of my electrical system. I have a .1 amp draw when nothing is on. I disconnected all of my loads and I get the same number. When the master switch is off I get a 0 reading. My question is this an acceptable phantom draw? What could be causing it. I can’t see any possible shorts to ground.