Fancy a RV?

[PrivatePilot]

Main problems with those are that they ride like a chuck wagon and suck fuel like there's no tomorrow.

Air suspension modifications can solve the ride issues - I did that with my old 1 Ton dually chevy years ago that rode like a lumber wagon as well until I put airbags on it. Fuel consumption isn't a concern when people are using them as living spaces that might only move a few kilometers a month, from one stealth location to another.

 

[mimico_polak]

On reading this thread, it still looks like the conversion van seems to be a good way to go - and I mean a modern van that came from the factory with a high roof and long wheelbase, whose outer shell remains intact aside from possibly windows or vents. Still small enough that you can park it most places. The roof isn't going to leak, the side panels aren't going to leak where they join the front or rear or roof.

I think my dad’s E350 would be a good candidate for a conversion. Not too big, can make it fairly comfortable for 2-3 people, as I doubt it would be good for the 5 of us since I’d need to add 3 seats to it.

At that stage something like @Scuba Steve was refurbishing would make more sense (Dodge I believe?).

 

[bitzz]

they ride like a chuck wagon and suck fuel like there's no tomorrow

Long wheelbase and the aerodynamics of a brick will do that... they could go to a swoopy front like they did on semi's... but buyers want a flat front cuz they're easier to drive. Screw the 5% fuel savings.
Have you seen the trailers with a LOFT? They're HUGE. YIKES

 

[AllistonGT]

Depends if you're comfortable with living without all the luxuries fancy campgrounds offer.

It never fails to amaze me how many people own RV's that are perfectly capable (and designed) to be self sufficient that are absolutely mortified of the concept of camping somewhere without full hookups, or at minimum, electricity.

My wife and I spent 5 days camping completely off grid in a state forest in upstate NY last fall and it was glorious. We were tucked away on a little dead end forest access road. We saw literally 1 other person all week walking their dog. I went into the sleepy little nearby town about 20 minutes away once through the week to pickup some more groceries and 30L of water in our little portable tank, and the remainder of that week we were gloriously isolated. I was on vacation and my wife is lucky to be able to work remote, so that was her sitting by the campfire with her laptop.

View attachment 66140

But if you talked to a lot of RV owners they'd be horrified at the lack of power, the lack of comfort stations with showers, the lack of a pool, no dump station, and when you get into the real high end crowd, they want things like cable TV hookups and concrete pads and such which is actually a thing at a lot of places in the USA.

Me? I'd drive that $1m prevost up in to a place like this and tell society to get lost for a month at a time.

Best part? It was absolutely free.

Thats exactly the kind of camping we would do with a class B. Off grid. Like we did tent camping for 30 years but with way more comfort. Ease of setting up and tearing down. I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those large parking lot RV resorts. All rigs lined up side by side. I don't get the attraction.

 

[Scuba Steve]

I think my dad’s E350 would be a good candidate for a conversion. Not too big, can make it fairly comfortable for 2-3 people, as I doubt it would be good for the 5 of us since I’d need to add 3 seats to it.

At that stage something like @Scuba Steve was refurbishing would make more sense (Dodge I believe?).

Something like my 22 but the sofa model instead of the murphy bed would work for you has 2 full size beds plus a air mattress for the front seats. 6 seatbelts and a bathroom. Cheaper than building your own when you do the math. Solis 59p sofa. We have the murphy bed one that only has 4 seats.

Sent from the future

 

[mimico_polak]

Something like my 22 but the sofa model instead of the murphy bed would work for you has 2 full size beds plus a air mattress for the front seats. 6 seatbelts and a bathroom. Cheaper than building your own when you do the math. Solis 59p sofa. We have the murphy bed one that only has 4 seats.

Sent from the future

Nice! But I was thinking of the other one you had and were working on in your driveway.

The ones I’m seeing like what you mentioned are much more expensive (150-200k at a cursory glance).

For now we’re sticking with tents. And potentially a pop up.

 

[crankcall]

The conversion van is good on several levels , you can get a ram/ford/Benz serviced at a dealer when travelling if needed . You can also get decent resale when you’re done having fun.
Downside is if you don’t have a motorcycle or bicycle , getting out to see the sights from base means packing up the house . Every shuffle means securing everything.
One of the challenges with campgrounds saying nothing over xx yrs old , you have a camper , roof leaks , fridge is broke , you have been trying to sell it for 6 months and storage is $100 a month ! What to do to ditch it ?? Go camping for a day……. Since it’s not a vehicle , getting clear title to scrap it will cost the campground between $800 and a grand . You can’t scrap it legally without title unless you’ll risk the owner not coming back in 6 months saying it was worth 50k , prove me wrong! It’s a huge problem in RVing right now .


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[Jampy00]

I guess it depends on how above board you want to be so far as zoning, insurance, and taxes on the income. I don't ask many questions where mine is stored for the bargain basement price I pay, and I carry really good personal insurance, so I leave it at that.

Yep, already to much of a hassle... I keep forgetting people are involved

 

[Scuba Steve]

Nice! But I was thinking of the other one you had and were working on in your driveway.

The ones I’m seeing like what you mentioned are much more expensive (150-200k at a cursory glance).

For now we’re sticking with tents. And potentially a pop up.

Forget the old ones too much work and it's still old when done. Costs the same to convert a old or new van. Also if you do it yourself no one will want it. I paid around 100 new but prices were around 160 at the Canadian dealerships.

Sent from the future

 

[nobbie48]

The conversion van is good on several levels , you can get a ram/ford/Benz serviced at a dealer when travelling if needed . You can also get decent resale when you’re done having fun.
Downside is if you don’t have a motorcycle or bicycle , getting out to see the sights from base means packing up the house . Every shuffle means securing everything.
One of the challenges with campgrounds saying nothing over xx yrs old , you have a camper , roof leaks , fridge is broke , you have been trying to sell it for 6 months and storage is $100 a month ! What to do to ditch it ?? Go camping for a day……. Since it’s not a vehicle , getting clear title to scrap it will cost the campground between $800 and a grand . You can’t scrap it legally without title unless you’ll risk the owner not coming back in 6 months saying it was worth 50k , prove me wrong! It’s a huge problem in RVing right now .


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Same problem with old boats. You pay to get rid of them or you moor them in a swamp, permanently.

Diesel pushers can be hard on service. I dropped in on a buddy putting in a new fuel pump on one.

It was a common engine but having the master bedroom above the motor required a special $8,000 fuel pump plus about as much to install it.

 

[guzzirider]

On reading this thread, it still looks like the conversion van seems to be a good way to go - and I mean a modern van that came from the factory with a high roof and long wheelbase, whose outer shell remains intact aside from possibly windows or vents. Still small enough that you can park it most places. The roof isn't going to leak, the side panels aren't going to leak where they join the front or rear or roof.

Before I had trailers I always had a camperized van
Great if you are traveling every day but if you are parked at a site the extra space is nice.
Anything beats staying in a tent with 4 days of rain!

 

[Brian P]

Diesel pushers can be hard on service. I dropped in on a buddy putting in a new fuel pump on one.

It was a common engine but having the master bedroom above the motor required a special $8,000 fuel pump plus about as much to install it.

Here's a very cool youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BusGreaseMonkey

I love watching other people work but NO WAY would I want to own anything of the sort!

 

[Brian P]

I think my dad’s E350 would be a good candidate for a conversion. Not too big, can make it fairly comfortable for 2-3 people, as I doubt it would be good for the 5 of us since I’d need to add 3 seats to it.

At that stage something like @Scuba Steve was refurbishing would make more sense (Dodge I believe?).

The trouble with the old-style American vans - ALL of them - is ... no high roof from the factory, and the standard roof height is nowhere near enough to be able to stand up inside. YES you can get aftermarket high-roofs for some of them ... but now it isn't the OEM piece of sheet metal welded into the structure and sealed the way the OEM does it, and the interface to the doors (do you want to enter and exit while standing up??) is always a bodge.

The Sprinter was the first thing in the North American market that changed that, but when I bought my van in 2014, I already knew that Sprinters were rustbuckets, so no thanks. On the other hand, a former co-worker has a Sprinter as a camper-van, and it has been fine. The trick appears to be to get one that was painted (from the factory) something other than white. ProMaster and Transit are also of european design origin, and have high-roof available from the factory. Transit has 3 different roof heights - you can stand up inside all but the lowest one - my friend's Transit is a mid-height roof in Transit terminology.

I didn't bother getting high roof with my ProMaster because the standard roof height was high enough for how I'm going to use it. It's much higher inside than the old-style vans.

 

[guzzirider]

Cheapest RV rental out there if you already have your camping gear.
Excelent weekly and monthly rates
no milage charge
6.5 tall by 14.3 long
Only draw back is you have to stay in Canada.

 

[mimico_polak]

My buddy had a leased sprinter from MB…maybe a good idea to buy it out as the lease buyouts are fairly low compared to purchase prices of used.

 

[Scuba Steve]

My buddy had a leased sprinter from MB…maybe a good idea to buy it out as the lease buyouts are fairly low compared to purchase prices of used.

Ain't no one got money to keep a used sprinter going the repairs in the diesel will kill you. 2000 for a def heater and the list goes on I was going to buy a sprinter based van but the reliability makes everything else look fantastic. Diesel anything is asking for repair bills now.

Sent from the future

 

[Dirty Frank]

Ain't no one got money to keep a used sprinter going the repairs in the diesel will kill you. 2000 for a def heater and the list goes on I was going to buy a sprinter based van but the reliability makes everything else look fantastic. Diesel anything is asking for repair bills now.

Sent from the future

Poking around the dealership i noticed the sign quoting the repair hourly rate, they had a disclaimer for +$20 a hour for service on sprinter vans.

 

[AllistonGT]

Poking around the dealership i noticed the sign quoting the repair hourly rate, they had a disclaimer for +$20 a hour for service on sprinter vans.

It's German designed. It's overly complicated.

 

[PrivatePilot]

One of the challenges with campgrounds saying nothing over xx yrs old , you have a camper , roof leaks , fridge is broke , you have been trying to sell it for 6 months and storage is $100 a month ! What to do to ditch it ?? Go camping for a day……. Since it’s not a vehicle , getting clear title to scrap it will cost the campground between $800 and a grand . You can’t scrap it legally without title unless you’ll risk the owner not coming back in 6 months saying it was worth 50k , prove me wrong! It’s a huge problem in RVing right now .

There's a big difference between someone pulling in with a Christmas Vacation cousin Eddie special vs the photo I used for demonstration purposes which is still a $400K USD coach despite being 11 years old. Nobody is ditching a 400K coach at a campground, and if they do, campground will make bank selling it no matter what's wrong with it.

But technically, at 11 years old, that coach isn't welcome, and many are totally inflexible about the age regardless of condition.

Diesel anything is asking for repair bills now.

Any RV is going to have problems sooner or later. Being handy will save you tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours of downtown waiting for others to fix sometimes really simple things for you. I read about people online who complain about their 6 month old RV sitting at a dealer for warranty work on silly things they could have fixed themselves in 20 minutes if they had an inkling of ability to turn a screwdriver or wrench on their own.

The diesel vs gas debate is getting tougher to have based on the fact that diesel is more expensive than gas in many places now, but there's a point in yearly mileage where the increased fuel economy makes sense, and there's also a point beyond which the size of the RV dictates it - you're not buying the coach I pictured for example with a gas engine, they just don't come in the size necessary to power something like that while getting something less than 100L/100km.

 

[AllistonGT]

Ain't no one got money to keep a used sprinter going the repairs in the diesel will kill you. 2000 for a def heater and the list goes on I was going to buy a sprinter based van but the reliability makes everything else look fantastic. Diesel anything is asking for repair bills now.

Sent from the future

That may be over exaggerated. There are so many on the road, cant be all bad. My business partner has a 2017 4x4 19'. He converted it to a camper. Hasn't had any issues. I believe keeping up on scheduled maintenance is key.
I'd prefer the Ford. Not all MB dealers work on Sprinters. There are Ford dealers everywhere in North America. Parts availability would be better as well. Plus I think (could be mistaken) it takes regular gas.