Vans over 3.5 tonne - a legal minefield?
- Thread starter Imagedude
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
One thing a mate did with his High Top Transit was to put a false floor in at just above wheel arch height. That way he could put full sheets of plasterboard on the bottom floor without it taking up space on the false floor. as he had sturdy shelving he also had a few bits of wood he used to put across from one side shelving to another and a half sheet of ply (two foot wide but eight foot long) that he used as a bunk bed when he was working away from home. That ply ripping was stored under the false floor as well.
I went working in Wales with him and I kipped on the false floor, him on the bunk thing and we still had all our tools and whatever else in there.
Truckstop showers (get some crocs cos you don't want the manky foot germs from all the truckers) made the experience a cleaner one, some of those are free but generally the nicer ones cost.
A truckers map helps you find all the truckstops but he used to drive lorries anyway so knew them all.
I went working in Wales with him and I kipped on the false floor, him on the bunk thing and we still had all our tools and whatever else in there.
Truckstop showers (get some crocs cos you don't want the manky foot germs from all the truckers) made the experience a cleaner one, some of those are free but generally the nicer ones cost.
A truckers map helps you find all the truckstops but he used to drive lorries anyway so knew them all.
Got a canteen, showers, laundry, drying room etc in work so I'm keeping the van as basic as possible. I will add a small Primus ETA gas stove which I will suspend under the roof fan.
Fair comment cos they aren't exactly the best looking footware but style and fashion takes a backseat to practicality when paddling about in a truckstop shower room.
Those hang up washkits are good also, little mirror in them so you can see to have a shave and the large waterproof gear bags are handy for...errr carrying your gear about in.
The ones with the separate section for dirty clothes are handy.
Oddly enough, I'm not right blown away by fully converted vans and prefer ones that are still usable as a van.
I've spent about 450 nights in the van since September 2013. I've installed a Webasto Airtop 2000 heater, an additional 6 leisure batteries, 2 skylights, a hifi system, numerous USB/charging points, 240V via a small 300W inverter, covered the floor in Altro safety walkway flooring, have installed numerous cooling fans and carpeted most of the walls and the roof. Keeping cool in the summer is the biggest issue and if doing this over again I'd add even more insulation which would help to keep the interior cool. Future modifications will include a solar panel and insulation panels for the side windows. I'm currently working on a system that will allow me to keep the roof vents open but also allow me to keep the van dark inside, useful for when I'm sleeping during the day time.
Many thanks for the update ID , So have you found sleeping during summer more difficult then dealing with winter?
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