How to DIY a campervan conversion

Dia duit agus Failte – that’s Irish for hello and welcome – to this post about how to do a DIY campervan conversion.

Is it time to move forward with your van life dream? Are you ready to do your own DIY campervan conversion? You’ve done your research, watched way too many YouTube videos about converting a van into a home, the pros and the cons. You pondered whether van life is for you (if not, read this post) and know how to design your van.  Now you are ready to jump full throttle into building a camper van.

How to use this info when doing a DIY campervan conversion

Consider this post like the general contractor for your project; there are no how-to videos, though I have a few recommendations, nor have I created a bunch of templates for each aspect of the design.

This post is simply to give you the framework to guide you through your DIY camper van conversion. There is info regarding which van is the best for your van lifestyle. You will also find a brief questionnaire to help you choose the best bed for your camper van layout. as well as an overview of the design process. There is also a section on how to have fun as you convert the van into a camper van.

Many of the suggestions here come from our own experience building our tiny home on wheels – things we did well, things we screwed up and things we could definitely improve on. Keep reading to learn the four steps to a great van build.

Choosing the right van for your full-time camper van life.

There are lots of options to choose from when looking at vans you would want to live in. Yes, you want the best vehicle you can afford but ultimately, you are building your future home and keeping that top of mind will help you narrow the field of vans until you find your own little slice of tiny home on wheels heaven.

Questions to ask yourself when deciding which van will be best for your DIY camper van conversion.

Now, you have to choose which van model will you choose for your van life? To help your decision, here are 5 questions to ask yourself:

1. What is your budget? This will probably narrow your field of options. Do you want a new or used vehicle? Some models are more readily available used than others so this may also narrow your choices.
2. How do you plan to spend the bulk of your van life time? Do you want to off-road as much as possible? Do you dream of stealth camping in cities around the world? These two lifestyles will benefit from and be enhanced by different van options.
3. How much space do you want/need? Thinking about space means room for your toys (after all, isn’t that a big draw of van life?) as well room for a toilet, kitchen, fridge and your personalized list of priorities for your DIY van conversion. But it’s also important to consider how tall you are. Yes, you can eke out a few inches with flooring and ceiling choices but if you’re planning on full time van life, you want to be as comfortable as possible – start with the right inside height.
4. How many toys do you plan to bring with you? Yes, this fits in the above question but deserves a special mention. One of the wonderful aspects of full time van life is the ability to build a life around our hobbies. We ski in the winter and skis take a lot of length space; we ride bikes whenever possible and bikes can easily fill a garage space. I love to cook and use food as a way to keep my autoimmune disease under control, Tom loves to eat and our kitchen demanded more space than in a typical van build. Be sure to account for the space needed by all the activities that bring you joy.
5. Do you have a specific timeline? Are you willing to wait for one particular vehicle or are you itching to learn how to convert a van into a camper van as soon as possible and will be thrilled with any one of two or three models?

What are your options?

The iconic VW campervan – who doesn’t smile when you see one driving down the road? As the delighted former owner of a VW Eurovan, I know first hand how great the newer VW vans are but I wouldn’t want to live in one. The advantages of a VW camper van include:

• They come prebuilt with tried and tested layouts.
• There is a huge supportive community.
• Lots of aftermarket parts and options available.
• The pop top versions offer plenty of headroom.
• If you’re mechanically inclined, you might be able to do lots of the work yourself when the engine gives trouble.

The disadvantages of a VW for your van life dream may include:

• They can be pricey.
• Typically, they are several decades old. Even the newer Eurovan models are at least ten years old. Old vehicles usually mean more problems which usually means more $$$.

Sprinter-style vans, including Dodge Promaster, Ford Transits etc… are currently the most popular options for van lifers. Yes, there are differences between these but they all belong in the one family of vans. See these posts by Van Dimensions or video by Trent & Allie about choosing a specific model for your DIY campervan conversion.) All makes and models are loved by their owners for very solid reasons:

• They have great head room.
• There is plenty of space, especially in the longer wheel base versions .
• You may be able to find a diesel engine which means longer engine life and better fuel efficiency.
• You will find tons of info about van builds and conversions on YouTube and online which will make converting a van to a camper van easier for you.

There are disadvantages to this family of vans:

• Any newer vehicle will be primarily computerized which will usually mean taking it to a qualified mechanic to have work done.
• Sprinters, specifically, will cost more to fix and it will harder to find a mechanic willing or able to work on them.

Cargo vans are a good fit for those van lifers interested in stealth camping as they blend easily into urban environments (unless, of course, you put in a bunch of windows, an air conditioning unit and all your travel stickers on the back doors!) Think Dodge Ram Van, Ford Econoline and the old Chevrolet van. Some of the advantages of this type of van include:

• They are reliable and easily fixed.
• Even new models can be surprisingly affordable.
• They usually offer a blank canvas, ready for your design and dreams.
• They blend into their surroundings, making it easier to stealth camp.

Disadvantages include:

• It can be challenging to find used models with low miles.
• Low headroom which is fine if you’re short but, even then, the low ceiling will leave less space for high storage.

There are other vehicle options available to van lifers, including old school buses, small campervan/RV style vehicles.

No matter which van you finally choose for your DIY camper van conversion, do your homework ahead of time to avoid any regrets. It’s always good to know you are starting a project with the perfect blank canvas for your needs.

How we chose which van we wanted to convert into a camper van for our dream van life?

From the beginning of our van life exploration, we settled on a Sprinter. These are the reasons why we chose a Sprinter van:

• It is a European vehicle and can easily be worked on in the US and in Europe and our dream plan is to move our van to Europe in the future.
• Freightliner, which is Mercedes, has a fantastic reputation for being reliable and having longevity and we want this to be our tiny home on wheels for the foreseeable future.
• The Sprinter comes in the length and height we wanted – tall enough for Tom, long enough for skis, bikes and plenty of living space.
• Finally, we found the perfect model for us at the perfect time – a 2014 Freightliner Sprinter with low miles, in good condition at a great price.

Our friends on the other hand chose a Dodge Ram for their van life adventures. I asked them to share their reasons for that decision. This is what they told me:

• “Price! We got the Promaster brand new at $40k; you can’t beat that.” They flew to the east coast to buy a new van at significantly less cost than they would have paid in the PNW.
• “Shape. It’s almost a perfect rectangle back there. we figured because we have to learn all the retrofitting skills along the way, the rectangle would be the most forgiving shape to learn with.
• “Front wheel drive. obviously, the all-wheel drive of the Sprinter is ideal but who can afford that? Front wheel was our next pick over rear wheel drive.”

How to choose the best bed option for your DIY camper van conversion

After choosing the van model, the decision regarding bed layout is probably the next biggie. There are oodles of posts about choosing the best bed layout when you are converting a van into a camper van for your dream van life. But start here with this questionnaire to begin the decision-making process.

There are two basic options for your bed: a fixed bed or a convertible option. And yes, they are exactly as they sound. The fixed bed remains a bed all the time, ready for you to hop in at the end of a long day hiking or skiing. A convertible bed will require some time and effort each evening before you can crawl under the covers. This may make it sound like a fixed bed is the best option; after all, there is less work involved. However, a fixed bed takes up more space and cannot serve as a seating area or dining room.

There are other, more unusual styles of bed that may be perfect for your DIY camper van conversion –

• An ingenious couch to bed slide
• A Murphy bed
• The slider bed
• A high-tech drop down bed

6 questions to help you choose the right bed style for your DIY campervan conversion

To help you choose the best bed option when you are converting a van into camper van, answer the following questions:

1. First and most importantly – is your van big enough to hold a fixed bed?
2. How much space will you need for your toys? The more space you need, the more likely you will choose a platform bed which is usually a fixed option.
3. Being completely honest with yourself; how grumpy will having to convert your bed make you each evening?
4. How creative and skilled are you when it comes to designing and building a convertible bed option? If the answer is not very, perhaps choose a fixed bed or plan to hire a carpenter to make the perfect convertible bed for your van lifestyle.
5. Do you need a large table and seating area so you can work comfortably? Choose the convertible bed option.
6. What are the activities that delight you daily? Living full time in a van will hopefully give you the opportunity to do more of these.

7. Do you like to sit around a table for meals, work and playing games? Convertible bed.
8. Will you be outside most days and stumble home exhausted after a 10-mile hike? Fixed bed.
9. How do you see yourself spending rainy days? Curled up with a book in bed = fixed bed. Working a few extra hours or painting = convertible bed.

Our ingenious bed solution

We ultimately settled on a combination fixed/convertible which may sound weird but it is quite possibly the best invention I ever came up with!

Because we wanted bikes, skis, lots of water and electrical components, we needed as large a garage as possible which forced us to select a platform bed. But, we did not need a full 80” deep garage for a regular queen mattress; turns out we needed 62” for the bikes. I wanted as large a kitchen as possible as my diet helps me keep my RA symptoms at bay which meant counter space and plenty of storage for an InstantPot, other small appliances and food.

Kitchen counters are typically 35-36” high. We needed only 32” for our garage and bed platform. Our solution – a 60”x60” fixed platform over the garage and a piece of wood that connects the opposite counters to create the 60”x20” lower-leg part of the bed. The connecting piece is our table. Yes, it takes us 1-2 minutes each morning and evening but so far, I have not once grumbled at this task; the benefits of our ingenious bed layout far outweighs the slight inconvenience.

PS. the table/bed extension sits into the routered edges of the kitchen countertops ensuring we had everything the exact size we needed.

How to finalize the design and layout for your van build.

This is an overview of the design process. I wrote a full article here on how to design your DIY campervan conversion.

We are full time van lifers and that was our plan from the beginning. Do you dream of full-time van life but for the next few years, you will be weekenders and vacationers? Chances are, you will have a different set of priorities to us. The thing about living in the van full time is that we wanted we needed it to feel like home immediately. If you are familiar with my blog, you know I have rheumatoid arthritis and the occasional flare up can leave me uncomfortable and in pain for several days or weeks; we wanted to make our tiny home on wheels as supportive as possible for those challenging days.

We were not willing to compromise on the essentials like headroom above the bed, a toilet, enough electricity to power all my cooking appliances and space for my yoga mat. If you don’t plan to live full time in your van, you may not feel so strongly about being able to bake cookies or having the option to watch a film in bed.

Your dream van life will determine the best campervan layout for your van.

13 steps for converting a van to a camper van so you can live your van life dream.

1. Measure everything in your van carefully – height, length, taper, wheel well, window and door placement.
2. Gather graph paper, ruler, mechanical pencil, coloring pencils and an eraser and use them often. You will be creating floor plans as well as wall and vertical space plans. We settled on the fourth or fifth design and used lots of graph paper
3. Create your must-have list in order of priority.
4. Decide which type of bed you will have. The type and location of the bed usually determines most of the remaining design.
5. Map the placement of the electrical and water systems. Consider making cardboard cutouts and “pre-install” all the components. (Quick note – electrical wires and plumbing pipes took more wall and vertical space than we had planned which forced us to alter the garage layout slightly while building our camper van.) This includes marking where wires will run to feed light switches, fans, outlets etc…

6. Order all the major parts including swivel seat, fridge, water tank etc… as early as possible. We found many components took much longer than anticipated and these delays pushed back our completion date at least two weeks.
7. Run all the electrical wiring and plumbing pipes and label them clearly. Use conduit as needed to protect wires.
8. Sound proof and insulate like crazy, in that order! We chose Noico sound proofing and heard a noticeable difference. We used three different types of insulation – havelock wool, solid core foam board in several thicknesses and Thinsulate. So far, we have been very comfortable in below freezing temps and in heat up to 80*F/27*C.
9. Install ceiling, floor and whichever walls your campervan layout calls for. We did not close the walls behind the kitchen cabinets to reduce weight. Don’t forget to cut out holes for light switches, fans, monitor etc…
10. Build and install wall cabinets and/or shelving. It’s easier to install the uppers first as you will have plenty of room to maneuver. Just know that you will likely bang your head on them more than once!!
11. Build garage to required specs and then install the bed and bulkhead wall.
12. Build and install kitchen, including cabinets, fridge and seating areas.
13. Finishing touches will include paint, art work, plants, strong door locks, curtains.

5 Tips to make converting a van simple and enjoyable.

1. Set a realistic budget. Remember, you can’t drink champagne on a beer budget! For the first time in our renovating history, we estimated too high which made for a very pleasant experience.
2. Set a realistic time frame. You will see those YouTubers whose van build took one week and cost $1000 and I am sure they are telling the truth. Ours took four months and cost about $17k.
3. Divide and conquer. While we discussed all layout options for our DIY campervan conversion, ultimately, I was the designer. I gave Tom input for electrical and plumbing but he took responsibility for those two huge tasks. I did most of the carpentry; he did all the heavy lifting and occasionally had to jump in on days where pain prevented me from working.
4. Take time off. Go hiking, skiing, cycling. Hang out with friends and family. Don’t let life become all consumed with your van build; you’ll go nutsy and probably end up snarling at each other.
5. Remember – you are on the same side. This was a big one for us; we learned to remind each other that we were a team, we shared the same dream and goal and getting angry with each other served no purpose other than to suck the joy from the experience.

Final thoughts

You’ve decided it’s time to make the leap. Yes, completing a van build yourself can be daunting. Certainly, the decision to move into full time van life is unusual and can be a little scary. For sure, you know the value of experience over stuff, otherwise you would not have read this far or even be considering living full time in your own DIY campervan conversion.

And so, this is me, cheering you on towards the life of your dreams, even if that dream is on hold because now is not the right time for you to convert a van into a camper van and embark on van life.

Please drop any questions or feedback in the comments below.