r/nextfuckinglevel • u/SmoothSun6676 • 16h ago

The Transformation of a Van

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u/funky_diabeticc 15h ago edited 15h ago

What’s the miles per gallon like after all that extra weight is added?

Also, I’m not hating by asking this, what’s the advantage to this vs an RV?

15

u/LinkingForces 15h ago

15-22 mpg depending on weight and engine. 

My little 23ft motorhome gets 6.5 mpg and is chonky enough to be a little challenging on narrow roads and smaller parking lots... But only cost me $30k used, +$8k in parts over 6 years of use. 

1

u/NorthTempleStreet 13h ago

6.5 mpg

I travel for work, sometimes months at a time. And I've always kind of dreamed of building something like this.

But even on the cheap, I still come out ahead finding $80 a night motel rooms then I would paying the extra gas cost.

3

u/nuixy 11h ago

Yes but when you’re stuck in traffic you can just pull over and take a nap, or use the bathroom, or make lunch until the traffic dies down. Traveling to your destination is a lot more enjoyable in a van like this than a car. It’s also pretty nice when you get to your destination to have a kitchen with you wherever you go.

1

u/demunted 2h ago

Right, but you also have to - wash all the bedding, find a dumping station to unload the toilet, clean and maintain everything, winterize if in cold climate, pay for parking if you dont have a large yard, pay for the insurance, oil changes, etc. All that while being more stressed while driving, worrying about people cutting in front of you, getting into places you can't back out of easily, worrying about parking if you want to be close to a city center.

Its all a trade off and camping is awesome, but it certainly has some costs and time associated with it.

1

u/WindupShark 4h ago

If you had to do it over again would you go this route again?

I’ve wanted to convert a 30ft pusher BlueBird but man just getting it the way I want would take a few years best case scenario + any future headache of doing it for the first time and getting things wrong makes me wonder if the build quality trade-off of buying a premade wouldn’t just be worth it…

1

u/LinkingForces 3h ago

Premade is usually cheaper and you can make all the modifications you want over time. We added a cat litter box tray, accessible from the outside, modified the exterior a little to add storage ammo cans for flammable stuff. Replaced the water heater, upgraded the bed frame, the storage insulation, reinforced the cargo hold, improved the suspension.

I'm not smart enough to outsmart the layout nerds for optimizing space/functionality. 

Using standard equipment makes it easier to troubleshoot too because other users have the same stuff. 

You can start using the premade right away and modify to fit your needs and preferences that you probably won't develop until you use it more.