I’m solo travelling in my self converted van around the Balkans in September and October. If anyone wants to hang out, go hiking/kayaking or share a meal, I’m down! Or if anyone has any recommendations for activities/park ups for Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia, it would be appreciated!

1986 ford E150. About 14 miles to the gallon on a flat road. Grand tetons national park is AMAZING. Anyone going to the van meet up in Quartzite in January? Lets camp together.

I've been looking at options for how to get solar on the roof. The top is double fiberglass so I'm concerned about drilling into it. Id appreciate any tips or ideas 💡 from the rain gutter (it belive that's what is called) to the top of the van is 11" so I cant find any clips that would work. The top flat portion is about 45" width

I am trying to decide between a 28L and 37L fridge for a minivan (Dodge Grand Caravan). Getting a fridge is honestly premature, as we’ve only done a few weekend trips. But given US Labor Day sales (and inflation), it seems prudent to do it while we can save 25% or so.

The van primarily will be used for long weekends by two people and one dog, with occasional longer trips of 7-10 days. The fridge would go behind a front row seat/ toward end of bed (when in bed mode), which is where we have had a cooler on trips this far. The larger capacity fridge seems prudent based on what I’ve read (I have read only one person say they wish they had gotten a smaller fridge.) But what I don’t know is how much do 2 inches/5 cm (van length) and 3 inches/7.6 cm (van width) matter? Is it more important to have a bit more empty space to move around? Or better to have the equivalent of 12 extra soda cans of fridge space?

Especially in small vehicles, how have you determined what is the priority for space usage when two goals are competing like this?

I’m sure after we go out more it will be more clear, but by then the sales will have passed. So far, I’ve not felt like we had ‘extra’ space at the end of the bed with the cooler we have taken (each of similar size to the two units we are considering). But we also don’t quite have our systems dialed in yet, either.

People pay out the nose for companies like Quigley et al to retrofit stock vans with 4WD and off-road equipment. I understand that the overlanding segment is a much smaller part of the overall van market than business buyers, but even so it seems like there's money to be made here.

Maybe the moment has passed (I saw a lot more "vanlife" content online during and immediately after the pandemic than I do today). But it seems like tacking on a 4WD system, an e-locker, and a set of A/T tires, calling it "the advanced off-road package," and selling it for a $15,000 markup would be a no-brainer for Detroit.

What am I missing?

Managed to hang and wire all panels on the ceiling. Used scrap to hang passenger side. Upper cabinet wall with prewire usb receivers 2amp each.

6 inches of slack bewtween each light with excess held down with 3m 3340 tape. This keeps the wiring harness from vibrating and making noise while in transit.

Anyone have any experience with this? It's not cheap. They says it has over 85% solar reflectivity.

Im kinda willing to do anything to make those 100+ degree days more bearable.

Hi, I am searching for my first van and need some recommendations. I am looking to finance and was wondering how many others have taken that route. I am also wondering what kind of van, reliability wise. Maybe something around $500/month. Thank you for any tips and advice 😁

Brightdrop to base camp, Arctic Leopard to Manastash Ridge!

Hey y’all I’m using dual lock “Velcro” for the mounting of a 200W flexible solar panel. With a plastic panel underneath for airflow. I thought I bought more dual lock- will this work? Or should I get more/ totally rethink my methods

400w fixed, 200w on a swivel (600W on roof) and 400w portable on the hood.

EDIT (after reading comments): 1. The door is open because I came out to take a photo. DUHH people. 2. This post is to inform people (as a tip and trick) who are looking to expand their solar setup to 1000W. 3. If you dont have an AC. Yes, shade is probably the only option. But if you have experience with that, then you should also know that it only cools down the van by -10 degrees. But for some of us who have loved ones traveling with us that does not work. Another scenario is that maybe you need to get your batteries topped up and run the AC.

Just got my new Dometic dual-zone fridge. I’m too lazy to deal with my power system anymore so I decided to get a 2kwh portable power station to power it. So I did some researches on some subreddits, then I got inspired by this post.

Sometimes when the mood strikes I like to write down my thoughts and share them. This is my first time doing this on Reddit. This is a long post, feel free to correct me if I've made anything wrong.

My Context:

I didn’t build my van electrical system entirely myself, but I do have some knowledge about DIY battery systems. My van is a used 2018 Transit cargo van, it came with a wiring manual/guide when I bought it from the previous owner. I later installed a roof A/C unit, replaced two 12V 150Ah batteries with 48V 60Ah batteries and also replaced the MPPT and fuses with larger ones.

Then we go directly to the main body.

Cons

After the researches, I found several cons of portable power stations:

1. It is difficult to maintain. All components are welded together, it is difficult to repair and replace them yourself after a part fails. If one part failed, you may lose the whole system. So it is not very reliable for full-time living and a backup plan must be prepared. In addition, solutions for any failures rely on the brand’s customer service, and from what I learn, you can hardly expect them to provide you with effective and timely assistance.
2. Charging power/methods are limited. You can't recode the BMS of a portable power station yourself, and bypassing the BMS for charging is quite complicated and carries certain risks. So it can almost only charge according to its preset allowed methods/power limits. Its built-in solar charger cannot be replaced, so you need to be careful to match the charging specifications when charging with solar panels, which imposes many limitations.
3. Low AC output and lack of scalability. To expand the target user base and reduce costs, the size of the inverter must be selected based on the capacity of the main unit when the manufacturers to build them. For the 2kwh capacity models I'm looking at, the lowest AC output is 2kW, the unit is PECRON E2000LFP (budget brand), while the highest is 3kW AC output from units like the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus (well-known brand), EcoFlow Delta 3 Max (well-known brand), and Aferiy P300 (budget brand). Low AC output limited the possibility of using portable energy storage to power high-power appliances in the long run. And 3K+ AC outputs are only found in models with higher main unit capacities, those are even less cost-effectiveness, this also leads to the next point.
4. Less cost-effectiveness. Nothing much to talk about this topic, I think this is a widely agreed point of view. In terms of price, portable power stations are almost always less cost-effective than DIY battery systems. and the price difference per Wh increases with the capacity of these two types of systems.
5. For permanent installations, portable power stations offer limited installation flexibility, making them unsuitable for narrow or irregularly shaped spaces. This drawback is even more obviously for larger scale unit that with expansive battery packs.

Pros

However, these cons cannot overshadow the pros of portable power stations:

1. It saves a lot of time and effort. You don't need design, wiring, or installation every part yourself. It's almost plug-and-play. Which reduces electrical planning and building work that could take weeks or a month to just hours or even minutes.
2. Like its name, it's relatively portable. If you no longer intend to use it, compared to a fixed DIY system, a portable power station can be easily disassembled and moved to another van (or used for other purposes).
3. It's more beginner-friendly and safer. Newbees unfamiliar with electrical systems so they might do some dangerous designs/operations during DIY projects, potentially causing fires or other safe hazards. Portable power stations are less complex, easier for beginners to use, and reduce the risk of wiring errors and fires.

Conclusion

You might find that portable power station systems would be more attractive to part-time van dwellers than full-time van living. This is because for the former, the advantages of portable power stations are not obvious or cannot be fully perceived, while the disadvantages are too obvious; And vice versa.

So, what does this all mean? I would like to offer a conclusion:

“The advantage of portable power stations is that it buys time, ease of use, security, and portability at a price premium, rather than beating DIY in terms of battery capacity, maintainability, and long-term total cost.”

Therefore, I hope the discussion about “whether portable power stations have kept up with DIY systems” can be ended by my conclusion. What I'm really interested in is how many people are using, or planning to use, a hybrid system of portable power stations and DIY systems like myself.

Some further thoughts

I'd like to suggest that a DIY + portable power station hybrid van electrical system might be the most widely applicable solution in the future. I understand everyone have different situation, so opinions will vary, so this is just my general idea:

For full-timers, the DIY system should be the primary power system, supplemented by the portable power station. For part-time residents, the portable power station could be the easiest choice. The DIY system and portable power station can operate completely independently or serve as backups for each other, and can be connected via DC-DC chargers and circuit breakers for flexible power replenishment when necessary.

Hello, I made this little online tool to help me plan a road trip of the US which helps visualise typical minimum overnight temperatures as my plan was to sleep in the vehicle

The road trip never happened but maybe the tool could be helpful to someone here

All best best from a UK nomad

https://overnight-temperature-atlas-usa.pages.dev/

I get no money from the site btw I tried to set up google ads and it didn't work lol

About to start a year of van life in Australia, I would love to bring a dirt bike along with me but starting to question the safety and logistics of it. Mainly been looking at Toyota hiaces so far as well as some ford transits. Won’t be able to haul it inside the van as that’s just too much work and space taken up. Ideally would love to have it on a hitch carrier but I’m seeing mixed reviews on weight rating and safety of that either way, would that leave a trailer as my only option? Curious if anyone has advice or experience doing similar, pardon my ignorance.

I'm building out an 18ft van, planning to take it out a couple weeks at a time . Got to the toilet planning phase and my head's spinning. Feels like everyone either goes full tank system with all the plumbing, or goes with a simple bucket setup.

I get why people land on either one, but neither really sat right with me once I looked closer. Full black water system? Ballpark like $1500 to $2000 upfront, that's tank, pump, plumbing lines, vent, and install. Then dump station runs every few days. And my van's just a basic cargo build, not a ton of room to spare. Bucket route is cheap upfront, maybe $100 to $200, but it's not really comfortable to sit on, and you need some kind of bracket to keep it from sliding around, which I havent found a good one for yet. On top of that you're testing different absorbent stuff like sawdust or coco coir to keep the smell down. Honestly for me thats just a lot of fiddling.

So im basically stuck between those two, looking for something that doesnt tank the budget but also isn't a daily grind. The Modiwell waterless one keeps coming up as a middle ground option. Found used ones going for like four hundred something. Each use burns through one sealed bag, roughly $0.50 a pop. Does that line up with what you all actually pay to run one?

Seems like it'd be easier to keep up with than a full black water setup. It runs on a battery too, and supposedly one charge lasts like two weeks, anyone know if that actually holds up?

anyway, still figuring it out. anyone run dry flush on longer trips? whats the day to day like, and how many bags you actually go through? or if you went the black water route, any setup worth recommending?

About two months ago I posted this update: https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/s/tOy80qYQOK

I felt like I had to check back in because, against all my expectations, I hit the road again! And I’m doing it in my 26 year old Corolla. And I’m having the fucking time of my life!

I quit the wrangling job due to ethical concerns and just decided to not go home yet. Since then I’ve been rubbertramping pretty hard. I’ve done 7000 miles. I’ve been to Taos, up to Chicago, back down to West Virginia, and up to Pittsburgh to Philly and Baltimore and New York. Lots of stops in between. Some work in Massachusetts and New Orleans awaits.

I’m learning so much about myself, so much more potently than I ever have in my life. I’ve met the most wonderful friends. I’ve had very high highs, and very low lows. All of it is lovely. I feel like I’m in the right place for the first time in forever. I think this may be my reality for a while, until I feel like stopping.

I guess it wasn’t the vanlife. It was being forced to homebum in the bay because I had an unreliable van. A van is in my future, but I’m going to save up more money and take more time on the purchase this time. Go forth and have no fear! Much love everyone❤️

TL;DR: On a low-profile platform rack, the tent's mounting rails sit inboard, so every bolt ends up underneath the tent. The limiting gap is between roof and rack, not between rack and tent — so a riser/spacer kit does not help. I assembled the whole rack onto the upside-down tent on the ground and lifted the ~114 kg unit onto the van. Also: the supplied qeedo bolts are too long, even the short ones.

Both products are popular in the VW T6 scene and the combination isn't documented anywhere. Here's what I learned. It cost me nine net hours, mostly solo with occasional lifting help. Maybe it saves someone part of that.

Setup: VW T6 Transporter, long wheelbase, standard roof. ND-Rack G1 roof rack platform (fixed-point mounts, 6 cm build height, struts 40 × 20 mm). qeedo Freedom Family 4 roof top tent, 222 × 142 × 30 cm closed, 75.6 kg. Rack and tent are practically the same width.

The problem: you cannot reach the roof tent mounting bolts

The aluminium mounting rails on the tent floor sit well inboard, not at the edge. Since the ND-Rack platform and the qeedo tent are practically the same width, every fastening point ends up underneath the tent once it's up there — the tent brackets as well as the strut-to-side-rail bolts of the rack itself.

You'd have to reach them from below. So the limiting clearance is not between rack and tent, it's between roof and rack — around 3–4 cm at the narrowest point, because of the roof curvature. An average forearm does not fit far enough through that to get a tool onto a bolt.

Two consequences you only notice once you're standing there:

1. A riser / Höherlegung kit does not help. It lifts the tent above the rack. The critical gap is below. If you buy one to fix this, you bought the wrong part.
2. Pre-mounting individual crossbars to the tent doesn't work either. Obvious idea: undo just the two crossbars the tent sits on, bolt them to the tent on the ground, then bolt them back into the side rails. Fails because those bolts are under the tent too.

How I mounted the roof tent in the end

Put the tent upside down on the ground and assemble the entire rack onto the tent. Everything at ground level, everything accessible.

Lock the nuts properly — you will never get to these joints again.

Then lift the whole assembly (rack 38 kg + tent 75.6 kg ≈ 114 kg) onto the van and bolt the feet to the roof. We were five people. Six is better, or use a hoist. qeedo's "2–4 people" is for the tent alone, not for this package.

Important: the foot bolts into the roof fixing points stay accessible even with the side rails already fitted. Otherwise you could lift the assembly but not fasten it.

The detour you can skip: I first assembled the rack up on the roof — at that point I didn't know it would have to come off again. Assembling on the ground is clearly faster. The one upside of my order: the holes lined up with the factory fixing points perfectly afterwards.

Two details that make the difference

Even the short supplied qeedo bolts are a touch too long and would hit the roof. Shorter ones exist — my dealer had them in stock. You can probably request them from qeedo directly. Without those, my day would have ended right there.

The ND-Rack roof tent mounting bracket is very low-profile and makes the install with the short bolts clean. The qeedo brackets would have worked too, the ND one is simply flatter and tidier. As anti-slip I used the rubber hoses supplied by qeedo — an old bicycle inner tube probably does the same job.

What I'd suggest to the manufacturers

To ND-Rack: offer taller feet. 2–3 cm more clearance between roof and rack would probably resolve this completely — keeping the different foot heights that compensate for roof curvature, obviously.

To qeedo: move the aluminium mounting rails further out toward the edge of the tent. Or, probably feasible as a retrofit kit, add two extra rails at the edge. The fastening points would then sit outside the access line and you could reach them normally.

This isn't an exotic idea. On the Overland Bound forum someone with an FSR High Country on a Rhino-Rack Pioneer platform did exactly that — added a second pair of extruded aluminium rails further out on the tent frame, aligned to the platform. Same problem, different brands. That thread describes it in the same words: the platform sits too close to the roof to get a tool underneath.

Other things worth knowing

If you don't need a platform rack, you probably don't have this problem. With individual crossbars instead of a continuous platform things likely look different. I didn't test it — I specifically wanted a platform.

Rack and tent are a permanent pair from now on. Tent off means rack off, means five or six people again — or a hoist. If you plan to remove the tent seasonally, think this through before buying: otherwise you carry ~114 kg of roof load, the speed limit, crosswind sensitivity and the fuel penalty all year round.

Crossbar spacing was a non-issue: qeedo wants 70–155 cm, minimum 80 cm — easily met with the G1's strut positions, nothing had to be moved.

Questions welcome. If anyone runs the same combination and found a better way, I want to hear it.

Kurzfassung auf Deutsch

Dachzelt qeedo Freedom Family 4 auf ND-Rack G1 Dachträger-Plattform, VW T6 langer Radstand. Problem bei der Dachzelt-Montage: Die Montageschienen am Zeltboden sitzen weit innen, Rack und Zelt sind praktisch gleich breit — dadurch liegen alle Befestigungspunkte unter dem Zelt und sind nicht erreichbar. Der begrenzende Spalt ist der zwischen Dach und Dachträger, an der engsten Stelle rund 3–4 cm wegen der Dachwölbung. Eine Höherlegung hilft deshalb nicht — sie hebt das Zelt über das Rack, nicht das Rack über das Dach.

Lösung: Dachzelt auf den Kopf legen, das komplette Rack am Boden auf dem Zelt montieren, Muttern sorgfältig kontern, dann das Gesamtkonstrukt (ca. 114 kg) zu fünft bis sechst oder per Lift aufs Fahrzeug heben und die Füße mit den Fixpunkten verschrauben.

Zwei Details: Auch die kurzen mitgelieferten qeedo-Schrauben sind zu lang und stoßen am Dach an — es gibt sie noch kürzer, beim Händler oder direkt bei qeedo. Der ND-Rack Dachzelt-Halter baut sehr flach und passt gut dazu; als Rutschsicherung reicht ein Fahrradschlauch.

Vorschlag an die Hersteller: ND-Rack — höhere Füße als Option (2–3 cm), Wölbungsausgleich beibehalten. qeedo — Montageprofile weiter an den Zeltrand oder zwei Zusatzprofile als Nachrüstsatz.

Zeitbedarf bei mir: netto 9 Stunden, überwiegend allein.

I posted here recently super excited about my Dodge Caravan build. Got into the car today and found my boxes of matches chewed up by MICE!!! and droppings all over my mattress. I am so upset, and not sure what to do about them. The mice are tiny but I have never dealt with anything of the sort before.

Edit - I caught one mouse! I found shredded toilet paper everywhere but can’t find a nest. Moved my car and put peppermint oil in there.

When I upgraded the house battery system on my 1996 VW/Westfalia camper van I also wired an audio system upgrade.

However, I think the audio system running off the starter battery (namely the 650 watt 5 channel amp) is keeping the DC to DC charger from kicking on by keeping the voltage just a tad too low on the starting battery for the DC to DC to kick on. If I turn the stereo off the DC to DC charging works as expected.

Is that a reasonable hypothesis?

Any ideas for a solution from someone who's smarter than me?

I have a SWB ford transit connect that I've just started converting, I've opted for armaflex insulation. I've heard a lot of conflicting advice in insulation - some say it's not important at all, others say it's extremely important. I've installed a maxxair fan which I intend to run as much as possible to keep airflow, I'm assuming that'll help with condensation and some temp regulation?

I was following the advice to cover all bare metal with insulation, however it's tricky with armaflex to stick it into the cavities etc. is it really vital that it covers everything or is say 80% coverage sufficient? Bear in mind, it's a very small fan with a large fan in the roof. I'm not sure if I'm spending to much time concerning myself with having gaps in insulation, not having all metal in cavities covered etc.

Finally had some proper rain after a long drought in the UK which means my leaks have revealed themselves. I have two leaks at the top of my bonded window and one in the corner of my roof vent.

Im going to go round the outside of the roof vent with another thick layer of Sikaflex 522 which I’m hoping will fix the roof vent leak, but do I need to do anything on the inside? It’s clamped from the inside across a wooden frame. If I remove that frame I’ll be able to get a better look at where the leak is getting through but I don’t want to create any problems in doing so.

Re my windows: I’ve noticed a lot of vans seem to have added sealant to the edge of the glass too (as in not just between the van’s cut out hole and the window, but the edge of the glass and the van panel). Is this something I should do?

How can I fix the leak in my window without removing it entirely? Can I just pipe some sealant down between the window and the panel on top of where the leak is?

One day I was pumping gas and noticed how dirty my van was. I wanted to write something the likes of “wash me”, but wanted something a little more out of the ordinary. Then I liked it so much I just made it semi-permanent

Curious how folks feel about shorter vs longer vans for getting around town/ using as a daily driver, and anything else you like or dislike about your setup! Are you in a big city or more residential, suburban areas? Do you have pets? Is there anything in your van you are particularly proud of or find useful?

I'd especially love to hear from folks in Promasters or Transits. I'm deciding between a 2015, 136" with 50k miles and a nicer build, vs a 2017 Patriot Blue, very DIY 159" with 120k miles, a more robust electrical system, and a new transmission. Thinking about factors like climate control potential, resale value, daily driving comfort, safety, food/water logistics, and space.

I've watched lots of videos, weeks of research, and read many posts, but it's always nice to hear a fresh take. There are so many different opinions and things to consider.

Anything you want to share about your van, experience, and routines is fun to hear!

Full time van-lifer in a Chevy express 1500 cargo: Used to run my bed North to West and always wanted East to West. North to South are up almost all my space to get dressed or move around. Nightmare. Felt like I was too tall but mostly I would have to change out mattresses and cut to size. I’m only 5’8” (172.72) I ended up doing it and it worked just fine. I had to cut the mattress down (memory foam only). Looked far and wide on how to cut it and came across the only think I would ever suggest to anyone ever. Medium to long bread knife. It cut through it like butter. Almost no effort at all. Keep blade at about 45 degrees and saw lightly. Boom. This first photo is of my old hybrid spring mattress. The others is of the 12inch (30.48cm) thick fat mattress and it worked like cutting butter with a hot scalpel. This will work on the thickest foam mattresses (draw your cut lines first). Went from about 2x4 of “standing room” to about 5.5x6 (167.64x182.88)