Thought id show a video i made of my camper i fitted out with my partner.
Anyone else got similar vans they have lived in or traveled in? Tips and tricks? ideas?
[video=vimeo;139928830]https://vimeo.com/139928830[/video]
Vans are pretty cool eh.
I love my Van - but I can’t turn it into a camper until we get another car, though I have done some nice camping trips.
here’s a video though:
could you get a couple of these screwed into the floor of the van for the bikes?
unlikely they’d be much of an issue with the mattress over the top and taking the front wheels off only takes 10 seconds…
could work out alright and they’re pretty cheap.
I haven’t got a pic here but I can fold the middle & rear seats down flat on one side and put a mattress down on top and that makes a perfect single bed with storage for esky, camp cooker & kitchen underneath, then on the other side move the middle seat all the way forward and remove the rear seat (which takes about 2 mins), and my bike, cycling gear & clothing fits without taking anything apart. I did a 2 night solo mtb/wedding trip to canberra with that setup and it worked a charm.
Also did a camp with 2 mates, 3 bikes + swags & gear and that worked out alright too:
got some firewood:
This is on the Turon:
Im working on a quick release type thing like this for my truck
i’ve got 2 sitting in a box that i bought ages ago. hoping that one of these days i’ll get back into racing track and can throw the bike in the back, or take a bike or two away when camping etc.
where would someone purchase said things?
Sorry but 17 plus years of family caravan trips have all but killed any love I had or will ever have for camping/caravans/campervans.
Anyone who’s ever stood in the pissing rain trying to erect a caravan awning with while their dad barks orders from the warm car will know what I mean.
bought mine online. just google “bicycle front fork clamps” or similar.
edit - “bicycle fork carrier mount”
This was my camper for ~10 years - Sunliner conversion…
I enjoyed the luxury of being able to rock up somewhere, unhook the four corners of the poptop and have the bed set up within seconds of arriving without having to step outside. This was bliss after a number of 6+ month climbing road trips overseas crawling in and out of tents - kind of did the same for me with camping like setting up the caravan awning in the rain did for schoolism which was my main driver for getting the van.
Didn’t so much enjoy the number of times I ended up broken down by the side of the road or the 3 1/2 engine rebuiilds in those 10+ years! Nor tailgating Semis on the Hume so I could sit on 110 when a strong head wind was blowing…
thanks so much. never really knew these existed.
Catering for long fenders somehow? That’s why I like the racks that don’t need a wheel removed.
This is great.
no worries. from memory, i got 2 delivered for about $30 on sale online somewhere.
this is a good point, not sure if they’d work too well with a tourer running fenders etc. i bought mine mainly for my track bike, and think i’m more likely to take my roadie in the car. if i’m on the tourer i probably wouldn’t take the car, but then again, i’ve also driven to the start of a few overnighters…
hmmm
So much room for activities!
That beard also!
Good work Joey.
Great thread, I’m thinking of switching to a van for a daily driver, bike carrier and occasional overnighter. Not sure whether to go for a mid-size (trafic, Vito) or a compact (kangoo, caddy) and if a compact swb or lwb. Lwb compact would be needed to sleep in, even at my diminutive 173cm, and most aren’t far off the length of a mid-size. And if we’re not using it to sleep in regularly, would a forester or similar and a tent be a better fit? Decisions, but love looking at other peoples solutions.
Did you check out Brian Lopes van set up at Interbike, that was great.
Yup, total van envy