[andy_e]

One of the Scouse lids was flogging his T5...

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/volkswagen-transporter-t5-swb-19tdi/1115770198

Might be worth a look?

[SA Chris]

What do you mean when you say compatible with baby bed? You mean with a pop-up roof? We've got a roofrack on top of our Reimo pop-up roof on our T5, which is rated to 30 kgs, no idea how much a couple of kayaks weigh?

When we go away we usually have 2 kids, a bouldering pad (cold fit in two), surfboards on top and 2 1/2 bikes on the back, plus room for all the other crap. Gets easier once they can sleep in a bed, and you don't need to take a travel cot etc about.

As far as child safety goes, you should at least get a steel frame fold out bed, and preferably a crash tested one.

You can check ours out if you are in Aberdeenshire at any time.

We looked at Bongos intially but decided they were a bit poky for 4.

[galpinos]

 Any drive away awning advice?

Got a Bongo and since the little one has got older, we could do with more space. Nice weather is fine but in the rain, it suddenly feels quite small in the van and my daughter is pretty physical and requires a lot of entertaining!

Don' want to spend a fortune but happy to spend on something decent as we'll hipefuy use it a lot. Is it a case of just googling or are there any things to look for that you find out after using one for a while.

[SA Chris]

We just use our big tent from pre-van days. Not sure the benefits to buying a specific piece of kit are worthwhile TBH.

[rodma]

we just sika'd on some R-rail into the roof gutter of the van and stitched awning piping stuff onto the tarp so that we could have a dry area outside the van. cheap and easy (i didn't do the sewing) and would easily span over a tent too

[kelvin]

I think you've just solved one of the issues with my Ducato rodma - an annoying drip into the van from the side door being open after heavy rain. There's no side gutter... I hadn't thought to sika a piece of something along there.

Cheers.

So this week I invested in various types of insulation and also a Ctek D250s Dual battery charger. Spoke to a few people who exist off grid on trips and it seems to be very well liked. Managed to get it for £150 from a marine supplier, which is way under the budget I'd allowed.

[rodma]

I think you've just solved one of the issues with my Ducato rodma - an annoying drip into the van from the side door being open after heavy rain. There's no side gutter... I hadn't thought to sika a piece of something along there.

Edit: not an original idea on my part---

---we did a lot of googling to work out what we needed for our t4 and how to do it. mrs rodma even stitched together mosi nets with magnets in so we could sleep with either the slidy door open, or just the window open, with the tarp keeping the rain off, which came in really handy

[kelvin]

Seems really obvious now - I'd been thinking of trying to fix something further back on the roof bar attachment points but I need to retain the use of them and was starting to get a bit stumped.

Magnets and mozzie netting sounds GENIUS  That'd have saved me in Font last summer, that Camping La Prez side was full of the things.

[rodma]

Seems really obvious now - I'd been thinking of trying to fix something further back on the roof bar attachment points but I need to retain the use of them and was starting to get a bit stumped.

Magnets and mozzie netting sounds GENIUS  That'd have saved me in Font last summer, that Camping La Prez side was full of the things.

Haha
That's where we were all of 9 days ago

[SA Chris]

Magnets and mozzie netting sounds GENIUS  That'd have saved me in Font last summer, that Camping La Prez side was full of the things.

We've got that setup. You can buy midge netting from here; http://www.midgie.net/ then close it into the front doors so it covers the windows and seal along the bottom with magnets (available from the fridge doors at any municipal recycling centre in any length you fancy).

[kelvin]

Thanks - I've had mozzie netting before and it was utterly useless in Scotland against the midge and whilst I've no plans to be in Scotland ever again in midge season, it's better to have the protection against a load of out of season midge raiders.

Nice set-up with the tarp there too. I think that's the way to go probably.

[SA Chris]

You don't have to be in Scotland to get midged, I've been eaten in Northumberland, the Peak, Yorkshire and Wales.

[galpinos]

We've currently got a standard roll out awning with no side which is great, until there is a slight breeze and then the rain just comes under it. For the odd night it's fine but we are think more of week long van trips. Also, the idea of a drice away awning means we can leave a load of stuff at the campsite and head off for the day in the van.

I'd considered just getting a big family tent but:

• We've not already got one so we might as well buy an awning
• I like the idea of it attaching to the van so you get an actual dry "outside" area
• If we get a faimly tent, why bother with the van?

I'm a bit torn as I don't want an awning really (it feels as though I'm getting a step closer to being a carvan owner with every purchase like this....) but can really see the practical benefits. Setting the van up and having somewhere to dump the car seat, pram, daughters bike etc just makes so much sense.

Hmmmmm.

P.S. Any tips on getting an over excited 2yo to sleep in a van? She's got a cab bed and at 11.45pm was still peeking through the curtains happy as larry shouting "Mummy Daddy Party Time!". She loved the whole van thing but it left us all pretty sleep deprived.

[fatboySlimfast]

So after long weekend of campervan work  the sequel to the bongo  has begun......
Fiat scudo lwb, hi top 2012 which I can stand up in (yes I know im short) now with insulated floor, walls, covered floor and about to begin vapour barrier  & carpeting the walls. Then rooflights....eeek scary hole cutting

Electrics next week, thoughts on just 12v or include 240v as well? My conversion is fairly minimal and not looking at a fixed fridge, Ive already got a 240v lead used for camping and a camping fridge and would probably only use it with family tent . Lights, hob and a laptop/phone charger, propex(not sure yet) would be the only internal demands on the system. I dont want to have to cut another hole in the side as well.

[SA Chris]

Any tips on getting an over excited 2yo to sleep in a van? She's got a cab bed and at 11.45pm was still peeking through the curtains happy as larry shouting "Mummy Daddy Party Time!". She loved the whole van thing but it left us all pretty sleep deprived.

Wear them down! It's not the getting to bed that's the major problem for us, it's the parents staying up late with a few drinks and then getting woken up at first light.

[rodma]

So after long weekend of campervan work  the sequel to the bongo  has begun......
Fiat scudo lwb, hi top 2012 which I can stand up in (yes I know im short) now with insulated floor, walls, covered floor and about to begin vapour barrier  & carpeting the walls. Then rooflights....eeek scary hole cutting

Electrics next week, thoughts on just 12v or include 240v as well? My conversion is fairly minimal and not looking at a fixed fridge, Ive already got a 240v lead used for camping and a camping fridge and would probably only use it with family tent . Lights, hob and a laptop/phone charger, propex(not sure yet) would be the only internal demands on the system. I dont want to have to cut another hole in the side as well.

We found the fridge to be the icing on the cake in our conversion. It was 27celcius at isatis a couple of weeks ago, so on returning to the van we were able to reward ourselves with ice creams , then super chilled beers upon returning to camp.

Well that and being able to keep all the meat, cheese, milk etc. Good, so that we didn't have to go to the bloody supermarket all the time.

[tomtom]

Sure I've seen some pretty fancy 12v fridges...

[rodma]

Dearer than the fridge in rodma towers

[GazM]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but the wife-to-be and I are hiring a van and planning a week of puntering round Devon and Cornwall after our wedding in September.  What's the sketch with overnight parking in carparks and laybys? We live up in the Highlands where it's pretty relaxed, but I'd imagine with the numbers of folk with vans these days it might be a bit harder in holiday honeypots like Cornwall? Are we better off using proper campsites?
Any recommendations for good sites or carparks?  Sea view, near good eateries and alehouses, perhaps a crag or two.  You know the score.

[Fultonius]

Not sure if this works in Cornwall but we have been known to ask if we can stay in the pub car park in return for imbibing their fine ales.  Never said no yet but watch for the coppers if you've over the limit as they can technically still do you for bwing in charge of the vehicle.

[kelvin]

Woke up this morning to find someone had been in the van and gone through everything, glasses cases you name it - the only thing they took was a set of keys for my lock-up. I'm assuming they thought they might be keys to a house. They'd even removed the satnav from the glovebox but left it on the seat. Odd, really odd.

Anyways, when I could finally get in the lock-up to grab the insulation, I got going on the van. Self adhesive foil backed foam on the panels to kill the sound as much as anything else, covered by foiled bubble wrap initially and dacron in the pillars.

It's good to get started! Can't climb at the moment, bicipital tendonitis and the physio has banned me from lifting my arm above my head for a while. May as well make some use of the spare time but I don't think I can class this as training.

[James Malloch]

Any tips for little vans? Like really little (berlingo, partner, caddy etc).

I'm after something small and cheap to insure that will still give a decent MPG.

My main question is what cut off would you apply for mileage for a used vehicle? I know it varies a lot but let's say it's in a good condition and has been well maintained/serviced throughout its life. Essentially I could spend up to about £3k but I'd prefer something upto about £2k if possible. Though it means you often either find an older van with sub 100k on the clock, or a newer van with more than 100k miles.

Any general thoughts would be appreciated and I under its entirely subjective...

[kelvin]

I used a berlingo for nine years and that had 167,000 on the clock when I got the Ducato this winter. Still running fine for my mate but it was serviced properly and things replaced at the first sign of trouble. The clutch went at 57,000 - just after I bought it but that's still fine. The Ducato has had a few niggles since I got it, 66,000 on the clock but I think I'm on top of them now.

Sent from my XT1039 using Tapatalk

[SA Chris]

I always think diesels are better if you are looking at higher mileage, but not sure if this is just something in my mind or factual. I'd always go for older van with lower miles, and buy  the best you can afford.

[Bonjoy]

Here’s a tip for long term van owners, especially ones with larger vans. I got sick of feeling over a barrel every time I had to put the thing in for MOT, made worse by the fact that only a handful of garages are equipped to test large vans. It just seems like a scam when the garage that tests you also quotes for repairs in the knowledge that most folk lack the time and energy to shop around for extra quotes, it’s a classic captive market. This year I took it to the council transport depot in Darnell which primarily tests council stock and taxis, but is obliged by law to provide an MOT service to the public also. Crucially they don’t do repairs so have no vested interest in failing you so they can then quote you a load of costly work. If anything they have incentive to not fail you as it will encourage repeat business, which they welcome as it boost their revenue. I still failed but this time it was on minor stuff I knew already was at fault which I sorted out myself (replaced light strips at the back and rubbers on pedals) and it passed the free re-test no probs. Think I’ll take the car there next year too.
Also for MOTs. if you’re concerned that the van may fail on emissions you should run the vehicle for a decent distance straight before taking it in for test (12 miles is advised), this is known as an Italian tune-up and burns off excess carbon which might otherwise cause a fail.