[Probes]

A bit of T4 knowledge if possible thanks... Ive come across a T4 1998 1.9td done 178k owned by a mechanic whoss virtually changed everything on it, so mechanically im pretty confident, body work showing rust spots and looks ok for a 15 year old but doesn't look mint, back is just lined and carpeted, he wants £2250 for it, very very tempted..
Only thing he said he got 300 mile of 3/4 tank... assume its a 60 litre tank so that equates to 35 mpg? is this about normal for a t4?

[Duma]

Tank on mine (52 plate) is at least 70l, poss 75. I generally get between 35 and 40mpg. I do drive pretty much like a granny though.

[iain]

Ours is at least 75l too, manual says about 80l tank with similar mpg, and driving style, to Duma. Had 700ish from a tank.

[Probes]

Ok cheers, yes going to question him on this for sure now... 300 off 3/4 tank is way off if its a standard tank..

[SA Chris]

Any recommendations for a good reliable leisure battery that won't cosr loads. Needs to be sealed / odour free as it goes under drivers seat?

The current one is an Elecsol, and I think I've let it run down to nothing a few times too many (usually forgetting to switch fridge off!) It's getting hot not holding charge and smelling a bit, which I think means its on its way out.

[Fidders]

I'm currently looking at different types of portable/rechargeable dehumidifiers or moisture trap crystals to reduce the condensation build up inside my campervan. Any recommendations on either of these items or other solutions would be very welcome.

Cheers 

[Paul B]

Northcountryboy always used to moan that his eberspacher heater would leave the air in his van very dry.

Maybe it's an expensive solution but two birds, one stone?

[Fidders]

Northcountryboy always used to moan that his eberspacher heater would leave the air in his van very dry...

tbh, my research into dehumidifiers has revealed the best option is just leave the window open slightly... perhaps i'll just investigate this eberspacher heater instead. cheers

[Fultonius]

Have you got a roof vent?

[Fidders]

Nope, we haven't a roof vent either.

[Fultonius]

We're planning on getting one soon, right above the cooker. Hopefully that'll help things a bit.

[tomtom]

Does your van have ac? If so running it when driving between sites will help loads drying out the interior as the ac dehumidifies the air..

[SA Chris]

http://m.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/mercedes-vito-cdi-111-dual-liner-2006-van/1046718681

Good mate selling his van because his fiancee can't drive, so they had to get a car. It's in great nick, he's had it from new, and it doesn't get used when he's offshore, so low miles.

[wsmith]

Looking into getting a small-ish van for a fairly basic conversion - single bed, small stove/sink and a leisure battery. The main option at the moment is a Transit Connect, probably LWB. Anyone have any experience with these? Reliable? Suitable for a conversion?

Any recommendations of similar type vans? Does LWB reduce efficiency much compared with a SWB?

[Paul B]

Have you looked back through this thread (or searched)? I'm pretty sure Johnny Brown made some comments re: these saying they're horrible to drive.

[wsmith]

Cheers, now found the comments you're referring to. Not too fussed about the drive assuming its reliable and fairly efficient so it's still an option.

The Caddy is one of the other options. I saw your Caddy conversion and comments on bed length - was that long or short wheel base? Am I right to imagine a SWB to be too short for me (5ft 11")?

[Paul B]

Personally, I think small vans are a bit shit. Our caddy conversion was SWB however there wasn't all that much room in it (for us, kit, cooking stuff etc.), it drunk fuel (compared to my 2.5 tdi T4) and wasn't any easier to drive (given there were no rear windows etc.).

Maybe if there's just you staying in it then a small van is better but for me an estate car is a better compromise (just not a 2004 E46 with loads of extras to go wrong).

[bigdrew]

I am currently in the middle of converting a Connect LWB. At 6ft 3" I needed the LWB. Even at 5' 11" you would be looking at moving the front seat forward to sleep in it straight.The extra height is nice too. LWB also gives useful storage above the driver and passenger.

I've attached a picture to give you an idea of what my friend has done with his SWB connect. The bed pulls all the way across to the units leaving plenty of room for two.


I'm only planning on insulating + carpeting and putting a bed down once side as I want room for a motorbike down the other.

Driving like a bit of a granny my last tank saw 43mpg with the 75hp TDDI engine which I thought was alight. As for the driving comments it is a van built to do a job - run it along side a fun car (or a bike) if you want a driving / fun toy..

Neither of us have a leisure battery and I think it would be a pain to fit one. No room in the engine bay or under the seats so it would have to take up room in the back or go under the bed.

You do pay more for a LWB and the connects are fairly expensive anyway. Part of me wishes I just brought a normal SWB Transit

Let me know if you want any more info

[sjw]

Personally, I think small vans are a bit shit. Our caddy conversion was SWB however there wasn't all that much room in it (for us, kit, cooking stuff etc.), it drunk fuel (compared to my 2.5 tdi T4) and wasn't any easier to drive (given there were no rear windows etc.

This is good food for thought Paul. I've been considering buying and part-converting a swb Caddy tdi with a side bench seat/bed for occassional nights and trips away. My main reason for going small van is that my nearest bouldering is a 100 mile odd round trip and I thought a Caddy would return better mpg than a T4 and easier to use day-to-day. I now wonder whether I'm being rather naive about how much space I'll need and the fuel economy, or lack of!

[Paul B]

Just bear in mind that's just my opinion. It may be better if you were by yourself. However, take a look at the rear load area height. I worked out that there wasn't all that much headroom left by the time you'd built a platform to sleep on which I (not that tall) could sit on without bending my neck), if you wanted to fit a pad underneath. Thus I went for a welded metal frame rather than wood.

I know north_country_boy has a caddy which he gets better MPG than I did, but I now know a fair few friends that have them who don't seem to spend much time sleeping in them at all (if at all).

[sjw]

I caved in. After a few months of checking the classifieds every night, I've bought a Caddy. Having spent god knows how many hours researching various 'how to' things on the internet, I've hit a brick wall with some of them and admitted defeat so I'm hoping for some wise and worldly knowledge for you clever lot.

PaulB: Having looked though your flickr build gallery, I was wondering if you made your own ply panels? I can only find ply lining kits for full sides etc. as opposed to the minimal ones that yours had.

Wiring additional LEDs/power into the back. Is this something that a total novice could do? I've found a few forum threads and understand the principle, but don't think I'd be confident enough to know what to buy/how to do it without an idiot proof step by step guide. Any suggestions on where to look, or should I just get a real man to do it for me?

Carpeting: I can't decide whether to do spend a whole weekend doing it myself and doing an 'OK' job, or just pay someone to do it and know that it'll be done properly. Any thoughts from people who've done it themselves?

Ta! Simon.

[account_inactive]

I've had a T4 and and now have a Caddy. The Caddy is WAY better on fuel and I sleep in in Mon-Fri whilst at work. I'm 5.10 and its fine for me. Not huge, but certainly big enough if you're inventive with storage (raised bed etc).

[Fultonius]

I caved in. After a few months of checking the classifieds every night, I've bought a Caddy. Having spent god knows how many hours researching various 'how to' things on the internet, I've hit a brick wall with some of them and admitted defeat so I'm hoping for some wise and worldly knowledge for you clever lot.

PaulB: Having looked though your flickr build gallery, I was wondering if you made your own ply panels? I can only find ply lining kits for full sides etc. as opposed to the minimal ones that yours had.

I did it myself on a VW t4, but I had the old flimsy fiber-board panels to use as a template and still didn't do a perfect job. I think the difficult but is getting a good, full size template to work from. Cutting them out is a piece of piss if you can handle a jigsaw.

Wiring additional LEDs/power into the back. Is this something that a total novice could do? I've found a few forum threads and understand the principle, but don't think I'd be confident enough to know what to buy/how to do it without an idiot proof step by step guide. Any suggestions on where to look, or should I just get a real man to do it for me?

The electrics are fairly easy. Try and figure out a wiring diagram for what your need and feel free to send it my way and I can give you some pointers.

Carpeting: I can't decide whether to do spend a whole weekend doing it myself and doing an 'OK' job, or just pay someone to do it and know that it'll be done properly. Any thoughts from people who've done it themselves?

It's tricky to get it really good. The panels are fairly easy (curved cutouts take a bit more thought). The bits I struggled with most were round windows etc. It boils down to budget vs free time vs your quality requirements. I was happy to do it myself as I had a low budget, lots of time and wanted it to be fairly good, but we didn't need show-room quality!

You might be better doing some overtime to pay for a pro to do it while you go climbing ;-)

[SA Chris]

It boils down to budget vs free time vs your quality requirements.

+1. Cheap, Fast and Quality - choose any two.

[sjw]

Brilliant, thanks everyone. I took out the bulkhead and ply panels tonight and it looks loads bigger for it. Thankfully the flimsy fibreboard bits were underneath so I'll have some templates to work from. No doubt I'll be back  grovelling for more advice in due course, thanks again.