New Camper van family with a T6 T30 LWB Highline

[Flashollie]

Hi

I've been stalking around here getting information and you all seem a friendly bunch so hello. I am now a member.

After being left some money me and my family are going to join the camper van world. The money comes from my parents with whom I toured Europe in variety of batter British cars including a Mini clubman van, a Morris marina and ford transit 6 wheeler ,where all 3 of us slept on a piece of 3/4 ply on top of tools and wheel for the race car we towed.

We've "proper" canvas camped for years but now with kids and work, getting the energy to pack the car drive put up tent repack drive unpack dry out tent put away in garage for a weekend we sort of lost the mojo.
I hoping to come home change clothes changes car keys through some clothes in a go.

It will also extend the season and locations we can dash away to as well since I am getting a heater fitted.....

Being a petrol head I have always admired nice vehicles and mostly had German cars, so now opportunity has presented itself it had to be VW. Even though and don't shout at me but the new transit drives really well.

I've opted for the 150 bhp not the 204 because I want a bit more grunt but also some economy. I may get remap when out of warranty.
I've gone for the auto 'box as I have got used to these in my cars and cant go back. Also the highline spec has all the toys I need
I do want to add nicer wheels and maybe the odd spoiler or chrome side bars. But most of that will wait. I need to get it converted first. Having looked at few different companies conversions, we are getting towards a final spec then going out for quotes.

Anything obvious I have missed at this stage? Any recommendations for conversion companies? So far I am drawn towards Hillside and Wessex. I want a well made solid product. Good value but not cheaply made. Happy to pay for quality of a good the design, functionality and a robust finish.

Camper conversion
drivers side conversion
option for minimum of 5 travel seats
front swivel passenger seat single or double TBC with small table for dining
rear double bed 110 to 120 wide - Reimo variotech sliding
VW privacy glass with x 2 opening
Front elevating roof with double bed Reimo or SCA
roof rack (removable)
fridge
freezer small ?
2 ring hob
Grill?
oven?
sink with c water
water tanks mounted under body
option for hot water?
interior heater gas or diesel
activity shower fed from H+C?
space for portable / removable cassette toilet
wind out canopy ?
LED lighting inc lights to rear tailgate and side door
speakers to living area
4 place bike rack?
fabrics not leather and furniture colours will depend on final colour of base vehicle but generally to be lighter furniture and darker fabrics
Dynamat insulation ?



Marcus

 

[Chopman]

Hi and welcome. Mostly it comes down to trade-offs and priorities.
If you put all of that into a van, you'll not have much space left to put any bedding, crockery, cutlery, pots, kettle, clothes or shoes.

 

[Flashollie]

Thanks Chopman
Yep priorities are tricky to work out. I am bit like a kid in sweet shop ticking lots of boxes. Hence joining here to try to get down to the final spec list.
What is taking up possible cupboard space; the grill, oven and the space for the loo?
Reading it the freezer suggestions is perhaps better describe as an ice box within a fridge. Those things with a ? are to be confirmed subject to space and cost and if the choose installer offer it.

 

[former member]

Hi Ollie,

Exciting stuff! Only heard good things about Hillside and seen a few of their conversions. I don't know anything about Wessex. Also worth a look a the ever popular Exploria and Three Bridges do some absolutely lovely conversions too.

How many of you are there? What sort of holidays do you envisage going on? Are you likely to use it all year?

We do a 5-6 week Euro trip each Summer, two weeks in France at Easter and other shorter trips in the UK and have two kids - a California suits us just about perfectly but there are elements of them that don't suit some campers.

Be realistic and think about what you'll use it for and build something that fits that spec - are you likely to need space in it for bikes? Will you have loads of clobber? Do you travel light? Will you use it as a bit of a daily driver (then a SWB would probably be best), etc? Some conversions are all singing all dancing but have very little storage space, some look a bit too "DIY" and so on.

Anyway here's my attempt at answering your questions...

Camper conversion
drivers side conversion - ??
option for minimum of 5 travel seats - can be limiting. For example a Cali Ocean is strictly a 4 seater. 5th seats are often right in the way.
front swivel passenger seat single or double TBC with small table for dining - Two swivels work best for dining. But be realistic - will you eat IN the van much (we do but many don't)
rear double bed 110 to 120 wide - Reimo variotech sliding; decent bed.
VW privacy glass with x 2 opening - privacy glass is a must in a camper IMO.
Front elevating roof with double bed Reimo or SCA ; tried and tested. I'd errr towards SCA.
roof rack (removable) - make sure the roof is compatible - our Cali has T track for roof bars and can carry 50kgs. Some can't.
fridge - decide on top down (like a Cali - for us) or front loading. Some are gas/12v/240v but expensive. Ours is 12v/240v and lasts five days on a charge - handy. Keeps everything nice and cool - in fact the bottom rear corner almost freezes stuff.
freezer small ? - really hard to option on a camper. In fact I can't think of any.
2 ring hob - essential. We last six weeks with just a hob. We also take a small portable one for hot days. Some don't feel they need to cook inside at all. We do!
Grill - we manage without one and you'll be taking up space but if you like toast, get one.
oven? - rare in VW van conversions and it'll rob plenty of space. I'd avoid.
sink with c water - again be realistic - camper sinks are tiny and not that useful but if you'll free camp, you need one.
water tanks mounted under body - seems to usual route
option for hot water? - very expensive but possible. We just boil a kettle!
interior heater gas or diesel - again will you use it in Winter? Good ones are great. Love ours.
activity shower fed from H+C? - we use campsite or beach showers and a £15 solar shower. No problems.
space for portable / removable cassette toilet - takes up loads of space and in reality, will you use it? We take a "bog in a bag" for emergencies but use campsite or public loos or occasional "free bog" - not great but needs must.
wind out canopy ? - we use ours a lot for both sun and rain protection. Really handy.
LED lighting inc lights to rear tailgate and side door - very useful (we have them) - worth getting.
speakers to living area - again we've got them. Makes a van feel a bit more civilised IMO.
4 place bike rack? - VW makes a good one (we have one); any van except a Cali needs uprated struts to take the weight if it's a tailgate one. Towbar ones are worth a look and a bit more versatile. You can't open your boot on a tailgate one with bikes on.
fabrics not leather and furniture colours will depend on final colour of base vehicle but generally to be lighter furniture and darker fabrics - good idea. Our seats are a bit too light IMO and mark easily. But try and make sure the van feels light and airy overall. Too many conversions look like a dark cave.
Dynamat insulation ? - worthwhile. Even a Highline has naff all insulation. On the Caravelle and Cali have any.

 

[Davenjo]

Hello and welcome!

We have come from a similar position as yourselves, ie. hardened canvas campers that have gone soft lol.

@Polzeylad has already mentioned Hillside Leisure - just about everything on your list, including the hot water, activity shower, fridge with ice box, grill and/or oven, diesel heater, etc., is included with their standard offerings.

Hillside tend to use panel vans and, as well as brand new conversions ready to go, they usually have some brand new stock waiting to convert. However, with some of your factory fit items you would probably have to get them to do a factory order.

Have a look at their website and, better still, if you are anywhere near Derby I would definitely pay them a visit as with your shopping list and apparent desire for high end components you will probably find it’s cheaper getting them to source the van and convert than you trying to do similar yourself.

Cheers,

Dave

 

[Flashollie]

Thanks some good advice after only posting 2 hours ago.
I've put some answers below.
Also I didn't say we have the van already bought, collect it next week!



Exciting stuff! Only heard good things about Hillside and seen a few of their conversions. I don't know anything about Wessex. Also worth a look a the ever popular Exploria and Three Bridges do some absolutely lovely conversions too.
Thanks

How many of you are there? What sort of holidays do you envisage going on? Are you likely to use it all year?
There will be 4 if all kids come otherwise 2 and occasionally just me.
Mixture of wild camping and campsites. Weekends all year within UK.
Week or more trips to Europe in the Summer

We do a 5-6 week Euro trip each Summer, two weeks in France at Easter and other shorter trips in the UK and have two kids - a California suits us just about perfectly but there are elements of them that don't suit some campers.

Be realistic and think about what you'll use it for and build something that fits that spec - are you likely to need space in it for bikes? Will you have loads of clobber? Do you travel light? Will you use it as a bit of a daily driver (then a SWB would probably be best), etc? Some conversions are all singing all dancing but have very little storage space, some look a bit too "DIY" and so on.

It wont be daily driver both have cars .
Might put my bike inside because its £££. I want to create a reasonably flexible space but with fixed cupboards hence the Reimo seat.
I will need quite a few cupboards I travel light not sure the girls always do.....

Anyway here's my attempt at answering your questions...

Camper conversion
drivers side conversion - ??
option for minimum of 5 travel seats - can be limiting. For example a Cali Ocean is strictly a 4 seater. 5th seats are often right in the way. I think the Reimo is always 3 seater seat so with driver and passenger thats 5. With the Vario trac I can put an extra single in future but thats unlikely.
front swivel passenger seat single or double TBC with small table for dining - Two swivels work best for dining. But be realistic - will you eat IN the van much (we do but many don't) will eat inside in winter!
rear double bed 110 to 120 wide - Reimo variotech sliding; decent bed.
VW privacy glass with x 2 opening - privacy glass is a must in a camper IMO.
Front elevating roof with double bed Reimo or SCA ; tried and tested. I'd errr towards SCA.
roof rack (removable) - make sure the roof is compatible - our Cali has T track for roof bars and can carry 50kgs. Some can't.
fridge - decide on top down (like a Cali - for us) or front loading. Some are gas/12v/240v but expensive. Ours is 12v/240v and lasts five days on a charge - handy. Keeps everything nice and cool - in fact the bottom rear corner almost freezes stuff. Only seen front loading and that looks fine to me bu tno strong preference though top laoder will be more efficient.
freezer small ? - really hard to option on a camper. In fact I can't think of any. Freezer is perhaps the wrong word. I thought I'd seen ice boxes in a fridge. Its only for ice for G and Ts!
2 ring hob - essential. We last six weeks with just a hob. We also take a small portable one for hot days. Some don't feel they need to cook inside at all. We do!
Grill - we manage without one and you'll be taking up space but if you like toast, get one. Yes still up for debate but mostly likely I wont fit.
oven? - rare in VW van conversions and it'll rob plenty of space. I'd avoid. Thanks I thought this might be the case.
sink with c water - again be realistic - camper sinks are tiny and not that useful but if you'll free camp, you need one. Yes will free camp
water tanks mounted under body - seems to usual route
option for hot water? - very expensive but possible. We just boil a kettle! yes thought that may be the way to go.
interior heater gas or diesel - again will you use it in Winter? Good ones are great. Love ours. Will be used in winter - whats recommended diesel or LPG?
activity shower fed from H+C? - we use campsite or beach showers and a £15 solar shower. No problems. Fair enough but its standard on the Hillside so might just go for it.
space for portable / removable cassette toilet - takes up loads of space and in reality, will you use it? We take a "bog in a bag" for emergencies but use campsite or public loos or occasional "free bog" - not great but needs must. Teenage daughter may be a tricky! I envisage having the space for it but depending where we are going might not take it. Still in negotiations at home.....
wind out canopy ? - we use ours a lot for both sun and rain protection. Really handy.
LED lighting inc lights to rear tailgate and side door - very useful (we have them) - worth getting.
speakers to living area - again we've got them. Makes a van feel a bit more civilised IMO.
4 place bike rack? - VW makes a good one (we have one); any van except a Cali needs uprated struts to take the weight if it's a tailgate one. Towbar ones are worth a look and a bit more versatile. You can't open your boot on a tailgate one with bikes on.
fabrics not leather and furniture colours will depend on final colour of base vehicle but generally to be lighter furniture and darker fabrics - good idea. Our seats are a bit too light IMO and mark easily. But try and make sure the van feels light and airy overall. Too many conversions look like a dark cave.
Dynamat insulation ? - worthwhile. Even a Highline has naff all insulation. On the Caravelle and Cali have any.

 

[Davenjo]

Re fridges; Waeco CRX range of compressor fridges have (removable) ice boxes at the top - we use ours for ice as well as sonetimes taking a bit of frozen food.

 

[former member]

Sounds like you’re nearly there; exciting stuff.
I’m probably being over cautious as our first Cali had almost everything and we didn’t use some of it (some options were actually a PITA!) so specced this one more lightly to what we needed.

We’ve been campering in VWs for five years with the kids so shout if you need any travel tips when you get it. Such a huge life enhancer!

 

[Flashollie]

Don't worry about being over cautious. I am keen to get this right.
Its a lot of money to spend and the whole lot can be ruined by spend a few hundred on something you don't need and missing something you do need.

 

[former member]

Just a suggestion if you plan to freecamp; could be worth a look at 4motion; gets us to places others cannot go by the sea, in the mountains, etc.
Quite an expensive option but it makes the van a very versatile machine; add decent All Season or even full on 4x4 tyres and you have yourself an SUV you can live in.

4motion vans also hold their value incredibly we. Great on road too.

 

[Markymark]

CMC Reimo down at Hythe offer an option to have a removable 5th seat on the sliding seat/bed rail. So you could have it in for day use and leave it out when camping. We had our conversion done there and really happy with the work. We didn’t bother with hot water but have also gone down the solar shower route. Not bothered with a grill as have bought a small Cadac which works really well and is very versatile. Doesn’t take up much room either.

 

[Flashollie]

4wd would be nice. But the initial purchase cost and reduced fuel economy means it's not at the top of the list.

What I've learned off the Reimo track system is the seat bed is 1150mm wide and seats 3 so I'd only go for a 6th single seat on the track if we take kids friends. So standard layout will be 2 front swivel sests and a narrow but 3 seats in the rear.

 

[Flashollie]

Curtains or blinds? Or a mixture? I saw some funky blinds for the front screen that pulled out of the pillars. £450 but better than trying stick suckers on the window?
Do these need to be insulated for winter?

 

[former member]

We’ve got blinds all round including the A pillar ones; really good, don’t take up much space, shut out a lot of light.

 

[Flashollie]

Viewed a van today with a waeco CRD50 pull out fridge which was a good idea it thought.
Also a Wallas diesel hob and heater combined again this sounded like a good idea. The hob is perhaps slow to get hot to cook but I think we are only talking a couple of minutes.
Anyone got any experience of these?

 

[Davenjo]

Quite a lot of discussion around Wallas together with some video review in a recent thread:- Diesel Hob

 

[LordGozer]

Welcome @Flashollie

Such an exciting time, I went through this about 12 months ago.

Have you looked at Autohaus in Minehead, not too far from you, we used them for our conversion after seeing the quality of their work at the NEC Caravan and campervan show. Chris there is brilliant and very patient with us when deciding on what we wanted.

We’ve had a few niggles but they have been sorted with no fuss.

 

[Flashollie]

Yes Autohaus do look like they make a nice job but they won't fit the Reimo variotrac seating. I spoke to them yesterday, so if I go with the variotrac which I'm fairly sure I will I'll have to look elsewhere.

 

[Flashollie]

Quite a lot of discussion around Wallas together with some video review in a recent thread:- Diesel Hob

Thanks for this very interesting useful reading. On balance if there is space for both water and LPG underneath then I think I'm going to opt for underslung LPG to run a two ring hob and internal heating with a point fitted for those fancy Cadac cooker / bbqs. Though my dad will be turning in his grave at the thought of a gas bbq he was always a staunch supporter of proper charcoal- better for your digestion was his thinking.....

 

[Gavandi]

@Flashollie

I’m late to the conversation so forgive any repeats/conflicts

We have a 2016 LWB converted by Rolling Homes in Shrewsbury.
Can’t fault conversion or quality... communication a bit challenging at times however.
150 T30 Highline with extras.

We opted for rear kitchen layout with rear pop up SCA roof. Double bed up top.
2 swivel front seats and 2 rear passenger/single bed conversions.

For us it allows access through van in day, if raining and quick picnic stops.
TBH sends me downstairs in am to make a cuppa without major disturbances!
Access to kitchen stuff at rear with tailgate to shelter.
Plenty good cupboard space for everything.
Good floor space in mid ships for carrying wine back from France!

As stated many times....it’s what suits your needs and compromise all round.
Like you....hoping Santa Claus gives me money for Xmas!!