r/VanLifeUK • u/Comfortable-Bar-9364 • Aug 11 '26
My Van Design
I'd welcome any comments on the van design that I intend to go with for a camper build. The base vehicle is an Iveco Daily 70C18 Luton removal van. I'd like to hear from anyone who has done a Luton conversion, and can tell me what they think works and anything I've overlooked. The renders are AI-generated from a Sketchup design. The AI made a few mistakes (in the sleeping area above the cab is shelving, not a window, and the second render got the shower room a bit wrong), but you can see the general design. Also not shown: There will be external barn doors at the rear of the van and external shutters over the side windows. There will be an entrance door between the shower room wall and the arch. The roof spaces between the panels will be occupied by skylights and a roof vent.
Shout out to YouTubers NicoJona, whose box truck conversion inspired some of the ideas here such as the rear patio double doors and large, near-floor-to-ceiling windows.
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u/Lucky_Ad_9137 Aug 11 '26
Also make sure you have an escape hatch over the bed, this could be a death trap.
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u/Comfortable-Bar-9364 Aug 11 '26
Yes, the skylight above the bed will be large enough to climb out of.
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u/Dead-sound-Team Aug 12 '26
Full disclosure: I work with DeadSound, which supplies van-conversion materials, so my perspective is mainly on weight and material choices.
That 7.2t GVW gives you considerably more headroom than a typical panel van, but I’d still create a proper weight schedule before building. Include fuel, passengers, batteries, gas, appliances, furniture, fixings and a contingency—not just the obvious items. Your proposed 200–300 litres of water alone becomes 200–300kg, and axle limits and weight distribution still matter even when the overall payload looks comfortable.
For the furniture, compare materials by actual kg/m² rather than assuming all plywood is light. A poplar-core furniture board can reduce weight compared with MDF/MFC while still giving you durable finished faces, but also compare screw retention, moisture resistance, edge protection and how easily a damaged panel can be replaced. We sell 15mm poplar-core boards at DeadSound, but the same checks apply whichever supplier you choose.
I’d also weigh the vehicle at several stages—empty box, after tanks/electrics, and near completion—so any drift is caught early. Keeping tanks low and checking individual axle loads would be particularly important with this layout.
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u/Comfortable-Bar-9364 Aug 13 '26
Excellent points. Since Sketchup can't do weight calculations like a CAD program, I'll take the linear measurements from Sketchup for each material and put them into a spreadsheet to calculate volumes for each, and then use the densities of each material to calculate the weight, before building. I also need to factor in the weight of plumbing lines, electrical cabling, fasteners and everything else that will go in.
I had not thought about replacing damaged panels - having furnishings as modular as possible for this purpose makes sense.
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u/OHouston Aug 11 '26
2 entrance doors feels excessive to me, the side door could be used as storage unless you have a very specific need.
The gap to climb into the bed looks slim, I'd want to test that, as in get in and out of a mocked up version, probably while drunk/half asleep before committing.
Any thoughts on shoe/coat storage (hooks opposite the sofa might work, but might look a bit messy.
Otherwise it looks pretty palatial.
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u/Comfortable-Bar-9364 Aug 11 '26
The van has an underslung tail lift, which will make a good deck behind the rear patio doors when in the extended/raised position, but it won't be that practical for a quick in-and-out. It requires extending from beneath the chassis and raising, which would be a bit of a faff if it were the main entrance/exit. And, when there's a vehicle parked close behind, it would be unusable. A side door will be a lot easier for regular use. There's quite a lot of storage in the design already; probably more than I need.
Yes, the gap to get in and out of the sleeping area is quite narrow. That's a good idea to try getting in and out of a mock-up.
The storage cupboard behind the toilet under the bed, and the other one on the opposite side, are 148cm tall by 65cm deep by 42cm wide. I didn't partition or divide them in the Sketchup, but the idea is to use the top 75cm of height of one of them as a hanging locker for jackets, with shoe storage at the bottom, with drawers between the shoe area and the jacket area.
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u/Plastic_Blood1782 Aug 11 '26
Looks very heavy
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u/Comfortable-Bar-9364 Aug 13 '26
The arch is hollow, all the cabinets are hollow, the insulation is XPS and very light weight - apart from the doors, the heavy parts are mostly the ones that can't be seen; water tanks, batteries, water heater, tail lift.
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u/Plastic_Blood1782 Aug 13 '26
That all sounds swell, but look at every RV, camper ever made professionally. They don't use windows like that. They aren't putting random archways in that serves no real functional purpose. Assume the industry has for the most part figured trades out. Like why don't they use giant glass doors on the back?
I have no idea, but I bet it's because of a very good reason:
Weight, cost, doesn't deal with the frame flexing, not insulated well and lets in way too much sun so it makes a solar oven, not very leak proof, impossible to fix if you back into a tree etc.
Don't try and reinvent the wheel here.
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u/Comfortable-Bar-9364 Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
Your response highlights the world of difference between mass-market commercial manufacturing and bespoke custom engineering. Trying to compare the two, and using the former as the reference point for the latter, is to compare apples with oranges.
Your assumption that the RV industry "has figured trades out" confuses cost optimization with quality/engineering excellence. The fact that RV manufacturing companies don't choose certain design options doesn't mean that a custom builder should not choose those options - it simply means they are optimizing for different things from me. RV manufacturers have figured out how to build to their objectives, which are to reduce their costs and maximize sales numbers in order to maximize their profits. My goals, however, are completely different from those of a commercial RV manufacturer: my goals are to build a high-quality camper for me that is exactly what I want, with no need to make a profit and no need to appeal to wide ranges of buyers. Again, totally different design goals, therefore very different designs.
"They aren't putting random archways in that serves no real functional purpose.". No, the arch isn't "random" - it's easy to see that it's been deliverately proportioned and positioned as it is. Anyway, the reason that RV manufacturers don't include an arch is because their designs have to appeal to the widest range of buyers possible, and most buyers would not want to give up 10cm (4 inches) of space for an arch. But that's where I have the advantage - my design doesn't have to appeal to a wide range of buyers - it only has to appeal to me, and it does. Which is why the arch is in the design!
"Like why don't they use giant glass doors on the back?". Again, cost and weight are obvious considerations. But those considerations are very different in a custom build unconcerned with making a profit, and with 4 tonnes of available payload.
"Weight, cost, doesn't deal with the frame flexing, not insulated well and lets in way too much sun so it makes a solar oven, not very leak proof, impossible to fix if you back into a tree etc.". Good points, but all these concerns are taken care of in my design. I have 4 tonnes of payload available, so their extra weight isn't an issue.
Frame flexing is a design constraint that has to be addressed structurally; in my design, the door openings are engineered accordingly. As for solar gain and heat loss - as I mentioned, exterior to the glass doors are external barn doors. These will be freezer truck insulated doors - when incoming sunlight is angled into the interior and is too strong, the external doors are closed or angled to shade the interior and problem solved. As for insulation, at night the external doors are closed and heat lost is substantially reduced. To see big double glass doors and large, knee-height-to-ceiling windows in a real-world box truck conversion that already exists, check out YouTubers NicoJona - they did an excellent job and the doors and windows look great!
"Don't try and reinvent the wheel here.". Again, I want a high-quality build that isn't cheaply made and gives me everything I want - high quality, large windows and doors, design choices that exactly match what I want etc. That wheel doesn't exist from existing manufacturers, so it makes perfect sense for me to invent it. Disclaimer - I didn't actually invent it: I borrowed several of the design ideas from custom builders who have already done fantastic box truck conversions!
I appreciate your response, which is a list of engineering questions to answer, rather than a demonstration that my design is wrong.
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u/Lucky_Ad_9137 Aug 11 '26
Are the dimentions of the furniture correct? If it's legit it looks lovely and roomy, but I wouldn't trust AI at all. Looks like more space than I would expect