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what ya got, how much did it cost, miles, reliability etc
I've got a 98 Transit which I semi-camperised (with the talented help of my man jase) to the extent of lining the back, insulation, leisure battery which charges off the alternator, light and 12V socket. Had it for getting on two years and 30,000 miles now (approaching 120k on the clock), cost me £1600 for the van and spent probably another £250 on the camperification. Done lots of weekends away, plus a couple of longer trips on the continent, it's great. I'd like to have a nice slick T5 long wheelbase transporter with a similar conversion, but really can't justify the expense at the moment, would rather spend it on bikes...
From last weekend's little jaunt to the Netherlands then Roubaix for the cross world cup.
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VW T4 Conversion. Bought from a fellow STWer (Sorry Clink 🙂 ) done 65k (bought at 50kish). Reliable mechanically. Comfortable to drive although this commercial conversion can be a bit noisy up front. TBH its the best thing I've ever owned. Mrs Stoner, Stoner Jr and I live in it for 2 or 3 months a year. We put 2x bikes and Jr's trailer/offroad buggy on the back. Have everything we need to be either self sufficient in the wild or very comfy at a campsite like electricity for computers to make a mobile office for living/working on the continent etc.
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cost 15 k done 88k
very reliable , 2.5 td engine not too thirsty.
we have seen more of the uk in the last two years than in the previous fifteen, so we see it as money well spent
I'd love one of these if I could ony store it.
Vw T4 2.5 xxx pack with custom Styline interior
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would love this though!
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Hope this works -
T3 Westfalia - does about 30mpg, we rolled own to Nice in about 2 days for the Roc d'Azur last year in it. Very lovely
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not mine btw
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Nice interior RedTed - did you fit it yourself or get Tony to do it?
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[url= http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C75196 ]Alfa F12[/url]
Not mine and I know it would break down every five minutes but this would be a lovely biking van.
Alfa camper LOL thats a proper camper, built out of Pasta.
(147 Selespeed owner!)
VW LT35, lwb, High Top, 2.8 TDI, 140bhp, 2000 reg, c80k miles
Professional Conversion. Bench seat converting into 2 x double beds, table, gas stove, sink, 3-way fridge, microwave, captain seat, sat TV, large garage in the back etc...
Converted to run on vegetable oil. Done about 15,000 miles on veg, no problems. Fill up at Costco :))
30mpg if driven steady.
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More Pics Here: [url] http://steve-prest.fotopic.net/c1482486.html [/url]
VW LT35, lwb, High Top, 2.8 TDI, 140bhp, 2000 reg, c80k miles
Professional Conversion. Bench seat converting into 2 x double beds, table, gas stove, sink, 3-way fridge, microwave, captain seat, sat TV, large garage in the back etc...
Converted to run on vegetable oil. Done about 15,000 miles on veg, no problems. Fill up at Costco :))
30mpg if driven steady.
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More Pics Here: [url] http://steve-prest.fotopic.net/c1482486.html [/url]
Heres my old camper [img] 
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Bought for 1.5k total shed, many hours of welding and bodywork later,and resprayed+ an interior refit from scratch. Loads of holidays and festivals around UK, 100% reliablity, suprisingly!! sold then to finance trip to USA on Ebay, for a slight proffit. Appauling fuel economy though...less than 20mpg.
I do miss it 🙁
Damn you and your nice vans. I decided i wanted a vw t4 van/camper about month ago and i've been trawling ebay and t4forum ever since.
There's some really nice one's about
redted > recognise that from team red 🙂
If anyone on the site here is handy at welding and lives in calderdale or nearby....... ;]
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My and occasionally Singletrack's camper ;] 47000 km last year! alloys will be matching soon . 😯
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That van must be fast to need the Leathers 😀
This is my Bongo. Soon to be for sale.
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[url= http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/dforey/VanPictures ]More pictures here[/url]
Does about 37mpg, stonkingly powerful. I was going to sell it last year, but couldn't get as much as I wanted. Think I'll try to sell it again this year for a bit less.
Dave
mmmmmm....... Van envy here...........
Jeff, Tony did it, only because I had new seats throughout and 3 lots of mushroom bolts, seatbelts and there were some extra electrics to go in as well. He's a real one off though and a pleasure to deal with. Could have done without the 9hr train journey to go pick it up though, I can't remember feeling so excited for so long, it felt like I was on Pimp My Ride except I had to hand over £3000 at the end!!!!!!
If anyone on the site here is handy at welding and lives in calderdale or nearby....... ;]
Damn mods and their artistic licence!
My lovely 174 hopped up to 213... great to drive but it can have a drink problem on occasion...
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Cost 8K three years ago 25ish mpg fully loaded motorway run, tax exempt.
Love it two bits
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Pig to drive though
Rich's wins every time there's one of these threads.
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Takes 6 people + 6 bikes, no problem (rear row of seats folded). For next summer, will have a towbar fitted so we can use a bike trailer and get 9 people + 9 bikes.
Great to drive too, other than the annoying narrow power band.
Cost us 14k euros (back before the £ went to sh*t, fortunately!). Never bothered to figure out exact fuel consumption, but does Calais to the Alps on one tank!
Our 4x4 mitsi delica, carries 8-9 people and has towed a defender out of a mud hole.
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stevomcd
Is that 1.9 or 2.5, been looking at those, very nice but not sure whether they will cope with the load. I also have a ducato with a 2.8 common rail turbo and that flies.
nasher:
It's a 1.9, but there are (at least) two different versions. Depending on how old it is, you'll find 80bhp, 105bhp and 115bhp. Ours is 105 and seems to cope OK. Never any problems at all on road, occasionally struggles a bit on forest roads, but that's often down to wet/loose surfaces. Test-drove a 115bhp version at one point and it definitely had plenty of grunt.
Only annoying thing I find is that the power band is very narrow. Will crawl/stall much below 2000revs and the rev-limiter kicks-in at 3000revs. That really makes the decision to switch from 1st to 2nd on a tricky hill a make or break one!
Which Burtech trailer are you guys using? Braked/unbraked? Did you get them to modify it for "downhill bikes"? Happy with it? Need to get one bought for the summer!
T4 caller Mr Happy, not an ex aa van but chosen and purchaced in that colour by the previous owners. Self conversion including fold out bed electrics gas and Diesel powered heating.
Fingers crossed that works....
Yellow - worst colour for a vehicle used in the summer. My brother used to have an ex BT van, it attracted flies, corn beetles, wasps, bees etc by the million!
Seeing Postierich's van makes me all sad that my old bay is gone, hopefully I'll have first-hand knowledge of Thewhiterooms van when we (TreadsCC) go to the Alps in August, Woohoo!
[img] http://www.cheekytrails.co.uk/forum/file.php?0,file=1276 [/img]
My old Transit, at Mountain Ash.
Scaled down MX van style - bikes stored in rear and tea drink / sleeping area in middle. Rockin stereo, gutless motor. 3x tours of Europe. Loved to bits.
Now have a T5174, but no photos yet...
[img] http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2437125/ [/img][img] http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2437128/ [/img]
[img] http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2433671/ [/img]
I bought this last night from a friend mate. Race truck for the new year, road trips etc too. Garage in the rear, double bed on top, single bed/bench seat, leisure battery with split charge for power, tv, cooker, mini 12v fridge etc. 200k miles but still feels fine to drive. Hoping for 30mpg.
Can't wait for the first trip!
More pics:
[url] http://winifredswift.pinkbike.com/album/van [/url]
i got this last year and its great 😉 gonna sort the back out inside for storage as at the min its all just chucked in.
51 plate 67k miles fsh from posties 12mot/tax and cambelt/full service for £1500 does about 37mpg, seats six and stores plenty 😉
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Just noticed that Tag up there, was thinking the same...
keep em coming - anyone with a mazda bongo? or a toyota hiace - they are the faves so far
I would ****in love a van but we live on a narrow cul de sac and my gf would never be able to park it. 🙁
I've got a Land Rover as a camper.
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Comes complete with a chef 🙂
Cranberry - tell me more! What landy is it? how many doe sit sleep? Do bikes fit in hole or need to be taken apart or is that another bike rack problem? is the stove thing an add on or official?
The Cosywagon.
Stove, Night heater, Towing diff, slow as ****
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The Cosywagon.
What in the name of everything that is good and pleasant is that thing thats going in the back of it???
It either looks like great fun or very painful. 😉
Thats the cosybike, It's great fun. The seats are only pointing the wrong way to make loading easier. everyone faces the middle.
The Army have hired it for a charity distance ride in the summer. They are obviously Mad.
French Alps last October
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[img] http://public.fotki.com/brack/one_small_detour/imgp2793.html [/img]
Lil blue...when I lived out of him for a year.... :^)
Ok just try and imagine for now what my van looks like!
😆
I give up !!!
Its blue has 4 wheels and has no rust.....
Horn goe beep and the lights well...eerrrrm they go light!
FFS
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Hey...you have a van just like mine!
Hang on a minute!!!
Ralph...
What landy is it?
It's a Defender hard top from 2000. Cost me €9300 last year with all the modifications already built in by the previous owner.
how many doe sit sleep?
2 ( you need to be close friends for the sleeping bit ). When on biking trips my mate usually brings his own tent.
Do bikes fit in hole
Yep plenty of room inside for a period away. I chain the bikes to the roofrack overnight. ( I don't love my Soda enough to share a bed with it ).
Is the stove thing an add on or official?
Both stove and chef ( I got into trouble referring to him as a butler last time ) are add-ons It's a simple 2 ring gas burner bolted to the back door.
More pictures can be seen here: http://www.pbase.com/simonhawkes/gertrude_in_herentals
do all transporters have a sliding door?
What model has a second row of seats?
any reason they could not be mounted facing rearwards?
how long is the floor in the back?
Ralph, transporter has loads of different models, no slider, 1 or 2, barn doors or hatch style.
Second row of seats is a window van
Can be mounted backwards, behind front ones, if you just get a plain van, look out for companies that do taxi conversions for seats, windows etc.
Two models , long wheel base about a foot longer than standard.
I tend to take fron wheel out of bike, and put it across the rear (bike upside down)
VW website for facts and figures?
Cheers CK
[img] http://images.fotopic.net/?iid=yx2s7e&outx=700&quality=70 [/img]
thats my vw .
can't see beyond the lads tabs 😆
Rickmeister - that's a good looking T5. Less bling than a sportline, but still mean.
I hate to ask this on here, but, w o t t y r e s for T5? Standard 16" rims on 215s at the mo, and lots of Scottish backroad driving.