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Super Basic Campervan Build; building a van on a tight budget.
- Korey
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
You have been on the internet for months trying to find a "hack" to build your dream van because you can't afford spending $150-200k building your campervan. You ask yourself there must be a different way! Hate to break it to you, there is not with out some significant compromises. The easiest way to save the most costs; build it yourself, build cost labor can be a large part of a budget, especially when it comes to the technical parts of a build.
The least expensive van trim to start with is a Sprinter "Crew" trim van. It has 80% of the interior already built in, crash tested seating, and a full floor. Its a bit more, but this extra costs saves a small fortune in a build. If you start with a cargo van with no flooring or walls...you can easily spend 6-10, just putting walls and flooring in with NO seating. Want seats? That can add another $5-20K easily!
SPRINTER CREW TRIM
Having said all of this, you don't need much in a van to really make it ready for camping just a few features:
Bed
Ventilation
table system
Basic Power Supply
BED $300-7000
Platform bed is the most important foundation for a campervan. It allows you to sleep above your gear. There are many different bed options today that "bolt in" using some hand tools. These range from $3-7k, functionality greatly varies and you generally pay for what you get type solution. To keep costs lower, you have to stick to a non-height adjustable bed due to mounting restrictions not using a vertical wall kit. We strongly believe any bed should be removable for to be able to transform your van into a cargo van when needed. If you are on an ultra budget...just throw some cots in back for a few hundred dollars
Here is an example of a finished ultra simple bed that is still removable, very clean, and is built is modular so you can have it in different lengths to work with seating. This bed we offer for under 3k installed.
to learn more about bed solutions go to this link
MATTRESS $300-1000
You can order a simple mattress off of Amazon, or if you want a more custom solution nice mattresses are a bit expensive, but well worth the money if you are used to ultra comfort and want them to fit perfectly.
VENTILATION $100-2500
Super important...your van get very hot inside...you need to get cooler air in. So there are a few options, least expensive way is to add some magnetic window screens on your front door windows. Not perfect, nor maybe a bit shady at night, but it does get some air in. Better yet add some rear side windows ($1000-1500 installed) screened next to where you are sleeping. This also in a crew panels out the steel wall that is exposed in back. If you do "pill" style windows keep in mind the panel and window trim get expensive and there is no "kit", this takes a bit of sill as well to finish and can it when done professionally in the higher costs range similar to full size windows. The pill windows seem like a budget solution, but really when you trim out interior, they are not the most cost effective solution and the most complicated.
Full size rear quarter windows give you ventilation and a view! We favor these. For privacy? Just use a magnetic insulated window cover.
VENTILATION - how to you get air to move?
Keeping costs in mind, forget a roof fan, that requires a lot more labor and a power supply...get a fan that can run off a battery...like a ryobi portable fan. If you add a roof fan, you then need to drop the headliner, run power with a fuse, and get a power supply to run it, not to mentioned if ideally done walls come down to run your electrical wire properly...this get expensive if you can't do this yourself.
Rear OEM look windows, these do require cutting the van to install but are super clean
Magnetic Front Window screens, not the safest solution, but does work and keeps bugs out. Do this and just "panel" the exposed wall is by far your least expensive solution
TABLE SOLUTION $1000-2500
On a budget; forget about a rear dinette and those are not very functional for sleeping or gear storage. We suggest adding some swivels and a table system. Seat Swivels are fairly basic to install and our table system for a bench seat or using a B pillar mount for a table is fairly simple to install.
Our Dinette solution in a crew an with bench seats.
POWER SUPPLY ($500-3000) non-pro solution
THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE SEE IN DIY BUILDS:
What seems like the ultimate hack for electrical is using a power generator but it is not a pro-level solution. Having said that, you need to understand what they do well and not do well. They have come a long way, even some brands with alternator chargers that really work. (Plugging into your 12v cigarette lighter socket is NOT going to recharge your system...it will take days if not weeks to charge back up; read the specs) We don't use these in ANY of our builds, but they can work ok as long as you understand the limitations of they they do and don't do well. They are really not meant for a integrated electrical system in a van, but they are good solution for over landing in a jeep or truck especially, or when you need power but plan on not connecting a bunch of stuff to the power supply or integrating it into your walls.
If you want an integrated system with wall outlets; this type of solution is not idea at all.
If you are adding solar or alternator charging...this becomes NOT a budget solution unless you are doing all the work yourself. If you want to just charge a unit up...then bring it with you...then that is super simple. BUY the largest one you can get, we recommend at least 3000wh, those cheap small ones...are not large enough to power a fridge longer than a day.
Click here to lean more:
Ecoflow with alternator charger
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