I’ve seen a lot of these box truck rv conversions lately. I’ve seen builds with a full proper shower, toilet, kitchen, and even one with a spot for a motorcycle. These things actually seem livable, especially with rent being so high.The question is, are they actually viable? Does it really come out to be cheaper than renting an apartment, and can you actually find places to park and be left alone?
i dont thjink its any cheaper than buying a fitted out RV from craigslist
>>28843698Camper conversions are way more expensive than you think.And aren't practical at all.The van life fags are delusional.I know a bunch of them.100% of them are parked out front of their friend's house with an extension cable running to the van.Just rent out a place and have a bunch of roommates That's what I did when I was making $12.75hr and suffering.
>>28843698My brother built a camper from a VW Crafter for when he goes motocross, and about the only thing it's missing is a bathroom, mainly because he needed space for his motocross bike. Think he said it's cost him around £8,000 to £10,000 to build, including the cost of the van. It's technically viable to permanently live in, and he's spent a couple weeks or so in it when going to events in Europe, but I myself wouldn't want to live in it all the time; it's cramped, and quite annoying to deal with the logistics of water and waste and such. Again, it's all doable, and once you get over the initial cost it's a fairly cheap way to live, but it's just not that fun.
>>28843698camper conversions are either fuck you expensive if you don't know what you're doing, or a fuck load of work if you do everything yourself (and still decently expensive).you're also willingly spending thousands of dollars to be a smelly vagrant. they're best for rich people with free time to go camping, not as a cheap alternative for a full time home. even renting a room is going to be better living conditions than in a van.
>>28843698>can you actually find places to park and be left alone?Fuck no. Even Walmart who was pretty lax camping on their property is starting to crack down on people overnight camping. Why? Because faggots show up in their meth rigs and set up long term shanty towns. Even Industrial areas will call the cops on people living in RV's and vans. So basically you're going to have to pay for a pad to park it on and most of them don't want their park filled up with shitty looking conversion RV's.
>>28843734>It's technically viable to permanently live in>the only thing it's missing is a bathroompajeet detected
>>28843698>find places to park and be left alonei live in an old airstream part timeunless you buy a plot of empty land - it's hard to beat the cost of renting a studio apartment by living in an rv.'stealth camping' isn't practical in most cities cause of the usual suspects. campgrounds 20mins from a moderate city are at least $30/night or $750/mo.really rural campgrounds are still $300/moInstead buy a $5,000 'non buildable' plot just outside a smaller town (no zoning) with a good view. Next to rivers, bluffs/cliffs, or in a flood zone that make it impossible to build a fulltime house. The state/county will still allow non-permanent camping in unincorporated areas for up to 6 months and ability to erect <150sqft sheds. Another $5k for septic/well/grid electricity and the ability to get a postal address. Else buy a more expensive buildable lot, submit a building plan as a 'self builder', get temp power and septic connection, never start building and just live in your van/rv and claim you are building very slowly. Even in areas where they try to prevent this scam, they stipulate you have to start framing of 1st floor (not sheathing) by 12/18months or pay another permit fee - but never specify overall completion time limits. I'm currently doing this with a cheap lakefront lot ($3k .5 acre, $150/yr hoa for community center pool/park/boatramp upkeep + 1 boat slip)This gives you somewhere park legally and build out your van/bus/trailer.buy another plot somewhere warmer for winter to legally meet the <6mo occupancy requirements and rent out the 1st lot to other campers when gone.
>>28843724I imagine it like a perpetual road trip, and buying stuff at road trip prices is expensive.
>>28843698“Stealth camping” is a meme.The only thing these urban adventurers have accomplished is to make the authorities more vigilant and aggressive about clearing them out.
>>28843698>are they actually viable?longterm van camping is essentially homelessness and you will be treated like a homeless person by pretty much all the relevant authorities. you can absolutely live quite cheaply but not in a way that most people would consider desirable or comfortable
Don't get me wrong. I want to convert a kei truck to a truckhome with all the cabin comforts, including a shower. I don't like stealth camping because to me that's just sleeping in a car, not sleeping in a cabin built into the car.The only problem is that in my country there was a huge problem in the 70's where people with similar ideas built their homes inside of converted old buses and they would nomadically migrate from festival to festival without any planning permission. The government eventually started to deliberately funnel these convoys into ambushes and beat the fuck out of them. So unless you want to intentionally be very alone and sleep in your cabin in whats left of the wilderness, it's almost impossible to do it.
>>28843701Everything will have to be redone anyway.
>>28843698Literally just rent a room if saving money is that important to you.
>>28843698no Offense but this is like you describe this scene https://youtu.be/mBBnxjnJv18?t=13Hope you get there !!! Masonry pillars!!!x)
>>28844217This seems like the best option unless you plan on a lot of travel since you can get utilities set up. >>28844255If you are traveling then I would think your utility costs for fuel, electricity, water and waste would be the most expensive thing. If you have a refrigerator and mini kitchen then at least you can buy groceries and prepare food at normal prices.
>>28843724>Camper conversions are way more expensive than you think.they can be done cheap if you're resourceful. most of these idiots doing them are not resourceful.
>>28843698I think my neighbors have one of these, they own what appears to be a Penske truck but it's smaller than any actual Penske I've seen and the graphics look brand new, which you wouldn't expect if they bought a used one. My bet is it's a stealth camper that they stickered up like a real Penske truck as a disguise.
>>28843734I know you're not in the US but that is based US Forest Service green
>>28845607its still cheaper than starting from scratch in termsn of material costs
>>28843698The only people who actually van life have trust funds. Once you actually crunch the numbers it's cheaper and more convenient to rent some small apartment.
>>28843698The convert a truck and live in it thing is a meme made up by youtubers for clicks. What I did was get cheep busu-sama and mount a receiver on it to tow a travel trailer with. Boondocking (no hookup camping) is fine sometimes, but if you live in it go stay at an rv park. Usually $400-600 a month depending on your locale, sometimes more. You give up a lot of conveniences living in a camper already, so limited amounts of runnung water, electricity, and sewage capacity gets old quick. Box vehicle + trailer is long, but gives you way more room to store shit. I paid $4500 for this bus with a 5.9 cummins that had 80k miles on it. Its not much cheaper than a cheapo apartment overall, but I own the bus and trailer outright and get to move around to cool places working temp jobs while seeing great sights and sometimes even putting away a little dosh.Like >>28844217 said, getting some land is the best case scenario if you can save up the cash, but moving around a few times a year is a great experience too. Whatever floats your boat.
>>28843734It cost me $4000 to buy a used class B RV with a toilet. No work needed.
