How To Convert A Cargo VAN Into A Class B RV!

My DIY Van Conversion To Class B Motorhome – Take a tour inside & out! See how I built out my cargo van for solo travel year round as a motorhome. I’m an Arizona nomad, and now I have an RV that meets my needs!

See the steps I used to convert my van into an RV.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hi I’m Curtis. Behind me you see my van and my travel trailer. I am an Arizona nomad and live full-time on the road. I spend most of my time on either National Forest land or Bureau of Land Management land where you are allowed to stay for 2 weeks at no charge.

The purpose of this video is to show you my latest remodel of my van. Most of the time, I live in the trailer. But on occasion, when I want to travel with something smaller and more compact, I take just the van — which I have converted into a Class B motorhome. It has most of the amenities I need to live quite comfortably I’ll show you around…

My van is a 2015 Nissan NV3500 Cargo Van which I purchased new 3 years ago. The interior was completely bare. I bought this van specifically because it had a towing capacity more than adequate to tow my trailer comfortably. The negative part is that when I am towing the trailer, my mileage is pretty much cut in half! So to be able to travel with just the van whenever that is possible is a huge asset

The cargo area of the van is set up now to be a one- person RV, and is quite comfortable! I will take you inside…

You’ll note behind the driver’s seat I have a 12-volt refrigerator. And directly behind that is a legitimate twin size bed. The bed does raise (it is hinged) so that there is good storage underneath the bed.

I have plenty of cabinet space for clothing and all my necessary kitchen implements. I also have a privacy curtain that comes across behind the seats for when I’m Walmart parking lot camping — which I don’t do very often. I have a 12-volt television as well, a fan, and I have an overhead fan as well.

On the passenger side, I have a row of cabinets with a countertop on top and then another shelf up above. There’s also a clothes rod across the back to give me hanging space for more clothing.

The cabinets… There is nothing that is really fancy inside this conversion. The wall paneling is just inexpensive glue-on plywood. The cabinets were unfinished utility cabinets from Home Depot. And I just… all I had to do was put one coat of polyurethane on them to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.

For a countertop, I have just pine boards that are screwed down with polyurethane on top of them. This provides a quite serviceable counter for cooking. I have a butane stove that I can set on them. And I have wash tubs for washing dishes.

For flooring… These are actually fiber fence pickets that I used for the flooring — because they are easy to install and pretty much indestructible.

This is the back of the van (which I consider the garage). On the lefthand side, the 3 water jugs give me more than adequate supply water. I have a 12-volt RV water pump that draws from those canisters and goes to the tankless water heater that you see mounted above them. I am able to use the water source either to refill the water tank on the trailer… Or when I’m traveling with just the van, it is my shower. Over at the rear of the van, I just put a shower curtain between the doors and I have a private area where I can take a shower.

The propane bottle you see on the right supplies the gas to run the water heater. And to run the television, I have a 3,000-watt inverter. Excuse me, a 1,500-watt inverter… mounted on the wall above that. I have 2 deep-cycle batteries that are located under the bed. And I have 200 watts of solar on the roof as well AND another 100-watt solar suitcase, which I can set out in the sun to supplement my power.

There is nothing fancy or complicated about the conversion I did on the van. The only power tools I used are a simple $20 handheld jigsaw and a $20 electric drill for driving screws in. There’s no special knowledge needed to make such a conversion. And it was quite cost-effective, as well. But it does provide me a nice little cabin to get into more out-of-the-way places.

As I pan around, you can see I am pretty much in the middle of the forest — with no one close at hand to crowd my space. Like I say, I am an Arizona nomad. This is my front yard. And no matter where I am, the surroundings are similar. I just follow comfortable weather… northern Arizona in the summer and southern Arizona in the winter. Thank you for watching!