Campervan Conversions: A Complete Guide

Choosing the base vehicle is a simple case of working out what you value most, though there are plenty of options on the market. The Volkswagen Crafter remains one of the few large vans that offers real interior volume without making you feel as if you are piloting a truck.

Ours is a 2021 medium wheelbase, high-roof, 140hp, six-speed model, and even fully camper-loaded it returns between 24 and 32 miles per gallon in everyday use.

With VB air suspension and Michelin Agilis CrossClimate tyres fitted, it sits on the road with a calm that borders on disconcerting. The suspension smooths the ride and keeps the body under control, but it is the tyres, the only part of the vehicle touching the real world, that give you that sense of grip and stability.

Weight limits and payload

Another important factor is weight. Fully built and loaded, the campervan comes in at around 3,200kg to 3,250kg, which still leaves a useful margin to the 3.5-tonne limit – the point at which you would need a different licence.

Before any of the interior work could begin, there was a more basic problem to solve. You need a large indoor space to carry out a campervan conversion properly.

We dropped a 20-foot shipping container onto our land and turned it into a fabrication space. It was clad, insulated, fitted with proper lighting, infrared heating and 40A power, along with the tooling needed to work at scale.

Even then, it was a tight fit. I ended up building special benches to handle full sheets of ply and manage more awkward assemblies in a confined space.

The first challenge is creating a layout. The interior of a van is neither flat nor straight, and nothing offers obvious datum points. Those curves can make fixing anything a challenge.

From the outset, I decided everything in this campervan would be made specifically for it, more like individual pieces of furniture than off-the-shelf units.

Our starting point was the rear seats. I found a brand-new double seat removed from another Crafter and bought it for a fraction of its retail cost. It is a common approach, many parts can be sourced secondhand if you are prepared to look.

Positioning it precisely is critical. The layout needs to be tightly packed to make the most of the space. The Truma D 6 E diesel heater and hot water system sit beneath it, and once that relationship was fixed, the windows, table, shower and overall flow of the interior began to fall into place around it.

A good sleeping set-up is one of the most important parts of any campervan conversion. Managing condensation, maintaining airflow and getting the right level of support all play a role in how liveable the space feels.

Ventilation is key. Without it, moisture builds quickly overnight, leading to damp bedding and long-term wear on the interior. Just as important is the bed base itself, allowing air to circulate beneath the mattress to prevent condensation from forming underneath.

In this build, we opted for a fixed double bed, with a ventilated base, a woven nylon moisture-wicking layer, and a custom foam and memory foam mattress. A Maxxair fan sits directly above. There is no condensation, even in harsh winter conditions, which after decades of camping still feels slightly unreal. Bedding stays dry, and that alone makes a noticeable difference to how you feel in the morning.

Adding windows is one of the first visible steps in a campervan conversion, but it also feeds into how the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency classifies the vehicle.

In the UK, simply fitting windows is not enough to have a van reclassified as a motor caravan. The DVLA looks at a combination of internal features, such as a fixed bed, cooking facilities and storage, alongside external appearance.

Even then, reclassification is not guaranteed. Many self-builds remain registered as vans with windows, which can affect insurance, speed limits and access to certain areas.