I Built The Ultimate Luxury Camper Van For Less Than $10k | Full Build Start to Finish

when I first got started van camping it was all about saving as much money as possible whether you traveled often and wanted to stop spending big money on hotels or you wanted to live a Frugal lifestyle it seemed like it was all about spending as little as possible and enjoying the world around you but lately things have just been different everything and not just brand new Vans either due to the growing popularity of the van life movement it's become almost impossible to find anything that's affordable so all this has me thinking is it even possible to make a van as nice as these hundred thousand dollar Vans for less than ten thousand dollars in 2023 we're about to find out thank you [Music] to me a luxury van should be a van that you can stand up and walk around in so I bought a 2004 Sprinter that's just tall enough for me to stand in today I'm building what I consider to be a luxury camper van for less than ten thousand dollars including the price of the van itself let's get to work foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] the subfloor is done I'm heading straight up to the roof to cut some holes I'm putting in a roof vent and no luxury van is complete without a skylight oh [Music] luxury van has got to have a window but I'm not paying 200 for this one that's way out of budget so we got this one right here from an RV junkyard for 20 bucks [Music] got a bunch of snow and now just started pouring down raining but I don't see any leaks on any of the stuff that I just put in so I guess I did it right man that's coming down foreign I've got the van framed up and ready for wiring so I'm going back up to the roof to put up some solar panels the wiring is looking good and I need some lights in here so I'm actually going to put up the ceiling first before I do my electrical box my sister had some extra Walnut slabs and I'm going to use those to make a cool little design in the ceiling [Music] thank you [Music] thank you so I want to build the electrical box next but I need to know exactly how big I can make the cabinet I'm actually going to build the bed first and then I'll come back to the electrical box foreign all right I'm building a Murphy bed Murphy bed Hardware is very expensive when you look at a Murphy bed what is it it's really just a mattress that's leaned up against the wall so what I'm going to do is use some 15 heavy duty boat seat swivels foreign now the bed isn't done but because it's out there now I can get this out of the way and put together this battery box so I can finally have electricity in here [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] all right let's see if these lights okay they're on are they dimmable no there it goes it's dimming now I live in the North and it gets very cold up here so we need a heater we definitely cannot afford the name brand version of this so I'm going to use this Chinese knockoff that I got for 140 bucks foreign [Music] that's awesome front back left and right side four cameras around the van and I also connected the cameras to the front seat so that while I'm driving I can actually see the sides of the van if I'm switching lanes or behind me I'm going to build the kitchen next foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] well this is my counter I know it doesn't look all that luxurious just yet what I'm going to do is cover the top of this with this laminate sheet then I'm going to wrap the edge of this with this scrap piece of Walnut this is going to give this the appearance of being super expensive and it's going to hide the fact that it's actually just a scrap piece of plywood [Music] [Music] thank you now the kitchen is done but there's no running water coming to the faucet I only made the drain portion of the plumbing so I'm gonna go and make the plumbing for the van so we can get some running water [Music] foreign [Music] it wouldn't be a good job without a good leak so let's see if it actually works now ladies and gentlemen we have running water now that the water is running I'm gonna build a shower because I have the space and showers are luxurious [Music] thank you [Laughter] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] here everything that you need for a van is extremely expensive and a retractable shower door is one of those things so I'm going to make my own and I'm not going to use any hardware for this I'm just going to use the wood itself that I already have and some scrap Marine fabric [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign do you know how many Vans don't have a place to do your business I mean seriously it's it's probably most of them I mean I've made a lot of vans that don't have anywhere to to go number one or number two but this is a luxury van and I don't think it's very luxurious to have to go to a Walmart or a truck stop every single time you need to go composting toilets are one of the most expensive things that you might ever want to buy for a van so just like everything else I think I'll be able to make one out of wood I actually own one of these but when you open it up you'll notice that on the inside it's literally just a glorified bucket and a pea jug and then on the top there's two compartments to separate liquids from solids foreign [Applause] [Music] I have to do that all over again here I go [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign there you go I made the toilet basically the same exact thing as the one thousand dollar one we got a more comfortable toilet seat because the other one is not a real toilet seat we've got a urine diverter solids go that way and the liquids go that way and that prevents the smell underneath here that fan that vents through the floor to eliminate any lingering smell which is exactly what they have in the other one so there you go this is thousand dollar toilet I guess so right now we got everything that we actually need in here to survive but I got this space left over right here and this is a luxury van so I'm gonna make this an entertainment system [Music] [Applause] [Music] actually found this TV on the side of the road on garbage day am I astonishment it works perfectly [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] perfect fit [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] look pretty I need to use the remaining Walnut scraps that I have left to make doors for the rest of the cabinets I want to make this stretch [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so I'm going back behind the bed to get to that wall right there because I forgot to finish it earlier but I'm all out of Walnut now so what I'm going to just do is use some quarter inch plywood cut that up into some slats and make some sort of a little design back there and just paint over it and it'll probably still look good [Music] all right [Music] I've got some extra space in the front of the van right at the entryway and I thought I would actually put in a spot for a coat rack a trash can and shoe storage and you know why because this is a luxury van and I feel like those are three really easy things to forget about that I don't even usually put into most builds but I got some extra room so let's do it thank you all we've got left is the floor and some fabric [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] s are expensive so I'm gonna make my own but foam is also really expensive and I'm about to go over budget but my sister actually said recently that she wanted to get a new couch hey what's up sister hello brother hey I got a question for you I want to give you a little interview okay okay so uh is it true that um you said you didn't like your couch I hate my couch what do you hate about it it's so uncomfortable oh okay okay well um how would you feel if I got you a new couch for your birthday really yeah really you know how much I hate my cows yeah I do so you wouldn't mind if I just took this would you yeah we'll we'll handle this later I need this to sit on I'll come back next week with this [Music] all right [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] so is it possible to build a luxury van for a reasonable price in 2023 I think the answer is yes although I'm a YouTuber and I got some of the stuff that I needed for free I did this to prove a point you just have to be creative and willing to compromise and the more that people leave these two hundred thousand dollar Vans alone the more likely that these companies are to build with cheaper materials more affordable appliances and ultimately lower their prices because if a van costs more than your house even if it is your full-time home I think it's time for us to take a step back and consider what you're willing to compromise so this van isn't actually completely finished don't worry I'll be addressing that before I do the detailed tour video for this van I'm working on getting the build plans for some of the stuff that I built in this van up on my website and you can pay for them if you want to and you can pay whatever you want so that could be zero dollars also more and more people keep asking me they want me to teach them how to build like this so I actually was trying to use this van to put together a course but unfortunately I didn't end up finishing it my father passed away while I was midway through building this van so as you can imagine that um ended up bringing everything in my life to a halt for a little while so then I ended up coming back and just finishing the van and I didn't really record for the course but I do still plan to finish it eventually so let me know if you'd be interested in like me starting uh I don't know like a patreon page and uploading the footage that I have of the course on there for now and then kind of as I make more content I'll post it on there until I have the entire course made and then I'll be posting it on educational platforms like udemy or skillshare if you guys thought that I did a good job on this build or this video or whatever I'd appreciate it if you hit a like button and go down and leave me a comment man I like reading the comments and it really helps out the channel gets this video seen by more people for now I'm going to make sure that the van is completely finished and then I'll be posting a full in-depth tour video of the entire thing so if you're interested in that make sure to subscribe if you have not already and if you enjoyed this build video then you'll probably like this one over here as well and if the tour video for this van is up then that one will be up right here when it's finished so thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you next time stay safe foreign

Channel: DualEx

Views: 6,063,744

Keywords: van conversion, cargo van conversion, van life, tiny house, mobile home, DIY van conversion, van dwelling, van living, van home, work van conversion, home on wheels, tiny home on wheels, tiny house on wheels, van renovation, van remodel, van home build, van home tour, van home transformation, off-grid living, mobile living, tiny house lifestyle, tiny house living, tiny house movement, van living tips, van conversion layout, van conversion ideas, van renovation ideas

Id: 9ApU-AA87f0

Length: 39min 1sec (2341 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 17 2023