Which Van Should you Buy for a Van Life

what's going on everybody so today we are going to discuss what your potential vehicle that you want to convert into a tiny dwelling is going to be whether that is a van whether that's a boss whether it's a step van whether it's just your car that you're currently have we're gonna talk about predominantly the three major vans which I know the most about and I will touch on everything else throughout this entire video so you're going to want to listen to all of this here we go my channel consider subscribing well actually really like a big percentage of people to watch my videos actually or not subscribed so I'd appreciate if you subscribed it's not a big deal right also hit that like button and blah blah blah all that good stuff I live in my band that I call ghost it is a 2019 Mercedes Sprinter it's the 144 wheelbase and this is my second van and I've been doing this lifestyle for about three years now and my first van was a ram promaster 2017 both were brand new we'll get into all of that as this video progresses I literally just picked up a copilot a band dog Casper he's sitting on the ground right in front of me very excited about my new van buddy but he will make his appearance in probably my next vlog which was my drive up the coast you know how I stealth parked all the way up the coast etc and so forth so today is an extremely interesting video because I've been wanting to do this I've actually tried recording it already once or twice before this and it's very difficult because I feel like there's so much information I cannot get everything out so I'm going to try and get as much information that I have gathered over the last three years on what what I think not the best but what is binding the best for you because everybody is different I have been to festivals and gatherings of that and I've met a bunch of people where it doesn't matter what vehicle you're dwelling in as long as you're happy with what you've chosen that's really the best way I can describe this some of us are forced into this lifestyle and some of us choose to go into this lifestyle I think there's a greater percentage of us choosing to do this lifestyle is bigger than being forced into it but there's still people that are being forced into it and we all kind of touch on that a little bit as the video progresses before I get into vans on which van is best suited for you I am going to ask you a simple question of why why are you doing this are you doing it because you don't like rent are you doing it because you want freedom are you doing it because you want to travel are you doing this because you already have a apartment or house and you want a van or vehicle to adventure in or something along those lines so I'll ask yourself why once you figure out her why it's going to be a lot easier I'll give you examples and obviously the examples I'm gonna be giving her mostly about me for me my first van I knew I was going to be in a city Los Angeles predominantly 90 to 95 percent of the time I knew I was going to be there I had jobs there I wasn't working remotely just yet I knew I needed a van or an apartment and I knew I was going to find self parking and that was my plan that's what I wanted to do I built my van specifically for that I didn't put windows on my van my first man that's all designed and we'll kind of get into that I plan on doing more videos like this explaining on the progress on why we do certain things the biggest thing again is going to be why are you doing this I wanted to stealth out I wanted to blend in with my surroundings so I went with a pro master and I also want the pro master because of money again I will get into the vans later on in the video and it's probably the last thing I do in the video but right now I just wanted to talk about why we're choosing what we're going to be choosing for a vehicle go over some other vehicles that you are possibly considering or that you're thinking about I have a I have my notes and a list right here for everybody box truck is really rad I think it's cool I would like to do one myself I actually had this idea way back when when I did my first van I wanted to build like a like a rolling studio almost like a soundstage and I wanted to actually double it as a sound like booth because I have a bunch of friends and music and I wanted to also make a almost like a rolling stand of comedy stage because I'm a stand-up comedian so I wanted to do a most street comedy as well as having a rolling soundstage I think would be super cool to outfit it that way it would have to have a crap-ton of solar power or battery power because it would be a lot of equipment and things like that but I wanted to make it almost like a rolling studio slash also bed area sleeping area as well as comedy a box truck is perfect for that a box trucks are the u-haul trucks or in lausanne I spent the last 10 years of my life they have the the box trucks that are for film and TV equipment and they are so massive so nice in regards to buying one I don't know the specifications of how to go about buying a box truck we'll get into knew and use and a little bit I don't know all that on how to do it if you want to go new you want to go use I'm sure you can find dealers that I have box trucks or something along those lines I don't really know so you're gonna have to do your own research on how to find a box truck I would assume most of them are used I don't know if you can buy a new one unless you have a commercial license I don't know I would assume also that companies like a u-haul or other moving companies they probably decommissioned the trucks after a certain amount of time so you may want to look into that as well stealth wise I don't think they're that stealthy they're big box trucks like they know they blend in an industrial areas which will also get me into my next vehicle which would be a step van step ins I think a phenomenal I like them as well again with the box truck and the step ins they are extremely boxy so they're a lot easier to build in you can put them foam board you can do spray foam you can do a lot of things when it comes to insulation and as well as building up the walls or building the ceiling you don't have any curves to deal with you have no scribing it's so much easier to build inside of a box truck or a step van step bins are cool the step bins are like the the old delivery vehicles DHL FedEx UPS USPS the step bins are really cool they're low to the ground they're not really made for our off-grid not off-grid off-road applications they're more made for light City so if you want to blend in in an industrial city or dust row area part of the city stell thing out in a step bin you'd have to find that industrial area to do that but I think if stuff van is a cool option then you have truck campers definitely not stuff but there's still you know they're really cool it's also hard for you to access the truck camper from the cab the driving portion of it but there's ways to do that as well truck campers have been around for a long time they put back on the on the back of a truck buses they come in freaking all sizes and I think you can make a really cool tiny house on wheels when it comes to a bus again this goes back to what suits your knees if you're a family of four you may want to look into a bus or short bus although I've had fan I know family of fours that have lived in a van in this size and I'm in now with a family of four family of three it's very possible so let's not rule out the vans however if you're looking to travel the family you work remotely and you don't care about stealthiness a bus may be the way to go again this all comes down to your personal preference on what you want before I get into the vans like I said I was going to the last day's cars you can outfit a car to live out of I saw somebody do a Honda Element very simple simplest build I've seen people live out of Toyota rav4 Toyota for runners Toyota Priuses I'm gonna lie just name three so it is you know there's other vehicles any kind of SUV really I've seen people live out of tesla's which are which is really cool but you're also expending a lot of money on a Tesla I've seen you know people live out of pretty much any car and most recently I had a friend hi Yulia but Yulia lived out of a tent car camp which are as those tents that sit on top of the cars and they're super cool she actually got me really intrigued by that she had on on her Toyota rav4 and she traveled I think for nine months last year unbelievable you lived out of that thing for nine months traveled around it was an all wheel drive vehicle and her sleeping quarters or living quarters was on the roof popped up and that's where you slept not very stealth obviously however it's a cool way if you wanted to have it it is an adventure rig or if you wanted to use it as just your your your weekend warrior or I don't know something along those lines I'm looking into getting something like that maybe on a Jeep Wrangler I think would be cool to have a 4x4 vehicle as well as the van that I have now my van home as well as like an adventure rig I think that would be a cool option for me but again that's me you guys were all different so we'll see what a lot of you have been waiting for is this portion of the video so I may be a put a timestamp in here for just talking about vans because the next 8 to 10 minutes are gonna be strictly vans I'm not gonna touch on the Nissan NV all that much I've only seen very few converted Nissan Envy's and particularly I'm not a fan of them but I still think they're good vans I just wouldn't spend the money on the Nissan NV that's just me and then I'm not gonna touch on the electric vans that aren't gonna be out for another several years Ford announced a 2022 electric van coming out of the electric vans are not going to be van life ready probably until 2025 is my guests including the east sprinter and it's because they're not made to go great distances and I I think they're catering more towards like Amazon or other delivery systems before they worry about you know the RV world there's still some time away from that they can't handle all that much weight because they already weigh a crap-ton the e sprinters and the for 2022 electric van is not going to be ready for the van life community just yet in regards to choosing the right van this is interesting to me I hope I can get all the information out that Ike that I want to because there's so much information about choosing the right van so many people are like this man or that man or you know this has this option or that mall option or whatever it's really hard for me to kind of get into this hole which van is right for you I have to be very delicate with everything that I'm saying here because I think there's such my new changes that you can make on your personal life that's going to sway you from this van or that van I'll start off just with me on why I switched from Promaster to Sprinter and then we'll kind of go into a tangent on each each one of those so the reason I went from Promaster to Sprinter was because I actually always wanted a sprinter to begin with always loves the way that the sprinters drove I didn't really care so much between front wheel and rear wheel because the sprinters are real in the Promaster front well I felt that the 144 wheelbase of a sprinter was the perfect size for a van in regards to city-dwelling I also like the fact that the sprinters are diesel I wanted something that had a little more longevity and if I ever do sell this van my Sprinter the resale value the sprinters hold their value way better than the other two majors which are Promaster in transit those are all kind of taking into effect for me I also wanted the brand new 2019 sprinter the dashboard and everything up front looks like super fancy and nice and I just kind of like that I like the look I like to clean this to it and lastly I will say I always tell people go and drive a sprinter and you'll know why everybody wants to go with sprinter the end of the day they're made by Mercedes like Mercedes I guess luxury brand luxury vehicle over a Ford or a ram with that being said though you need to make adjustments in your life to handle the cost of maintenance maintenance on a Mercedes is extremely expensive and is a deal-breaker for most people upfront cost is also a deal-breaker for a lot of people the upfront cost of this Sprinter was 45 and change I think out the door is 48,000 I could have went out and got a Promaster different wheelbase one 3600 one base book same cargo space about ten feet for about thirty to thirty-five thousand so I could have saved myself 10 grand there however I wanted the Sprinter aftermarket accessories I believe are better on a sprinter than they are in the other two major brands a Ford and the pro master so those are all the reasons on why I switched over but that's me I also knew that I didn't want the 4x4 a lot of people are gonna be like well you should have one with the 4x4 you can go almost anywhere with a 4x4 yes and no I think with the proper tires knowing how to drive and a lift I can go in most places that people can go in a 4x4 are there places that four by fours can go that two-wheel drives can't obviously however am I gonna want to go there if that is what I had to ask myself in this simple answer to that is no I am not gonna want to go to places where a 4x4 is necessary and the reason for that is is because I live full-time out of this if this was an adventure vehicle I might actually have gotten a 4x4 I would have done my build differently if you guys have lived in a van then you'll know that we drive these things through earthquakes I call them rolling earthquakes you may have heard that term before so an earthquake driving on for like a 4x4 Road everything is shifting and moving and I would have bolted things to the wall differently I would have had maybe a little more steel in here it would have been a tougher more durable build not that my build isn't tough and durable I just think on you know these kind of roads they will have a wear and tear a lot fast take that into effect when you're doing your build if you are gonna be going into off-road situations and you may want to do a 4x4 so for me personally no I didn't want the 4x4 and I saved myself ten grand a 4x4 144 Sprinter those can go for 60 65 upwards of 70,000 there's actually not a huge price difference between from the 144 to the 170 on the sprinters also something to consider size-wise I feel that the 144 Sprinter perfect size for a single human and the 170 is probably more equipped for a 2% however I've seen people fit very comfortably in a 144 with two people and a dog believe it or not I've traveled with another person in my van for more than a week with two people in a dog we were fine it was totally manageable you are gonna have to make some adjustments if you have two people in a very small space again this is ten feet of space and only six feet wide the sprinters have drastic curves to them when it comes to building up the walls floor as I'd like 70 inches width wise and then the ceiling I believe is like 54 inches width was maybe 56 inches so that is a big curve that comes into the middle again you're only dealing with 10 10 feet of length space and that's why you see so many people have those swivel seats like I have because they kind of create an extra seating area and they make their cab in their front cab area in to another room person going off on design features but that kind of goes into what this video is about choosing your van is going to actually choose your design all at the same time the height is a major factor for anybody over six-foot can I fit a six-foot person in my van yes I can I believe my floor to ceiling is six foot one inch I have my floors built up because I've rated for heating two inches and I my ceiling dropped about an inch I lost roughly three inches did you have to build up before that much or drop the ceiling no you did not have to do that can you still insulate it yes you can so can if somebody needs six foot three fit in here it would be tight if I didn't do the floors in the ceiling of the way that I did them if you are over six-foot or around that 6-3 mark I would definitely look into something more like the Ford Transit which has like a six seven or six and nine floor to ceiling height which is ridiculous I've been in some for transits and they do feel a little bit bigger lengthwise is about the same as a sprinter in regards to living quarters with wise is the aid about the same the transit might have a little bit wider but I actually don't know that for certain if it is it's within an inch of each other I also feel that the Ford Transit is by far the hardest to build in out of the three majors there's a lot of curves not only do you have the walls curving upwards but you also have the ceiling making a drastic curve towards the front and I believe it actually makes a slight curve towards the back not a hundred percent on that nothing is straight in a van I think four does make a good vehicle I don't think it's up to par in regards to Mercedes Sprinter however is there more places to get your your van worked on yes there is you could get it worked on in any Ford dealership Mercedes you have to find either a Mercedes dealer or somebody that knows find a mechanic that can handle that with rent that's the benefit that's a huge benefit or huge Pro to having a Ford or having a pro masters you can virtually go anywhere and that the price on maintenance is not nearly as expensive that it is on a on a sprinter just as a quick example on my RAM the oil changes were 55 to 60 bucks and I had it done every 5,000 I have my all changed done about every five to seven thousand on my Sprinter and it's roughly two hundred it does take a lot of quarts of oil if I was to do it myself in the Sprinter it's like something like 12 or 13 quarts of oil which is a lot the Rams and the transits do not take that much oil so they are cheaper in that regard labor on a Mercedes it's just that much more so guys it's just like I told you when I talked about the Sprinter it's really up to you if you're willing to swallow that pill on having a sprinter because you want one that badly are you prepared to spend that amount of money on maintenance every single year or over a couple months whatever it is for me I was totally prepared for it that's just me though now the widest and probably the easiest to build in which is the RAM Promaster by the way I don't say Dodge Ram Promaster course dodge and Ram actually split back in like 2012 2013 technically its Ram yes it's owned by Dodge but yes Dodge is owned by Fiat if you really want to get real technical with it whatever I'm just gonna say Ram so the RAM Promaster is the widest out of the three majors it is also the probably the easiest to build in because it's a little more boxy than the other two they don't have dramatic curves at the front and the curves of the wall are very very slight compared to the transit and the sprinters the wheel bases are a little bit different on the pro masters you have a 1:18 wheelbase which is super small but they don't come in a high roof by the way if you're getting a van you're gonna want a high roof if you don't want a high roof then fine but I'm just saying so then there's also the 136 and the 159 the 136 is 10 feet of cargo and the 159 is about 12 feet of cargo and then the 150 not extended is about 14 feet of cargo give or take maybe thirteen and a half I have some friends that actually have the 159 extended I personally had the 159 standard and I actually have now have a new friend not a new friend I have a friend that I've been friends of the for a while Marty they just bought a 136 which is 10 feet of cargo the 136 Promaster is almost equivalent to the same size wise is to the smaller Transit and then the the smaller sprinter I think the pro masters are great pros of a pro master the pros of a pro master is I actually think this is a pro and a con but front-wheel drive easier to build inside of again pro and con is gas depending on how you want to do at it how you want to look at it pro and con that's why this video is so difficult because a pro to somebody could be a con to somebody else or that same person you know what I mean so because for me having a front-wheel drive van was literally a pro and a con I drove that van through a blizzard but when you are places like descend on Ben which is where I was at last summer and there's a lot of sand and a lot of dirt there were seven vans that got stuck that year all of them were Pro masters either they all didn't know how to drive which I don't think is the case or because you have so much weight in your rear and lifted the front end just enough to not catch enough traction on the sand and you started to spin and once you're spinning yours you're sinking in at that point can you get stuck in a Sprinter absolutely I've actually heard plenty of people get stuck in sprinters and in transit so if you have a two-wheel drive vehicle I highly suggest getting the max tracks or something along those lines where that can you can wedge under the tire and a shovel and you can wedge them at any time you can easily get out of those situations because that is important I feel when it comes to having a two-wheel drive vehicle you need you need to get out you need to get out of sticky situations again this goes back to ten feet of space and a pro master is I think ideal for one person I've seen two people make it work if you want to have two people very comfortably you want to be in a 159 I feel like and if you want to be really really comfortable you can get the extended version that's why I can't come on this video and just say oh you should get a sprinter you should get a transit you should get a pro master I'm not that person to tell you what what you should get I can't say one is better than the other it just doesn't happen doesn't work that way so I'm not going to say this van is better than that van I am gonna say I chose a sprinter but my first van was a pro master would I go back to having a pro master yeah I've been building this out of pro master am I opposed to building a side of a transit absolutely not I actually have a design up here that the then it would work in is a transit it really depends on your design it really depends on your what you're doing what you're using it for the function of it what you like the most and your bank account because really that's the important thing to all of this is what can you afford the low end van is the Promaster and the higher end vent is the Sprinter and then right in between that is your for transit so so you don't I will end with the used cars versus new car section I will end with that so is it better to buy used or new when it comes to a van I feel that buying new is better it has a better resale value obviously over time and I personally did not want to play mechanic so I felt buying a new model I would get the longevity out of it I am the sole owner of it I don't know what's wrong with it beforehand I'm the person that's responsible for its maintenance over time financing by the way I financed both of my vehicles and I paid for the cash on the end that's how I afford it everything in here was I paid cash for everything in the side of the bill for ssin but that's just my take on new versus used I've had some friends that have gotten some great used vehicles I've had some friends that have gotten some crappy used vehicles so okay guys I honestly know for a fact I didn't cover everything I wanted to cover do I don't know maybe I'll do a follow-up on this I wanted to get this information going I wanted to kind of start the conversation see where everybody's head was that I wanted to do more of these informational type vlogs because I feel like I've been doing this a while am I an expert I guess some people will call me that do I know what I'm doing I feel like I do if you guys would like to see more of that please comment below I have some a lot more informational videos coming out about designing and building because that's where my background is in and I'll be doing some talks on that this year I don't know if like subscribe all that good jazz and I will see you guys next time thank you very much later [Music] [Music]

Channel: Jarrod Tocci

Views: 36,508

Rating: 4.8850694 out of 5

Keywords: van build, jarrod tocci, ghost van, stealth van, van build ideas, vanlife, van life, van life ideas, van tour, sprinter van conversion, sprinter van conversion tour, digital nomad, how to work in vanlife, nomad, van life vlog, real van life living, how to live vanlife, stealth parking, stealth van living, which van for vanlife, how to pick a van, promaster, transit, which van to convert, which van for build out, why sprinter van

Id: vZxYi-PFbRc

Length: 24min 36sec (1476 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 16 2020