Luton vs panel van

[Annaelliott]

Hello,
I’m looking to convert a van into a camper and I was wondering if anybody was please able to talk me through the pros and cons of both converting a Luton van vs a panel van?

 

[Millie Master]

A Luton body is far easier to build a conversion in as the sides are very square (upright and straight) and they are generally taller, hence giving more usable internal height.
The down sides, as far as I am concerned are (a) they are slightly more wieldy to drive and navigate through narrow roads (b) making a walk through from the cab can be very difficult (c) the doors in the cargo area are nowhere near as user friendly, most especially as the vast majority of them don't have a side entrance door.

Personally speaking, if I was considering doing another build, I would very seriously consider converting a Luton.

Phil

 

[wildebus]

I've converted 3 campers from standard van bodies, and now having a factory-build Motorhome, which are essentially the same shape as a Luton with the flat sides, higher roof and overcab storage /bed area.

The first question is what do you intend to do with the Camper? Are you someone who likes to explore back roads and travels a lot each day? or are you someone who want to drive to a location and spend a few nights there before heading somewhere else for a few nights?

I much much prefer the space of my Motorhome, especially the greater width compared to my previous campers. There is definately an air of spaciousness. But that width equates to a vehicle that is not as relaxing to drive on narrow roads and in towns, whereas a camper based on a standard van body is really no different to driving a car.

I was looking to do another conversion and I looked at base vehicle options and prices - and they were all Luton style low-loaders, as I wanted that extra width, space, overhead storage and floor to ceiling straight walls. I am not someone who particularly enjoys and seeks out narrow roads and off-track driving even in a car let alone a camper, so while the wide width is still a pain on many occasions, they are short (and so fairly sweet) and the benefit of the extra space compensates.

Something that MilliMaster mentioned and I gave thought to when looking at the Low-loader styles was the doors. I would have gone for a van with the large doors rather than the roller-shutter as I would have built an internal wall close to the back and had the space between that internal wall and the original cargo doors as a full-height garage space for all the bits and pieces you want, but don't want inside your van. could be for tables, awnings, bikes, etc, etc. and it saves having to worry about what to do with the rear doors as well
Side entry door - being a flat side, it lends itself perfectly to a standard caravan type door. available new or used off a caravan breakers depending on your budget. You could also reuse a lot of an interior of a caravan if you wanted, again depending on your budget and also carpentry abilities.
Cab - Body access: never going to be as good as a "proper" motorhome, but could easily be doable in the form of a large hatch. Lots of Lorry conversions do this as the cab in those has to remain a separate part in order to tilt for repairs.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I contemplated a Luton van as the sides present less problems, Easy to insulate, but the roofs are likely to be quite flimsy to keep weight down al the ones we looked at had see-through GRP sheets so would need to be reinforced to take solar panels etc, but not difficult to do, I have seen since some really nice jobs done on them some have a drop-down rear providing a deck to sit out on up out of the mud with patio doors at the back, wood stoves are a nice thing too so keeping warm should be easy enough but no forest parking, as David say doors aet are easy to find, plenty of crash damaged caravans around at the end of the summer.

A lot depends on your skills of course, th hardest is the joinery for most, the rest can be farmed out as you need them doing.

If you go for a panel van look on Ebay as there are a lot of kits for a simple build, you just fit it in, but I don't think they do bespoke unless at a premium, there are sometimes unfinished projects on ebay too, worth a look as you get a lot for your money.

I Plumped for a self build L4 H2 Citroen relay.

Kevs build photos

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[wildebus]

I contemplated a Luton van as the sides present less problems, Easy to insulate, but the roofs are likely to be quite flimsy to keep weight down al the ones we looked at had see-through GRP sheets so would need to be reinforced to take solar panels etc, but not difficult to do, I have seen since some really nice jobs done on them some have a drop-down rear providing a deck to sit out on up out of the mud with patio doors at the back, wood stoves are a nice thing too so keeping warm should be easy enough but no forest parking, as David say doors aet are easy to find, plenty of crash damaged caravans around at the end of the summer.

A lot depends on your skills of course, th hardest is the joinery for most, the rest can be farmed out as you need them doing.

If you go for a panel van look on Ebay as there are a lot of kits for a simple build, you just fit it in, but I don't think they do bespoke unless at a premium, there are sometimes unfinished projects on ebay too, worth a look as you get a lot for your money.

I Plumped for a self build L4 H2 Citroen relay.

Kevs build photos

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Although I probably wouldn't have done it myself, I liked the idea of the drop down rear deck as well Bit of Astroturf and some fold-out picket fencing, could be funky.
Seen Youtube videos of "step van" conversions in the US (the rear part of a US Step Van is pretty close to a UK Luton in terms of the sides, roof and rear end) and some of them are pretty.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

We saw this one in July

And this might be a consideration we also saw in July, both up in Scotland