Fiat Ducato Low Loader Conversion Project

NorthernLoop · Mar 15, 2021

The TLDR (Too long didn't read - I'm a bit loopy, bought a low loader van - click photos)

Tomorrow I'll be collecting my new 21 plate Fiat van to start my conversion

This van has been about 3-4 years rough planning as I had to sort out moving house and all the rubbish that comes with buying/selling.

Previously I owned a 2006 MWB/MH Ford transit and like most people it was never meant to be a campervan, bought the van do to Go karting but after 2 years or so I wanted to get into climbing/mountaineering. I sold the kart and kept the van (built up NCB bonus) as I always had company cars. I started to convert the transit into a rough and ready camper so when I come down off the hill I had somewhere to eat and chill. But I'm 6 foot 2 so space was always a problem and I wanted to do the off-grid track as I don't to campsites. This van worked well, learnt good and bad of converting van.

Over the past few years I went through all my options of replacing the transit, new Jumbo/XLWB transit but at 4.3m in length felt it would be too small. Sprinter XLWB, very strong engine at and 4.7m in length would be a good option but the standard 1.9m height would be low, they do the super high at 2.1m but looks awful and rare to find! Then the next option was Iveco Daily 4100L, 5.1m length + 2.1m high, ladder chassis so rust less of an issue but they are twin rear wheels which I didn't really want.

Then it was on to the Box vans, seen the low loaders but not many options second hand. Tried one company who build new boxes on second hand vans but they wouldn't even give me a price, was chasing them for 2 weeks. Clearly wasn't interested in the sale/custom work I wanted. So my only option was to go new van....GLUP that is a lot of money! The conversion would have to be completed in stages as the budget I had would be going into the new van!

The house stuff was all sorted August last year and I placed my order for a new Fiat chassis cab with the following options.

Fiat Ducato 2.3 140 Multijet Euro 6D
Wide track
7in Touchscreen with DAB Radio - Bluetooth with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto 1RB
Carter Seat 50E
Glove Box Under Drivers Seat 7WV
Heater - Predisposition On Fuel Tank 52X
Single Passenger Seat with Armrest 297 (special order only)
Tablet Holder 75Q
DAB Radio Aerial in Door Mirrors 54Q
Front Height Adjustable Saddle Head Restraint 188
Glovebox – Central 6ZQ
Height Adjustable Single Passenger Seat 454
Techno Dashboard 6BL
Manual air conditioning
Cruise control
Twin leaf suspension for heavy duty conversions
Air Assist
Side door
Solid roof

Had get my order in earlier than I had planned due to not knowing what was going to happen with Brexit, would I get charged the 10% import taxes etc! The van landed in the UK just before New Year anyways, van should of been ready end of January but delays due to this and that.

Last week I went to see the almost ready van before it went in for its IVA on Friday and then back to Fiat for PDI so its now ready to be collected tomorrow.

Style I'm going for will be expedition van type without the extreme in the middle of nowhere places but able to be off grid for 2 weeks or so at a time. My biggest challenge will be the weight, having 1000kg or so will get eaten up very quickly in such a big space but I've been doing my sums and I can make it work

Am I crazy? Yes COMPLETELY but at least I'll be having fun building the van over the next 18-24 months. You might ask why its going to take me so long, well its the funds and the choices I've made. No GAS! in the van, had it before and always a pain so heating will be Truma Combi 6DE. I have been using the Victron gear in the last van so got the 3000VA inverter/solar charger and BMVs but never got the lithium batteries. Planning on using 2x200AH Victron batteries and they are expensive. Roof will be covered in solar panels, 4x 360watt do have space for a 5th but I already need to buy another 100/50 solar charger not sure I want to buy another one just for the extra 5th panel. The 5th panel and controller might come at a later date.

For the money I've spent on the base van plus the money I'm going to spend on the conversion yes I could of just bought a motorhome but they wont fill my off grid requirements and carrying my 15foot kayak, been through all those options as well! Before you ask

I need a new name for this van, last van was Sheila... I was meant to go on holiday to Oz but thought buying a go kart would of been more fun so family named the van for me. Need a fiery Italian female name for this one I think

wildebus · Mar 15, 2021

Looks great.
Sounds like you have put a great deal of thought in how you are going to build out Sophia (Loren - can't get more fiery than our Sophia).

With your Victron kit there, are you going to add in a Venus OS unit to bring it all together for monitoring and control?

NorthernLoop · Mar 15, 2021

Yeah liking the name, I was thinking Francesca but please keep posting them. Not sure what to go for yet, I guess when I drive and start building the van it will be easier.

For the monitoring I'll be using the Cerbo GX and their HDMI screen, yeah I could DIY that but some stuff like that I'm happy to pay the premium for.

SquirrellCook · Mar 15, 2021

You could call it Amanda, that was popular in Italy a few years back.

Millie Master · Mar 15, 2021

Eeeeeeeeeeeee by eck, I like a bloke with big balls, GO FOR IT @NorthernLoop

What a fantastic project, I sincerely hope you don't cut any corners, have the best insulation money can buy and do it do it do it.

What a man, my hat comes off to you

Phil

NorthernLoop · Mar 15, 2021

Millie Master said:
Eeeeeeeeeeeee by eck, I like a bloke with big balls, GO FOR IT @NorthernLoop

What a fantastic project, I sincerely hope you don't cut any corners, have the best insulation money can buy and do it do it do it.

What a man, my hat comes off to you

Phil

Dunno about the

s

Insulation I'll be using 30mm celotex all around, I have to be careful with the weight as I'm looking at 32m2 of insulation. (£200 the last time I looked) The Truma 6de is meant for 6-8m vans so be oversized for that as mine is 5.6m. Floor will be raised 0.5m so I can have the heater/tanks/AC under the false floor inside the van.

Walls are GRP 13mm and ceiling/floor is 30mm + they are white! There is a tiny bit of metal connecting them that will to be covered against condensation.

Once I have my kerb weight I can look again at all the options as my last spreadsheet had me needing 1133kg!

Millie Master · Mar 15, 2021

NorthernLoop said:
Dunno about the s

Insulation I'll be using 30mm celotex all around, I have to be careful with the weight as I'm looking at 32m2 of insulation. (£200 the last time I looked) The Truma 6de is meant for 6-8m vans so be oversized for that as mine is 5.6m. Floor will be raised 0.5m so I can have the heater/tanks/AC under the false floor inside the van.

Walls are GRP 13mm and ceiling/floor is 30mm + they are white! There is a tiny bit of metal connecting them that will to be covered against condensation.

Once I have my kerb weight I can look again at all the options as my last spreadsheet had me needing 1133kg!

Normally I would always suggest spray foam, but in a van like yours with perfectly flat sides and next to no ribs then Celotex will be brilliant just as long as it is bonded very securely to the walls which I already know by your expressed thoroughness, will be to the highest possible standards.

What a very lucky man you are, my heart goes out to you.

Phil

NorthernLoop · Mar 15, 2021

Millie Master said:
Normally I would always suggest spray foam, but in a van like yours with perfectly flat sides and next to no ribs then Celotex will be brilliant just as long as it is bonded very securely to the walls which I already know by your expressed thoroughness, will be to the highest possible standards.

What a very lucky man you are, my heart goes out to you.

Phil

It's why I kept going back to the box van. I can use off the shelve items such as IKEA, cheap, looks OK but more importantly its light weight! I don't want the van to look like a motorhome/campervan. If you where placed inside it I want the look oh nice small flat you have there

wildebus · Mar 15, 2021

NorthernLoop said:
It's why I kept going back to the box van. I can use off the shelve items such as IKEA, cheap, looks OK but more importantly its light weight! I don't want the van to look like a motorhome/campervan. If you where placed inside it I want the look oh nice small flat you have there

I am not sure about this actually.
I quite like the IKEA look, but when you add up the weight of the furniture (fortunately this is quite simple to do as the weights are very clearly provided on each item), plus some extra strenthening to all it to cope with all the movement, it can total a fair bit.

I am saying this as someone who has used IKEA furniture (basically using the Metod Kitchen range) in the last three camper conversions.
But in all my cases the available weight/cubic metre of living space was much higher than a typical motorhome, the last one being a LWB Panel Van with a GVW of 4600Kg, so I didn't have to worry about saving weight.

If I were doing a conversion on a brand new Box Van with a pretty nice budget available, I would look very much at the Extruded Aluminum system that in the US is called 80/20, but is also available in the UK under another name. That will give you a very lightweight but extremely strong frame to use as a base to build drawers in, hang doors from, and create walls on.

NorthernLoop · Mar 16, 2021

wildebus said:
I am not sure about this actually.
I quite like the IKEA look, but when you add up the weight of the furniture (fortunately this is quite simple to do as the weights are very clearly provided on each item), plus some extra strenthening to all it to cope with all the movement, it can total a fair bit.

I am saying this as someone who has used IKEA furniture (basically using the Metod Kitchen range) in the last three camper conversions.
But in all my cases the available weight/cubic metre of living space was much higher than a typical motorhome, the last one being a LWB Panel Van with a GVW of 4600Kg, so I didn't have to worry about saving weight.

If I were doing a conversion on a brand new Box Van with a pretty nice budget available, I would look very much at the Extruded Aluminum system that in the US is called 80/20, but is also available in the UK under another name. That will give you a very lightweight but extremely strong frame to use as a base to build drawers in, hang doors from, and create walls on.

I have looked at the 80/20 stuff but its expensive stuff.... There isn't much weight going on the walls so I'm fine with using wood as my walls will be lightweight ply from someone like Moreland. But yeah there is so much I've planned yet until I get the van and start sizing stuff out its difficult to go further along.

Millie Master · Mar 16, 2021

NorthernLoop said:
I have looked at the 80/20 stuff but its expensive stuff.... There isn't much weight going on the walls so I'm fine with using wood as my walls will be lightweight ply from someone like Moreland. But yeah there is so much I've planned yet until I get the van and start sizing stuff out its difficult to go further along.

Going down the wood construction route, construction technique I used has proved to be both very light and exceptionally strong, it was also very cheap!
Using cheap and chearful 25 x 50 tanalised roofing laths I made a simple lap jointed frame construction throughout which I then faced with 3mm lightweight oak faced ply that I bought from my local builders merchants which I finished by giving it a few coats of satin varnish.

I know this sound horrid, but every single person who has seen it has been amazed by the quality and finish, it has also proven to be exceptionally durable. In locations where the spaces between the outer frames was greater then I tightly fitted and glued 25mm Cellotex into position, the double advantages being fire resistance and strength.

I used to live quite close to the Morland premises at Welshpool and went to look at their products and thought their lightweight plies were not only vastly overpriced, but they also had such low rent backing boards that were exceptionally weak............. But of course the very vast majority of their customer base in the caravan/motorhome industries are professional builders such as Swift, who all want looks and aren't all that concerned about durability!

Phil

Nabsim · Mar 22, 2021

Does a new box van as shown in your pics really only have 1000kgs payload to play with? Presumably this is keeping it under C1 license requirements?

wildebus · Mar 22, 2021

Nabsim said:
Does a new box van as shown in your pics really only have 1000kgs payload to play with? Presumably this is keeping it under C1 license requirements?

I think these are aimed mainly at "man with a van" type operations for use with bulky but fairly light items.

NorthernLoop · Mar 22, 2021

Nabsim said:
Does a new box van as shown in your pics really only have 1000kgs payload to play with? Presumably this is keeping it under C1 license requirements?

Yeah roughly, once I get my framing/insulation in I'll be off to get it weighed properly and take it from there. Everything else from framing and insulation can be tweaked and planned

Yeah passed after 1997 so dont have C1, I could go do it but would prefer to keep under 3500kg

Nabsim · Mar 23, 2021

Damn, I would have thought you had a lot more than that to play with, no wonder some of the new motorhomes are coming out with almost no payload

wildebus · Mar 23, 2021

Nabsim said:
Damn, I would have thought you had a lot more than that to play with, no wonder some of the new motorhomes are coming out with almost no payload

When I was looking at Low-loader vans to do a conversion (got a lovely layout in my head!), I fancied getting one with a motorised tail gate that could double up as a raised "patio/porch", but the weight of those really ate into the payload on a 3.5t luton

SquirrellCook · Mar 23, 2021

I know there are license issues, but I wonder what payload the vehicle could be supplied with?

DnK · Mar 23, 2021

Look forward to seeing the end result on this build, it looks a great space to work with. How about Lucrezia?

TomTomLo · Jul 23, 2021

I'm really looking forward to following this thread - I'm hoping to do the same for my next build. You mentioned in another thread that it is 2.2m wide. Is that excluding the mirrors?