Sportsmobile realistic for family of five on a teacher sal?

[jage]

Originally Posted by carringb

I wonder if a CCV pop top is strong enough for a roof-top-tent on that? With popouts on both ends of pop-up, and a roof top tent, you could sleep 8 all upstairs! A transformer setup behind the 3rd row of bench seats (or captains chairs) would allow for safe seating for all.

Plus Derrick has no problem working on older, more affordable vehicles as far as I know.

[taverre]

The response to my Post has been fantastic. Thank you to all who contributed. I have found your experience and suggestions very helpful. I will look more into the car seat question and am now considering just getting an extended van and having a pop top conversion with bench/bed seats in he back, and use it as a weekender/sleeper until I can afford to get it lifted and 4x4.

Thank you all, and if you have any pics of set ups that worked for you and a family with equivalent size as mine, I would be very interested.

Thanks

Tim

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by taverre

The response to my Post has been fantastic. Thank you to all who contributed. I have found your experience and suggestions very helpful. I will look more into the car seat question and am now considering just getting an extended van and having a pop top conversion with bench/bed seats in he back, and use it as a weekender/sleeper until I can afford to get it lifted and 4x4.

Thank you all, and if you have any pics of set ups that worked for you and a family with equivalent size as mine, I would be very interested.

Thanks

Tim

Good plan if you are set on having a van.

I'd bet that you could find a late model F-250 or F-350 supercab with factory 4x4 for less than the cost of an E-350 plus 4x4 conversion. Of course 4x4 vans are the bomb, but the conversion costs can make the economics challenging versus an F series pickup.

We've got 3 kids and once slept all 5 in the van when the kids were 11, 8 and 5. It was dreadful and an experience my wife swore she would never repeat.

With the kids now 14, 11 and 8, I pack a tent and the van is for me and my youngest. My wife gladly holds down the fort at home while I head out into BFE with the kids.

Good luck.

R

[taverre]

Alright, so what about a Used 2005 Ford E-350 and Econoline 350 Super Duty Wagon with 100,000+ mi, asking $10,000. I'm thinking, build a bench in the back for sitting, storage (underneath) and kids bed/sleeping. Then get a Colorado Camper Van Penthouse bed. I like the idea of packing a tent so that when/if it gets too cramped, I could sleep in the tent with a couple kids and the wife and baby could stay in the van, then when it is just me and the kids we all sleep in the van.

I have no idea if a 2005 with this many miles is worth 10,000 but I'm interested in hearing what you all think about this as a starting point.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale ... x=10&Log=0

[jage]

Put Quigley into SearchTempest and compare vans with 4x4 already:
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/3626544335.html

Not saying that's your perfect issue free base van, but there are service shuttles galore out there and it might be better to find one that is already 4x4, expense wise.

[bill1929]

Originally Posted by twogone

Here ya' go!

wow!!!! that's a cool pic!!!

[witoke]

At the risk of plugging my own van, I have travelled and slept 5 in it several times over a year while we had an exchange student to add to my 2 kids. I would take out the 2 captains chairs and the 3 kids sat on the full sized bench in the back. That has 2 shoulder belts and a single lap belt BTW. For camping, my wife and I always sleep in the PH, 2 kids get the bench, sleeping sideways and one gets the floor. I did think about making a small, folding ply platform to lay across the front seats that could comfortably get the third child off the floor and although it would be easy, I never got around to it.

The sleeping part was fine but it was tight and really hard to manage once people were up and you factor in bags of clothes, sleeping bags, sports gear and so on. And while my van is an RB it does not have a camper interior so the inside of the van is open, giving a lot of space. We put up the awning and move the stove, table cooler etc outside for cooking, eating inside if it's really cold. But in bad weather the van is just too small to be a comfortable place to hang out with 5 in it. I also have thought about adding an enclosure to the awning, cheap at walmart, that would give you an easy-up extra room.

We ended up using the van for all of us only if we were just stopping for a night on the way to or from somewhere. Otherwise the kids and the tent would be hoofed out into the great outdoors along with all their stuff.

You can see my van's layout here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9360

[loren85022]

For what it's worth, having a lil trailer that sleeps kids, makes sleeping in the van a much more enjoyable weekend. We laugh that if we arent careful, we'll outgrow the tent-trailer, if you know what I mean.

[taverre]

I just can't seem to shake the SMB bug. After reading many candid and helpful replies, it sounded like there aren't many owners happily carting around a fam of five. So I started thinking, maybe I should just look at a teardrop trailer as a sleeping room for me and wife plus one kid and the others could do a tent or the back of our sienna. Then I don't get to do any of the remote camping and boon docking I have been fantasizing about ever since first seeing the pics online of SMBs. Then me thinks, why not get a van, with penthouse and backseat that converts into a bed. As my kids get big enough for us to feel too crowded, I could drag a teardrop around and let the kids sleep in it. I could also start adding kitchen and other stuff as I can afford. At this rate, I should be able to get a new Econoline with extended back and penthouse for 35,000. Anyone else try this and greatly regret it, or have success?

Would I be that much better off buying a used cargo van and doing these mods myself as I can afford? Also, trying to thumb through the general info posts to get a grip particulars, I'm finding I come away with more questions than answers. Is there a newby set of articles that defines and lists the main things to consider. For example, when does diesel make more sense than reg gas and other things to consider?

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

[jage]

There is no reason I can think of to choose diesel over gas, besides availability. I'd want a V10 over my 6.0L if I had it to do over, but nothing wrong with the 6.0L... maybe a teeny bit loud. But discussing gas vs. diesel has been done to death, which is why it's prohibited. That and whether or not the V8 is underpowered- you'll find opinions on both sides of that aisle.

So don't get hung up on engine if you don't have a reason to.

That said, with your family my first consideration would be seating: enough seatbelts, enough space and enough car/booster seat slots. Also consider forward facing vs. side- my poor nephew gets horribly carsick in my brother's Sprinter because they can only sit sideways.

So seating is going to dictate a lot in your build.

Next is PH, which is the pop-top. You can have SMB add one for ~$6000, but it also means either waiting list or traveling to Indiana. Then again, if you dig the Colorado Camper Vans tops, which is a real consideration, it would behoove you to buy a van without a top. Talk to DSW4x4 (ccv guy) or SMB before you pull the trigger.

4x4 can easily be added, but my feeling is you'll be better off finding a mountain shuttle that has the seating and 4x4 already- just from a cost savings perspective I think established 4x4 is better. But, everything else being ideal it's something you can add.

After that if you're looking at ready to go rigs (which saves you time over DIY interior, e.g. be camping this summer) everything breaks down into "can change" vs. "cannot change". It's easy to double your battery or swap microwave for drawer, or vice versa. Adding an inverter or awning to an existing build is not much of a problem.

Changing the floor plan, adding a full toilet, adding a water system or hot water after a build is done, on the other hand are. These are major things that seriously affect the van and/or take an inordinate amount of changes- if you want hot water, it's better to buy a van with a h/w heater for example than one with cold only. Furnace/heat is another.

So- if I were you, I'd look for a used shuttle that already has 4x4 and tons of seating, get DSW4x4 to put a Colorado Camper Van top on and go from there, possibly pulling seats and crashing on the floor until you figure out what you want in the interior.

Alternatively, look for a Ford 2wd "50" (bench seat across the back) and plan to add a 3rd captain's chair- go camp all summer and decide if the expense of adding 4x4 is worth it- by that time you'll have a better idea of size, and can bail before putting more funds into the van if it turns out to feel like a sardine can.

Depending on where you are, someone might be willing to show and tell too, and you can get a better feel than from photos.