Step zero: Get a van

Every camper van conversion starts with a van, so pretty much the first thing we needed to do was to decide which van platform we were going to go for.

People have used vans of all sizes for camping, but we knew from the start that a smaller van wasn't going to cut it for us. We want to be able to stand up in our van without bumping our heads, and we want to sleep, cook and eat in the van in some basic degree of comfort. We want a proper camper van, not just a van we can go camping in!

In the current US market, that pretty much restricts us to three vans:

• Mercedes Sprinter
• Ford Transit
• RAM ProMaster

These three large cargo vans are (by far) the top three choices for camper van builders in the US today. There are plenty of websites out there that do a great job of comparing them (like this one) so I won't attempt to cover every detail here, but briefly, here are some of the main pros and cons of each van.

Mercedes Sprinter
For much of the last couple of decades, choosing a cargo van for a camper van build came down to choosing which model of Sprinter van you wanted. Sprinters were the first widely available high roof cargo vans in the US, and they still dominate camper van builds today.

The Sprinter lineup also includes the longest cargo vans available, maxing out at a whopping 16.2’ of interior space (for the 170” wheelbase extended model). And they have models with All Wheel Drive, which is great for adventure vans.

However, that Mercedes badge on the front comes with a pretty significant price markup compared to the alternatives. Beyond that, servicing and repair for Mercedes cars is much more expensive than for other brands, if you can even find a Mercedes shop in your neighborhood… Sprinters have also historically been diesel-only, which, while good for engine torque, also makes the engines more complex and harder to service. Finally, although Sprinters are long, they are also the narrowest of the three options here, and they are more “curvy”, which can complicate camper van builds.

Ford Transit
High roof Transits only arrived in the US in 2015, but have rapidly increased in popularity for camper van builds since then. The high roof model has significantly more headroom inside than the high roof Sprinter or ProMaster, and it is wider than the Sprinter. Since 2020 it’s been available with AWD, and it runs on gasoline. It also has the most powerful engine option available (the EcoBoost engine).

These days, Transits are only a bit cheaper than the equivalent Sprinters to buy, but they are significantly cheaper and easier to service, since there are Ford dealers everywhere in the US.

RAM ProMaster
And then there’s the ProMaster, which is actually a rebadged European Fiat Ducato. It’s currently the least popular of the three for camper vans, but is slowly becoming more common. Unlike the others, it only comes in a Front Wheel Drive version, with a gasoline engine. They are the “boxiest” of the vans, with the widest interiors and minimal curves, which in some ways makes building the interior easier, though all of these vans are very far from the perfect cuboids that most van builders would prefer!

The biggest pro of the ProMaster is simply the price. They are noticeably cheaper than Sprinters and Transits to buy, and, like the Fords, they also have a great service network in the US.

So, what did we get?

When we started shopping for vans, I’d pretty much already decided that the van I wanted was a 148” wheelbase non-extended AWD EcoBoost Ford Transit.

Consider these pros:

• Good interior length and width while being under 20’ in total length (so can be squeezed into regular parking spots)
• Powerful engine
• All Wheel Drive
• Reasonable reliability
• Simplest and cheapest service and repair
• Lift kits readily available to improve ground clearance
• Lots of aftermarket camper van accessories available
• Gasoline fuel

However… when we actually started visiting dealers, looking at lightly used vehicles (a year or two old), it quickly became clear that we weren’t going to find one for much under $60k, which was about $20k more than I’d assured Amy the base van was going to cost!

So, we started looking at alternatives, and very quickly realized that if we could live without the AWD, and with the stock ground clearance, then the ProMaster provided most of the same benefits at a much lower cost. We convinced ourselves that, with the right tires, a FWD van could handle most of the places we wanted to go, and so we started touring the RAM dealers as well. And when we found a 2023 159“ wheelbase high roof ProMaster, in decent shape, with 18k miles for $38k, it seemed like too good a deal to pass up on. So, ProMaster it is!

What would we do differently next time?

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, the ProMaster has done everything we’ve asked of it. My main concern was the lack of AWD, but, so far, we haven’t run into any situations where this has made any difference. Yet! There are even a few benefits of not having a drive shaft running to the back wheels, such as the van floor being lower, and the underside of the van being relatively obstacle-free. Still, the ProMaster is undoubtedly a pretty basic and utilitarian van, designed to be a work horse rather than a comfortable vehicle, and it lacks a lot of the conveniences found in the more expensive vans. Cruise control? Nope. Tilting steering column? Nope. Noisy? Oh yes.

So, while there’s nothing especially wrong with the ProMaster, I confess that I do sometimes wish I’d looked a bit harder and dug a bit deeper and found the extra cash for for an AWD Transit with a few more frills. But there's no time for regrets, we've got a camper van to build!