College Student & Full Time"RV" Living
I'm a full time college student as the thread title says, but I'm looking to purchase and convert a Ford Econoline style cargo van into a mini-RV. I live in Pierce county Washington but I'm going to b...
Forum Discussion
I thought about purchasing a used RV. I decided against it for a number of reasons.
#1 the starting cost. With my idea for a van, I can get the whole thing up and operational as an mini-RV for under $5000 including insurance, registration, tabs and all the supplies needed to actually turn the van into an RV. I already have alot of the stuff that I am going to put in it. The starting cost for even a cheap RV in my area is more then I can reasonably afford.
#2 the van would serve as more then just an RV. I can easily remove most of the items inside and use the van as a dedicated cargo van. My idea is to make everything modular. The batteries and power supplies would be installed in something like milk crates so that they can be easily removed. Simply disconnect a few cables and out it goes.
#3 stealth value. I don't want most people to even know that I'm living in the van for security reasons. I don't want anything that I may have of value to become a target. Though I will be in fairly close proximity to the van most of the time, it's when I'm in class and such that is the most concern. With it looking like a plain old cargo van, it has the general appearance of a utility vehicle. I might even look into purchasing a used fleet van from somebody like comcast or a local municipality. Ideally, I would even purchase a van that doesn't even have windows anywhere except the 2 doors up front or the windshield.
#1 the starting cost. With my idea for a van, I can get the whole thing up and operational as an mini-RV for under $5000 including insurance, registration, tabs and all the supplies needed to actually turn the van into an RV. I already have alot of the stuff that I am going to put in it. The starting cost for even a cheap RV in my area is more then I can reasonably afford.
#2 the van would serve as more then just an RV. I can easily remove most of the items inside and use the van as a dedicated cargo van. My idea is to make everything modular. The batteries and power supplies would be installed in something like milk crates so that they can be easily removed. Simply disconnect a few cables and out it goes.
#3 stealth value. I don't want most people to even know that I'm living in the van for security reasons. I don't want anything that I may have of value to become a target. Though I will be in fairly close proximity to the van most of the time, it's when I'm in class and such that is the most concern. With it looking like a plain old cargo van, it has the general appearance of a utility vehicle. I might even look into purchasing a used fleet van from somebody like comcast or a local municipality. Ideally, I would even purchase a van that doesn't even have windows anywhere except the 2 doors up front or the windshield.
