5 things you should know before converting a Luton van

When deciding on what sort of van you want to convert into your campervan, there are a number to things to think about. Here are a few things we think you should know if you're thinking about converting a Luton van into a campervan.

1. You've Got Tons of Space

If you're thinking about doing a luton conversion, you probably already know this, but you've got a lot of space to play with.

In our recent luton conversion, we were able to create a tiny home for our clients to live in full time. They have a large living area that converts into a full bed, a full sized kitchen, two storage cupboards, a full sized shower with toilet, and a king sized bed in their space. They also have a garage area at the back. The ceilings are also tall enough for almost anyone to stand upright in all the time.

Trying to fit this much into a panel van just doesn't work, and even with the most careful planning it would be hard to leave enough headroom for anyone over 6' to stand up in!

Not only is there more space in the van, but there's also more space under the van. This is really handy for any work that you need to do under the van. On our clients' van, we installed an underslung LPG tank and underslung waste water tank.

But even if you aren't putting tanks underneath, you'll inevitably have some things running under the van, and a luton gives you a lot more space to work in.

2. You'll Love the Straight Walls

If you do a campervan conversion with a panel van, the first thing you notice is that nothing in your panel van is straight. The walls probably slant in, the ceiling probably arches up, the floor goes in and out all over the place.

Luton vans are just boxes sitting on van chassis. Because of this, everything is straight. This makes almost everything in your build that much easier.

When you do a luton conversion, you can just cut rectangular sheets for the floor and walls, making the whole process much easier. Likewise, installing furniture is simpler because the backs of all the cabinets cabinets and benches can be square to the wall without having to scribe anything in to match the curves of the van.

3. You've Got Flexibility

Given that the Luton is just a box on wheels, there is a lot more flexibility with where you can put things, especially doors and windows. On a panel van, you don't really get much choice about where your windows or doors go - they have set places.

For our most recent conversion, light and views were really important to our clients, so we put 5 in and a stable door. The windows in the seating area allow our clients to have a panoramic view while they work, and the kitchen window means they don't miss out on anything while cooking and they've got some extra ventilation there. They've even got a little window in their bathroom (obviously above shoulder height and with privacy glass!)

The stable door was also a cool addition, meaning that our clients can have a bit of extra air and light, but their dog can't escape.

The other cool part to play with in a Luton is the back. Most lutons have a roller shutter at the back. You probably wouldn't want to leave this as the only back wall - not only does it ruin the look of your van, but it also doesn't provide any insulation for the van.

In this van, we added a stud wall with custom made opening flap window. This completed the interior look and added a lot of warmth to the van (we know, as we were building this in mid-December and it suddenly got a lot warmer in the van!). It also means that our clients have some garage space for their (yet-to-be-purchased) folding bikes or surfboards, and some space to hang out wet kit.

4. You'll Use Lots of Materials

This may sound obvious, but since you've got so much more space, you've also got to put in a lot more material!

From ply to flooring, paint to wiring, screws to insulation, you're going to be using more than you would in a smaller panel van. Make sure you account for this in your build costing.

This also means that it's even more important to think about weight. We use lightweight poplar ply into build our furniture. While this is more expensive than what's readily available at your local builder's merchant, it's definitely worth it. It is both noticeably lighter than standard poplar ply, and of significantly higher quality, giving you a higher quality finish through the van. This means that when you go to paint your furniture or walls, you get a much smoother finish!

Another thing we do to save weight in our builds is to cut out portions of ply that don't need to be fully finished, as you can see in the photo. If a piece of furniture is butted up to the wall or to another piece of furniture, you don't need to leave it fully intact, and this can save some weight across the van. In the photos above, those cabinets but up to other cabinets or the shower.

5. You Need to Reinforce the Van

Many more modern luton vans are made out of freightboard (fiberglass coated ply) fitted to a aluminium structure with a GRP (glass reinforced plastic) roof that is supported by aluminium struts across the top of the van. This is a pretty flexible structure, so if you want your home on wheels to be sturdy, you need to reinforce it.

When turning the Luton into a campervan, you have to consider how best to reinforce the structure.

We do this in a few ways:

1. For the roof, you've got to create a study surface to attach the solar panels. We bolt the solar panels to aluminium angle before mounting them on the roof. This gives us a solid structure for the panels to sit on. We then bolt the aluminium angle through to the struts of the van.

2. For the skylights, you have to ensure they will stay on the GRP and not leak. To do this, we create wooden supports on the inside of the cut-outs, which we attach with sikaflex. This makes a solid surface to attach the roof lights to, and when we screw the skylights it, it forms a clamp against the plastic

3. For the walls, you need to give rigidity to the freightboard. When battening them out, we install the battens sideways to what we'd normally do in a panel van. This gives more support to the walls, as there is much less flexibility in the battens at this angle, with the bonus of having a 50mm void to fit insulation.

4. Installing a rear stud-wall will also help reinforce the van. This is yet another reason to add a stud wall if you have a roller shutter!

We think lutons make for great campervan conversions, offering a lot more space and possibility than your regular panel van. Of course, they come with their own challenges too, but in the end you'll get a pretty incredible home on wheels!