Choosing
Which van is best to convert into a camper?
The choice is almost never made on the engine or the badge, and almost always on three numbers: load length, load width and load height. Know those three and you know within a minute which layouts are possible — and that every later argument about fuel consumption is beside the point.
Updated on 14 min read
Start with three numbers
Every van converted into a camper is judged on the same three dimensions. Load height decides whether you can stand up. Load width decides whether you can sleep across. Load length decides what still fits alongside the bed. Everything after that — badge, engine, mileage, price — matters for the vehicle and not for the camper.
| Dimension | Threshold | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Load height | about 1,850 mm | Below it you crouch; above it you stand. This is the one threshold no later layout choice can repair. |
| Load width between the arches | about 1,400 mm | Below it, no double transverse bed fits without a bulge in the side wall. |
| Load length behind the seats | 3,100 / 3,700 / 4,300 mm | The three steps L2, L3 and L4. Each step adds roughly one piece of furniture: first a kitchen beside the bed, then a seating area, then a real bathroom. |
High or low: the first fork
The real dividing line runs not between brands but between two kinds of van. A Transporter, Trafic, Vito, Transit Custom or Expert has around 1,400 mm of load height: you sit in it, you do not stand in it. A Ducato, Sprinter, Crafter, Master, Transit or Daily in H2 sits around 1,900 mm: there you stand upright, even at 1.85 m tall.
| Low van (H1) | High van (H2) | |
|---|---|---|
| Standing | No | Yes |
| Fits a multi-storey car park | Usually, under 2.00 m | No, around 2.55 m |
| Usable as a daily car | Yes | Limited |
| Consumption | 7 – 9 l/100 km | 9 – 12 l/100 km |
| Cooking inside in the rain | Bent over, or outside | Normally |
| Second-hand purchase | Dearer per metre | Cheaper per metre |
The question that settles this choice is not how long your holiday is, but how often it rains on the days you are away. In a low van, bad weather ends the day; in a high van it is a day indoors. Two weeks in July needs no standing height. Travelling in spring and autumn does.
Which length: L2, L3 or L4
- 01
L2 — around 3,100 mm
A transverse bed at the back plus a kitchen, and that is it. No fixed seating: you eat on the bed or outside. The upside is that you can still park it — under six metres overall — and for many people that outweighs a sofa.
- 02
L3 — around 3,700 mm
The size at which most things work out. Transverse bed at the back with a garage under it, kitchen along the side, and a seating area you do not have to make from the bed. If one choice is rarely regretted afterwards, it is this one.
- 03
L4 — around 4,100 to 4,700 mm
Room for a real bathroom with a shower, or a longitudinal bed with an aisle beside it. But settle up with reality: over six metres long, awkward in a village street, and a surcharge at some campsites. Your payload also gets tighter as the van gets bigger.
Watch the sister models: same van, different price
Part of this market is the same van under different names. Ducato, Jumper and Boxer come off the same line in Val di Sangro and share load dimensions to the millimetre. Master, Movano and Interstar come from Batilly and are likewise identical. Crafter and MAN TGE are the same vehicle. So search all the names at once. On the second-hand market the price gap between two identical vans with a different badge runs to a few thousand euros, and the cheapest is simply the cheapest.
Why the Ducato so often wins
At roughly 1,870 mm of load width and over 1,420 mm between the arches, the Ducato family is the widest in this class, and width is exactly what a transverse bed lives or dies on. A Sprinter is longer but narrower; a Master sits in between. If you want to sleep across without a bulge in the side wall, that is the only argument that counts — and it is why the great majority of factory campers sit on this platform.
All the dimensions above are factory figures and therefore indicative. Measure the van you are considering yourself before you buy, and certainly before you order furniture: three to five centimetres of difference between brochure and reality is normal.
And an electric van?
Technically yes, and on most electric panel vans the load space matches the diesel. In practice you meet three things. The battery pack eats hundreds of kilos of payload, and payload is exactly where a camper conversion is already tightest. Range with a heavily loaded, tall and therefore unaerodynamic van falls well short, especially into a headwind on the motorway. And charging at a campsite is not yet a given. For short trips and long stays it is a fine choice; for driving down to southern Europe, not yet.
What to check when buying
- Rust under the sills, behind the wheel arches and along the bottom of the sliding door. On a panel van that is the first place and immediately the dearest.
- A second sliding door is usually a drawback for a camper: it costs you a whole wall you can no longer build against.
- Look up the permissible maximum mass and the kerb weight on the registration document, and subtract them before you get enthusiastic.
- Windows in the load space look like a bonus but almost never sit where your layout wants them.
- A van with a one-owner service history and many motorway kilometres beats one with few city kilometres.
See which layouts fit each van model
Frequently asked questions
- Which van is most suitable to convert into a camper?
- For most people a high van in L3: around 3,700 mm of load length and 1,900 mm of height. That size takes a transverse bed with a garage, a kitchen along the side and fixed seating, while the vehicle stays under six metres. The Ducato family — including Jumper and Boxer — is the widest at around 1,870 mm and therefore the safest choice if you want to sleep across.
- Can I stand up in a low van?
- No. A Transporter, Trafic, Vito, Transit Custom or Expert has around 1,400 mm of load height; you sit in that. A pop-top solves it when parked, but costs money, weight, a leak risk and winter insulation. If you really want to stand, buy a high van.
- What is the difference between L2, L3 and L4?
- The load length behind the cab seats: roughly 3,100, 3,700 and 4,100 to 4,700 mm. Each step adds about one piece of furniture. L2 takes a transverse bed with a kitchen, L3 adds fixed seating, and L4 a bathroom or a longitudinal bed with an aisle.
- Are a Ducato, a Jumper and a Boxer the same van?
- Yes, as far as the bodywork and load dimensions go. They come off the same line in Val di Sangro. The same holds for Master, Movano and Interstar from Batilly, and for Crafter and MAN TGE. So search all the names at once: the price gap between identical vans with a different badge can be a few thousand euros.
- Can you convert an electric van into a camper?
- Technically yes, and the load space usually matches the diesel version. But the battery pack costs hundreds of kilos of payload, the range of a tall, heavily loaded van falls well short, and charging at campsites is not yet universal. It works for short distances and long stays; not yet for long runs to southern Europe.