Engineering challenge (Home made RV/Rape van)

[Yogimus]

How much effort would it take to insulate a cargo van to make it comfortable to live in, on a cross country trip?

I would place a twin sized mattress in the back, amd line the walls with 4 inch insulation all around. A heavy curtain would separate the cab, and would also be by the door. Now I was wondering, how long would a vehicle made up like that provide a comfortable living space for, and what would the most efficient heating be?

In the summer, the plan would be to leave the back door open, with the windows down. Maybe build the doors into a saloon style opening.

[Aesop]

Investigate gently used reefer vans, which already have the heavy lifting as far as prep done.
Also, you'd be better off having a flip up RV top vent put in for summer use, with a precut thick block of Styrofoam for the winter to block it.

I lived out of an AstroXL passenger van with a similar set up to what you're thinking of 5 days a week for 8 weeks during a location shoot, because it was easier than driving 3-4 hours roundtrip in daily L.A. traffic. My daily commute was a block and a half, and a fitness club membership provided daily shower facilities.
Other than the mattress and a bag of a week's clothes, my only prep was cutting black foam board to block the glass windows all around, and cutting some blackout cloth for drapes at the front and mounting Velcro patches to stick it to the headliner. Everything came down in about 30 seconds, but at night, no one outside could see inside, which minimized the impact of my urban "stealth" camping. It was uninsulated, and in SoCal but this was from Oct.-Dec., and a 10-degree rated sleeping bag unzipped and used as a comforter kept me sleeping as warm as I needed with temps into the high 30s and 40s nightly.

There isn't any really "efficient" way to heat it, there's just what you're willing to do. FWIW, a second battery, either charged off the same alternator, or ideally, soaking up solar from a permanently mounted rooftop panel, and hooked to an inverter, would run an electric blanket nightly for about 10 years with minimal muss and fuss (including that it won't set the van on fire unless you suck at basic wiring or kill you with CO while you're sleeping).
Do yourself a huge favor, and build a 2x4 and plywood platform for the mattress, at about 1" higher above the floor at the bottom than the height of the 3-6 Rubbermaid style tote boxes you oughta put under the bed for storage. Depending on where you're parking, a camping self contained sink, a porta-pottie, and a solar shower bag, along with a small (hell, even a large) propane burner or grill, and an Igloo/Coleman cooler, and you've got a Minniebago for about 1/10 the price or less of the real deal.

[Yogimus]

Please note this is purely an intellectual exercise. As such, hypotheticals are welcome.

[Aglifter]

RVs do not keep their resale value well, just get one based off a Sprint van and be done w it.

They, often, are not insulated, really - the better ones are.

If I were going to build one/have it built, I would put... Maybe dynamat on first, for noise, and then look into whatever they use to insulate boats (will not absorb moisture and should be fairly light.)

I saw a program about a lightweight, bulletproof foam, might be an interesting choice.

For my purposes, I mainly would want one for a kitchen and bathroom while traveling/a playing space for children, should I have any.

My parents just bought one, primarily built around sleeping.

They often have furnaces in them, but you would only get cold while stopped, so I would suggest electric radiators.

[Dub_James]

Is this what you're looking for?

[Termite]

I think you would be better off buying an older bumper-pull 16-22ft RV trailer, and fixing up whatever needs fixing. THis assumes you have a pickup or SUV to pull it.
FWIW, a Crown Vic/Marquis properly set-up will pull a smaller RV trailer.

[Darrell]

A utilitarian sort of RV would be interesting done from the Ford Transit van. Heck, I'd wondered at making such a thing with the little Transit Connect. Turns out it has been done, but darn, is it small and cramped. Might work for Yogimus if he narrowed his interest to dwarfs.

ETA: Dang, doing a quick image search, both have been done, of course, over in Europe. I guess RVs are getting big there.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford+tr ... 03&bih=784

[blackeagle603]

Trailers and RV's make stealth camping a problem. "Vandwelling" is the term you're looking for and is what Aesop described. Here's a guy who full monty on his Ford van.

I had a couple buddies in the Navy who did it around San Dog to maximize their savings rate or minimize cost while getting ready to go back to civilian life. One rented out his condo, kept all his BHA/VHA coming, and had 7-8 different spots to park his VW Bubbletop at night. That was much better stealth than a tent poptop. The showers in the gym and fridge/micro in our shop did the rest for him. He put all the money in to flight training and college. Was flying for a commuter line within a year of EAOS and has been with an airline for 20 now.

[Aesop]

'zackly.

A car with a trailer is an illegal camper.
A parked van is just a van.

[Steamforger]

I'll just leave this here.