Blog
Wheelchair-Accessible Camper Van Conversion: How to Plan It Right
Reading time: approx. 7 minutes
A wheelchair-accessible camper van conversion differs from a regular van conversion in one decisive way: the goal isn’t “as much storage as possible” — it’s freedom of movement. Every centimetre of corridor width and every centimetre of cabinet or control height decides whether the finished conversion is actually usable day to day, or not. Anyone who only notices this while building ends up building twice.
Camper Van Furniture: Solid Block, Closed Box, or Frame with Panelling? Build Methods Compared
Reading time: approx. 7 minutes
“Furniture — with or without a frame?” is one of the most debated questions in every camper van conversion forum. The short answer: it depends on which piece of furniture you’re building. The longer answer is that it’s not just those two options — and the build method you choose usually decides your final weight more than the material you choose.
How much material and build method together determine your weight — with concrete worked examples — is covered in our article Material Weight for Van Conversions.
Material Weight for Van Conversions: Plywood, Shuttering Ply, MDF & Particleboard Compared
Reading time: approx. 7 minutes
When you plan your van, you probably think about furniture size first: how wide the base cabinet will be, how tall the bed. The material behind it — plywood, shuttering ply, MDF or particleboard — you often pick by looks or price. That’s a mistake when it comes to weight: for the same piece of furniture, material choice alone can make a 30–40% weight difference. Across a whole build, that quickly adds up to 20–30 kg you could either save or unnecessarily carry along.
Best Camper Van Conversion Planners Compared (2026): VanSpace 3D, Plan Your Van, PlanMyCamper & VanLogic
Reading time: approx. 9 minutes
Before you drill the first hole, you make a decision that shapes the entire build: which tool do you plan with? That choice matters more than most people expect at the start — from the rough floor plan all the way to the final vehicle inspection.
The market for camper planning software has grown a lot over the last few years, but the tools differ fundamentally in what they can actually do. This comparison puts the four best-known options side by side, honestly — based on real feature differences, not marketing claims.
Camper Floor Plan Planning: The Ultimate Guide to Your Van Conversion
The most expensive mistake in a van build doesn’t happen at the saw. It happens at the kitchen table, with a pencil and a sheet of graph paper — and only shows up months later, on the scale or at the inspection.
Search for “camper floor plan” and you’ll mostly find pictures. This guide instead delivers what’s actually behind every good floor plan: the five basic layout types, the measurements they fail on in practice, and the one decision — the build method of your furniture — that decides several hundred kilograms without changing the floor plan itself at all.
Overloaded Camper Van Fines: UK & USA Rules Explained (And How to Avoid Them)
Reading time: approx. 7 minutes
A roadside check, and the officer waves you toward the weighbridge. For a lot of motorhome and camper van owners, that’s the first time they actually find out how heavy their vehicle really is. Usually: too heavy.
Overloading is one of the most common — and most avoidable — problems in van life, once you know what to watch for. This article covers what overloading actually costs in the UK and the USA, why it so often goes unnoticed, and how to design it out of your build from day one.
Centre of Gravity in a Campervan: Why Your Van Sways in Corners — and What to Do About It
Reading time: approx. 5 minutes
Anyone who drives their fully converted van on the motorway for the first time sometimes gets an unpleasant surprise: the van feels different than before. Slower to respond in corners, more sensitive to crosswinds, a slight sway during quick lane changes. This is not imagination. It’s physics.
The centre of gravity of your vehicle has changed — and that directly affects how the van behaves on the road.
Van Conversion and Technical Inspection: What You Need to Know
Reading time: approx. 6 minutes
For many self-builders, the vehicle inspection is the most nerve-wracking part of the whole project. Not because it’s so difficult — but because most people don’t know exactly what gets checked. And a failed inspection is expensive: modifications, a second appointment, lost time.
This article explains what is actually checked at the inspection, what role weight plays in that process — and how to prepare so you pass first time.
Sprinter & Ducato: Calculating Payload and Weight the Right Way
Reading time: approx. 6 minutes
Most campervan builders make the same mistake: they start building without knowing how heavy their van will end up. Months later they’re at the vehicle inspection — and the scale shows a number they weren’t expecting.
This article shows you how to keep your van build weight under control from the very beginning. Not after the build. Before.
Planning your first floor plan right now? Our ultimate guide to camper floor plan planning walks you through how vehicle choice, furniture placement and weight calculation work together, step by step.