Let’s See Those Overland Vans

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Polaris Overland

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I see many threads on builds where people are using the standard, Pick Up, LR Defender, Land Cruiser etc but how many are using a van as a base to build into their overland vehicle.

We have moved from our trusty Defender that took us to Mongolia and all places in between to a VW 4motion Transporter. The main reason we have gone down this route is comfort, particularly in cold wet weather. The ability to sit inside in a warm dry area is a game changer. Sure our Defender with roof tent and by adding 270 degree awning with sides was a vast improvement on our original setup up but we have found that evenings, that time between finishing driving for the day and heading into the roof tent as cold damp and miserable even with the awning and sides up. We tried improving things fitting a diesel heater that fed both the tent and the awning and also a wood stove for in the awning but the time and effort involved to get set up unless staying put for a few days too restrictive. Our trips we tend to be moving on daily.

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Defender in Ullanbataar, Mongolia.

So our thought process was do we go for a bigger better Land Rover build. But that financially was a massive undertaking with Land Rover Defenders currently at premium prices in the UK and then sorting a 20 or 30 year old vehicle mechanically and then adding in a build of a camper body the costs would climb massively.

So our thoughts went to a van of some sort. We have seen many throughout our journeys and found some to be very capable and suitable for overland trips. Our trips tend not to be massive off road challenges, in fact when your vehicle is also your home you tend to try and protect it and avoid terrain that might break or destroy it. In some cases that is not always possible as we found in the Gobi Desert, Pamir Highway and the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco however we saw many 2wd vehicles doing these routes, it just takes more care and a little longer but still achievable.

So we were now looking for a van, not too big as we did not want to be restricted by size, 4wd to enable light off-road use to allow us to tackle over 90% of the type of terrain we have encountered in our Defender 90 throughout the Stans, Russia and Mongolia.

We found what we were looking for back in February 2020. A 2015 VW 4motion Transporter, 4wd former breakdown recovery vehicle. It had a larger fuel tank giving a range of around 600 miles.

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Base Van

First upgrade was a 50mm lift and fitting All Terrain Tyres. This gave a little more ground clearance and.better traction. This was followed by fitting out the rear in a basic camper layout and a diesel heater.

Initially we were not going to go with a pop top roof as we thought we wanted to fit a roof rack and load up the roof. Having looked at a few examples we changed our mind and went the Pop Roof. This gave us the ability to sleep in the pop roof and leave the lower area as a living and cooking space. Something we had wanted from the onset to make life more comfortable in cold wet weather.

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Overland Bound Meet Lake District just before lockdown

Then Corona and lockdown arrived which has restricted us to just a few weekend trips and a two week trip away doing Scotland’s North Coast 500. Everything went well, we added a few minor tweaks here and there and added a few upgrades to our list.

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Evening on the North Coast500

We added a 200W solar Panel to the Pop roof with a Victron mppt controller to top up our batteries when off grid.

The water carrying capacity is only 15 litres which is very restrictive if wanting to head off grid so the next job is a 47 litre water tank fitted externally underneath where the spare wheel would normally go.

Still on the list for the future are roof rails, A Bar Bumper, underbody protection and some additional scene / work lighting plus smaller jobs to make our life easier and more comfortable.

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Camper Layout

Most of all we want to get out more and test everything and continue testing. Our experience of nearly 3 years on an overland trip living out of roof tent mean we are aware of many tricks that can make the difference between a comfortable trip and a struggle.

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Scotland Fun In The Snow
 

El-Dracho

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This is a beautiful overland vehicle. Thanks for sharing those pictures.

I share your experience that such an all-wheel drive bus will master most of the typical overlander routes on this beautiful planet. On my travels I have met so many people who were even on the road without all-wheel drive, for example also with VW busses. Sometimes you might have to be a bit more cautious, but that doesn't matter at all. As an overlander, we don't go off-road for the sake of going off-road, but we go off-road to get to a place we want to visit or a great route we want to see. And here the all-wheel bus is certainly a very well suited vehicle!

When I moved from dual sport bikes as a travel and long-distance vehicle to cars, I also first looked around for all-wheel drive buses. And in fact, a VW Bus T5 4 motion was my favorite for a while - yes, and in fact it was supposed to be yellow :-) But the more and more I looked into the subject, the more I wanted a classic all-terrain vehicle. I think it just has something to do with the feeling.

There is actually no such thing as the best or the most unsuitable car for overlanding. I always say that the best overlanding vehicle is the one that the owner enjoys the most. And in the end we all know it: it is not about the rig, it is about the adventure, stories and good company.

Looking forward to see more vans and busses here!

Enjoy the future trips with the new vehicle!
 

Polaris Overland

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Thank you I absolutely agree, we initially would never have considered any other vehicle for overlanding other than our Defender and even now driving it brings a huge smile and feeling of being at home. But as we are not getting any younger comfort is becoming more important.

I believe the saying is “the best overlanding vehicle is the one you have” and from our trips we have seen that to very much be the case. We have also seen 2wd town cars get further than full on 4wd vehicles. Much is about attitude and ability.

My concern with many of the overland rigs we see now since the popularity has taken off is people over modifying their vehicles to the point they are more a rock crawler with a roof tent than an overland vehicle.

There is also much to be said about keeping things as original as possible. Getting spare parts in West Africa or Asia for example -is much easier with standard set up.

A Land Rover Defender for instance is completely capable of an overland trip straight out of the factory with no modifications just good maintenance.

If you have to do massive modifications to your vehicle to overland then maybe it’s not the right vehicle.

I believe some modifications are also more a fashion statement than actually needed so you look good at the supermarket.
 

Polaris Overland

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We came back with a broken clutch and gearbox, no starter engine working right, and we limped back to the Netherlands.
We let the gearbox repaired and upgraded, new clutch and found the problem of the starter engine. And when all was ok again, we thought that what we were doing is to much for this.
And putting way more money into it was not making it more capable. And my fysique asked for a different approach.
That is why we sold it.
But we still have remorse of selling it to the next owner, he fucked it up real bad.
 

OverlandFaction

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Here's my old Vario that I sold back in July to pay for the MAN truck (status - in progress).. We had it for 7 years, went all over Europe and plenty of semi off-road routes.

It was the most reliable vehicle i have ever owned.. Only ever has one issue due to brake pad disintegrating.

Add a set of snow chains and was unstoppable.

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Thank you I absolutely agree, we initially would never have considered any other vehicle for overlanding other than our Defender and even now driving it brings a huge smile and feeling of being at home. But as we are not getting any younger comfort is becoming more important.

I believe the saying is “the best overlanding vehicle is the one you have” and from our trips we have seen that to very much be the case. We have also seen 2wd town cars get further than full on 4wd vehicles. Much is about attitude and ability.

My concern with many of the overland rigs we see now since the popularity has taken off is people over modifying their vehicles to the point they are more a rock crawler with a roof tent than an overland vehicle.

There is also much to be said about keeping things as original as possible. Getting spare parts in West Africa or Asia for example -is much easier with standard set up.

A Land Rover Defender for instance is completely capable of an overland trip straight out of the factory with no modifications just good maintenance.

If you have to do massive modifications to your vehicle to overland then maybe it’s not the right vehicle.

I believe some modifications are also more a fashion statement than actually needed so you look good at the supermarket.
The power of the overland-industrial complex.

You can’t be a real overlander unless you have ...
 

Driftwood Adventure

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She may be two wheel drive, but we still get to some really nice wild camping spots. Especially enjoy some forest tracks through out Scotland.
With car camping taking off here in the UK I'm starting to convert the wife's Citroen Picasso into a one man camper, she just doesn't know it yet. :tearsofjoy:Nash wood sept 2020 (22).JPGNash wood sept 2020 (49).JPG
 

Polaris Overland

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Thank you I absolutely agree, we initially would never have considered any other vehicle for overlanding other than our Defender and even now driving it brings a huge smile and feeling of being at home. But as we are not getting any younger comfort is becoming more important.

I believe the saying is “the best overlanding vehicle is the one you have” and from our trips we have seen that to very much be the case. We have also seen 2wd town cars get further than full on 4wd vehicles. Much is about attitude and ability.

My concern with many of the overland rigs we see now since the popularity has taken off is people over modifying their vehicles to the point they are more a rock crawler with a roof tent than an overland vehicle.

There is also much to be said about keeping things as original as possible. Getting spare parts in West Africa or Asia for example -is much easier with standard set up.

A Land Rover Defender for instance is completely capable of an overland trip straight out of the factory with no modifications just good maintenance.

If you have to do massive modifications to your vehicle to overland then maybe it’s not the right vehicle.

I believe some modifications are also more a fashion statement than actually needed so you look good at the supermarket.
The power of the overland-industrial complex.

You can’t be a real overlander unless you have ...
Very true
 

Polaris Overland

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She may be two wheel drive, but we still get to some really nice wild camping spots. Especially enjoy some forest tracks through out Scotland.
With car camping taking off here in the UK I'm starting to convert the wife's Citroen Picasso into a one man camper, she just doesn't know it yet. :tearsofjoy:View attachment 183216View attachment 183217
Hopefully catch up on a trip in Scotland once the covid madness is over
 
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