In 2010 we bought a VW T5 panel van and converted it into a camper for me, my wife and our three kids - hence T5 for 5. This blog documents that work, a few of our trips and some of the tweaks we've made along the way. I hope some of it may be of interest to others who are following a similar dream.
The morning after getting back from France this year I noticed our rear right tyre was quite flat. I pumped it up and it held for a day so I took it to the garage. The tyre was fine, it turned out that the steel rim was cracked. This I thought was a perfect opportunity to finally get some alloys (as one of my wheel trims - which were pretty nasty anyway - was missing and my rims looked horrible). However, having only bought new front tyres earlier in the year the timing wasn't perfect. I hate to not get my full value from tyres! Also, with winter coming it didn't seem the most appropriate time to get shiny new alloys.
Having looked into alloys I got more confused then when I first started. Do I stick with 16" or go larger? What colour (although I favour black) and what style etc etc? There are various pros and cons that I'm still getting my head around, but after spending too much time looking into it I decided to take another avenue. I picked up 4 steel rims with tyres for just £40 off ebay.
Caps primed and ready for their black paint
Steelies ready to be fitted
Refurb those rims
Over the years I've read on the forums about people refurbing their steelies and I liked the idea of that. As I mentioned, my steelies are pretty horrible and a bit rusty, but the ones I picked up were ok. So using this page as a guideline, I set about priming and spraying my new steel rims black. Fortunately, my MOT was the following day so I got the garage to swap all the rims and wheels over. With a bit of luck this will look alright for a couple of years.
We are planning to make tyre planters with the left over tyres!
Planters made from old tyres
Alloys for the future
When I do finally go down the alloy route I think I will stick with 16" as I can use one of the old steel rims for the spare, I know it will fit where the spare wheel currently goes under the van and thirdly, according to my mechanic the 16" stand up to a bit more abuse (i.e. potholes and going off-road through fields etc) as they generally have a wider tyre wall. Rimstyle.com seem like a good option in terms of choice and value. But for now we'll see how long the refurbed steelies stay half decent.
In the years since the last post we have been enjoying the fruits of our labours, taking the van across England and Wales, France, Andorra, Spain, Luxemburg, Belgium, Germany and Holland. We've found some amazing places and the freedom the van has given us has been priceless. Last year we spent four weeks driving all round France stopping whenever a place took our fancy, or we were tired. It still amazes me that in Europe you can stop at the majority of campsites on the day (mid summer) and get a pitch. The same can't be said for England, and I know where I would rather holiday!
In that time we've done a few tweaks here and there:
- abandoned the table in the sliding door idea and bought a kiravans door storage, which is pretty good, although we had one of the early models which had an incomplete bottom pocket - I still need to work out what to do with that.
- fitted a kirvans double seat swivel - it's a good bit of kit once you get the knack of swinging it round, which involves opening the passenger door and dropping the handbrake (which is a bit annoying when you've leveled the van on blocks), but see below.
- moved the leisure battery to behind the fridge (as a result of adding the swivel), which is a much better place for it anyway.
- added a Atera Linea bike rack. I ummed and arred whether to get a towbar mounted one (Atera Strada) to allow easy access to the back but a) they were more expensive and b) this one stays on the van meaning it is really quick to chuck the bikes on c) you can still lift the tailgate with a couple of bikes on (after getting the struts uprated) and d) the rack I got was a return so I got an even better deal!
- last week I actually removed the double swivel bench seat and replaced it with a far more comfier single seat. After selling the bench seat with swivel on ebay I was only down £50, which is well worth it in my opinion. I'll be putting in a seat swivel with safe from CMC when it arrives. I'm left with two seat bolt holes on show, but I plan to use something like an elevator bolt or adjustable foot to plug the gap. Photos to follow when the job is done.
The van has also picked up a few scratches and stone chips along the way. I wasn't quite sure how to tackle it effectively but the video below was really helpful. For stone chips I just got the right touch up paint and used a very fine paint brush (rather than the thick brush that comes with the paint) and applied the paint as best I could. I then used 1500 and then 2000 wet sandpaper to smooth it down (a bit nerve-racking the first time you do it, but you can be pretty gung-ho with it) and then used Super Resin Polish and Paint Restorer to bring the paint back up to a nice shine. It's not perfect but it is much better and will prevent rust.
I'd definitely recommend Braids Caravan Park in Gretna. In my wife's words, "it has the cleanest facilities we've ever used at a site". High praise indeed! The site is a 10 min walk from the centre of town (and stumble back) and just a short drive to Gretna Green where the wedding service was - which by the way was short and sweet - nice!
The following weekend we stayed a little closer to home in a CL Site just outside Fenny Bentley. The weather was fab so we had a BBQ, but there are a couple of nice pubs within walking distance too. Also close by are the Tissington and High Peak trails, and Ashbourne, where we managed a quick burst of 5 geocaches.
I realised I haven't posted about the last two trips.
During the last week of January I spent five days in Redruth. I stayed at Radnor Golf Club CL site and it is an ideal base for touring the area. You have access to the clubhouse (small but serves meals and has a licensed bar), and the shower block is fine - although it doesn't open until 8am. I was there to visit some of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Sites, and one of the best, Wheal Peevor, is a five minute walk from the site - well worth a visit.
Mid Feb I stayed at a CL site in Cilycwm, just north of Llandovery. It's a beautiful spot, or so the farmer assured me. I arrived after dark and a mist had gathered by morning. There was no phone or TV reception, so that hints at the remoteness. There is a also a really nice little Forestry Commission Wales site a mile up the road - Cwm Rhaeadr. It has short walks, plus a 4 mile mountain biking single track course. I had an early morning walk around it and saw a Buzzard drinking from a pond. I also came away with some nice wildlife recordings.
