Tips for Stealth Overnight Parking and Building a Stealth Vehicle

[wannaby]

reply

yes I have searched penski but cant find anything I am up on vancouver island.also looking at budget or uhaul same here cant afford new...
this is what I would really like to find with a diesle.and use the cabover for a slide out bed ,the rest small two person table ,porta potty, camp stove , fridge ,counter....perfect then just slowly build on it.

 

[The Wanderer]

I've spent several nights in my van parked in small town police dept. parking lots. nobody ever said anything or even noticed me.

Yes. Most people pay crazy prices because they are afraid of parking elsewhere. To pay 50-100K for a rig and to then pay 20-30+ dollars a night is just outside of my budget I'm afraid.

 

[The Wanderer]

View attachment 139250View attachment 139251yes I have searched penski but cant find anything I am up on vancouver island.also looking at budget or uhaul same here cant afford new...
this is what I would really like to find with a diesle.and use the cabover for a slide out bed ,the rest small two person table ,porta potty, camp stove , fridge ,counter....perfect then just slowly build on it.

If you haven't, take a look at my box van. I have heard and I believe it from buying my truck that Penske takes much better care of their trucks than U-haul or other truck rental places.

I bought my Penske off of E-bay sight unseen. Luckily it worked out great.

Penske doesn't use a LT Duty van chassis (GMC G-3500) in a diesel motor that I am aware of.

 

[Willy G]

This is truly a great thread, I am considering the same thing, BUT I would leaving it at my Community College until I finnished school,

But the thing that gets at me is the fuel mileage, What other viehical will give you that much space and have better gas mileage.

 

[The Wanderer]

This is truly a great thread, I am considering the same thing, BUT I would leaving it at my Community College until I finnished school,

But the thing that gets at me is the fuel mileage, What other viehical will give you that much space and have better gas mileage.

The answer is nothing. It gets about 12 mpg.

Here is what many cannot handle. I have just changed my lifestyle to fit the truck! I now drive much less miles per day, maybe 50-100 miles a day. Most people need to run to some camping place on a holiday weekend and then run home driving 100s of miles each way.

Yuck! This truck sucks doing that! I drive until I get tired or bored. I then stop and eat or take a nap. I then drive a little farther or not. Whatever I feel like. I have NO destination in mind. So, I save on fuel by driving much less and sitting longer. Thus the benefit of stealth camping. I am not heading for some destination.

That is why many people would hate this lifestyle and this truck. Change your lifestyle or get a different truck.

Just my thoughts.

Peace

 

[Willy G]

Change your lifestyle or get a different truck.

Peace

Drive a samurai ONCE, that was enough for now. or until something comes up.

 

[wannaby]

The reason I whant to do this is there is nothing in the market being built out there,and I just whant something dependable,stealthy.dont really care to much about gas milage if you buy a new 19 ft motorhome or truck and camper the cost and milage will be just as bad, if you are worryed about gas milage buy a wesfailia or toyota chinook, i really whant an older tiger built in an astrovan platform but they are getting too popular and hard to find.

 

[dwh]

I mentioned this in another stealth camping thread here a while back...

Most towns have a commercial/industrial district. Usually near a freeway/highway exit. There is usually a place in there somewhere where you'll see a few semis parked for the night. I've never been rousted stealth camping in a commercial district where the trucks hang out.

And, it's usually pretty quiet after hours when the shops are closed. Every now and then I've parked near some shop that was running punch presses or some other noisy machines all night, so I just move down the block. The only noise is usually reefers on trucks (on and off every 15 minutes all night long), or the occasional truck with an APU (generator) running all night.

Not someplace you wanna hang out for a week, but it's a handy place to get some sleep and you can find it in almost every town.

 

[WAND3R3R]

Wanderer, Thanks for the post! I agree with you, I find it crazy, what some people pay at RV Parks. In 2 recent cross-country trips, I boon-docked most nights but stayed in RV Parks a few times, like at Circus-Circus on the strip. I have always thought that someone could make a nice business out of low-cost Parking, for the stealth vehicle traveler. It could be nothing more than safe places to park with restrooms. NO need for all the extras, pools, gift shops, etc.... found in the typical RV Park. Your recommendations are right on! One thing to keep in mind, any location that has a lot of motels or RV parks, will be more interested in keeping the boon-dockers away. The owners of these businesses are the ones that complain to the police about "boon-dockers" because it's bad for their businesses.
www.apocketfullofwanderlust.com

 

[susswein]

My stealthcamper is a white ford van (which should be pretty invisible), but it's also got a high top roof, a couple of windowns in the back, and is 4wd, which makes it stand out a bit. I've thought about having a logo or some signs made up that I could put on the sides to make it look more like a nondescript commercial vehicle. For example, I've seen similar high-roof vans used as a mobile dog grooming service. So what's more stealthy: a plain white van, or a white van with a generic business logo on the side?

 

[bansil]

My stealthcamper is a white ford van (which should be pretty invisible), but it's also got a high top roof, a couple of windowns in the back, and is 4wd, which makes it stand out a bit. I've thought about having a logo or some signs made up that I could put on the sides to make it look more like a nondescript commercial vehicle. For example, I've seen similar high-roof vans used as a mobile dog grooming service. So what's more stealthy: a plain white van, or a white van with a generic business logo on the side?

I have known people to get tickets if they have advertising on the side of a vehicle with out commercial type tags.

 

[dlh62c]

There's books written on the subject.
Vanabode
How to Live in a Car Van or RV

VanDwellers.org
StealthVanDweller

 

[beverly]

I've thought of the fake decals as well. Maybe something ridiculous enough if you read into it, but at a glance it looks like any other business van. Ive seen plenty of personal vehicles with decals, I cant imagine it'd be a large problem. You'd have to come up with something obscure enough (Franks mobile remote control sail boat repair and counseling) so you aren't hassled by people needing things fixed. Maybe something not too exotic so others aren't tempted to break in to get fancy electronics or tools. (Steve's hat repair instead of Steve's sonar and copper company) I would imagine it'd be difficult to keep everything inside on a smaller vehicle. Any jerry can or artisan fire axe bolted to the exterior would be a give away.

 

[susswein]

I was thinking of something similar, something that would make the vehicle unattractive to potential thieves:

- George's Guard dog service
- Steve's Septic
- Kyle's killer bee extermination service
- Matt's mobile pet crematory

I saw a former ambulance a few year's ago where the new owner had changed the "emergency rescue vevicle" logo to read "emotional rescue vehicle". I thought that was cute...

 

[Vegasrandall]

logo

adult diaper service