Van for my Fam? Advice needed!

[hennaLisa]

We're a family of four looking to travel the US, Central, and South America. We don't know much about our options but we do know what we need! Any input would be much appreciated! We probably will need to get something and make conversions/adjustments to it.

Needs:
- Exterior should blend in as well as possible so we don't attract attention especially south of the border.
- Diesel engine (to convert to veggie).
- Would like good gas mileage to reduce costs/labor of getting fuel.
- 4x4 to go on steep rocky "roads" in rural developing countries.
- Reliable and possible to find parts when needed.
- Interior possible for us to sleep in (we currently share a king sized bed).
- bench seat that can hold car seats safely (not sure if we could install ourselves)
- inexpensive as we don't have much to spend!

We would probably do most of the interior ourselves, since don't need too much. I'd love to know if anyone knows a source for bench seats that can hold car seats safely and fold down to convert to a bed or platform for a bed.

We've thought about getting a little bus for this project, since it might blend into the scenery fairly well and is tall enough to stand in without needing a popup. Any thoughts on this idea? Not sure if they can be found in diesel and converted to 4x4...

 

[Herbie]

You might want to look into 4x4 buses or ambulances. Try skoolie.net for info on camper-converting school buses.

Seats for child seats could be a problem for anything but a passenger vehicle that was intended to have seats installed. School buses don't require seatbelts in most places, so you'd have to add your own anchors.

I'd say a used sprinter would be a fair choice except you want 4x4. 4x4 + van + diesel puts you into a rare category, and rare can == $$.

 

[RocKrawler]

It sounded like a VW Westy Syncro with 1.6 or 1.9 TDI conversion would be the ideal bill filler until your last bullet point - so nevermind.

 

[hennaLisa]

mileage?

Any idea what mileage I could hope to get from:

E-350 van
short bus
minivan (maybe something the size of a VW but cheaper)

In any case, I'd be hoping for a diesel 4x4 running on waste vege oil!
Thanks for the tip on skoolie.net - looks like a great resource.

 

[1sweetvan]

Are you wanting to make your own veggie as you go? It's somewhat involved and takes some room in board the vehicle if you want a mobile refinery.

 

[dsw4x4]

I have some like new take out, jump seats and a bench seat from a conversion van. If your interested in them let me know. I can also get custom seating new for your van to.
Derek

 

[hennaLisa]

wvo

Our hope was that we could just have some extra tanks and collect it in one tank, then filter it into the good tank. We'd also plan to have a diesel tank to use for starting and finishing I guess. I don't know all that much, but this was the plan so far. We're in the early stages as you can tell! If you all have any suggestions for the best vans/buses to use for this kind of thing, I'd love some tips.