Widened body for DIY conversion?

The first and the newbie question, what do they call these models? I'm hoping there's a special term that I don't know about? You know, in order to filter out searches on autotrader, mobile.de or other websites as such.

I mean sure, it's really easy to find vans (not necessarily Sprinters either) with widened bodies if they're made by custom manufacturers, yet they go for 100 000 and above. I find them panel vans (even the Ducato with its 10.5cm extra inner width) too narrow, like "living in a hallway" as I've seen people put it. I welcome an open discussion on this opinion too.

Not only I think the costs are ridiculously high on predesigned/custom manufactured models, but I want to make the floor plans and everything myself anyway.

What alternatives would you suggest if what I'm looking for turns out not to be a viable solution? (maybe purchasing just a chassis and ordering a custom shell would be more cost effective?- although I kinda doubt cost effectiveness in this case)

Do you mean Box Vans?

If you shop a bit, you can get a low-mileage 2006 Winnebago View (a Sprinter chassis with a complete motorhome on the back) for about $30,000-$35,000. Only 7.5' wide, but most models have a slide-out that makes the interior huge. (We originally looked at Sprinter camper van conversions, but I didn't like the feeling of living on a submarine. Our View, with the slide-out extended has a huge living room that's really comfortable to hang out in.)

I don't know how much money you could save by starting with a Sprinter box van, but if the costs were about the same, it would be a lot more fun to do a complete remodel of a View.

We like our submarine, hallway or what ever you want to call it. But then we just graduated from a VW Westfalia to an LTV Free Spirit. I don't mind the width of the box truck campers but I think the rear overhang is excessive on them. Where is the OP (SprinterSpy)?

SprinterSpy,
What you are looking for is a Sprinter Cab/Chassis with a cargo box built on the back.
The photo of the "box van" or "box truck" in post #2 here is a very narrow (probably only 6-6.5 feet)
cargo box.
The width of the cargo box can be increased, all the way to 8 feet (96") but most do not go quite that
wide until you get into the heavier duty box trucks in the 18' and longer boxes.
You can easily order a bare Sprinter cab/chassis and have a cargo box added to it.
The folks in the cargo box industry will make you a box with almost any configuration you can imagine.
Barn doors in the back....or a roll up door in the back....doors in the sides....steps and a door in the
sides, different heights and widths....you specify it and they will build it.
You can see (and order) a Sprinter cab/chassis here:
http://www.mbsprinterusa.com/build-and-equip/cab-chassis/
Hope this helps,
Roger
P.S. I had a 6 ton Mitsubishi Fuso 4x4 box truck before I got into Sprinters.
Just be careful to get your conversion registered as an RV.
If not, you will face all the USDOT over regulation that eventually forced me to take
my perfectly good MF 4x4 box truck off the road and sell it to a friend who does not
take it off Hatteras Island.

Ilike what Burstner are making, so I'm looking for something like The Burstner Aero Van or the Ixeo time it585 (cannot post links sorry). I'm based in France btw. Also a View, like cacaw mentioned would be considered too.

You can get a great (rather new) Sprinter with low mileage for about 20000-25000 bucks it seems, but a View with an equivalent engine use would go ~double that price. <- This last bit is the part that I feel it's a rip-off.

Then add the costs of remodelling the entire interior and I can't justify the total price.

However, now that you guys mentioned box vans, I realized today how similar a View is to a box Van. If I replace the rear doors with one part windowed piece, add windows and a door on the sides, somehow rounden up the edges of the box, add the thing above the driver, some vinyls, a door and finally some custom orderer plastic on the bottom part of the box it might turn out to look just as a professionaly manufactured View. <- All this trouble to get the better engine at a price that doesn't seem so unjustified yet have a stylish looking motorhome. Think it's possible? Although that Burstner Aero Van would be my primary choice, now only if I had the money for one.

If you look at the Mercedes web site you will see a section for Upfitters. Maybe there you will find someone that builds what you may be looking for . Good luck

In France, you'd certainly have a different set of variables than we have here in Southern California where Sprinters are so popular that it's very hard to find a deal on a used one. I've also thought about the possibility of building out a box van, but I wouldn't want one without a pass-through from the cab.

I wish the View had been designed without so many propane-powered devices. A few fellow View owners have customized their Espar heaters so they can use them for radiant space heating and hot water. With a high-output alternator and a couple of solar panels, you could easily get by without a generator. I'd like to redesign our View so that it was lighter in weight and had more pass-through storage for large items like surfboards and bicycles.

You can build your own, I did, I made it 8 foot wide I wanted to put a powered parachute in the back. Also by building it myself I can make it a lot lighter and not so high and a lot cheaper not figuring your time I am a retired cabinetmaker. I used aluminum for the sides fiberglass for the corners and the rear doors are wood.

Now THAT is what I'm talking about. I take my hat off to you sir, legend.

How much did you save by doing this jurgen if you don't ming me asking? And what did you buy initially? A box van with the box, or only with the chassis? How wide did you actually make it and how much space did you win? What material(S) did you use? What was custom ordered and what did you make? (wondering above the "room" above the driving area, and about the doors on the back especially)

WOW! Incredible, jurgen. Please post details of this build separately so we can admire your work.

I don't know how much I saved most of the stuff came from leftover things from work. I was going to make the body from aluminum build it like a airplane but I had trouble making the ribs all the same. I started making things out of wood witch I had already and foam and fiberglass. I did buy epoxy and fiberglass, paint the fresh water tank. On eBay thy had Sprinter hinges for the rear doors for $75 for one. At the junkyard I got 4 hinges from a Ford Van for $20 another $20 for the lock and latches. The doors are 42 inches wide by 90 inches. I made the outside of the Sprinter 96 inches my garage door is 104 inches wide by 132 inches. I had to fold the mirrors back to get it inside. Inside the Sprinter is about 91 inches wide by 78 inches. The 2006 Sprinter is 74 inches and the 2008 is 80 inches wide that makes my Sprinter 16 inches wider. The Sprinter is a 2008 chassis cab everything else is custom made by me I wanted it to look like a Sprinter Van. There are simpler ways to make a RV like the Tonke.

jurgen, were those flat alluminium sheets? If so, how did you work them? Curious whether you can get fancy with shaping them. Like I said before, I would only do this if I can also stylize the vehicle.

Another thing that's on my ming is whether the entire thing becomes flimsy. I don't know how flexible/malleable is the whole chassis which would affect this.

And again, thanks a lot for the replies, they gave me more confidence, and since I work interiors, I have grown a set of handy DIY skills too.