need advice on which to buy a van or a pickup truck with cap ????

[van_travel]

Hello Everyone , I am new here I have 5 grand to spend on either a Van or Pickup Truck with a cap on it , I will be buying this to live in as I have lost my job and I will be selling at local flea markets to make money I will also be traveling from state to state and boon docking when I can , Now my questions to everyone is should I buy a Van to live in or a Truck with a cap ? and if so what should I look for as for mileage wise ? and I would like to get a deep cycle battery with a solar panel to run an electric blanket in the winter and to charge my 12 volt TV with antenna and my laptop and cell phone , I will also be putting a bed in the van or in the truck , any ideas would be great sometimes I will be camping as well , thank you all

[Bigdog57]

Re: need advice on which to buy a van or a pickup truck with cap ????

You may want to check out the Yahoo site 'Vandwellers' - lots of folks in the same situation, and lots of good ideas. I camp occasionally in my Dodge Grand Caravan, but headroom is limited. It would be very cramped for actual living in. A full size van is better, but mileage would suffer. A pickup truck would be no better, but maybe more rugged. Beingtall, I would look for an eight foot bed or cargo area at least - that's what my Grand Caravan gives me.
On Vandwellers, some minivan/van owners build a storage shelf with the bed on top. One I liked also built storage cubbies into the spaces inside the doors. You'll get creative with space use. One nice thing with my GC, it is the "Stow&Go" version, with the middle and rear seats folding down under the floor. Removing the seats gives three very large storge bins - cover with plywood flooring and add a rubber mat - cutout lids for the stowage bins - lots of good useful space for clothes, food, camping gear.....

[van_travel]

Re: need advice on which to buy a van or a pickup truck with cap ????

hey thanks did you make a bed inside your van if so do you have a picture so i can get an idea so i can make one in the van i buy thanks again

[KingoftheThrone]

Re: need advice on which to buy a van or a pickup truck with cap ????

You may want to check out the Yahoo site 'Vandwellers' - lots of folks in the same situation, and lots of good ideas. I camp occasionally in my Dodge Grand Caravan, but headroom is limited. It would be very cramped for actual living in. A full size van is better, but mileage would suffer. A pickup truck would be no better, but maybe more rugged. Beingtall, I would look for an eight foot bed or cargo area at least - that's what my Grand Caravan gives me.
On Vandwellers, some minivan/van owners build a storage shelf with the bed on top. One I liked also built storage cubbies into the spaces inside the doors. You'll get creative with space use. One nice thing with my GC, it is the "Stow&Go" version, with the middle and rear seats folding down under the floor. Removing the seats gives three very large storge bins - cover with plywood flooring and add a rubber mat - cutout lids for the stowage bins - lots of good useful space for clothes, food, camping gear.....

Personally I would get a nice Van that you can set everything up in spaciously...

[Bigdog57]

Re: need advice on which to buy a van or a pickup truck with cap ????

I use an inflatable twin-size airmatress, as I am just camping for a weekend, not using it fulltime for living. Suits me fine. A full size van, preferably longer wheelbase, gives you much better room to build in a real bed and storage.