Find me a van then...

[weeksy]

Went in for service today. I was slightly worried about it seeming a bit noisier than when I bought it 30,000 ago.

Apparently it needs a thermostat and possibly some injector stuff. May even be new injectors but won't know yet.

We'll see what's covered on warranty

You've done 30k in it! Didnt think you'd had it that long but I guess you're all over with your lads racing? Hope its a cheap fix anyway.

Yup, you can't grasp how much we drive lol. It's a chunk. We're in the van a lot. People think we're bonkers as we do things like a 2.5 hour drive to ride for 2 hours, then 2.5 hours back... But it's all part of the process of coaching, learning, skills and plans for the boy... So we put in the time, effort and of course money.

The worst part is, i very rarely drive the van anywhere that isn't MTB related, i don't often go anywhere without the bikes.

[weeksy]

Thoughts are that the Thermostat and Fuel Filter have resolved whatever issue they found, so it'll get a service today and should be done and dusted. The warranty will cover those bits but obviously not the servicing costs.

It'll be off to North Wales this weekend as usual for a day practice. It'll be nice to get all the stuff out of the garage again, it's packed with stuff that usually lives in the van.

[Taipan]

Thoughts are that the Thermostat and Fuel Filter have resolved whatever issue they found, so it'll get a service today and should be done and dusted. The warranty will cover those bits but obviously not the servicing costs.

It'll be off to North Wales this weekend as usual for a day practice. It'll be nice to get all the stuff out of the garage again, it's packed with stuff that usually lives in the van.

Result if it was a fuel filter as injectors can get a bit spendy!

[weeksy]

Thoughts are that the Thermostat and Fuel Filter have resolved whatever issue they found, so it'll get a service today and should be done and dusted. The warranty will cover those bits but obviously not the servicing costs.

It'll be off to North Wales this weekend as usual for a day practice. It'll be nice to get all the stuff out of the garage again, it's packed with stuff that usually lives in the van.

Result if it was a fuel filter as injectors can get a bit spendy!

Well the injectors would be covered on the warranty anyway, so even if it's them it's not the end of the world for me. But in truth, whatever it costs is what it costs, we don't have a lot of choice in the matter as we really need a van

But yeah i'm hopeful that by the end of the day it's all done and i come out with a bill that isn't too spendy.

Ideally we need this one to last another 18months and then if things all fall into place we'll be getting something newer and bigger/better.

[MyLittleStudPony]

Good to hear it sounds like it's easily sorted.

Have you done anything about the wet belt? I hadn't heard of it being an issue but Couchy mentioned it.

[weeksy]

Good to hear it sounds like it's easily sorted.

Have you done anything about the wet belt? I hadn't heard of it being an issue but Couchy mentioned it.

Mine isn't wet belt engine being a 2016 so i'm OK on that. There's tonnes of discussion on that though in places regarding 'checking' and oil change frequency etc.
It's one of those things i've not really researched in depth yet as i'm not moving to a later one for a while, but in truth i really love the Custom and i want the next van to be a LWB Custom Automatic, so at some stage i do need to start looking into it for sure.

[weeksy]

£321 including service, I'll take that

[Dodgy69]

Didn't ford bin the wet belts and go chain from 2018 ish.

[weeksy]

Didn't ford bin the wet belts and go chain from 2018 ish.

Don't think so. I think they're still same even now

[Dodgy69]

Maybe focus dunno.

[weeksy]

SO we're coming up to 2 years with the Transit now and it's still my happy place.

It's just reaching 89,000 miles, which considering i bought it on 43,000 will give you an idea of how much driving it's been up to. It's used a heck of a lot that's for sure.
But it goes, stops, and carries stuff exactly as it should.

Apart from sat nav, i'm not sure i'd change anything... well, maybe the wheel base lol.

There's a longer term plan for a bigger van with bed areas.. but we'll see if that actually happens or not.. sometimes i think yes, sometimes i'm slightly less convinced it's what i need/want.

[Taipan]

For me a van with beds is half a camper. The whole point of independence is having facilities and a toilet is essential imo. I'd go without cooking facilities rather than go with toilet.

[cheb]

For me a van with beds is half a camper. The whole point of independence is having facilities and a toilet is essential imo. I'd go without cooking facilities rather than go with toilet.

I'd say the other way about, it's easier to shit in the woods than cook in the woods.

[Taipan]

For me a van with beds is half a camper. The whole point of independence is having facilities and a toilet is essential imo. I'd go without cooking facilities rather than go with toilet.

I'd say the other way about, it's easier to shit in the woods than cook in the woods.

[weeksy]

Cooking we do outside anyway, we have a stove and that cooks full meals from burritos to pasta for buttons. That's easy. If we're staying 'away' then the gazebo is up, so we cook under cover in there.
That said, they 99% of the time have toilets too on these days.

It's more for sleeping in warmth really. We've had a couple of exceptionally cold nights where you get in the bed and you've got 2 jumpers, a coat and a hat on... You survive the night of course, but bugger me it gets cold in these places in winter/autumn/spring.

[Rockburner]

For me a van with beds is half a camper. The whole point of independence is having facilities and a toilet is essential imo. I'd go without cooking facilities rather than go with toilet.

nah - for Weeksy's use case he's not wild-camping, they're always at a site that has facilities, so the van usage top 3 priorites are (in rough order): transport & load capacity, daytime shelter and portable workshop, accommodation overnight. Given that they're at sites with facilities I'd assume there's always a toilet facility of some sort (even if it's only portaloos), so the need to have his own is negated; and most of the time there'll be a burger van or similar, so the need for cooking is vastly reduced (a camp stove is easy to chuck in a box if needed, and there's nowhere in the UK less than an hour from a macdonalds).

If it was me, I'd be looking to maybe having fold-down beds mounted to the inside walls. That way they're fitted if needed and out of the way if not.

Having said that - for a van to be warm internally, it NEEDS to be insulated well, you also need to have good air-flow to prevent a massive amount of condensation.

[weeksy]

If it was me, I'd be looking to maybe having fold-down beds mounted to the inside walls. That way they're fitted if needed and out of the way if not.

Having said that - for a van to be warm internally, it NEEDS to be insulated well, you also need to have good air-flow to prevent a massive amount of condensation.

That would be the ideal really. Something that folds down from the sides on both sides and gives 2 single beds would work perfectly. A mate has built a unit they can lift in and out that is essentially 2 shelves which they sleep on... again, that would work OK for us.

in the perfect world it'd fit 2 beds with 1 above the 'garage' and 1 in the living area... but that does mean a massive van instead of a Transit Custom.

Most of this depends on how the boy gets on in the next 2 years and whether he completes the elusive jump into World Cup level. Currently he's not at the level... but he's in the ball-game for getting to it.

[dern]

I can't remember what yours is but if it's a lwb then hammocks would work well without a major conversion or losing any space in the van.

[weeksy]

I can't remember what yours is but if it's a lwb then hammocks would work well without a major conversion or losing any space in the van.

Mine is swb. I don't fancy a hammock in the slightest

[dern]

I can't remember what yours is but if it's a lwb then hammocks would work well without a major conversion or losing any space in the van.

Mine is swb. I don't fancy a hammock in the slightest

Shame, they're incredibly comfortable.

If it's a swb then getting a pop up roof with a double bed would solve the problem without any loss of space. Can be claustrophobic though.