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Creating a family-friendly pop top campervan can be an exciting adventure without draining your wallet. With some smart planning and creativity, you can design a cozy and functional space that your family will cherish. Let’s explore how to create a budget-friendly, high-end campervan tailored for families, complete with practical tips and examples.
Understanding the Pop Top Campervan
Pop top campervans are a fantastic choice for families wanting to enjoy the great outdoors with the convenience of compact living. These campervans have a roof that raises up, offering extra headroom and comfortable sleeping space for family members. For instance, a pop top campervan can typically provide sleeping arrangements for up to four people, making it perfect for small families.
Not only do these designs promote family bonding while traveling, but they also allow you to experience nature in comfort. When planning your campervan, focus on essential items that will maximize both space and functionality. Remember, clever storage solutions can make a big difference on long trips.
Choosing the Right Base Vehicle
Selecting the right base vehicle is vital for comfort, reliability, and practicality. In this build we started with again a Sprinter Crew Van Trim saving $10k+ on the build costs as this trim includes most walls and most importantly seating.
Before making a purchase, think about your family's size and travel habits. Ask yourself:
How many people will be traveling?
How much storage do you need for items like bikes, sports gear, or camping equipment?
These questions will help you select the right model that ensures a comfortable journey for everyone involved.
It can be very confusing figuring out all the differences in custom van builds. We believe the best family van ideally has a Pop Top...this enables a family of 4+ to be able to sleep very comfortably in a van WITH the gear that comes along with a larger family. Modularity and simplicity allow the van to be used as a daily driver and by keeping it simple ROI on the van is much better not only functionally but in resale value as well.
THE PROJECT CHALLENGE
We decided to tackle a huge project this year to build 3 different demo vans that would all functionally do the same thing but in VERY different price points all well below what you typically see vans like this built like. A great example of what is typical is the build by Outside Van recently, the "Piggy Back" this Sprinter Pop Top is $347,000 van sleeps 4, seats 4 full size adults...but that price is well beyond most family budgets for sure. It has Shower, fridge, heater, solar, storage, stove, and table system, but no Roof AC however its not an ideal daily driver.
Our Vans- daily drivers, very comfy modular campervans for families.
The Vans:
Van #1- Super Deluxe Weekender Build
$225K + Super Custom Weekender Main Features: Aux AC, Heater, Modular Storage, Pop Top, Solar, Aux Power, Shower, Sleeps 4+, Seats 4+ (ability to seat up to 8) We did everything and then some in this van, its our showcase van.
Van #2 - Deluxe Weekender Build
$145k + Weekender Main Features: Heater, Modular Storage, Pop Top, Solar, Aux Power (DC/AC), Shower, Sleeps 4+, Seats 4+ (ability to seat up to 8) Still a very fully featured van, but different choices make it way more budget friendly.
Van #3 - Deluxe Weekender build lite
$130k + Weekender Main Features: Heater, Modular Storage, Pop Top, Solar, Aux Power (DC), Shower, Sleeps 4+, Seats 5+ (ability to seat up to 8) Still even more different choices with out functionally compromising what the van does saving a significant amount in the build costs.
Lets take a look at the differences:
Van #1- Super Deluxe Weekender Build vs Van#2 Deluxe Weekender Build
Van #2 Build see more details in this blog link
Main differences, just some of the areas that are different, these cut costs roughly about:
Seating - we used "factory" bench seats and added a longer rail to fit two bench seat rows instead of a smart floor and individual captains chairs. This cuts costs $14-18k depending on amount of seats
Rear door storage Owl racks and boxes greatly add to costs easily adding $6-8k on a build
Extended Gas Tank - $2k+
Agile Off Road Suspension - 8k+
Audio Amp/sub upgrade -$2k
Fancy Wheels -$2k
Different Pop Top CCV vs Poprak -$15k
AC Delete -$8k
12v vs 48v Power system -$5k
Bed -$4k
Additional aux lighting and outlets -$2k
Wall Panels -$2k
Floor Insulation alternative -$1k
Small stuff ads up, these are just some of the differences that separate the vans. The only functionality difference that was deleted in this build was rear aux AC...this cannot be done with the Poprak and greatly ads to costs due to structural and aux power that is needed to run AC in a van. (See our AC Blog). Both of these vans a toilet, sink, and stove would not be difficult to add (modular) to give further functionality similar to an RV.
It does not take much to save a lot on a build, the easiest way is changing the electrical system and a few other changes that look like not a big change but are fairly expensive to do. . How did we cut costs down even more while keeping the same functionality?
Aux DC only power system, no AC or shore power - $6000*
Elimination of the Van Speed Capsules (paint matched, windows, interior trim -$8000
No rear upgraded Comfort Bench Seat -$1000
Front Pop Rack Extension -$1000
DC Aux Power, what is the difference?
*A standard Aux DC power system with solar gives you plenty of power to run heater, fan, fridge, lights, charge phones and even charge laptop with a simple plug in inverter (max 80w). It just eliminates AC power needed to run appliances which are not really needed in most vans. The battery capacity is significantly less (75%) and AGM powered vs Lithium but this is not really needed if you are not running AC appliances or a aux AC unit. The battery system is tucked away in the engine compartment giving you more room inside the van. This is one of the more common systems we do in most of our builds.
Van Speed Capsules (The side rear panels that "pop" out with the windows on them)
What does this do?
It's a lot of work to gain 10" of space inside the van. The Capsules do this very well, however sleeping sideways is not ideal and a bit tighter than a normal bed. Color matching and finishing the interior panels in a Capsule or a Flarespace is a lot of work and fairly expensive when all done if you want a finished matched professional result. In this van instead we went with a different bed design...still enabling more room, but the rear bed panel needs to be "flipped" up to gain extra room and is not easily removed like the other two bends in builds #1 and #2.
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