Van Layouts

Centre kitchens make for a more stable van, particularly in the longer lengths. The other thing that upsets the stability of a van is hanging things like jerry cans, tool boxes and bike carriers at the end of the body.

Have a look at VEHICLE DYNAMICS COMPLETE

So far I've had a Front Kitchen, a Rear Kitchen and now I've got a side kitchen. All with side entry.

The only thing I would really recommend is a door close to the wheels of the van. The things that this achieves are that it is covered better by an awning so you don't get rain coming in under the awning into the doorway and it gives better ground clearance entering and leaving steep driveways, gullies etc.

Aside from that an island bed is good if you are having a double bed. No climbing into or out of bed over your partner.

We have had the front kitchen and now the side. Both are good. One thing i find enoying is the door opens to the kitchen window. So we cant hook the outer door open at the same time as the open window.

Hi David, We have had two vans, one with a front & our existing with a rear kitchen. In our opinion they are both much of a muchness. Centre kitchens look to be to me much more user friendly, but maybe you would need something bigger than a 14 footer to accommodate it.

Our first van was a 16 foot one with an Island bed, our existing van is an 18 footer with two single bunks.

We went the single bunks because,in our opinion, this configuration offers more practical usable space between the bunks rather than two narrow ones on either side of the Island. You will usually find that single bunks are a little longer than the double island bed, which was of importance to me.
To access one side of our Island bed you had to step around behind the dining lounge & over the wheel arch which was a bit of a pain as well.

My wife likes to read for an hour or so after hopping into the cot & with single bunks she can do so for as long as she likes without disturbing me!! The down side of single bunks is that it is more difficult to tuck the sheets etc in when making the bed.

If you have a look at the Jayco website ( or any other van manufacturer web site) and have a browse at the many floor plans available, it might help guide you towards what suits your needs prior to your visit to a van yard. Good Luck in your search.

A couple of things that realy bug me about most of the rigid vans being offered.

1 is to almost total inability to provide a full sized, innerspring queen bed ( or even full length double) in even the largest vans.

As far as I am concerned, the primary function of a carvan is somewhere comfortable to sleep......for me even though I am of average height that means a full length bed.

And that means you can use standard matresses, & bedding

Most of the soft side camper trailers can manage it, standard why not rigid vans.

2. Personally I don't want to cook in my bedroom.....in years past many small caravans had a rear kitchen accessable from outside, the tail gate lifted up providing an awning and maybe some canvas sides.
I have recently seen some small vans with slide out, external kitchens ala camper trailer.

Removing the kitchen from the interior of the van frees up a hell of a lot of space as well as removing the cooking filth and the gas dangers from the vans interiour.

3. Of course don't get me started on internal shower & toilet........I find it fascinating that we have gone full circle from the chamber pot, to outside toilets, now we all want toilet smells in our bedrooms, both at home and in our vans............in a large scale, 3 tonne, mobile gin palace, fair enough have ya internal ablooter if you like, but trying to stuff one in a small van is simply rediculous.

Last caravan show saw a 12 footter with everthing inside including a shower & toilet......but hell there was barely enough room to observe ya morning meditations, let alone bend over to wash ya lower portions...this van must have been designed for short, skinny people......If ya needed someone to service the fridge, he'd need a confined spaces ticket and an observer to do the job under QLD current regs.
Fortunately the "small room" ( small being the word), was directly oposite the door, so if a fat person got stuck in there its would be a straight pull with a snatch strap to get em out.

I think often people expect too much inside their vans.

Another thing is there is so little variation, once you scrub away the fancy trim the vans of today don't look much different to what was arround 20 or 30 years ago.....so little imagination.

Like there is no reason the axle has to be in the middle...I have seen a couple of vans where the axle is shifted quite some way rearward, this requires a different approach to load distribution, but it does allow some different choices to be made and solves the rear overhang issue.

VIVE LA DIFFERENCE

cheers

Our previous van was 17ft. It did not have a bathroom as we felt one would take too much space in a van that size and we wanted to be able to move inside the van! This van had a rear kitchen (fridge over wheels) and a centre door just in front of wheels. This gave us plenty of kitchen cupboards and bench space. The island bed was at the front and was extended at night to full length using a bolster and tucked back to increase space during the day. The dinette was in the centre, opposite the door. This was a very liveable layout. It meant that the kitchen was not the main thoroughfare and I did not have to keep moving out of the way when I was preparing food and He kept coming in and out to find his hat or whatever!
In a van smaller than 17ft single beds would probably give you more floor space and a more roomy feeling than an island bed. Enjoy your search! All layouts involve compromises! Lynne