ProMaster Camper Van Conversion -- Weight of Conversion and Payload

This section provides a breakdown of the weight that the camper conversion added to the empty van as well as an estimate of the van payload weight (people, water, propane, groceries, ...).

ProMaster Camper Van

The quick summary is that the van starts at 4730 lb, the camper conversion adds 920 lbs, and the payload (two people, water, propane, groceries, ...) add another 970 lbs bringing the total trip weight to about 6600 lbs.

Go back to the main camper van conversion page...

Important Update

The material on these pages describing our camper van conversion has been moved to our new new site dedicated to efficient RVs and camper vans.

The new site covers all the material here and adds a lot of new material on other camper van conversions, camper van design and build, resources for people converting vans, other efficient camping vehicles, new ideas in efficient RVs and camper van travel hints.

The new site is here...

I'm leaving these pages here as you may have bookmarked them and the Comments section has some good suggestions, but I suggest that you go to the new site -- I won't be updating this material anymore.

Thanks to all the people who read these pages and especially to the people who left comments and suggestions! Feedback on the new site is very much appreciated.

Gary

Weight Summary

Item	Total Weight (lb)	Front Axle Weight (lb)	Rear Axle Weight (lb)
Empty Weight	4730	3013	1717	Empty Van

Conversion Weight	918	137	781	Conversion parts(beds, tanks, galley, paneling, ...

Empty Weight After Conversion	5648	3150	2498	Weight of converted van without payload

Payload	971	546	425	Payload (people, water, groceries, propane, junk)

Total Trip Weight	6619 lbs	3696 lbs	2923 lbs

Does not include the weight of a few items left to be added, including PV panel, mattress covers, some shelves and storage.

The maximum allowable weight for the 1500 model is 4630 lb front, 5291 lb back, and a total of 8550 lbs -- so, we have lots of margin -- or, looking at it another way, even the lowest gross weight version of the van is probably overkill for a simple camper van.

Breakdown of Conversion Weight

The table below gives a breakdown of the 918 lbs of items that were added to do the conversion. These are estimates

Item	Weight (lb)	Description
Insulation	20	estimate -- based on 1 inch polyiso at 2 pcf (0.16 lb/sf), 70 sf insulated wall, 50.3 sf insulated ceiling
Electrical (incl bats, solar, wiring, …	186	this does not include the 50 lb pv panel
Windows	36	this is net weight of windows minus metal removed
Curtains	6	aprox
Flooring	96
Paneling	98.5
Galley	179	includes cabenet, fridge, stove, sink, drawers, …
frest and grey water systems	42	includes fresh and grey water tanks, plumbing, and pump
composting toilet	37	this is actual weight of finished toilet
bed platforms and mattresses	175	includes bed platform MDO, matteresses, hinges, …
Maxx Fan	12	14 lbs fan minus 2 lbs of sheet metal removed
Furnace	23	This is just the furnace -- no supports of cabinet, which is in galley cabinet
Propane system	28	This is empty tank and plumbing (the cabinet weight is in the bed platform weight)
Running boards	45

Total	983.5	Total weight added by conversion with no fluids

PV panel to be added	49.6	To be added later

The estimates above add up to 983 lbs which is about 65 lbs more than the actual weighed difference between the before and after conversion weight -- so, there are some errors in the above weight estimates that add up to 65 lbs -- close enough for Boeing work.

Note that the weights for your conversion may differ significantly from these depending on what you include.