As you embark on the exciting journey of choosing the van builder for your dream van, there are four crucial questions you should ask your build team to ensure that your new camper van is both well designed and well thought out from a longevity, customizability, and durability standpoint.
1. How Long is Your Warranty?
This is an extremely important question to ask your van builder and it will tell you a lot about how confident they are in the durability and longevity of their product. Most van builders offer 1-3 year warranties that come standard with mountains of red tape, caveats, and exclusions.
At Off Highway Van, we've always believed in doing things a little differently.
Lifetime Off Highway Van Craftsmanship Warranty
We offer a lifetime warranty on the craftsmanship of your (2024+) build and 5 years of coverage bumper-to-bumper no questions asked. This means that you can explore with confidence knowing the Off Highway Van team is standing by to solve any issue you may experience with your van build.
No Dealer? No Problem.
Worried about how we'll service your van from Utah? No worries. We have partnered with local auto shops, dealerships, and more so you can service your van anywhere your adventures take you.
2. How Much Will My Finished Build Weigh?
This is a question that is often overlooked during a van build, but that can have major impact on the performance of your camper van. From suspension performance, to braking, to general wear and tear, you'll want your finished build to be as light as possible.
While most other van builders are hindered by the weight of the wood structure of their van builds, Off Highway Van builds our vans with aircraft-grade aluminum and carbon composite materials to bring our completed van builds in 1,000 - 1,500 LBS lighter than any other standard wood van build on the market.
That's one less fully-grown polar bear's worth of stress per mile on your van's components and suspension. This weight differential ensures both a smoother, higher-performance ride and a longer-lasting build.
3. What Materials Do You Build With?
Speaking of materials and weight, when you are spending $200,000+ on a camper van conversion, your builder should only be using the highest-quality materials. Ask your builder what they use to convert their vans; if they don't say aluminum, carbon, and composite materials, your build is going to be heavier and less durable than it should be.
This added weight from cheaper, lower-quality materials causes more wear and tear on your build which can hurt the longevity of your camper van build as well as the eventual resale value.
While our competitors choose to build their conversion structures with wood, we, at Off Highway Van, build our camper vans using aircraft-grade aluminum and carbon composite materials to ensure that you have the lightest van on the market, and that your van is purpose-built for durability, longevity, and performance.
These material choices also leave out the margin of error caused by warping and degradation of the structural materials in your build. Our components are purposefully machined to exact spec so you avoid the squeaking and unavoidable inconsistencies created with a wood build.
4. What Can I Customize?
When you work with most van builders, you will quickly get pushed into a standard floorplan and then have the unbelievably compelling choice of a gray or tan interior palette (not that there's anything wrong with either color).
At Off Highway Van, we believe customization should only end at the limits of your imagination. The question becomes, "what can't I customize?"
With an Off Highway Van build, you'll get to choose every fit, finish, and color down to the cabinet faces, countertops, and even the flooring! And that's not even factoring in your customization available for the exterior of your van. Other companies may say they're bespoke, but do they really mean it?
Build With The Best
If you're considering a custom camper van, make sure you're asking the right questions to avoid the common pitfalls we see in the van conversion space.
With these 4 questions you should be able to determine: build quality, expected longevity, quality of materials, and customizability. At Off Highway Van, we back our builds with an unmatched lifetime craftsmanship warranty and 5 years bumper-to-bumper and nearly unlimited customization options so you can explore with confidence in a van designed perfectly for you. Talk to one of our custom camper van experts today!
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