Small van camper layouts: what fits in a Trafic or Transit Custom
· 7 min read
Most conversion content is written for Sprinters and Ducatos, then waved at everything smaller with “just scale it down”. It doesn't scale. A Renault Trafic gives you 2.54–2.94 m of cargo length, 1.66 m between the walls and — in the standard roof — 1.38 m of height. No archetype built around standing up or sleeping across the van survives those numbers. Mid-size vans need their own playbook, and it starts from what they do better: they park anywhere, most stay under 2 m tall, and they still drive like cars on Monday.
The numbers you are designing against
| Van | Cargo length | Width | Height (std / high roof) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renault Trafic (= Vivaro, NV300, Talento) | 2.54–2.94 m | 1.66 m | 1.38 / 1.91 m |
| Ford Transit Custom | 2.56–2.92 m | 1.77 m | 1.41 / 1.70 m |
| VW Transporter | 2.45–2.85 m | 1.70 m | 1.42 / 1.90 m |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito (= Metris) | 2.59–3.06 m | 1.67 m | 1.38 m |
The bed is the whole design
At 1.66–1.77 m of width, no van in the table takes a 1.86 m mattress across — every bed runs lengthwise, and a 1.9 m bed in a 2.6 m van leaves 0.7 m for everything else. That is why the small-van archetypes are all convertibles:
- Rock-and-roll bench: ~1.2 m of length as a seat, ~1.9 m as a bed. Keeps belted seats, needs crash-tested mounting, and defines the middle of the van.
- Side-bench fold-out: a 40 cm day bench that doubles to a 80–90 cm single or a snug double. Cheapest in space and money; the kitchen keeps the opposite wall.
- Fixed platform (solo): a 70–80 cm wide bunk along one wall with boxes below — the only fixed-bed layout that leaves an aisle in a 1.7 m van.
Sitting height matters more than standing: 1.38 m minus a mattress and build-up means you cannot sit upright on the bed in a standard roof. If evenings in the van are the plan, the high-roof variants (Trafic H2: 1.91 m; Transporter H2: 1.90 m) change the vehicle class more than any furniture decision — check the variant pages before assuming your roof.
Kitchens that respect 0.7 spare metres
- Rear pull-out: the galley slides out of the tailgate on drawer runners — cooking happens outside, zero interior length spent, rain is the co-tenant.
- Side console: a 40 cm deep unit behind the driver seat: one burner, a 25 L water canister, a compressor cooler below. This is the standard indoor answer.
Payload is the one place small vans are generous: 1,044–1,334 kg across the table — more than some Sprinter variants — because the conversions are necessarily light. Weight planning still matters for the axles (heavy cooler + water on one side is noticeable in a 1.7 m-wide van), but the total is rarely the constraint.
Test it against your wheelbase, not a photo
In a van this size, ten centimetres is a piece of furniture. Every variant in the table is in the planner with its real arches and door openings — set your exact variant, place the bench and the console, and see whether the tailgate kitchen and the bed coexist on your wheelbase rather than on someone else's build video.
