What does L2H2 mean? Van body codes in metres, L1 to L5H4
· 8 min read
L is the length and H is the roof — but neither letter means the same thing on two different vans. L3 is 3.06 m of cargo floor in a Mercedes-Benz Vito and 4.31 m in a Mercedes Sprinter. Same maker, same letter, 1.25 m apart. H2 is 1.63 m of interior height in a rear-wheel-drive VW Crafter and 2.08 m in a front-wheel-drive Sprinter — the difference between crawling and standing.
The codes are each maker’s own internal ladder: L1 is that van’s shortest body, H1 its lowest roof, and the rungs are wherever that maker put them. A Crafter has no L1 or L2 at all; its shortest body is L3. A Transit has no L1. A Vito has no roof above H1. Below is every code in the planner’s 29 vans resolved into metres, read from the same van database the 3D editor uses, so the table and the per-van pages can never disagree.
Length codes: what L1 to L5 actually measure
Cargo floor behind the cab, in metres — the number a layout is built on. A range means the body is sold in more than one configuration under that code (a driven rear axle or a different rear overhang).
| Body | L1 | L2 | L3 | L4 | L5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiat Ducato (= Boxer, Relay, ProMaster) | 2.67 m | 3.12 m | 3.71 m | 4.07 m | — |
| Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | 2.61 m | 3.27 m | 4.31 m | 4.71 m | — |
| Ford Transit | — | 3.04 m | 3.49 m | 4.22 m | — |
| VW Crafter (= MAN TGE) | — | — | 3.45 m | 4.30 m | 4.86 m |
| Renault Master (= Movano, NV400) | 2.58 m | 3.08 m | 3.73 m | 4.38 m | — |
| Iveco Daily | 2.61 m | 3.13 m | 3.54 m | 4.68 m | 5.13 m |
| Ford Transit Custom | 2.56 m | 2.92 m | — | — | — |
| Renault Trafic (= Vivaro, NV300, Talento) | 2.54 m | 2.94 m | — | — | — |
| VW Transporter | 2.45 m | 2.85 m | — | — | — |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito (= Metris) | 2.59 m | 2.83 m | 3.06 m | — | — |
| Ford Transit Connect | 1.75 m | 2.15 m | — | — | — |
Cargo floor length behind the cab. Bodies marked (=) are the same steel under other badges. — means that maker does not sell the code.
Read down a column rather than across a row and the problem is obvious. L2 covers 2.15 m (Ford Transit Connect) to 3.27 m (Sprinter) across ten bodies. L3 covers 3.06 m to 4.31 m across seven. L4 covers 4.07 m (Ducato) to 4.71 m (Sprinter) across six. Only L5 is nearly unambiguous, because only two bodies have one: the Crafter/TGE at 4.86 m and the Daily at 5.13 m.
The practical trap is cross-shopping. A Sprinter L2 (3.27 m) is longer inside than a Ducato L2 (3.12 m) and shorter than a Crafter L3 (3.45 m), which is that van’s entry length. Two listings both labelled “L2H2 panel van” can be 15 cm apart on the floor — enough to decide whether a 1.90 m bed and a garage both fit lengthways.
Roof codes: what H1 to H4 actually measure
Floor-to-headliner height of the bare shell, in metres. A finished floor and ceiling take roughly 7 cm out of every figure here — the standing-height table does that subtraction and names the adult who fits.
| Body | H1 | H2 | H3 | H4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiat Ducato (= Boxer, Relay, ProMaster) | 1.66 m | 1.93 m | 2.17 m | — |
| Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | 1.72–1.79 m | 2.01–2.08 m | 2.24 m | — |
| Ford Transit | — | 1.79–1.89 m | 2.03–2.13 m | — |
| VW Crafter (= MAN TGE) | — | 1.63–1.73 m | 1.86–1.96 m | 2.09–2.20 m |
| Renault Master (= Movano, NV400) | 1.70 m | 1.80–1.89 m | 2.05–2.14 m | — |
| Iveco Daily | 1.55 m | 1.90 m | 2.10 m | — |
| Ford Transit Custom | 1.41 m | 1.78 m | — | — |
| Renault Trafic (= Vivaro, NV300, Talento) | 1.38 m | 1.91 m | — | — |
| VW Transporter | 1.42 m | 1.94 m | — | — |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito (= Metris) | 1.39 m | — | — | — |
| Ford Transit Connect | 1.27 m | — | — | — |
Interior height, floor to headliner, before a build. Ranges are the front-wheel-drive to rear-wheel-drive spread: a driven rear axle lifts the floor by up to 10 cm. — means that maker does not sell the code.
H2 is the letter that misleads most. On a Ducato it is 1.93 m and on a Sprinter 2.01–2.08 m, both standing roofs for most adults. On a Crafter or TGE it is 1.63–1.73 m, which is not a standing roof for anyone — the Crafter’s standing roof is H3 (1.86–1.96 m) and it also offers an H4 (2.09–2.20 m) that nothing else in the class has. Buying a “high-roof H2” Crafter because an H2 Sprinter was tall enough is the single most expensive mistake this table prevents.
H1 is not one thing either: 1.27 m in a Transit Connect, 1.38–1.42 m across the mid-size vans, and 1.66–1.79 m in the large ones, where H1 is a low roof on a big body rather than a small van. And where a range appears, drive is usually the cause: a rear-wheel-drive Sprinter H2 gives 2.01 m against 2.08 for the front-wheel-drive, and a Master H2 1.80 against 1.89.
The reverse lookup: the floor you need, the code that gives it
This is the way round that actually matters. Decide the cargo length your layout needs, then read off which code delivers it on each body — the answers are not the same letter.
| Floor needed | Fiat Ducato | Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | Ford Transit | VW Crafter | Renault Master | Iveco Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.55 m — bed across the van, no garage | L1 (2.67 m) | L1 (2.61 m) | L2 (3.04 m) | L3 (3.45 m) | L1 (2.58 m) | L1 (2.61 m) |
| 3.00 m — bed + a shallow garage | L2 (3.12 m) | L2 (3.27 m) | L2 (3.04 m) | L3 (3.45 m) | L2 (3.08 m) | L2 (3.13 m) |
| 3.70 m — bed + garage + shower | L3 (3.71 m) | L3 (4.31 m) | L4 (4.22 m) | L4 (4.30 m) | L3 (3.73 m) | L4 (4.68 m) |
| 4.30 m — fixed bed lengthways + garage | not built | L3 (4.31 m) | not built | L4 (4.30 m) | L4 (4.38 m) | L4 (4.68 m) |
At 3.70 m the codes split three ways: L3 on a Ducato, Sprinter or Master, but L4 on a Transit, Crafter or Daily. At 4.30 m the Ducato drops out entirely — its longest body is 4.07 m — while a Sprinter is still on its L3 and the Crafter needs its L4. Searching used listings by letter will hide half the vans that fit and show you several that do not.
The bodies that never used the code
Four families in the planner label their lengths with words instead: Peugeot Expert and its twins (Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch, Toyota ProAce, Fiat Scudo, Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro from 2019) use XS / M / XL; Toyota HiAce uses LWB / SLWB; VW Caddy Cargo uses SWB / Maxi; Citroën Berlingo uses M / XL. North American vans use a third system again — wheelbase in inches plus a roof and a payload series, so a RAM ProMaster is a “159 high roof 2500” and a Ford Transit a “148 EXT high roof T-250”.
UK listings add a fourth layer on top of all of it — SWB, MWB, LWB and XLWB — which map onto the L codes differently for every maker, because they describe the wheelbase rather than the body. A “LWB Transit” and a “LWB Ducato” are not the same van, for the same reason L3 is not one length.
How to use the codes without being caught out
- Never compare letters across makes. Compare cargo length in metres and interior height in metres. That is what a layout is drawn against.
- Check the drive. On a Sprinter, Master, Transit or Crafter, rear-wheel drive lifts the floor and costs up to 10 cm of interior height under an unchanged roof code.
- Subtract the build. About 7 cm of the interior height goes to floor and ceiling before you stand in it, and about 6 cm of the width to two finished walls before a mattress goes across.
- Check the badge too. A Boxer, Relay/Jumper and ProMaster are a Ducato; a TGE is a Crafter; a Movano is a Master before 2021 and a Ducato after — the twins post has the map. Same body, same codes, often a cheaper used example.
Once the code is decoded, the decision is the usual one: the dimensions comparison ranks every body on the five figures that settle a layout, and the planner draws yours against the real variant so the fit is measured rather than guessed.
FAQ
What does L2H2 mean on a van?
L is the body length and H the roof height, both counted from that maker's own shortest and lowest body — not from a shared standard. L2H2 therefore means the second length and the second roof of whichever van you are looking at: 3.12 m of cargo floor and 1.93 m of interior height on a Fiat Ducato, 3.27 × 2.01–2.08 m on a Mercedes Sprinter, 2.92 × 1.78 m on a Ford Transit Custom. Always read the metres, never the letter.
Is L3 the same length on every van?
No. Across the eleven coded bodies in the planner, L3 ranges from 3.06 m of cargo floor (Mercedes-Benz Vito) to 4.31 m (Mercedes Sprinter) — 1.25 m of difference under one letter, and both of those are Mercedes. A VW Crafter L3 is 3.45 m, a Ford Transit L3 3.49 m, an Iveco Daily L3 3.54 m, a Fiat Ducato L3 3.71 m and a Renault Master L3 3.73 m.
Which van has L5?
Only two bodies go that far: the VW Crafter / MAN TGE at 4.86 m of cargo floor and the Iveco Daily at 5.13 m. Nothing else in the class is sold above L4, so if you need more than about 4.7 m of floor in a 3.5 t-class van, those two are the list.
Does H2 mean I can stand up?
Not on its own. H2 covers 1.63 m of interior height (VW Crafter with rear-wheel drive) to 2.08 m (front-wheel-drive Sprinter) — a 45 cm spread. Subtract about 7 cm for a finished floor and ceiling and a Crafter H2 leaves 1.56 m, a Sprinter H2 just over 2.00 m. The Crafter's standing roof is H3; the Ducato's and the Sprinter's is H2.
What do XS, M and XL mean instead of L1, L2, L3?
Some makers never adopted the code. The Stellantis mid-size family (Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch, Toyota ProAce, Fiat Scudo, Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro from 2019) uses XS / M / XL for its three lengths; Toyota's HiAce uses LWB and SLWB; VW's Caddy Cargo uses SWB and Maxi; the Citroën Berlingo uses M and XL. They are the same idea — shortest to longest within one body — with the same warning attached.
Related: payload calculator
