Trusted Suppliers & Self-Build Resources for Truck & Van Builds

If you’re dreaming of building your very own adventure vehicle, start here!

Converting your own vehicle is one of the most rewarding projects you can take on — but it’s also a big one, with more decisions (and suppliers!) than you might expect. Whether you’re starting with a van, standard truck, or military-grade base vehicle, having the right resources and contacts from the outset makes all the difference.

In this post, I’ve pulled together a list of trusted suppliers, fabricators, and specialist services we’ve either used ourselves or discovered through countless hours of research, shows, and conversations with other self-builders. You’ll also find tips on where to meet fellow vanlifers and overlanders, which forums to join, and a few must-read books and websites that can help you avoid expensive mistakes (ask me how I know…!)

I have included international suppliers and highlighted shows in Europe, the USA, and Canada, and the general advice is applicable worldwide, however, there is a UK focus because I am UK-based. The post is also more truck- than van-focussed, but again, many resources will be helpful for a van build.

I will be giving two talks at the 2025 National 4×4 & Campervan Show (formerly The Overland Show) in Stratford Upon Avon, UK:

• Big Builds: Big Adventures – Building The Beast: An Overland Camper on Saturday 14th June 2025. I will share the highs, lows, and hard-earned lessons from converting The Beast, the 30-year-old 6×4-wheel-drive Volvo N10 truck Mark and I bought blind off the internet.
• Never Mind the Baltics — Let’s Talk Full-Time Travel (& Dogs!) Bring a Beer & Ask Me Anything… on Sunday 15th June. I will talk about our travels from the Balkans to the Baltics, then host an open panel, answering questions on all things van life, overlanding, travel with dogs – and, as a former professional beer taster – beer!

1. Where to Start – Research
   1. Shows
   2. Training
   3. Overland Websites, Forums & Self-Build Meets
2. Books
3. Where to Source an Overland Truck/Base Vehicle
4. A Few Truck Body Builders, from Alloy Bodies to Zeppelin!
5. Companies Who Specialise in Overland Conversions
6. List of Suppliers We Used for The Beast
7. Other Posts You Might Find Useful
8. Final Thoughts
9. Who Likes Truckin’?
10. Follow Us For Email Updates On Our Latest Travels!

Where to Start – Research

Building “The Beast” (our Volvo N10) taught us a lot — and we’re still learning.

We knew nothing when we bought a 30-year-old truck sight unseen off the internet. I’m all for sharing knowledge, so hopefully, this guide will give you a solid head start on your own journey!

Shows

If you’re just getting started on planning your build, I highly recommend visiting shows, where you can meet suppliers in person, tour other people’s builds, and get hands-on advice.

• UK Van Life Festivals, RV, Caravan, Camper, Motorhome, Overlanding & Self-Build Events is a handy calendar of UK shows. From 2025, The Adventure Overland Show at Stratford has rebranded as The National 4×4 & Campervan Festival.
• Abenteuer & Allrad Show, Bad Kissingen, Germany – the largest offroad show in Europe (June)
• VW Festivals lists VW events in the UK and throughout Europe. It is searchable by month and by country.
• Overland Expo, run events throughout the US
• List of The Best Overland Events throughout the US and Canada – from We’re the Russos

Training

• The Overland Academy offers specialist adventure skills courses

Overland Websites, Forums & Self-Build Meets

There are lots of forums and van life meet ups, many arranged through social media. These are goldmines of information, knowledge, and camaraderie. You will probably find there is a Facebook group dedicated to your specific vehicle type or model, which is a fantastic place to find spares, advice or information.

• The Overlanding Association is an excellent resource for advice on paperwork, customs, visas etc.
• Facebook Groups from the Overlanding Association website:
  • Overlanding Association Facebook Group
  • Overland Sphere open to all vehicle types, this is a forum to share global travel information, on and off-road routes, visas, carnet & temporary import, camping spots, wild camps and any other useful information.
  • Overlanding Europe (there are groups for each continent)
  • Overlanding Pets
  • Self Build Campervans, Overland Vehicles & Expedition Trucks a community for self builders
  • Overland & Expedition Trucks for Sale
• Overlanding Morocco – Group by Overland Morocco Expedition Portal Forum is THE place to share overlanding build tips, information, help, and adventures with the overland community online. 
• The Overland Bound Forum is free to all visitors and contains information provided by groups’members.
• The Reddit r/overlanding group is a very active online overlanding community with over 160,000 members and a great resource for overlanding information and inspiration
• Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forums is one of the longest running forum resources for travel-specific information and community online. While not strictly overland-specific, it’s archives contain a vast amount of applicable overland travel information.

• The Military Vehicle Trust (MVT) is the world’s largest group of ex-military vehicle owners and enthusiasts, and the only charity dedicated to “keeping our mechanical veterans alive”. There are MVT regional groups around the UK as well as an MVT calendar of events. You don’t need to own a military vehicle to join MVT. Besides a huge repository of knowledge, membership benefits include six copies of the award-winning ‘Windscreen’ magazine, 5% MVT discount with Brittany Ferries for any vehicle, and free access to The Federation of Historic Vehicle Clubs (FHVC) newsletter. The FHVC campaigns to uphold the freedom to use historic vehicles on Britain’s roads. The MVT can also help you road register a restored vehicle.

• Built not Bought Campers a safe place for everyone to discuss topics, provide hints and tips, give advice, show your vans off, self built, and also coach built.
• The Van Code is a free online resource and community for existing and aspiring van lifers. There is a comprehensive Van Code guide to building your dream van, a treasure trove of articles, (some penned by me!), along with various forums and model-specific groups.
• The Self Build Get Together Facebook group is a community where you can seek advice, and also join in camping trips and meet ups a few times a year, where people with self-built vans can come together to help each other, as well as meet like-minded people, get inspiration, advice, share tools, expertise and so on. The main group is based largely in south central England, but there are sub-groups in the North, North Wales, and the Midlands.
• The Self Build Motor Caravan Club (SBMCC) has lots of resources on its website, such as information on how to find, plan, and build your van. It also arranges club meets for members via its SBMCC forum.

Books

• The Overlanders’ Handbook by Chris Scott.
• Haynes Build Your Own Overland Camper by Steven Wrigglesworth
• The Van Conversion Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Converting a Campervan by Charlie Low & Dale Comley. It’s an Amazon bestseller and shortlisted for the Rubery Book Award 2025
• Building The Beast: How (Not) To Build An Overland Camper by Jacqueline Lambert (me!) Not a handbook, but a story which chronicles the real trials and tribulations of our first ever DIY build.

Where to Source an Overland Truck/Base Vehicle

There are surprisingly many options. Here is slightly more than a baker’s dozen of the options that we investigated when searching for a truck to convert:

1. BDL Trading – Berlicum, south Netherlands. A company born from a passion for all-wheel-drive offroad vehicles. Not the ones everyone knows already, but the ‘hard-to-get’ vehicles, and the ‘what-on-earth-is-that’ vehicles! 
2. Crouch Military – Kibworth, Leicestershire UK. We use Crouch for service, MOT, unparallelled advice & part seeking. If we’d known about them at the time, we might well have bought from them.
3. Dekker bv – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
4. Excap – Lautertal Gadernheim, Germany
5. Expedition Truck Brokers – Almelo, The Netherlands
6. Globalxvehicles in Springfield, MO, USA
7. Homes Off Grid – is a listing site, searchable by location (eg UK) to connect buyers and sellers of vans, trucks, buses, boats and off grid properties. The Reading Room on the website and the Homes Off Grid Facebook page also feature lots of tips and in depth advice for off grid living.
8. Jacaranda Trading bv – Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Brendan, the lovely owner, supplied The Beast
9. Lys-Tout Terrain – Northern France
10. Mascus – UK
11. Military Vehicle Trust Sales & Wants Service – UK
12. MOD Surplus – UK
13. MOD Auctions – UK
14. Nene Overland – Peterborough, UK
15. The Overlander – UK – offers a forum, advice & sales. Run by Steve Wrigglesworth who wrote the highly recommended Haynes ‘Build Your Own Overland Camper Manual’
16. Transautomobil – Brussels, Belgium
17. Overland & Expedition Trucks for Sale Facebook Group by the Overlanding Association. The page has links to regional buy and sell sub-groups worldwide.

A Few Truck Body Builders, from Alloy Bodies to Zeppelin!

1. Alloy Bodies 
2. JC Payne
3. Orkney Overlanders – contact them via Facebook: Orkney Overlanders or Instagram: Orkney Overlanders. They specialise in building habitation boxes.
4. Ormocar de
5. Roadtrip Industries – habitation boxes as well as full design and build.
6. Supremecorp
7. Truckcraft Bodies
8. Zeppelin de

Companies Who Specialise in Overland Conversions

• Roadtrip Industries – UK. Based in Sussex, Dave is an experienced overlander who now specialises in building all-terrain campers. Roadtrip Industries offers a full start to finish, design and build service, or consult, design and build if you already have a van or truck chassis. Whether you want a day van or an all terrain 18 ton 4×4 truck, he can deliver you a camper that will take your exploring to a whole new level.
• Orkney Overlanders – UK. Charlotte and Stuart are from Orkney, not based in Orkney. They live nomadically in their self-built truck, and work across the UK. They specialise in overland habitation boxes, conversions, mechanics & engineering work. Contact them via Facebook: Orkney Overlanders or Instagram: Orkney Overlanders, where you can also follow their travels and latest projects.

I know Dave of Roadtrip Industries and The Orkney Overlanders personally and they both come highly recommended.

• Motorcraft Adventure Developments – UK – a premium conversion company with mixed reviews.
• Total Off Grid – Richard & Kate live full-time in their self-converted truck. They offer a mobile service supplying, fitting, and servicing campervan electrical installations across the north of England and southern Scotland. They supply Victron electrical kit and Fogstar batteries.
• Wild Camping Vans – UK. A recommendation from a fellow lorry-lifer offering low cost conversions.

List of Suppliers We Used for The Beast

1. Truck – Jacaranda Trading, Netherlands.
2. Insurance – Adrian Flux was the only insurer who would insure us with a 9.6 litre engine! For a list of specialist insurers happy to take on self-build and converted vehicles, check out Travel Insurance for an Extended Road Trip
3. Pre MOT Checks
   • Ashley Wood Commercials, Blandford Forum, Dorset, UK
   • Crouch Military, Kibworth, Leicestershire, UK
4. Class 4 (Motorhome) MOT facility able to cope with The Beast’s size & weight – Hillwood Autos, Tamworth, UK
5. Refillable LPG Cylinders – Safefill
6. 90 litre LPG tank fitted – Snail Vans, Leicestershire, UK
7. Windows – Kellett Windows, Halifax, UK
8. Coloured Blinds with built-in Insect Screens – Swell Shades – ordered online from Cornwall, UK
9. Door – Gap, Christchurch, Dorset, UK
10. Upholstery
    • Seating Foam with Dacron Wrap – Anyfoam rapid online order of foam cut to size with Dacron/Polyfibre Wrap, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK. (We used Luxury Reflex Firm with polyfibre wrap, seating 15cm thickness; backs 10cm thickness.)
    • Fabric – washable, hard-wearing Cristina Marrone ‘Accento’ chenille fabric ordered online. We had removable cushion covers made up for a few hundred pounds by a local seamstress based in Christchurch, Dorset, UK.
11. Fridge Freezer – Vitrifrigo DP2600i Caravan/Camper 2 Way Compressor Fridge at £1,200, this was expensive, but is high quality and was the largest fridge/freezer we could find.
12. Hob – Thetford 9 Series
13. Blown Air Space Heater & Water Heater – Propex
14. Electrics
    • Our solar panels, AGM batteries & original set up came from Bimble Solar
    • We now have a 460 Amp Hour Lithium Iron Phosphate battery from Roamer in Leeds, UK
    • Mark and Luke of BlueFix Energy Solutions fitted our fabulous new Victron electrical system.

Other Posts You Might Find Useful

The Expedition Truck section of my blog links to a number of other posts you might find useful, such as:

• The Birth of The Beast – How To Source & Spec. an Overland Truck
• The Costs of Converting an Overland Truck
• Converting an Expedition Truck Slideshow
• Film: Full-Time Off-Grid Travel in a Converted Volvo N10 Truck Camper

Final Thoughts

Building your own van or overlander can be overwhelming at times — but it’s also one of the most satisfying, character-building projects you’ll ever undertake. With the right suppliers, a bit of patience, and a willingness to learn from both successes and setbacks, you’ll end up with a vehicle that’s perfectly tailored to your adventures.

Whether you’re at the sketch-on-the-back-of-a-fag-packet stage or knee-deep in fabrication, I hope this list helps you find the support you need. And remember: connect with the community, ask questions, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s half the fun…

Trust me, it’s the disasters that make the best stories. One day, around a campfire, you’ll laugh at them. I guarantee it!

Got a favourite supplier, forum, or resource I’ve missed? Drop it in the comments.

Here’s to the road ahead. Even the muddy, remote, and breakdown-prone bits!

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