Life In A Big Orange Truck | Awesome Off-Grid Conversion & Full Time Van Life

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Join us in todays video where we dive into the extraordinary life of Carl, a mechanic, who has been living in a converted Mercedes truck for over two years. His unique journey started as a bit of a joke, but has evolved into an epic off-grid living experience.

Carl showcases the freedom and comfort that is possible while living Van Life and living on the road, embracing a budget friendly lifestyle, all while his truck home only cost him £2,500.

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started off as a bit of a joke set the tail lift down set a chair out here sit out if it’s really sunny catch the Rays PlayStation 5 if I’m going to do it I wanted to make sure I was doing it properly yeah looked on eBay and saw this and just thought that’s got to be it that’s the one paid £22,000 for [Music] it [Music] all right guys welcome back to another video today we’re meeting up with Carl who’s living in a big orange lry make sure you stick around for the inside tour because it’s absolutely epic what he’s done in there if you like the video give it a thumbs up and let us know in the comments what you think back to it okay so I’m Carl this is my my truck I’ve been living in it for over 2 years now started off as a bit of a joke I was working in a pushback shop i’ just had enough of the normal house thing that everybody else does or whatever and I said I’m just going to buy a truck and and turn it into at the time it was called a house box and I started looking at them on eBay while I’m at work and all my friends all the work colleagues were just like that’s just out there what are you doing and it just progressed from there it just carried on and but then Co hit and put an absolute bummer on it sort of thing cuz I needed to take a license for this on my driving license to add a 7 and a half ton so that got cancelled over and over again during covid yeah looked on eBay and saw this and just thought that’s got that’s got to be it that’s the one so made them an offer got it for an absolute steal paid £25,000 for it it’s an ex still truck that make all the mowers and strimmers and all that kind of stuff and i’ noticed in the listing that it got a massive awning on the side so I was already like I’m onto a winner for that kind of money the build was it was to be off- grid as POS much as possible I can say the bills in a household is was just getting worse and worse and the more you looked into this kind of life it’s so cheap you know like the sun’s out today so I’m like soaking it all up all the batteries are just living the dream which I’m quite power hungry cuz I’ve got TVs and fridge freezers and everything in here so I’m asking a lot of the system so yeah to be off grid really yeah it would be that was the idea before this I had a sprinter um and me and my son have been mountain bikers we’d head over to the Alps for like a season on the ski lifts where you’d go skiing but we use them to use and ride down on his bikes we did that for like 10 weeks one summer just in a sprinter and I thought this is the life like you can do what you want you can park up anywhere move move to the next town or whatever and I think that got into my head a bit so I thought well if I’ve got everything in one space kind of blown in kind of thing so it started from that and then the finance things you know Bills going up all the time and just like yeah just I was kind of bored with it i’ had my fill I say never look back not even a day never look back this is my truck Mercedes 2005 Mercedes to go 7 and 1/2 ton It’s actually an ex still truck that you can just about see the the writing off of the stickers needs a wash looking a bit tired you need your hdv or grandfather rights it was just a shell it’s got the awning in uh when I bought it and it’s yeah it’s not changed from the outside at all really other than little bits of boxes storage and put the step in and various stuff 70,000 M give or take it’s in kilometers so yeah not very good at that I’ve got my solar on top which is uh 1,400 watts of solar so four big panels three roof Vents and it’s just a fiberglass roof so I’ve about to make a bit of a roof rack kind of thing to get the solar to to fit up there these points here are for the awning the awning will come out well it’s a 6 M awning and it’ll come out quite a way this is just an add-on it’s a slap lock just for security side things stop the dog from getting out the other thing that I’ve added is this fold away step bits of uh storage under underneath here in these boxes this is my gray water so I can put it put a hose pipe on it and get rid of that again another box so the idea of this is a lot of people think that that’s a bed up there which it isn’t I’ve just created that bit of a space so I can open the back door and just look out to wherever I parked set the tail lift down I’ve got loads of storage underneath bikes set a chair out here sit out if it’s really sunny catch the Rays pretty good actually when this is up and I’m sat up there even when it’s raining you can kind of sit outside and stay dry it’s that’s like a absolute epic moment that you can just sit and watch the rain and um just soak it all up really just mainly storage garage compartment bits and Bobs got a generator in there if I’m really stuck for power there the reason why it’s covered up another reason for this is when it’s up and it’s shut turned off and locked up and it’s more security again for the bikes as a there’s a few in there and they’re all locked up and anchored to the wall and stuff so they’re going nowhere and all being well I’m either in it or on on a bike so with it being quite big I’ve got these just these two spots which have linked up to the reverse light they’ll just flood light wherever I’m reversing or whatever I’m reversing into all being well nothing the uh two little white things they’re um Wi-Fi Aerials for maruta um that one looks a bit sad but it’s actually the better one of the two that found a tree on the probably on the way up here many many moons ago but if it works don’t fix it yeah so when I’m set there I can look over and well at the minute we’re actually just watching all the trees changing color this week this is all started happening so any season in this particular spot is just incredible incredible and do you go for a swim in there you shouldn’t do with it being a reservoir that’s the only trouble yeah is there anything notable on that no there’s nothing it’s just literally just a box van that’s that’s the idea that I wanted it to look like that stealth wise yeah well orange stealth obviously bought it orange and the idea was to build and then once I got to the stage and paint it but it become a thing and more so this where a park here everybody knows it but at the same time yeah it’s bright orange and it’s in your face but it is class I class it is quite stealthy because it’s got no windows and when everything’s shut up unless you notice all the solar on the roof and stuff there’ll be a lot of people that just think it’s a truck that’s run out of driving hours because it’s a hdv you’re only limited to so many hours in actual fact if I was asked to move on they might have questioned well even if I ask you might have run out of hours and can’t move anyway a very weird stealth but yeah for me it works as for work working car garage I’m I’m a mechanic so I head back maybe during the winter it’s 5 days in the summer if I’m not going to plan to get away and travel it’ll be like 3 days maybe even less try and get up here as much as I can as for parking I’ll I’ll move back to near where I work there’s a couple of places I can park two or 3 minutes walk from work so I’m quite lucky there as well it’s not that bad to park it’s a big thing but if it’s planned and you get get there early enough you’re away as for the living living the rat race exactly that in a house you’re working to pay your bills and it was just no fun I felt limited that I’ve got to buy that or I’ve got to pay that bill so can I afford to really go away at the weekend where it’s not a question now cuz it’s well just moved my house to wherever I want to take it everything seems to have slowed down loads like there’s no pressure or you know if I decide to go somewhere whales or whatever I just get there when I get there if I want to stop find somewhere stop and go a bit further next time or whatever yeah very lucky to make this yeah I’ve made this life yeah very lucky for that yeah grateful as well yes my lives change from it but then at the same time more the locations rather than my life I should imagine in the camper van world that you your life would change to go fulltime because you haven’t got TVs and stuff like that which is nice but when I decided that I’m gonna go and do it I was like I might as well go the whole hog like I do want a PlayStation and Surround Sound and all that kind of stuff uh so it’s not quite camper then yeah it’s kind of cheating if anything yeah really comfortable way to live a classic is probably it’s got the s a similar footprint to like a an apartment in London or something and the same facilities really other than the composting Li and stuff everything else is just a normal household setup really so it’s just me me and the dog and uh my son will come every now and again he’s he’s 17 now so he’s got a lots going on so I just leave him to it a lot of the time I’m just up here with the dog and walking and riding and whatever else welcome to the truck if you want to come in by all means fill your boots so yeah this is the front of the truck obviously the shower and toilet in there otoman bed frame that I just pulled the bed apart and and built it myself so it’s got all the storage batteries and various stuff under there all the electronic components all under there fan for obviously when it you need a bit bit of air moving around I’ve got my my Mac that I can use as TV storage for all my clothes at the top so quick peek of the of the L it’s going to be a wet room style of thing but work in progress like I say I’ve got a couple of ideas of heat exchanging my diesel heater to warm the water and it’s going to be um filtered with all the filters that are down there so it’s going to be recycl recycling the water yeah just a couple of couple of hooks and my um dream catcher same again here can’t have too many coats especially during winter just put them on instead of turning the eating on again saving money cool and what’s the choice of design you’ve gone for the like b bs yeah the OSB was I I saw a lot of people in the in the bike trade actually using it for the stands when they’re trying to sell the products and stuff and I just thought that looks really nice and then it’s all glued together so it’s waterproof and you can even just screw something to it and it’ll hold it up a shelf whatever so it’s just really good material to use and then I’ve got insulation behind that which is I think I’ve got I think it’s like 80 mil of insulation all over the truck when it’s cold outside it’s maybe eight degrees warmer in here without any heating whatsoever again not having any Windows I’m not soaking in the heat when it’s out when it’s hot outside it can’t get in so it keeps everything a lot cooler which is brilliant for the dog and got a couple of vents coming from underneath so that’s my diesel heater there this one comes from underneath the truck big fan blower which is um just for cooling um I can turn that onto a thermostat and it’ll come in and out sort of again for for the Dog smoke alarm um and this is the push button to release the the door lock so you can get out and that’s the almost the control panel for all that again storage I love to cook so I’ve got loads of bits and Bobs that I can grab recently just put this uh shelf up a bit more of an area to cook with I’ve got my max air fan my light and another work in progress is I’m going to try and get the nest to communicate with diesel heaters and stuff so I can wi-fi turn them on and off so the kitchen was a a must it had to be usable I love cooking so this is this is it just put your normal household stuff in this is a camper van uh oven and Grill everything else cooking wise is just your normal household stuff all the spices and stuff up there like again love to cook New Edition is the air fryer which is questionable at times I can’t actually have the TV on as well as the air fryer at the minute it’s asking for too much power another work in progress got to have a fulls size fridge freezer cuz you’ve got to keep your beer cool and that’s just working as 240 I do plan to put an inverter in the back of it so it’ll work off 24 volt which this this truck is 24 volt setup rather than a 12vt normal camper van setup the bedroom had to be a separate space got my son that comes and stays so this turns into a a bed so it’s kind of separa in the two and the kitchens had to go somewhere so that was that landed here so that was pretty much the reason um to shut off the bedroom and it works for me really really good this is another gas alarm you can never have too many of them this is the back now so living area got the sofa as a normal household sofa as you can see I’ve got PlayStation in here as well as a surround sound double up as shelves which are brilliant this is my little sitting area for when the doors open I can look out at the back it was all designed on having all the bikes in here for me into bikes it’s quite nice to even look at them and a bit of a feature in itself I like putting things on the wall randomly so yeah shoes and bits and all my hobbies and cleaning products this is my internet router I think the TV is 42 in all works off your Amazon Fire Cube or whatever Sona surround sound with all the subs and speakers and various stuff PlayStation 5 if I’m going to do it I wanted to make sure was doing it properly so I’ve got all the all the M cons we could say but it’s just like living in a house so I’m cheating that’s what I say to myself I’m just cheating but yeah great way to live I’m more than comfortable Yeah Yeah by a long way these Max Air fans and various stuff they are all temperature controlled pretty much I’ve got another diesel heater here that’s work in progress again a lot of it is I think most people with Vans are so with both the diesel heaters working it’s the warmest place on Earth I wouldn’t say I sacrificed anything to get here but at the same time it’s you do you do have to sacrifice hard to explain that other than pretty much the oven everything else is just your normal household gas stove and sinks and various stuff so yeah all on 240 so using quite a lot of power to to do this so the 1400 WS of solar I’ve got just over 500 amp hour of batteries at using a hybrid battery system loads of people that kind of knew a little bit about it said that I’d blow myself up within a couple of weeks so I’m running lead acid batteries and lithium batteries running together side by side most or if not all the people in the UK said it was wasn’t possible um and I’m running it fine so it’s kind of a cheaper way to do the batteries cuz lithium are so expensive if if and you’ve already probably got lead acid you can just add two in a certain manner there’s certain ways to do it don’t just plug them in if anybody’s watching thinking that’s a good idea people generally not asking questions they’re more intrigued where they’ll say oh that’s amazing and I’ll me mention that I’ll live in it full time and they like that’s so lucky and it is and it isn’t like anybody can do it it’s just a risk that you’ve got to take and the leap which was massive but you that you’ve got to do these things to reap the gains so that’s exactly what I did you’ve just got to do it you’ve got to bite the bullet I was in a lucky position that I got funds to sort of do it favorite thing about it is just the freedom just to be here you know various Park ups and just to be sat sometimes you can be sat at some lovely a lovely spot almost like this on your own and you just look out watch the sunset and think I’m the only one that’s seen this right now so that’s absolutely mindblowing downsides the the really isn’t I can’t even think of probably like just emptying gray water and stuff like that you know that extra bit of planning to make sure that you’ve got enough food in the fridge beer or whatever that you’ve got to plan forward for 4 days or more or you know that that’s probably a bit of a downside but generally not that bad is it going forward future wise somebody’s going to have to persuade me pretty damn good to even get back into bricks and motor this is something else more people need to see that it’s it’s possible more than anything and it’s generally quite easy to do stuff like this watch a YouTube channel somebody on YouTube doing such and such and work it out yourself and have a go it’s hard because I’m still doing the build to put a cost on I’ve I’ve got no electric bill water I can just pick up from almost anywhere the pub down here or various stuff like that heating is just diesel so yeah cost of living is yeah saving hundreds and hundreds a even a week I’ve got no electric bills which are through the roof at the minute I believe I’m kind of out of that now from living in this for two years so I don’t really know what the cost of household bills are anymore okay so hope you enjoyed looking at the truck I’m on Instagram is bearded spren and I’ve got um making our own looking a truck that I should be using more but I just use my personal one but come and follow and yeah get on to this video more of these These are brilliant and thanks for [Music] watching all right guys thanks for tuning in to another video there and a big thanks for Carl for inviting us over and showing us around his place make sure to check him out on social media the links will be down below as to where to find him and if you want to see more content like this check these videos out here let us know in the comments what you thought of that give us a like and we’ll see you in the next [Music] video