I Lived in a Chevy Astro for Years. Here Is Exactly How to Turn a Minivan Into a Camper, and What Minivan Kits Really Cost

We lived in a Chevy Astro for years, and the best thing about a minivan camper is the thing nobody puts in the brochure: nobody looks at it twice. Not the neighbors, not the campground host, not the guy in the next spot at the trailhead.

A minivan camper is also the cheapest way into van life that still gives you a real bed. A used minivan plus a kit runs a fraction of a converted Sprinter, you get 20-plus miles to the gallon, and you can still use the drive-through. The honest catch is headroom and space: you sit up, you do not stand up, and two people is the limit.

This guide covers the minivans that convert best (and the two that are not sold new anymore), six conversion kits with the prices they actually list, the six steps of a DIY build, and five real builds from people living in theirs.

The minivans that make the best campers

Any minivan with a flat-folding or removable second and third row can be a camper. These are the ones people actually convert, and what changed recently that matters for a build.

Toyota Sienna

The Sienna is the minivan every kit maker builds for first: reliable, cheap to fix anywhere, and the only minivan sold with all-wheel drive for years. The current generation is hybrid-only with all-wheel drive available, which makes it the most fuel-efficient minivan you can camp in. One build note: the second-row seats in the current generation do not come out, so builders either work on top of folded seats or buy a pre-redesign Sienna with removable rows.

Chevy Astro

The Astro has not been built in two decades, and it is still the mini rig we recommend to people on a tight budget. They turn up on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist for a few thousand dollars, the rear-wheel-drive truck bones are easy to work on, and the cargo version has a flat floor and no windows to cover. Ours carried us for years. Here is the full story of the Astro as a camper.

Dodge Grand Caravan (used only) and Chrysler Pacifica

Dodge stopped building the Grand Caravan after 2020, which is why it is now the cheapest big minivan on the used market and still the single most common minivan for a kit: Stow ‘n Go seats fold into the floor and leave the flattest space of any minivan. Its living successor is the Chrysler Pacifica (and the Chrysler Voyager), with the same fold-flat seats and a plug-in hybrid version that can run a 12-volt fridge off the big battery. Our Grand Caravan camper guide shows what fits inside.

Kia Carnival (the Sedona’s replacement)

The Kia Sedona was the quick, no-modification camper: pull the middle seats, fold the rear bench flat, drop in a foam mattress. Kia replaced it with the Carnival, which keeps the fold-flat rear bench and adds a hybrid. If you find a used Sedona for cheap, nothing about the camper math has changed.

Honda Odyssey

The Odyssey gives a six-foot sleeper a full-length bed, holds its value, and has the big windows that make a campsite feel like a campsite (and that you will want to cover at night). It is the least fuel-efficient of the current minivans, which matters on a long trip. See what an Odyssey conversion looks like.

Minivan camper conversion kits, with the prices they list

A kit turns a minivan into a camper in an afternoon and back into a minivan for the school run, without a saw. Prices below are what each maker publishes; where a maker quotes privately, it says so.

Freeway Camper Kit

Freeway publishes the clearest prices in the category: $5,599.99 for a complete kit built to a specific minivan (Sienna, Odyssey, Grand Caravan and Voyager, Pacifica and Voyager) and a ladder of universal kits that fit almost any minivan, from the $1,249.99 Nanaimo bed to the $4,874.99 Nomad. They also sell rooftop tents, SUV kits and solar add-ons. See the Freeway Camper Kit range.

Roadloft

Roadloft’s kits install in minutes, come out just as fast, and give you several layouts from one set of modules, which is why they suit the weekend camper who still needs a minivan on Monday. More than 3,000 kits are on the road. Pricing lives in their minivan shop rather than on the homepage; recent reviews put the Solo kit around $4,600. Visit Roadloft.

Vanpackers

Vanpackers builds pre-assembled kits around storage: drawers, shelves and a bed that use every inch of a minivan. Kits land under $5,000, and add-ons like Sienna and Dodge shelf sets are $295 CAD. We looked at their Grand Caravan kit here.

Riverleaf InstaCamper

Riverleaf’s drop-in boxes come in four sizes. The Arches kit holds two removable drawers, a collapsible basin sink, a portable gas stove with windscreen, a three-inch sectional mattress with cover and a table leg stand and base. The Grand Teton, their best seller, is the bigger one: four removable drawers, a faucet with a 12-volt submersible pump, a stainless basin, a four-gallon fresh water container, the stove and the mattress. Use the coupon code WAYWARD50 to get $50 off your order. Check out Riverleaf conversion kits.

Oasis Campervans and Contravans

Oasis Campervans in Colorado hand-builds Sienna conversions to order and is booking builds for the coming fall and winter; they have said they will move to selling fully converted vans after that, so if you want a commission, ask now. Contravans, in Denver, has shifted to small cargo vans (Transit Connect, NV200, ProMaster City, from $8,998) rather than minivan kits, with rooftop tents, fridges and awnings as add-ons.

How to build a DIY minivan camper in six steps

1. Remove the seats

Everything behind the driver’s seat comes out, usually two rows. Store them somewhere dry if you plan to turn the van back into a minivan. A minivan camper sleeps one or two comfortably; three is a bigger van’s job, and our DIY campervan guide covers that.

2. Decide what storage you need

Most builds keep storage under the bed, reachable from the rear hatch and the sliding doors. Decide early: a 12-volt fridge or a cooler, a portable toilet or none, a full kitchen or a Jetboil, how many changes of clothes, how much water, whether a dog needs a spot, and whether a portable power station rides along.

3. Build the bed frame

The bed is the whole point. Measure for your height and take the extra inches if the van allows them; nobody regrets legroom. These campervan bed ideas show the platform, slider and fold-out options that work in a minivan.

4. Add storage and amenities

Now the cooler, the clothes bins and the camp stove go in. Some people run a few containers on the floor; some build slide-out kitchens on drawer glides. There is no wrong answer, only the one that fits your budget and the space you have.

5. Cover the windows

Insulated or blackout window covers are the difference between sleeping and not sleeping in a minivan, and they hold heat in winter and keep it out in summer. Minivans have a lot of glass; budget for it.

6. Pack and go

Mattress in, bedding on, and the essentials that make the road comfortable: a good pillow, a toiletry bag, a first aid kit, jumper cables, a portable power source, a water filter, a basic mess kit, a laundry bag and bungee cords (you will thank us later). A minivan camping tent off the hatch doubles your living space.

Five real minivan campers to copy

Amanda’s 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan

Amanda, from Sweden, has traveled full time since 2018 and moved to Canada with her boyfriend on a working holiday visa. They bought a 2004 Grand Caravan, pulled every rear seat and built the interior from scratch: a double bed with storage underneath that turns into a couch, shelves on both sides, a table that hangs from the coat hooks for meals and work, a small kitchen with a sink, USB-charged electric tap and gas stove, a slide-out counter that extends outside so the van never steams up, and a cooler between the front seats that charges off the engine. Amanda’s blog has the full build.

Glenn’s $200 Toyota Sienna

Glenn loved his old VW camper and hated how often it broke down, so he sold it, bought a Sienna and converted it himself for $200, then drove it 12,000 miles around the country with his partner Francesca and their dog Pi. A double bed in the back converts to a couch, a narrow table in the middle works for meals and a laptop, shelves on the left hold utensils and fruit, clothes and cooking gear live under the bed, and a tarp on two bamboo poles makes a front porch. More pictures on Glenn’s blog.

Lisa’s 1997 Chevy Astro

Lisa moved from Germany to Vancouver, one of Canada’s most expensive cities, and chose a minivan over rent. Her 1997 Astro has a comfortable single bed at the back that slides out into a double or a sofa, a big drawer under it, a simple kitchen with a sink, water filter and foot pump, a flip-up counter extension, a propane heater for Canadian winters, and a hammock over the bed for storage, all softened with blankets and cushions. Lisa’s YouTube channel shows it.

Maya and Michael’s Dodge Grand Caravan

Maya and Michael caught the travel bug in Slovakia, road-tripped thousands of miles across the US and Canada in a Grand Caravan, then bought the same van (badged a Chrysler Grand Voyager) when they moved to New Zealand. Their build is the simplest here: a platform bed in the back with storage under it, and that is it. They cook on a camp stove and carry bikes inside or on the roof, because the point of their van is being outside. Their blog has the details.

ForestyForest’s Chevrolet Uplander

ForestyForest travels the US and Canada solo in a Chevrolet Uplander. He started with a removable DIY build, then installed everything permanently: shelves, a single bed, a table that is kitchen, desk and dining table, a diesel heater and a cooler. A wall closes off the living space and the passenger seat is gone, so a bike fits inside. His YouTube channel has the tour.

Is a minivan camper right for you?

If you want to sleep in a real bed, park anywhere and spend a few thousand dollars instead of fifty, yes. If you need to stand up, cook inside in the rain, or travel as three, read our guide to the best vans for van life and the small campervans one size up. Either way, start with the bed, cover the windows, and go.

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Sources

Kit prices and company status checked October 2026: Freeway Camper Kit · Roadloft · Vanpackers · Riverleaf InstaCamper · Oasis Campervans · Contravans. Minivan facts: Edmunds’ current minivan rankings (Sienna hybrid and all-wheel drive; Carnival as the Sedona’s successor) · CarGurus on minivans for camping (Sienna rear seats not removable; Pacifica fold-away seating) · Dodge on the Grand Caravan’s discontinuation and SlashGear.