Fiat Ducato as a camper: sizes, weight and what to check

The Ducato's cargo area is roughly 1.87 metres wide inside. That sounds like a detail, but it is exactly the width at which a bed fits crosswise for most people. Many competitors are a few centimetres narrower, and those few centimetres decide whether your bed can run across the van or has to run lengthwise. A crosswise bed saves about a metre of van length compared to a lengthwise one, and that metre becomes your kitchen, bathroom or garage.

On top of that, the same van is sold under three names. The Peugeot Boxer and the Citroen Jumper (Citroen Relay in the United Kingdom, Ram ProMaster in North America) come off the same line and share nearly all parts. That triples the used supply and keeps parts affordable.

The downside: the Ducato is front-wheel drive with a low load floor. Good for interior height and for stepping in, less suited to anyone who genuinely wants to leave the tarmac. And because so many builders pick it, a good one in the popular size is rarely cheap.

The Ducato comes in four lengths and three heights. The exterior figure tells you where you can still park; the interior figure tells you what you can build. Manufacturer figures, rounded:

• L1: about 4.96 m outside, about 2.67 m of cargo length inside
• L2: about 5.41 m outside, about 3.12 m of cargo length inside
• L3: about 6.00 m outside, about 3.71 m of cargo length inside
• L4: about 6.36 m outside, about 4.07 m of cargo length inside

The heights refer to interior cargo height: H1 about 1.66 m, H2 about 1.93 m, H3 about 2.17 m. Subtract a few centimetres at every height for your floor build-up and your ceiling.

Most self-builders end up with L2H2 or L3H2. L2H2 still fits an ordinary parking space and is enough for a crosswise bed, a kitchen and a seating area. L3H2 adds the room you need for a fixed bathroom or a garage under the bed. An L4 drives just as easily on the motorway, but you notice it in an old town centre and in the price of some ferries and toll roads. H1 only makes sense if you are deliberately building low, for multi-storey car parks for instance: you will not be standing up in it.

The 1.87 metres between the walls is the bare metal figure. What is left depends on how you insulate and finish. Count on 2 to 4 centimetres of insulation per side plus a panel, so you lose 6 to 12 centimetres in total. That leaves roughly 1.75 to 1.80 metres of bed width.

Enough for most people, but not for everyone. Two ways to claw back centimetres: make the insulation thinner at bed height and finish it with a thin panel, or build a recess into the wall on one side for your feet or your head. Builders do this routinely; it costs you insulation value at exactly the spot where your head rests, so it is a trade-off.

Measure this before you decide anything else. Lie down in your own van with a tape measure, at the spot where the bed will go, and account for the ribs in the wall. If it does not fit, that decides the rest of your layout: a lengthwise bed needs a longer van.

The Ducato comes in several weight classes. Versions up to a gross vehicle weight of 3,500 kg can be driven on a category B licence. Above that, at the heavier versions around 4,000 kg, you need a C1 licence. That is the biggest fork in your whole plan, because it sets how much you are allowed to build.

An empty panel van of this size often weighs somewhere between 2,000 and 2,300 kg, depending on length, height, engine and equipment. What yours actually weighs is on the registration document of that specific van; do not go by a number from a brochure. With a kerb weight of 2,150 kg and 3,500 kg permitted you have 1,350 kg left, and everything comes out of that: the conversion, water, gas, batteries, luggage, bikes and the people inside.

The heavier version has a reinforced rear axle and heavier tyres. Anyone carrying a lot of water or planning a garage full of tools runs into the 3,500 kg limit sooner than they expect. Work it out before you buy, not after.

The current shape of the Ducato has been around since 2006 and has been thoroughly revised twice: in 2014 and again in 2021. You can see it in the nose and the dashboard; technically it shows in the engines and the electronics.

The engine you meet most often in the model years that matter for self-builds is the 2.3 litre MultiJet diesel, in outputs running roughly from 110 to 180 hp. For a camper of this weight the middle of that range is plenty; the extra power mostly shows uphill and in fuel consumption. From 2021 onwards there is a newer two-litre or 2.2-litre engine, with a nine-speed automatic available.

The 2.3 MultiJet runs a timing belt, not a chain. The replacement interval differs per model year and per market, so check the service schedule for that specific van and ask for proof that it has been done. Known points of attention at higher mileages are the exhaust gas recirculation valve (the EGR valve), the diesel particulate filter on vans that did mostly short trips, and the injectors. None of the three is a reason to walk away, but all three are a reason to take the service history seriously.

A panel van has usually not spent its life in a garage. On this type, rust is the first thing you check, not the last. Four places where reports cluster:

• The rear wheel arches, inside and out
• The sills, especially under the sliding door where sand and road salt collect
• The bottom edge of the rear doors and the lip the seals sit on
• The roof seams and the area around the rain gutter, particularly if something was ever mounted up there

Bring a torch and a magnet. Where the magnet does not stick, there is filler. Look under the floor panel if it lifts out, and in the corners behind the wheel arches on the inside.

Surface rust on a seam is normal and treatable. Rust that has eaten through a structural panel is not: that is welding work, and a problem at inspection. Treat whatever you find before you insulate, because after that you will never reach it again. That is the single most important ordering decision in the whole build.

Most self-builders buy a van that is five to ten years old with serious mileage. On a panel van that matters less than on a car, provided it was maintained. What to check, in order of how expensive it gets when it goes wrong:

1. Rust on structural parts. See the previous section. This is the one point where walking away is the right answer.
2. Service history, with invoices. Timing belt, clutch and turbo are the items that can cost you thousands.
3. The sliding door and the rear doors. They should move smoothly and close properly; doors that sit crooked point to damage or worn runners.
4. Traces of an earlier body or rack. Holes in the roof or walls that have been patched are tomorrow's leaks.
5. Clutch and gearbox on a test drive that includes a hill. A loaded camper asks more of both than an empty van does.

A van that did courier work made a lot of short trips, which is hard on the particulate filter. A van that did long distances has more kilometres but often a healthier engine. Mileage on its own says little.

The conversion itself weighs more than most builders expect. Insulation and panelling, a floor, furniture, a water tank, batteries, solar panels and a kitchen add up quickly to somewhere between 400 and 700 kg, depending on how and from what you build. Water is the quiet one: a hundred litres is a hundred kilos, and it usually does not sit over the axle where you want it.

That is why the weight calculation belongs at the start of your plan and not at the end. Work out your kerb weight from the registration document, subtract it from the permitted maximum, and divide what is left between the conversion, your supplies and the people. If that pushes you over the limit, you can still change the plan now; after the build the only remedy is leaving things at home.

Axle distribution counts too, not just the total. A water tank and batteries far back load the rear axle more heavily than the total weight suggests. The weight tools on this site cover both: what you add up, and where it ends up.