SWB vs LWB: Pros and cons

[Bav]

Never towed with my LWB camper, but it's easy to drive and never had a problem parking (even with a 3-bike, towbar-mounted bike rack attached). I certainly wouldn't want any less room when camping... and that's with just the 2 of us!!

Forums, eh? All full of diametrically opposed opinions, none of which are wrong!

 

[Samro]

Never towed with my LWB camper, but it's easy to drive and never had a problem parking (even with a 3-bike, towbar-mounted bike rack attached). I certainly wouldn't want any less room when camping... and that's with just the 2 of us!!

Forums, eh? All full of diametrically opposed opinions, none of which are wrong!

The negativity in my post probably needs some further explanation!

This year, our family adventures include sites high in the French Alps and then on to Italy where camp sites have been much less generous for space than we have enjoyed during previous adventures to France,

I love my LWB van- Generally it is fine to park and tow with, but there have been some roads and campsites, where things have been be tight for a 44'9" x 8'1" vehicle with a combined weight of 4900 kg.... Losing 400mm of drivetrain length would have been helpful at times.

My gripe regarding parking issues was really down to the fact that on the day of posting i had parked on the 8th floor of an Italian car park called "Garage San Marco" which is situated at Venice train station. This car park was ridiculously tight to drive up using one of those spiralling access ramps. The ramp on the way down is significantly narrower than the ramp up and the descent required extreme care to avoid "kerbing" my wheels all the way down all 8 floors! This would not have been nearly such an issue with a SWB van,....... It would also have been a non-issue if I hadn't added 15mm spacers to the rear wheels for cosmetic purposes!

 

[Samro]

PS A Volvo estate is only about 100mm (4 inches) shorter than a LWB Transporter.

The combined width, length and height make any T6 more tricky to lose in a car park than a Volvo Estate! (Example -1.8m height limit is common.)

Additional edit - I've towed with a number of our LWB Transporters and never had any problems with either a caravan or a car transporter trailer loaded with a Beetle. Just get the trailer nose weight right!

The increased turning circle is less desirable for towing than that of the SWB. It is the swing that is required (when reversing a trailer) that makes a short tractor unit preferable.

 

[Wildcamper]

We have a LWB High top camper, T6. I would not swap it for a SWB. We don't like pop-tops either. There are compromises but then life is about compromises.

 

[Bav]

The negativity in my post probably needs some further explanation!

This year, our family adventures include sites high in the French Alps and then on to Italy where camp sites have been much less generous for space than we have enjoyed during previous adventures to France,

I love my LWB van- Generally it is fine to park and tow with, but there have been some roads and campsites, where things have been be tight for a 44'9" x 8'1" vehicle with a combined weight of 4900 kg.... Losing 400mm of drivetrain length would have been helpful at times.

My gripe regarding parking issues was really down to the fact that on the day of posting i had parked on the 8th floor of an Italian car park called "Garage San Marco" which is situated at Venice train station. This car park was ridiculously tight to drive up using one of those spiralling access ramps. The ramp on the way down is significantly narrower than the ramp up and the descent required extreme care to avoid "kerbing" my wheels all the way down all 8 floors! This would not have been nearly such an issue with a SWB van,....... It would also have been a non-issue if I hadn't added 15mm spacers to the rear wheels for cosmetic purposes!

No explanation required @Samro - there truly are no right or wrong opinions on such subjective matters.

I've never tried towing anything with my van, nor driven it in the Alps, nor gone anywhere near a multistorey carpark in it, but I'm sure I could make a complete horlicks of all of these things - LWB or not!!

 

[T6Gary]

I have a swb as in my opinion just a better looking van. Drove a lwb transit for work and when you have to park it in town 10 times a day you start to get annoyed. Most on street parking these days only caters for tiny cars let alone lwb vans.

 

[Wildcamper]

Never had a problem parking my LWB, but I don't try 10 time a day either.

 

[T6Gary]

When you need to park at a specific address it's annoying as I need access to my van. If you're not bothered where you can park less of an issue. University cities and cities in general are getting so hard to find parking these days. I live near the coast and coastal resorts are clamping down on camper parking as most do not allow them in car parks. Speaking to a traffic warden they said most combi style vans are allowed but pop tops is what they look for when searching for "campers"

 

[rod_vw]

When you need to park at a specific address it's annoying as I need access to my van. If you're not bothered where you can park less of an issue. University cities and cities in general are getting so hard to find parking these days. I live near the coast and coastal resorts are clamping down on camper parking as most do not allow them in car parks. Speaking to a traffic warden they said most combi style vans are allowed but pop tops is what they look for when searching for "campers"

The wardens need it pointing out that in the eyes of the DVLA a 'pop-top' is a van with windows NOT a Motor Caravan and the will not register it as such.

 

[T6Gary]

That's a whole other argument. I said they look for pop tops when looking for campers and not bother looking at non pop top vans.

 

[MikeWillmott]

Never towed with my LWB camper, but it's easy to drive and never had a problem parking (even with a 3-bike, towbar-mounted bike rack attached). I certainly wouldn't want any less room when camping... and that's with just the 2 of us!!

Forums, eh? All full of diametrically opposed opinions, none of which are wrong!

Same here!