Sprinter Van Accessories for Full-Time Van Life

A Sprinter is the right van to live in — more headroom than anything else in its class, a chassis that'll go 300k miles with basic care, and a conversion-friendly interior. But a stock Sprinter isn't a home. Here are the accessories we sell most often to people going from commuter to full-time, roughly in the order you'll want them.

Storage that doesn't eat floor space

The single biggest problem in any van build is where to put stuff. The move is to use the walls and ceiling before you start eating floor.

• Wall cabinets. Bolt to the van's L-track or directly to the ribs. Gives you organized storage without losing walking space.
• Ceiling soft cabinets. Lightweight, hang from the ceiling, come down in 30 seconds when you want the headroom back. Good for clothes or groceries — anything you're not rummaging through daily.
• Roof rack storage. Install a rack and you've added an attic. Lock boxes for tools, recovery gear, anything that can live outside. Make sure whatever's up there is watertight.

If you're using the roof for storage, install a side-access ladder. Climbing on the tires gets old immediately and it's a fast way to dent a fender.

Inside, a clothes hanger bar keeps shirts off the floor and doubles as a drying rack after you wash clothes in a sink or bucket.

Kitchen, bed, bathroom

You can get by parking at campgrounds with bathhouses, but that defeats the point. A minimum of three things will make the van livable.

Kitchen

• Cooking. A portable fire pit is more versatile than a built-in stove for most people — works in places that ban ground fires, breaks down, cooks real food.
• Table. A removable table kit is the right answer for most builds. Up for dinner, down and out of the way the rest of the time.
• Sink. A compact stainless sink with a glass lid gives you dishwashing without permanently losing counter space — lid down, it's counter again.

Bathroom

A portable toilet is the right call for 95% of builds. Fresh/black separation, no plumbing, lives in a cabinet or bench. Don't over-engineer this step.

Sleep and privacy

For a minimalist start, a front-seat inflatable bed that bridges between the two front seats is cheaper and faster than building a platform. Deflate it in the morning, drive.

Window covers are non-negotiable. Without them every stealth park becomes a fishbowl. Magnetic sets install in 60 seconds and give you both privacy and insulation.

Electrical and lighting

A lot of the best van-life hours are outside the van at dusk. Lighting matters.

• LED rafter light bar under an awning. Bright enough to cook by, efficient enough to run off a house battery all night.
• A-pillar light kit. Four LEDs mounted at the A-pillars. Floodlights camp at night; also genuinely useful on unlit backroads.

For driving, a cup-holder phone mount keeps navigation at eye level without adhesive mounts. If you want charging integrated, there's a magnetic version with a built-in power hub.

For the unexpected

Full-time van life is a long sequence of small problems, most of which are easier with one of the following on board.

Water tanks

Choose based on where the space is in your build:

• 22-gallon undermount. Hangs off the frame. Zero interior footprint. The default for most buildouts.
• 20-gallon fender mount. Inside the van, over the wheel well. Flat top doubles as a shelf.
• 40-gallon universal tank. For people who don't want to think about water. Inside or outside mount.

Auxiliary fuel tank

Loaded vans get rough fuel economy, and running out of diesel in a national forest is a long walk. A 20-gallon aux tank effectively doubles your range between stops.

Leveling blocks

Fiamma Magnum leveling blocks are the cheapest quality-of-life upgrade on this list. Unlevel parking is a terrible night of sleep. Blocks fix it in 90 seconds.

Recovery tracks

Anyone who actually uses the van the way they mean to is going to get it stuck at some point. Recovery tracks live in a rear compartment until the day you need them — then they're worth more than anything else you own.

Running boards

Sprinters are tall. Running boards cut that one big step into two smaller ones. You'll be in and out a dozen times a day. Your knees will notice.

Making room you didn't have

If you're already filled the standard cargo area and want more, two options:

• Sprinter capsules. Replace two rear side windows with bump-out panels. Adds enough width to sleep sideways — huge floor-space win, especially on a 144" wheelbase.
• Enclosed awning. A Fiamma privacy awning with drop-down sides gives you an entire extra room when you're parked. Great for group trips or working from the van with gear spread out.

Start here

If you're just starting the build, the shortest list is: window covers, a portable toilet, a platform or air bed, and leveling blocks. That's enough to sleep comfortably and live in the van while you figure out what you actually need next. Everything else on this list you'll know you want when you're living in it.