Old Bread Truck Hides a Feature-Packed Living Space, It's a Perfect Stealthy Tiny Home

Step vans (also known as step trucks or multi-stop trucks) are a type of commercial vehicle designed to make multiple deliveries or stops. They feature easy access from the driver's cabin to the cargo area in the rear and are usually built on commercial truck chassis. Think of moving vans, mail trucks, ice cream vans, or bread trucks.

What makes this type of vehicle ideal for a stealthy conversion is that it typically doesn't have any windows, and people don't suspect anybody living inside, compared to cargo vans, which are the most popular base vehicles for mobile home conversions.

What we have here is a 1998 Freightliner MT45 Step Van converted by Kevin into a cozy tiny home. It measures 26 feet (7.8 meters) in length and features an almost 19-foot (5.8-meter) cargo area offering just under 200 square feet (18.6 square meters) of living space.

On the outside, it looks like your run-of-the-mill step van, with no elements hinting toward its camper DNA, with a tiny exception: the six 100 W solar panels on the roof. However, because they're mounted on two ladders attached to a roof rack, the solar panels blend right in.

The basis of Kevin's build was to be stealthy and make it look like a construction vehicle. There's even some writing on the vehicle's side, reading "Grace Industries." Kevin purchased the step van from a bread company – it was all empty inside, providing the perfect platform to create a mobile home. Kevin was set on finding a rig with a 5.9-liter Cummins Engine paired with an Allison transmission due to its reliability. It took him about a year to find the right vehicle.

Before we move inside, let me tell you more about the exterior modifications. Kevin painted the vehicle's body with white Rust-Oleum paint and replaced the original headlights with LED ones. Moreover, he changed the tires and attached a trailer hitch at the rear.

Peek or step inside the driver's cabin, and it's the same situation as on the exterior: it looks old and boring, with nothing suggesting there's a living space hidden inside the cargo area. To make it even more convincing, Kevin added a bunch of gear, such as a flashlight, safety vests, gloves, and more. He didn't stop there – Kevin even added a traffic cone rack in the front, attaching it to a new bumper he installed on the vehicle.

Once you open the metal bulkhead door separating the driver's cabin from the cargo area, you'll notice the cozy living space Kevin and his wife designed. They installed a tongue and groove ceiling, used ¼ plywood to create the walls, and ¾ plywood to make the floor. Of course, they're all insulated.

The first area you'll be in is the entryway. It features a spacious overhead cabinet and a counter on the right, while the left side is occupied by a dual seat Kevin got from a transit bus, complete with two seatbelts.

Step deeper inside the van, and you'll be in the bathroom, which was split into two parts, one on each side. One part houses a cassette toilet, while the other is a spacious shower measuring 32 x 32 inches (81 x 81 centimeters).

By the way, water in this rig is fed by a 30-gallon (114-liter) freshwater tank, and it ends up in a 25-gallon (95-liter) greywater tank mounted underneath the vehicle. Moreover, you get hot water from a 12 V propane-powered water heater.

Next, we have the kitchen located on the passenger side of the interior. It features a birch countertop, a deep stainless steel sink, a two-burner stove, a 1,000 W overhead microwave, and a fridge/freezer box.

Kevin devised a separate five-gallon (19-liter) greywater canister for the sink, as he didn't want to mix the used water from the shower and sink. That's because he uses bio-degradable soap in the shower, so he can dump that water anywhere. For the used sink water, which is mixed with conventional soap, he has to dump the canister in designated spots.

Opposite the kitchen, you'll discover an additional bed where Kevin's daughter sleeps. It's surprisingly large, and it has some storage bins underneath. For storage of any kind, Kevin added many overhead cabinets on both sides of the interior, running along the ceiling from where the kitchen begins to the rear.

The final part of the living space is the bedroom. It has a massive queen-size bed positioned higher up to leave plenty of room underneath for storage. Because Kevin and his family travel together with their three dogs, the garage under the bed also serves as a doggo bedroom.

The garage is surprisingly spacious – it can be accessed from both inside and outside the rig. This is where you'll find the electrical system, its highlights being a 300 Ah battery and a 2,000 W inverter. Another notable utility system is a Chinese diesel heater, which Kevin said could run for about 8 hours on high before running out of fuel. Kevin also houses a 2,000 W backup generator, a sizeable toolbox, a portable heater, and various tools and gear in the garage.

All in all, this is a fantastic DIY conversion integrating many creature comforts needed for a comfortable mobile lifestyle. Luckily, Kevin also shared how much this all cost to build. Before starting the project, he planned a $10,000 (€9,254) budget for the conversion.

He also budgeted a maximum of $10,000 to buy the base vehicle. By the way, this was all pre-Covid. After the pandemic, prices skyrocketed, so Kevin increased the budget to $15,000 (€13,880), and that's around what he ended up paying for the conversion, and that's including the base vehicle, from what I understood from Kevin's explanations.