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brdmh44's avatar
brdmh44
Explorer
Apr 25, 2015

Camper remodel questions

Hi everyone!

New member here, but an active camper for 13 years.

I currently have a 1999.5 F250 extended cab shortbed 4x4 7.3 truck and a 1996 Sun View Sun Lite camper. It's an 8.5 unit.

I've had a truck camper before, but that was in high school so it never really went anywhere. After owning a few travel trailers I really missed having a truck camper. Last fall while scouting craigslist I located a 1996 Sun View Sun Lite for 600 dollars needing very minor work, needless so say I bought that in a hurry!

Unfortunately since Sun View went out of business, I'm not really sure of the specifications. This unit was NOT equipped with A/C, an auxiliary battery, fresh water tank, grey water tank, or shower.

I've already purchased a good used roof mount air conditioning unit to install, it can get too hot here where I live to enjoy summer camping without it.

Typical of most slide ins, it has a table bed to the right side. I've noticed that most newer campers utilize a fold down couch with a table that can be placed in front in lieu of the typical bed table. Has anyone made the switch? I enjoy the additional leg room the couch offers over the bulky table, not to mention the comfort.

My biggest issue would be the bathroom. I have an elevated toilet that sits atop the black water tank. I'm planning to camp at the Ottawa national forest this summer and they do not offer showering facilities. Has anyone built a shower pan and converted a dry bath to a wet bath? I have room to add a grey water tank and hot water heater, that's not a problem.

I'm not afraid to put forth the effort or money as my initial investment was minimal. I tried to locate a truck camper equipped with what I'd like but they were 7,500+

So for you DIY guys/gals, do you have any advice?

Thanks!
Truck Campers

10 Replies

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  • brdmh44's avatar
    brdmh44
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2015
    Thank you Dave! Sometimes seeing someone else's design helps. Your pictures really helped helped back up the design I was thinking of. I'm 5'11" and my gf is 5'6" so we have a little head room to work with. While I don't have a porta potty in mine, that doesn't look too bad. The only thing I'm still contemplating is not using a grey water tank, I may just drain directly into wheeled containers and head to the dump pit. I'm taking a few measurements today and see what I come up with.
  • Dave_Pete's avatar
    Dave_Pete
    Explorer II
    Apr 27, 2015
    Sounds like you have a similar situation to ours. Ours in is no way yet complete, as I'm doing the entire camper, but check out this link for some ideas, and a link in the first post to a shower pan that may work for you. I'm impressed with the pan quality, especially for the price.

    Resto Mod - Bathroom
  • brdmh44's avatar
    brdmh44
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2015
    Thank you for the links TrailGranny50, much appreciated. When I searched Google nothing came up, hope was getting lost in a hurry.

    I'm well aware of the challenges that face me in my rehab project, this won't be super easy but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. The kitchen sink just drains outside at the moment, that will soon change.

    Thanks for the help everyone!
  • Steelhog's avatar
    Steelhog
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2015
    garryk6 wrote:
    Not being familiar with your sunlite, does it have a Hot water heater? If you are not too afraid of freezing issues, install an external shower, and spend $60-100 for a shower tent that is free standing, use a wooden shower floor. If you do not have a hot water heater, the portable external hot water heaters could be plumbed in for use outside from your TCs water supply. This may not work if there are rules about not allowing water on the ground... I have a similar predicament, as my wife would appreciate the ability to shower in our TC. I hope to weld up a shower pan in aluminum plate. And add a Hotwater heater. But I need to weld up a second 14 gallon gray water tank first...
    Too many projects, so we continue to either find facilities, or bird bath it between shower facilities..
    Garry


    Just joking but asking about a Hot water heater is good for a chuckle as I have just a water heater since hot water does not need to be heated:)
  • trailgranny50's avatar
    trailgranny50
    Explorer
    Apr 27, 2015
    For the wet bath shower pan combined with stool mount and blackwater tank, called rv shower pan combo, you can go online and do a search for them. Here are three:
    www.rvpartsnation.com
    www.pellandent.com
    www.ameri-cart.com and there are others.
    Each company will have multiple units at varying prices. Don't pay the highest as they're all pretty much the same quality. The first place had one for $159 or there abouts and the others had some higher by increments of $10 or so. When I started looking they were like $450 or more. Taking a step back and waiting a while I got mine for the above lower prices. Worked perfect. You just need to be exact where you want your 3"black water drain located in the bottom of the tank under the stool and where you want the shower pan drain located and exact measurements for your available space/dimentions, length, width and height. You will need to add some support under the shower pan side. If you don't installment a grey tank for kitchen sink, shower and bathroom sink be REAL sure you open your small drain line BEFORE running water down the drain. Found out the hard way just how fast that skinny drain backs up and into the shower pan! You'll need room under the shower pan for a pee trap to prevent unwanted odors from that drain. The stool is a direct dump and the bowl knife does the job in the black water tank.....along with chemical deodorant. It's aprocess for sure.
  • brdmh44's avatar
    brdmh44
    Explorer
    Apr 26, 2015
    Thank you all for the wonderful ideas! I've often thought about just using a "blue boy" for the grey water, I never camp somewhere without a dump station. Unfortunately an outdoor shower isn't going to work for me, a few places on the list this summer don't allow run off. I have a "on demand" hot water heater that sits outside and gets hooked in line, works much better than the built in units.

    Now for the toilet/shower combos, where are you finding them? I've only been able to locate cassette toilets. I'd honestly be happy with a shower pan that drains via a hose to a storage container.

    I'm planning to remove the table and install a couch instead, that will free up some space to enlarge the bathroom too.

    I truly enjoy this camper, I also take pride in my work so remodeling makes sense.

    Thank you everyone!
  • whizbang's avatar
    whizbang
    Explorer II
    Apr 26, 2015
    Unless you need to drop down the dinette table for sleeping, toss it! I've replace all my big bulky tables with much much smaller tables. Typically, I use a hardwood cutting board purchased from a hardware store. You can shop around for one just large enough for two people to eat off (or only one person if you camp solo). You can easily store the mini table top when it's not in use. Your dinette is now a roomy sofa/seating area. Tada! Lean back. Cross your legs. Enjoy.
  • trailgranny50's avatar
    trailgranny50
    Explorer
    Apr 25, 2015
    If you're handy in the plumbing department go for the hot water heater, fresh and grey water tanks. There are units available that are potty/shower combos which make a wet bath with a built in black water tank and shower drain either fires to the holding tank or "blue boy" but size available in you're camper can be the issue. In lieu of inside shower maybe install an outside shower with a long enough hose to extend to an outside shower tent and use the pan ideas. Our old camper is only missing a grey water tank and we drag along a blue tote for that when there are no sewer hookups, which is often in small or out of the way places. I worked on our old camper since getting it last June, as we could afford it and the camper stayed usable, if not fully functional, the whole time. Just did my last item on the list yesterday with the addition of a rear door awning. Had one I'd made but this ARB BAG awning is more substantial and was the only one I could find to fit our awkward and limited back end. The ladder is too close to the door for anything with support arms fastened to the wall and couldn't justify over $1,000 for the auto ones that fold toward the center from each side, our ideal. Anyway, probably a case of TMI but I have much more pride of ownership in doing all this work mostly on my own with professional assistance when I felt out of my depth. Good luck, on modifying and Happy Camping.
  • coolmom42's avatar
    coolmom42
    Explorer II
    Apr 25, 2015
    I've seen people use a square plastic concrete mixing pan for a shower tub, or as containment for gray water. There are showers made from a (new) garden sprayer, useful in a pop up shower tent. The large plastic pan would contain the gray water, which could then be poured into a jug for disposal transport.
  • garryk6's avatar
    garryk6
    Explorer
    Apr 25, 2015
    Not being familiar with your sunlite, does it have a Hot water heater? If you are not too afraid of freezing issues, install an external shower, and spend $60-100 for a shower tent that is free standing, use a wooden shower floor. If you do not have a hot water heater, the portable external hot water heaters could be plumbed in for use outside from your TCs water supply. This may not work if there are rules about not allowing water on the ground... I have a similar predicament, as my wife would appreciate the ability to shower in our TC. I hope to weld up a shower pan in aluminum plate. And add a Hotwater heater. But I need to weld up a second 14 gallon gray water tank first...
    Too many projects, so we continue to either find facilities, or bird bath it between shower facilities..
    Garry

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