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Ford Transit Moto Camper Van Build

That looks great. What's the plan for eating in the van? Passenger side turns around and then sit on the fridge? Do you have a table setup at all?

Most, if not all eating and cooking happens outside. The passenger seat does swivel and we could just sit in bed, if the weather is awful. We are typically traveling to moto events, in decent weather. I think a lot of builds focus on cooking and hanging out inside, this makes perfect hermits. Camping at events is supposed to be social. I see people pull up with giant campers at events and they only emerge to get on their bike and ride. We have a different mindset.
 
Most, if not all eating and cooking happens outside. The passenger seat does swivel and we could just sit in bed, if the weather is awful. We are typically traveling to moto events, in decent weather. I think a lot of builds focus on cooking and hanging out inside, this makes perfect hermits. Camping at events is supposed to be social. I see people pull up with giant campers at events and they only emerge to get on their bike and ride. We have a different mindset.
But, like... you've met people, right?
 
This is our kitchen. The stove is usually on the table but I was grilling this evening.

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We picked up a shitter for the van.

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If you are not familiar with these, they have a small fan that exhausts the smell outside. This will rarely get used but there were several events last year where we really wanted our own facilities.

I need help/suggestions where to exhaust it. As you can see in the photo above, we hang out on the passenger side. I have concerns that if I exhaust on the underside of the van (on the driver side) that it might not be far enough away. I could exhaust through the divers side wall or the roof but they both have many waterproofing challenges. I also am considering the driver side rear wheel well (Lots of waterproofing issues too). Here is a pic of the outside fitting.

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I think Transits have flapper valves that vent pressure so you can close the doors, wonder if one side would be enough. :hmmmmm
 
Its funny. On that 'other site' I never connected your forum name to your face. But here I read your post and realized who you are. We've met at some trials events. Mike often sends me your training vids.

We're thinking about putting a pooper in the van for the rare occasion we are camping somewhere w/ no facilities. What made you pick the Separett over the Laveo? We're leaning towards the latter w/ it's 'diaper genie' mechanism. (as those work awesome when the kid was little and generating an enormous amount of foul excrement.) I can see where the operating cost of the Laveo would be too high for full time use but that not our use case. We were just camping at a friend's barn property over long weekend doing some riding/drinking/hanging out there are no facilities. My wife is an outdoors person and can go in the woods when needed, she would still prefer something more convenient. That got me thinking again about a portable toilet and I happened to bump into your thread here.

I don't understand the aversion to cutting holes in the roof (vs a wall.) Once you've done it once it seems like no big deal. Lots of modern excellent sealants. If I had to vent a pooper I'd want it as high up as possible. Definitely not under the van for the same concerns you mention.
 
I'll be interested to see how the Separett works out for you. I started the "shitters" thread over on the other site some months back because our van won't have a black tank. The Separett and the Laveo are the two frontrunners. My chassis has arrived at the upfitters so pretty soon I'll have to lock in a choice. Right now I'm leaning towards the Laveo, assuming that I'll be using campground/rest area toilets when available so cost of the bags won't be too crazy. One thing I'll be curious about is how the Separett works for your wife. I've read that ladies need to use some creative positioning to get their aim right for separating solids and liquids.
 
We've met at some trials events.

Were you just at the Candytown vintage event? Flag me down next time. Mike is a good guy.

What made you pick the Separett over the Laveo?

They were both front runners in the decision. I kind of liked the Separett and how it separated urine and stool. There were many good reviews online about it. I had my wife watch a bunch of videos and decide which she liked best. The venting is going to be a bit of work to sort out.

I don't understand the aversion to cutting holes in the roof (vs a wall.)

Our solar bulkhead fitting and the vent fan have nice mounting flanges. This makes sealing it up pretty easy. This is just a round pipe. I need to figure out how to seal it. Maybe I need a bulkhead fitting like in this pic below.

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I'll be interested to see how the Separett works out for you. I started the "shitters" thread over on the other site some months back because our van won't have a black tank. The Separett and the Laveo are the two frontrunners. My chassis has arrived at the upfitters so pretty soon I'll have to lock in a choice. Right now I'm leaning towards the Laveo, assuming that I'll be using campground/rest area toilets when available so cost of the bags won't be too crazy. One thing I'll be curious about is how the Separett works for your wife. I've read that ladies need to use some creative positioning to get their aim right for separating solids and liquids.

Your thread at the other site was great guidance on this topic. I suspect if a bit of urine goes in the wrong direction, it is no big deal. We will find out.
 
Let’s talk about seatbelts. Specifically being able to sleep in the bed safely. With the original bed setup I had 3 belts installed across the bed. One across the shins. One across the waist. And lastly across the chest. Since I upgraded the bed, they are not long enough anymore. I am thinking something more like a cargo net would be better. I don’t have the ability to sew anything. I know semi trucks use something like a cargo net but they are for twin beds, I contacted the companies and they unwilling to sell anything that is not for their products. I am trying to cover a full bed
 
I got some stuff done on the toilet install yesterday.

I decided to drill through the floor because it was really easy when compared to doing a roof or side exhaust. The toughest part was comparing both sides of the drill zone and knowing that I was not going to drill in a place where I would hit something. I used some rare earth magnets for this. At first, I tried using a piece of wire to locate the magnets but that did not work. I then went to my welding magnets and cleaned all the metal shavings off of them. This powder did the trick.

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Confident that I had a good spot to drill, I did the deed. I painted the bare metal then installed a rubber grommet over the metal. The grommet was sized such that the pipe slid through with a little effort.


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The toilet is going to be in the garage part of the van. It will get slid into a little cabinet under the bed, when not in use. I had to come up with a way that the exhaust vent would be flexible. The directions covered air flow rates for the vent. Taking these into account is why I chose the floor for the exit. I did not want to restrict flow too much with a long run to the ceiling. I sized the flexible tubing up so that it slid over the supplied tubing and hose clamped in place. There should be no restrictions with this short run.

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Then I built a frame from 80/20. This toilet is intended to sit against a wall and the toilet seat flops all the way back without support, you can see the little shark fins that I made to stop the toilet seat at just past vertical.


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With that done, I now need to do a bit of woodworking and make a door for the cubby.


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Hurry up and take a shit so you can tell us what it's like to empty. Of all the decisions we need to make in our van build, choosing a toilet is one of the toughest.

:imaposer:imaposer:imaposer:imaposer

I hope to rarely use it. The reason for the purchase is because there were multiple events we went to last year where the facilities were awful. Like port a johns that were full to the seat. Or a single unit for 50 participants, with a long line. Or they just were several hundred yards from where we were told to camp. Neither of us have a problem with going in the woods but a lot of these places did not have much privacy or we were actually parked in someone’s front yard.

Cleaning should be as simple as putting on a pair of rubber gloves and lifting the containers out.

I have concerns of the concealing screen not retracting all the way and some deposits hitting it. I have found that a slightly forceful plop down on the seat gets it out of the way. If I sit too gently, it does not fully retract. Sally has urine direction concerns but I don’t think it matters if some ends up in the wrong place.
 
The reason for the purchase is because there were multiple events we went to last year where the facilities were awful. Like port a johns that were full to the seat.
You truly know you are alive when you are sitting in a portable toilet in the middle of nowhere on a race day at 7:00 AM and it's –20 C outside.
 
:imaposer

That is really cold, is that for ice racing?
That’s about the limit for the winter enduro races. It’s only one or two races in January/February when it might get that chilly. But yeah, shitting in a frozen plastic toilet in pitch black darkness and quite literally freezing your ass off is one of those classic winter enduro moments.
 
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