Toyota Coaster Bus Conversion

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – DIY Flyscreens

August 20, 2020 by Claire Edwards Leave a Comment

Something we really wanted to make for our Toyota Coaster motorhome, was flyscreens! Our bus has so many windows, and with cats, the possibility of opening one without a flyscreen was never going to happen. So flyscreens were a must.

This is something that had been on our list from the very beginning and was one of the final things that needed to be done before we could officially move into the bus with the cats.

So the next step was to decide if we wanted to build them ourselves, or if there was a pre-built option, or if we were going to get someone like Crimsafe to make and install them for us.

After looking into it a little, we decided Crimsafe was a bit out of our price range, and whilst great for security, was not something we could make happen. We were getting to the end of our build, and the end of our budget!

So we opted on the DIY flyscreen option. Surely it couldn’t be that hard? Correct! It was not!

Not only was it super simple to do, it looks great, and was budget friendly. Oh, and of course cat friendly!

So, what type of flyscreen is available for DIY?

Here is a handy table I have made up which lists all the current flyscreen options available at Bunnings for the people looking to make them themselves.

Flyscreen Type	Features
Fibreglass	Good for general purpose uses Good visibility and airflow through the screen Good flexibility for DIY UV stabilised Cheapest option available Multiple widths available
Aluminium	Heavy duty Extra Strength than standard fibreglass Good visibility through the screen Ember protection Easy DIY install Multiple widths available
Petmesh	Approximately 6 times stronger than standard fibreglass screen Heavy gauge Good flexibility for easy DIY Resistance to damage caused by pets claws Multiple widths available
Tufflite	Thicker wire and increased gauge than standard aluminium Ember protection Good resistance to extreme weather conditions Resistance to damage caused by pets and children Multiple widths available
Stainless Steel	Marine grade stainless steel Ember protections Corrosion Resistant Ideal for coastal or bushfire prone areas Good visibility through the screen Limited widths available
Polyethylene	High density plastic Strong and durable Corrosion Resistant – ideal for coastal areas Good visibility through the screen Good flexibility for easy DIY install Multiple widths available
UV Guard	UV fibreglass material Approximately 68% UV blockage Good visibility through the screen Good airflow Multiple widths available

So which flyscreen did we choose for our Toyota Coaster motorhome?

We ended up choosing the aluminium fly screen. The main reasons we chose this one were; price, visibility and strength.

Initially we were going to buy the petmesh – for obvious reasons that we have cats living with us in our motorhome. However, the pet mesh is approximately 50% more expensive than the aluminium and as it has a higher gauge, the visibility is not as good as we wanted. So we opted for the cheaper option, the aluminium. It is still strong and durable, whilst having good visibility – not blocking off those amazing views we are building this home for!

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - Motorhome flyscreen DIY

Are we happy with our decision?

For the most part, yes.

The aluminium has been great. It had good flexibility when we were building our fly screens, and the install was easy. The screens have withstood travel without issues, and being in and around coastal areas without corrosion.

The cats have not been able to get through them (thankfully!), however, we have got a few small tear marks where they have gotten their claws stuck. Who knows if the pet mesh option would have been more durable here.

So, what items are required to make the flyscreens yourself?

Spline – foam or PVC
Spline Roller
Corner stakes (Corner brackets)
Flyscreen frame
Flyscreen of choice

Tools required for DIY –

Handsaw
Mitre Box
Measuring Tape
Scissors or stanley knife
Rubber Mallet

What we needed to attach the flyscreen to our Toyota Coaster motorhome –

Drill (and drill pieces)
Stainless steel metal screws

Drill (and drill pieces)
Pop rivet gun
Pop rivets

Steps to make the flyscreen –

Start by measuring your flyscreen frame to the size required for your motorhome.

Note – make sure that the size required does not exceed the dimensions of your flyscreen of choice as you need to be able to do it in one piece.

Once your flyscreen frame is measured up, use your mitre box and saw to cut to a 45 degree angle on each end. Be mindful of your orientation and make sure they are cut in the right direction.

Once all of your flyscreen frame is cut, insert a corner bracket into one of the ends and gently hit with the mallet until completely in place.

Repeat on the rest of the frame until they are all joined together.
Cut your flyscreen of choice to size, allowing approximately 10-15cm each side overhang and lay into place over the frame.
Starting from one of the corners, lay the spline into place in the frame and gently push down and roll into position using the spline roller.
Ensure the flyscreen stays in position during this process.
Continue all the way around the frame. Make sure the flyscreen is kept taut and in position (it’s easy to go crooked here!)
Once complete, cut the spline and push the last bit into position. You can now trim any excess flyscreen using scissors or a stanley knife.
Repeat steps on all other screens.

How we attached the flyscreens to our Toyota Coaster motorhome –

On our Toyota Coaster, there is a metal frame around the edges of our windows. We used this as a guide for how big we wanted to make our flyscreens as this was going to be the point of attachment.

Attaching it was relatively simple.

We held it into position and pre-drilled holes. With our Coaster, we were careful to not go too close to where the glass would be behind the metal frame, just in the off chance we may damage it.

Once the holes were pre-drilled we used stainless steel metal screws, and simply screwed the frame to the bus. Screws are a good option as they can always be removed at a later date (particularly if you have cats that may damage the screens!).

The reason we used stainless steel was to ensure there would be no weather corrosion.

Another option could have been to use pop rivets here.

So that is the process of the flyscreens we built for our Toyota Coaster.

Are we happy with them? YES! They look amazing, stop the bugs getting in, and our cats getting out!

Would we do it ourselves again? YES! It was so simple, cheap and a great DIY option.

If you want to check out the video of us making our flyscreens and attaching them to our Toyota Coaster motorhome, click below –

Want to read more about our Toyota Coaster conversion? Check out our other posts here – https://www.roamingonrubber.com/blog-conversion-how-to/

Can You Drive A Toyota Coaster On A Car Licence

July 25, 2020 by Shane Patmore 8 Comments

So you are wondering if you can drive a Toyota Coaster on a car licence. Short answer is yes. Long answer is… maybe?

The first step to knowing if you can drive a Toyota Coaster on a regular car licence (Class C) is understanding the Tare weight and Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of a vehicle.

Tare: This is the weight of the vehicle when empty, except for all of its fluids and 10L of fuel

GVM: This is the maximum your vehicle can weigh when fully loaded. This includes everything you want to carry, passengers and fluids/fuel.

All vehicles will have a GVM rating.

Exceeding a vehicles GVM can come with heavy fines and is the main dictator of what each licence class can drive. The GVM listed on the plate of the vehicle is the law on the maximum the vehicle can weigh and what licence class is required to drive it.

Licence Classes

There are 7 licence classes in total as detailed on the RMS website https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/licence/driver/licence-classes.html

The main ones we want to focus on for a Toyota Coaster are Class C (Car) and LR (Light Rigid). However, MR (Medium Rigid) and HR (Heavy Rigid) may be relevant if you are looking at a larger bus for your conversion.

C (Car): Vehicles up to 4.5 tonne Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM). Vehicles that seat up to 12 adults, including the driver.

LR (Light Rigid): Rigid vehicles with a GVM of more than 4.5 tonnes, but not more than 8 tonnes. Any towed trailer must not weigh more than 9 tonnes. Vehicles can carry more than 12 adults, including the driver.

Each state will have its own website with details on licence classes. It is always worth checking your own states website to ensure you have the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Toyota Coaster

A Toyota Coaster, by default, has a GVM of 4990 and Tare weight of around 3300kg (Although the tare weight can vary widely based on model, engine, seats, door type etc). This puts it in the range of requirements of a LR licence class. But I am sure you, like us, have seen lots of Coasters that claim to be drivable on a car licence.

The GVM of a vehicle is able to be downgraded by an engineer. This will reduce the maximum load it can take but allow it to be driven on a lower licence class. In the case of a Toyota Coaster and a Class C licence, this would be downgrading the GVM to 4.5 tonne.

A Toyota Coaster (when referring to a Toyota Coaster on this blog we are generally talking about a Long Wheel Base (LWB) model unless specified) with all its seats removed weighs around 3000kg. This gives you around 1500kg for your conversion if you want to downgrade or 1990kg if you leave it as is.

Remember: GVM includes the bus fully loaded with fuel, water, people and heavy fines can be incurred if you exceed this limit.

Downgrading Your Toyota Coaster

To downgrade a vehicle you must take it to an Engineer to make any modifications required and to have it certified at the new GVM. You will need to take the bus over a weighbridge and get a weighbridge certificate to bring along with you to the engineer.

The engineer will install a modification plate on the vehicle certifying the new GVM, and issue you a modification certificate. Once any modifications are made, the RMS will need to be updated and new registration papers issued.

Toyota Coaster modification plate - help in understanding if you can drive a Toyota Coaster on a car licence.

You should always speak to the engineer who you plan to do the work to get the exact information and requirements. Ultimately, they have the final say on whether they can or will downgrade it.

It is not rare for a seller to downgrade a Toyota Coaster prior to sale, so make sure you double check the GVM to make sure it is the weight you are after.

Downgrading Before Your Conversion

Downgrading the GVM before converting your Toyota Coaster is a bit of a trickier process. Because of the seat limits of a car license being 12, you need to remove some seats prior to downgrading.

Once the seats are removed and holes filled, you can also have your bus changed to a panel van, along with reducing the GVM.

The issue with doing this prior to changing to a motorhome is you will need to pay an engineering fee twice, once to downgrade and change to panel van, then again to change to a motorhome.

Did We Downgrade Our Toyota Coaster?

We mentioned in some early blog posts that we would be downgrading our Toyota Coaster to be driven on a car licence. This did not end up eventuating and Claire ended up upgrading her licence to LR.

When we weighed our bus on the way to the engineer, to be downgraded, it weighed in at around 4200kg. This was not quite finished and did not have any of our personal belongings in it. We also wanted to add a split system air conditioner and a bull bar, which would all need to fit within the remaining 300kgs!

That was a bit too close for comfort.

We didn’t want to wonder if every souvenir we bought would take us over the limit.

Tips For Keeping Your Toyota Coaster Under 4.5 Tonne

While we did have it tougher having a custom rear door and wheel chair lift, unfortunately we can’t blame not being able to downgrade solely on that.

We thought about weight with everything we did, but we also thought it would be so easy that we would never reach 4.5 tonne. It turns out were not as careful as we should have been.

We also wanted everything:

Off-Grid Electrical System ✔
Shower and Toilet ✔
Full Sized Fridge ✔
140L of Water ✔
Hot Water System ✔
Gas Bottles ✔
Large Lounge ✔
… the list goes on

If your requirements aren’t as extensive as ours you are going to have a much easier time. We also wanted our bus to look as little like a motorhome as possible and as much like a ‘house’ as possible.

This means we used a lot of wood, which isn’t the lightest option.

Our pine roof, while beautiful, was probably the heaviest thing we could have done for a roof. There are much lighter options: Composite aluminum panel, 3mm plywood/mdf panel, vinyl etc. A lot of people leave the roof that is already in the Coaster. This would prevent you from changing out the insulation, but keeps the weight down.

Melamine/MDF is heavier then plywood. This means all of our Melamine walls could have been Plywood and that would have shaved off some weight. We also used 7mm Plywood for the walls of the Coaster. At the time we wanted 4-5mm but it only came in marine ply which is expensive. Lots of people use 3mm or composite aluminium again.

We framed our lounge, kitchen and bed with pine timber. This is another case where wood is not the lightest option. Framing using aluminium tube is a much lighter option. However, we have no skills when it comes to metal work so we disregarded this straight away. But is a good idea if it is something you are capable of.

Kits like those from Noq Noq forgo extra framing all together. They are just made out of stylelite laminated plywood, often keeping completed conversions to around 4000kg.

You can save a lot of weight by going with lithium batteries compared to AGM. A 100AH AGM battery weights ~25kg compared to a 100AH Lithium battery of ~10kg. Lithium batteries can also deplete to 80% capacity where AGM can only deplete down to 50%. So you need a smaller battery to achieve the same level of real world usage.

Ultimately it will all come down to what you want and need to make your Toyota Coaster feel like your home.

There is certainly value in keeping a higher GVM and upgrading your licence to a LR. However, with careful consideration, driving a Toyota Coaster on a car licence absolutely can be done!

Toyota Coaster Bus Conversion – Flooring

May 13, 2020 by Claire Edwards 1 Comment

The flooring for your bus conversion is not a hard job, however deciding on what you want to use can be.

There are many flooring options available, so we have compiled a list of available choices for you to compare. After this, we discuss the flooring option we chose, why we chose it, and how to install.

Flooring Options –

	Pros	Cons
Carpet	Cost Availability (so many options!) Easy installation Soft/warm underfoot	Hotter during Summer More clean-up/vacuuming required Higher maintenance
Vinyl Sheeting	Cost Waterproof Lightweight Easy installation Easy maintenance Availability/product range Thin	Must be installed directly on the sub-floor; cannot have underlay or insulation underneath Doesn’t look ‘real’
Vinyl Planks	Cost Most varieties waterproof Lightweight Easy installation Easy maintenance Hardwearing and durable ‘Real’ wood look without the cost Thin Self-adhesive	Possible heat shrink over time Must be installed directly on the sub-floor; cannot have underlay or insulation underneath
Laminate	Cost Water resistant Hardwearing Availability/product range Easy installation	Thicker than vinyl planks May not look ‘real’
Tiles	Physically attractive Easy maintenance	Cost Weight Harder installation Longer installation Fragile
Hardwood Flooring	Looks amazing! Relatively easy maintenance	Cost! Weight Installation harder and longer
No Flooring	Cost Easiest option available Can just cover with mats/carpet/desired flooring No installation required	May not be as physically nice as other options Unable to check sub-floor status Unable to lay underlay/insulation

What flooring did we choose for our bus conversion?

Self adhesive vinyl planks from Bunnings.

Why? Cost, availability, look, ease, reviews!

A lot of people warned us against the vinyl planks, and said we will need to be careful; “They lift, they shrink, they don’t last!”. Gerflor even recommend not using the 2mm Senso Rustic product line in a caravan or motorhome for that reason. We of course learnt this after purchasing our floor boards.

However after speaking to a lovely lady at Choices flooring, she suggested we get around this by using a vinyl adhesive, and not just relying on the adhesive on the planks themselves.

The floor boards were cheap enough to risk giving it a go, so that’s exactly what we did.

Guide to installing vinyl planks –

Step 1 –

Make sure your current sub floor is clean! That means no debris, nothing sticky, and no holes, or bumps. Try and fill any holes prior to putting the floor planks on, and if there are any raised bits, try and sand them down.

If you haven’t read it already, and need to, we have another blog post here where we replace some of our damaged sub-floor.

Step 2 –

Time to measure your planks. We strongly recommend measuring and cutting your planks prior to permanently sticking them down. This ensures there are no errors with measurements.

With these particular floor boards, the grain is directional. This means that they need to be laid and cut in a certain direction to make sure the pattern lines up. This helps to create the natural and ”life like” look. There were arrows on the underside of our planks to make sure we followed this direction.

It is up to you how many planks you want to cut in advance. We cut the whole floor to measure, and just sat them in place. They are easy to cut being so thin and can just be done by scoring with a Stanley knife, then “snapping” the plank.

Cutting and installing our rv floor - Toyota Coaster motorhome conversion

Step 3 –

It’s time to apply the adhesive. Make sure you read your instructions as they may all differ.

The one we used is a Dunlop vinyl adhesive from Bunnings.

Move a couple of pieces of your floor planks at a time, starting from a straight edge. It is important to not do the entire floor in one go as the adhesive will dry too quickly before you have time to put them in place.

We began ours from the edges of our wall and shower. This meant we started with the boards straight, and hopefully would finish with them straight!

For the adhesive we used, you need to apply an even coat using a ‘V’ notched trowel. You don’t need a lot, however make sure there is enough that it gets a good even coat. Allow this to sit for approximately 10 minutes, or until it becomes tacky.

Step 4 –

Remove the paper on the back of your vinyl floor plank, and piece by piece lay into position and press firmly. You may even want to use a rolling pin or similar to roll over it so that you can ensure everywhere is pushed down firmly.

Installing RV flooring - Toyota Coaster motorhome conversion

Step 5 –

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the floor is complete.

Step 6 –

Leave the floor to sit for approximately 24 hours prior to walking on it. This will allow the adhesion to set, and completely cure.

The planks will move under foot before they are fully cured, trust us we know!

And you are done!

So while installing flooring into your bus conversion is not a hard process, it is a little time consuming, however 100% worth it.

We have been living in out Toyota Coaster for a year now, and have not had any issues with our vinyl floor option. The planks have not had any shrinking, lifting or any other movement. Recently we decided to replace two of the boards due to some scratches we had made. The effort it took to remove the old boards confirms our belief that if you use vinyl adhesive you will definitely not have any issues with shrinking or lifting!

It is a good idea to have a few boards spare just in case.

This small thing made such a huge difference and really made it start to feel like our home!

Check out the video of us laying our flooring here ?:

Toyota Coaster Bus Conversion – Plumbing Guide

February 24, 2020 by Claire Edwards 2 Comments

There are many ways to design a caravan or RV plumbing system for your bus conversion.

It can range from something simple with a manual pump connected to a jerry can to an advanced system like what we have in our Toyota Coaster.

A system like the above is about as basic as it gets. It uses two portable water tanks (jerry cans), one for fresh and one for grey water. Upgrading the manual pump to a 12v/24v pump would improve the use of the system while still keeping it fairly simple.

This is a diagram of the plumbing in our Toyota Coaster bus

Starting from left to right, following the flow of water:

1 – Lockable Water Filler with 25mm Outlet

So that each water tank can be filled individually, two lockable water fillers are installed on the external of the bus. They connect to the water tank with a 25mm food grade hose, and a 10mm hose. The 10mm hose acts as a breather and helps the air release when the tank is being filled with water. This improves the speed in which the tank fills. Once water comes up this breather and back out the inlet, you know the water tank is full.

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - RV Plumbing - Lockable Water filler

2 – Custom Coaster Conversion Water Tank (Fresh Water)

We installed two Custom Coaster Conversion water tanks underneath the bus behind the rear tyres. They carry approximately 70l of water each and are made from a food grade poly.

140L of water allows us to go around 4 days between filling up tanks.

Our tanks are setup to be filled separately by two water fillers and accessed individually by two pope in-line taps.

If you did want the water to pull from two or more tanks at the same time, you must ensure they are installed an equal distance from the pump. If they are not at equal distances, the pump will empty the closer one first, and then struggle to empty the second as it will continue to try and pull from the first. Alternatively some tanks can be installed as a primary and secondary, allowing the need for only one fill point.

3 – Pope In-Line taps

The Pope In-Line taps allow each of our tanks to be isolated and used individually. When one tank is empty we switch over to the other tank manually and the pump pulls the water from the next one. Make sure these taps are installed in a location that is easily accessible as they will need to be changed regularly.

4 – Shurflo 4009 pump and filter

The water tanks are connected to the inlet of the Shurflo 4009 pump with 13mm drinking hose. From the outlet of the pump to all appliances, 12mm John Guest pipe and fittings are used. When using semi-rigid hosing, SHURflo recommends using 300mm of flexible hosing either side of the inlet and outlet to prevent vibration of the hoses (we have not used this and have not found it to be a problem).

The SHURflo pump requires a filter to be used for warranty. The pump does not require an accumulator to be used, which means it provides a consistent flow on its own and maintains a constant water pressure. If for some reason, you are finding that you are not able to maintain pressure you can still add one to help improve the water flow.

5 – John Guest One-Way Non-Return Valve

A non return valve is required when adding a mains water inlet. The one closest to the pump prevents mains water from entering back into the pump, and the one closest to the mains inlet prevents water from exiting back out the inlet.

In other words, the non-return valves keeps the water flowing one way, in the direction it is supposed to.

6 – SHURflo Mains Pressure Regulator Water Inlet

A water inlet allows you to connect your bus conversion up to a mains water supply to use instead of your water tanks (for example, when parked at a caravan park). Our hot water system requires a pressure of no more than 50psi, so we installed a ‘Shurflo pressure regulating water inlet’ to regulate the pressure.

If you are using a standard inlet, a separate pressure regulator may need to be fitted. Make sure to check the specifications of your appliances to ensure any limitations are met.

To attach a regular garden hose/drinking water hose, from a mains supply to the inlet, a brass click-on to 3/4 NPT fitting is used.

7 – Appliances (Suburban SW6DEA HWS, Dometic CTS 4110 Toilet, Camec 3KG Top Load Washing Machine, Kitchen Sink, and Shower)

12mm John Guest semi-rigid pipe is a flexible but firm water pipe that is perfect for use in a motorhome or bus conversion. It is used for to connect each appliance or tap in your plumbing system back to your water pump. The pipe runs underneath the bus, and in the walls and cabinets of our Toyota Coaster bus to our appliances.

Look at the instructions for each appliance you have and get a fitting that connects the john guest pipe to the required size (we will talk about the connections for each of our specific appliances below).

Roaming on rubber rv dometic cassette toilet - toyota coaster motorhome conversion

8 – Custom Coaster Conversion Water Tank (Grey Water)

A grey water tank is used for all of the ‘dirty’ water to go. For example, water used during a shower, or the kitchen sink. The shower and sink are connected to the grey water tank with a 25mm hose. A sink trap is used on the kitchen sink to prevent smell from returning back from the tank. It is an ‘S’ shaped pipe which traps the smell in the bends and stops it coming back into the bus.

In the shower, non-return valves are used to prevent the grey water coming back up the drains and into the shower. This can happen when the shower outlet and tank inlet are at approximately the same height.

Detailed Steps To Install Each Item For Your RV Plumbing –

Please note – These steps assume you have installed your tanks under the bus, see our post here on how to do this.

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – RV Fresh and Grey Water Tank Install

To avoid repeating over and over, assume all barb fittings have an appropriate sized hose clamp. All John Guest connections use the optional locking clip.

See the videos throughout the post on how to do most of these steps. These may be easier to follow.

Lockable Water Filler –

First step is to locate where you would like to install the fillers for your fresh water tanks. As our fresh tanks are at the rear of our bus (behind the rear wheels), we chose to install them at the back, and around halfway up the side of the bus (above the floor line). Using a metal hole saw piece for your drill, cut a 88mm sized hole where you have chosen. Make sure your hole-saw piece is just slightly bigger than your water filler so that it will sit in flush.
(Ignore this step if your tanks are not installed under the bus floor). Start by drilling two holes in the internal floor of your bus near where you have just cut the hole in the wall (approximately 29mm and 13mm) this will be where you run your two hoses that go from the filler to the tank.

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - RV Plumbing - Inlet Holes

After you have cut your holes, feed the 25mm and 10mm hoses through the water filler hole, and then through your holes in the floor and down to your tank. You can now attach the hoses to the barb fittings on your tank.
Now it is time to cut the hose where it is coming out of your filler hole. Make sure that it is not pulling too tight as you don’t want it to cause kinks. Attach the hoses to the barbed end of the water filler.
Test putting water in the filler, to ensure there are no leaks, prior to attaching the filler to the bus wall to make it easier to correct any issues. Make sure the filler is orientated so that the breather is at the top.
The last step is to silicone the rim of the filler and place it in the hole you have cut on the bus. Drill 4 pilot holes in each corner marked on the filler, and then use stainless steel screws to fix to the bus (alternatively, we used pop rivets).

Water Tanks and In-line taps –

Find a spot where you will install your in-line taps and combine both tanks into the one feed. Make sure these taps are installed in a location that is easily accessible as they will need to be changed regularly.
To do this, combine a 25mm/20mm all female BSP ‘T’ connector with 2 male/male connectors. After this, connect 2 female/female elbow connectors. Then connect a 25mm BSP to 13mm Barb to all 3 ends. See picture below for a clearer idea as it sounds confusing! Mount this to the wall or floor where you have chosen. We mounted ours under our bed, above our water pump.

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - RV Plumbing

Now it’s time to drill two ~15mm holes in the floor near where you will have your in-line taps, this is where you will run your hoses from the tanks.
One side at a time, feed the hose through the hole and route to your tank. Connect to the 13mm barb on your tank.
Cut the other end of the hose where you have chosen to have your in-line taps. After you have cut it, connect the end to one side of the in-line tap and run another small piece of hose from the other end of the tap to one side of your 3 end join.
Repeat for the other tank.

SHURflo 4009 and Filter –

Start by connecting the filter to the inlet side of your pump (only hand tighten).
Then attach the 13mm hose to the middle part of your 3 ended joiner.
Next, cut this hose near the filter and attach to the barbed end of the filter.
Finally, attach 1/2 BSP to 12mm John Guest and connect to the outlet side of your water pump.

Mains Inlet and Non-return valves –

Install the mains inlet the same way as the water fillers above, using a 88mm metal hole saw in the desired location. We installed ours next to one of the water fillers and near where our water pump was located.
Attach a 1/2 inch BSP to 12mm john guest fitting to the outlet of the mains inlet.
Run a small piece of 12mm john guest pipe, then connect this to a john guest non-return valve
Run another small piece of 12mm john guest pipe to a T connector
Connect another end of the T connector to a non-return valve that then connects back to your water pump

You can now run blue John Guest hose from your water pump to all of your appliances, using ‘T’, Elbow and Y connectors. I will assume all hose has been run for the remainder of the appliances and just talk about the connections.

All John Guest hot water hose connections need the optional plug inserted.

How to use John Guest Push-On fittings:

To make a connection, the tube is pushed in by hand; the john guest locking system then holds the tube firmly in place.

1. Cut the pipe square and remove any burrs or sharp edges. Ensure the outside diameter is free of score marks
2. Push the pipe into the fitting, to the pipe stop
3. Pull on the pipe to ensure it is secure. Test the system before use
4. To disconnect, push the collet (the collet is the moveable ring at the top of the fitting) against the fitting. With the collet held in, the pipe can be removed.

Suburban SW6DEA Hot Water System –

Start by connecting the brass 1/2inch to 12mm John Guest fittings (we used elbow connectors) to the cold water inlet and hot water outlet on the back of your hot water system. It is important you use brass, as it is required to comply to watermark certification.

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - RV Plumbing - HWS

Then connect the cold water and hot water hoses to the connectors, as marked on your system.
From here run hot water hose to required appliances using ‘T’, Elbow and ‘Y’ connectors like the cold water hoses.

Dometic CTS 4110 Toilet –

The Dometic CTS 4110 toilet requires a 1/2inch NPT connector which is unavailable in Australia. After much research it seemed that 1/2inch was the only size fitting that could be interchanged between BSP and NPT. So we had to connect the 1/2inch BSP/NPT to 12mm John Guest fitting and then connect the hose. We found ours dripped very slightly (we blame the BSP) so to try to alleviate this problem, we wrapped it in silicone tape to form a seal.

Camec 3KG Top Load Washing Machine –

When we asked a caravan parts store for a BSP to John Guest fitting of the right size, we were told that all Caravans, (and therefore we should) install the washing machines with a standard brass tap, similar to a house. It is a good idea as it allows you to turn the water on and off to the washing machine separately. Mount your tap with screws to the desired place on your wall.
Then, attach the 1/2inch BSP to John Guest fitting to the inlet of the tap.
Finally, attach the standard washing machine hose to the outlet of the tap and turn tap on (We do not recommend turning it on all the way, we haven’t found an exact amount/pressure but just turned it on a rotation or so. We found too much water pressure causes there to be a leak at the connection points).

Kitchen Sink/Faucet –

Start by attaching a 1/2inch BSP to John Guest fitting to the cold and hot water inlet (on the end of the flexible metal hose of the tap).

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - RV Plumbing - Sink connections

Our sink, being a standard kitchen sink, came with a 50mm outlet. A caravan specific sink will come with a 25mm outlet which can be run straight to your greywater.

If you would like to connect a S trap for your RV plumbing like we have, you can purchase a 25mm to 50mm step up then follow our instructions below.

Then attach the S trap to the 50mm waste of the sink.
Next, install the 50mm to 25mm adaptor to the bottom of the S trap. It may be a better idea to step down in smaller increments if your supplier has a way of doing that. We are concerned of waste build up on the shelf of this adaptor, however did not have an alternate option at the time.
Finally, connect the 25mm waste hose and run it to the grey water.

Shower –

Start by connecting a Sharkbite Copper Lugged Elbow 1/2inch to Sharkbite Copper Straight Connector 1/2inch with copper pipe.
After this, drill a 13mm hole in your shower wall where you want your shower head connection to be and insert the copper lugged elbow into this hole.
Then, attach a 1/2inch BSP to John Guest fitting to the end of your Sharkbite Copper Straight Connector.

Our shower has a single tap that controls hot and cold. The next few steps of instructions may vary slightly if your hot/cold tap are separate.

Start by using a jigsaw or drill to make a hole large enough to install your tapware. For us we traced around the hole for the plate that fit around ours, and cut a hole with the jigsaw. Install the connection for your tapware into the hole.
Attach 1/2inch BSP to John guest fittings to all 3 BSP ends of the ‘T’ piece that came with your shower tap. Connect your hot water and cold water John Guest hoses to the ends of the ‘T’.
Next, connect a John Guest hose from the top of the ‘T’ connector to the bottom of the Sharkbite Copper Straight Connector.
Attach your showerhead and tapware to the fittings.

Shower Grey Water –

The custom coaster shower base is designed to fit the ‘SMEV straight waste’ outlet. Silicone the rim of your ‘SMEV straight waste’ and install this into the pre-cut holes in the shower base.
Next, attach a 25mm hose to the waste outlet.
Finally, join the waste hoses together with ‘T’ Connectors. Once all the hoses are converging to a single point, install a 25mm non-return valve.

Grey Water Tank –

Start by connecting the 25mm hose from the sink waste and shower waste non-return valve with a ‘T’ connector. Run a hose from the ‘T’ connector to the 25mm to 3/4inch BSP installed into your grey water tank.
Next, connect a 10mm hose to the barb fitting on the tank to act as a breather. This will assist with draining your sink and shower grey water. Drill a hole in your floor and run the hose up along your shower wall, that is higher than waste outlets.

If you want to be safe from leaks you can drill a hole into your shower and feed the hose into this. That way if the grey water fills and starts coming up your breather, it will drain into your shower.

Conclusion

Plumbing for your bus conversion can be tricky! There are a lot of variables and each situation is unique. We have tried to be as thorough as possible, and have included links to our videos, and items so that you can view to hopefully make things easier. If you would like more information or something is confusing, please send it through to us via the ‘Contact Us’ section and we will try to help ?

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – RV Fresh and Grey Water Tank Install

January 16, 2020 by Claire Edwards 2 Comments

Our RV fresh and grey water tanks were by far the most frustrating thing to install in our Toyota Coaster motor home to date.

For those who do not know what RV grey water is and why you do or don’t need a tank, this next little bit is for you. And don’t worry! I had absolutely no idea before this whole process either!

WHAT IS RV GREY WATER?

RV grey water is any water that has been used in your motor home and would normally go down a sink or drain. For example, water from washing up, showering, or laundry.

DO I NEED A GREY WATER TANK?

This part is up to you.

Most RV’s or caravans have either a tank to catch the grey water, or a hose that takes the water from the source and lets the water out on the ground.

If you decide not to have a grey water tank, you can use a bucket instead. This is placed under the hose to catch the water and dispose of it elsewhere. While at first this is an easier and cheaper option, it does mean you are not classed as ‘fully self-contained’.

WHAT IS ‘FULLY SELF-CONTAINED’?

Being fully self contained means you are not relying on anyone or anything else. You do not need access to power, water, or a toilet, and you do not leave anything when you leave. This includes water on the ground!

The benefit of being fully self-contained is that you are not relying on others for access to resources. This means that you have more options to stay and park your motor home. After being on the road for some time now, we have found that so many of the free places to stay require you to be fully self-contained for this reason; that you do not need anything, except for somewhere to park.

This is the main reason we decided to build our bus with a grey water tank, and have decided after being on the road for a while it was definitely worth the effort.

HOW DO I DISPOSE OF MY GREY WATER?

Grey water tank disposal is simple! It is done at the same place you empty your motor home toilet; an RV dump point. Dump points are readily accessible and we have found using the Wikicamps App helps us to easily locate where they are.

If you decide to install a grey water tank, you can get the water from the tank and into the dump point via a grey water hose.

The grey water hose we purchased is a 10 metre, 25mm corrugated sullage hose from Caravans Plus. Even though this has worked well for us, it is quite difficult to connect to the 25mm barb on the tank and needs to be soaked in hot water first. A lot of people have since suggested that a normal 25mm PVC hose will do the trick, without these connection issues.

WHAT FRESH AND GREY WATER TANKS DID WE GET?

The fresh and grey water tanks were one of the first things we purchased and were bought from Custom Coaster Conversions. (Unfortunately they are no longer available here, however we have provided some alternative options below).

They are made from foodgrade poly, and measure approximately 600X380X380mm.

Each tank holds 70 litres. We have two tanks for our freshwater, and one for our greywater.

These RV tanks are specifically designed to fit underneath a Toyota Coaster bus, in front, and/or behind the rear wheels.

You have the option to get RV water tanks a similar size to this, or to measure up your space and have a tank installed inside or elsewhere on your motor home. We have seen so many people who install tanks underneath their bed, lounge, or even on their roof.

Whilst ours was marketed as a tank specific for a Toyota Coaster and is no longer available, there are a lot of other tank options out there. Companies such as Caravan RV Camping and Caravans Plus are a good start for generic tanks. There are also places that do custom sizes such as Atlas Tanks, and whilst we have not used them, a company called RV Tanks Australia look to have tanks specific for Toyota Coasters as well. Either way, a little research will help you to find one that works best for you.

HOW TO INSTALL THE FRESH AND GREY WATER TANKS

Step 1 –

It’s time to get down and dirty and look underneath your Toyota Coaster and work out what space you have available, and where you can mount brackets to.

If you purchase the same RV water tanks as we did, they fit very well either behind or in front of the rear wheels.

Test that they sit snug up underneath the bus prior to making brackets, or any fittings to your tank. Its best to be safe and know they fit!

Step 2 –

Once you have established a spot for your water tanks, the easiest thing to do first is to drill a hole for your breather (if your tank does not already have one). A breather is a spot where the air in the tank can escape, and allow you to fill them up with water instead. It reduces the pressure in the tanks, and allows them to fill quicker. It is important the breather is at the highest point possible on the tank, otherwise it will just leak water!

The tanks we purchased for our fresh and grey water do not already have this pre-built in them. So if you decide to create your own, or purchase one like ours, you will need to make this yourself.

For our breather, we used a 10mm barb to 3/4 inch BSP fitting.

Roaming on Rubber - Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion - Grey Water Tank — Roaming on Rubber – Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – Grey Water Tank

To make our breather fit, we started with a 20mm spade piece to make a hole. Remember, it is important the breather is as high as possible on the tank. Once you have the hole cut, insert and silicone the breather in place. It is best to use a good quality silicone such as an automotive or marine one for this. We have since had issues with the breathers coming off and have had to re-attach.

Step 3 –

Our water tank came with a spot already for a water inlet. So the next step for us was simply just screwing in our water inlet. This one we used is a 3/4 to 1 inch barb.

After this, we attached a 3/4 inch to 13mm barb to a pre-existing hole for the connection to our water pump.

Step 4 –

Now that your tanks are ready to go under the bus it is time to work out some support pieces.

Underneath our Toyota Coaster, behind our rear wheels on the outside edge, there is not a lot of structural spots to attach brackets for a water tank. For us, that meant we needed to attach a piece of 30mm X 30mm angled steel between two structural pieces for support.

This piece was pre drilled and bolted into place using M8 hi tensile bolts.

Step 5

Finally it is time to get the water tanks into place.

Each water tank requires 2 brackets; each bracket is made up of 3 pieces of 50mm flat bar steel, purchased from Bunnings.

It is easiest to prop your tanks up into place as there is no exact measurement; each piece will need to be measured and adjusted as you go.

The pieces are cut and hammered into shape according to where your tanks are positioned. After this they are then bolted to the shazzy using the same M8 hi tensile bolts.

Once all of your RV grey water and fresh water tanks are in place, it is time for plumbing, the job we enjoyed most – NOT!

Watch the fresh and grey water tank install on Youtube here 🙂

Toyota Coaster Motorhome Conversion – RV Shower Cubicle and Dometic Toilet Install

May 29, 2019 by Claire Edwards 3 Comments

A lot of people have been asking us if we installed a shower and toilet in our Toyota Coaster motorhome, so we thought it best to not leave this post any longer. The answer is yes!

Having a shower and/or toilet in your RV is a preference which you need to decide is worth it. It is not something that is a necessity. Having been on the road for a couple of months now, we have found it is quite easy to come across public toilets and even public showers. A lot of caravan parks, rest stops and petrol stations have toilets, and some just ask a small fee to use them. There is no need to stay somewhere just to use the amenities.

So we decided to weigh up the pros and cons for having a shower and toilet in our RV to see if it was worth for us. Our list looked a little like this –

Pros	Cons
Not needing to use public restrooms (YES!)	Space consuming
Convenience	Water usage
Save money not paying for amenities	Leaks!
Privacy	Smell (Yes, there is smell)
Self sufficient	Finding dump points
Can go to more remote locations

After looking at our list, we quite quickly opted for an RV shower and toilet in our Toyota Coaster bus plan. As much as we liked the look of the open plan motorhomes, we liked the convenience of having our own shower and toilet more.

So what did we decide to do?

You may remember from one of our first posts, we discussed that we wanted our bus to look like a home. Our RV shower was the hardest thing to do while trying to keep this in mind.

One option we considered was building our own bathroom cubicle. We found it so difficult to find a shower base to fit in our desired spot in the bus; the dimensions were either too wide, too long, or it was just too expensive.

Another thought we had was to customise the entire shower, including the base from waterproof material. We couldn’t work out what to make the base and walls from, and had no idea where to start. So this option was a no go.

We ended up deciding on a pre-fabricated RV shower toilet combo. It isn’t what we wanted, but it would fit in the space we had, and the one we chose was already made to fit our curved walls.

The shower toilet combo was purchased from Custom Coaster Conversions. It is no longer available for sale through Custom Coaster Conversions, however, you can purchase it at DIY RV Solutions. They do different moulds for different vehicles.

It is a fiberglass shell which comes in 2 pieces to make it putting it in the bus and together easier. The dimensions are 1820mm high, 1000mm wide and 700mm deep (all at the biggest point). There is an optional shower door frame available which we purchased to go with it. It does not include the glass of the door (for safety/shipping reasons), and you need to organise that yourself. Ill discuss below how we decided to do that.

The Toilet

There are so many different RV toilets available and we had no idea where to start. So as we did with everything, we researched. Here are the few most common RV toilets and a little breakdown of how each works. I wish I had found something like this!

Cassette Toilet –

A cassette toilet is a more permanent option in your RV. It is secured in place, and has a waste holding tank underneath.

Once you flush the toilet, the waste goes down into the cassette and is stored until emptied.

Most cassettes are accessible from the outside of your motorhome via a small door.

The idea is to remove the cassette tank, and empty when needed into a dump point (a specific spot for dumping motor home waste – we have found these to be quite common everywhere in Australia, most RV friendly towns have one available).

The good –

Easy to find dump spots – readily available in most RV friendly towns.

Convenience – No need to find a public toilet, or a nice spot on the ground!

Space saving – some cassette toilets come with a swivel seat which means it can be turned in any direction. This is handy in smaller spaces like ours.

The bad –

The smell. Yes, it can smell.

We use specific toilet chemicals which help to break down the waste, and basically turn it into slush. This is what comes out of your cassette and into the dump point.

Some dump points are definitely more cleaner than others, and we have found most to be perfectly fine and have had no issues. There are the occasional few that do not have a hose available to rinse after you have dumped your waste; these tend to be the ones that are not quite as nice as the rest!

The smell is mainly when you open the toilet (there is a small hole which is only opened as you are about to go), and you can smell it from underneath.

We have found regularly cleaning the toilet, rinsing it at each dump station, using the chemicals, and a few drops of eucalyptus oil every now and then helps with the smell.

Some examples of Cassette toilets –

Portable Toilet –

A portable RV toilet is essentially the same as a cassette toilet, however the waste holding tank is attached to the toilet itself, and the whole thing can be moved around as a unit. This is a good idea if you are not wanting a permanent plumbed in toilet, or do not have enough space for a bathroom but want the convenience of a toilet just in case.

The good –

Easy to find dump spots – readily available in most RV friendly towns.

Convenience – No need to find a public toilet, or a nice spot on the ground!

Space saving – if you cannot have a permanent bathroom, at least you can still carry a toilet around with you.

Typically a lot cheaper than a cassette toilet, so better for those watching their budgets!

The bad –

Generally a smaller waste saving tank, so it needs to be emptied more often.

Not a permanent feature, so needs to be carried around with you.

The smell! Always the smell haha!

Some examples of portable toilets are –

Camec Portable Toilet – 20L (10L also available)
Thetford Porta Potti 365
Dometic Sanipottie 976

Composting Toilet –

Have you ever chucked all of your vegetable and kitchen scraps somewhere and just left it to breakdown?

That is essentially what a composting toilet is.

It works by separating the liquids from the solids, and an additive such as peat moss, or sawdust helps to break it down.

After you have used it, it can then be emptied anywhere you would normal compost. It is definitely recommended not to empty the compost around any edible plants, herbs, vegetables, fruits, seeds etc.

The liquid can be disposed of at a dump spot, or even in a normal toilet as it has no chemicals in it.

The good –

It is the most environmentally friendly option. It is a dry toilet and doesn’t require water to use. If needed a quick spray of water from a bottle should do the trick.

Easy to find dump spots.

Convenient!

The bad –

Typically the most expensive.

If you need to use toilet paper, it takes much longer to break down than the waste does, so you will be able to see this and would probably need to dispose of at dump stations. Alternatively, you can put your used toilet paper in a bin instead of the toilet.

There is also RV specific toilet paper available. It is generally a lot thinner than regular toilet paper which helps it to breakdown quicker. Downside to this is the cost.

As it separates solids from liquids, it is not great for anyone who may be sick; sometimes there is an in-between!

There are not a lot of composting toilets around, however a good example is the Natures Head Composting Toilet.

So what did we decide?

After looking at all of these options, both Shane and I were tossing up between a cassette toilet, and a composting toilet. We wanted a permanent toilet and both of these fit what we were looking for. After watching a clip on YouTube describing the composting toilet, we opted against it. The idea of being sick, or even for a girl during that time of the month and not being able to use the toilet turned us off a little. Not to mention it was more expensive! Because of this, we decided on a Dometic CTS 4110 .

The RV Shower Cubicle Installation

Step 1 – Waterproofing

Before we installed it completely, we waterproofed the area underneath and around where it will sit using Crommelin Aqua Block – waterproof primer, and undercoat.

It is an easy task as it requires no thinning or modification. We used a brush and roller and just painted it everywhere we needed to.

Like a lot of things, this is not a necessity but an option we decided was worth it to protect the wood underneath from water damage in case of a leak. And aren’t we glad we did! We have had a few leaks since and even though we know it could have done some damage to the wood, this water proofing was a little piece of mind.

Step 2 – Measuring and cutting the toilet hole in the shower cubicle, and the wall of your bus

Once the waterproofing was dry, we placed just the bottom half of our shower cubicle into position.

This allowed us to sit our Dometic CTS 4110 toilet into place. By doing this, we could mark up where we need to cut the fiberglass shower wall so we can access our toilet cassette from the outside of the bus.

The Dometic instructions were a little difficult to follow. After a bit of reading and re-reading, we ended up working out how to measure it up. It is different for each individual toilet they sell, so check out this guide which has all the measurements.

Toyota Coaster bus conversion - measuring up the wall of our rv shower to install the dometic toilet

We measured the access hole for the cassette, drew it up, and drilled a hole into each corner. This gave us a starting point to then cut the fiberglass using a jigsaw with a fiberglass saw piece.

toyota coaster motorhome conversion - cutting the rv shower cubicle for the rv cassette toilet

Hopefully, unlike us, you have already cut your hole in the bus wall and it is ready for your cassette toilet (if this is what you decided on). Or, are ready to do it now, prior to installing your shower.

Using the measurements from the instructions for your toilet, cut the metal of your bus wall in the same position as your fiberglass hole. It can be hard to line up. We pre-drilled 4 pilot holes, 1 in each corner which gave us a starting point. Then on the outside of the bus, we used a permanent marker to draw up the size and check the measurements were accurate before preceding to grind the hole out.

toyota coaster motorhome bus conversion - cutting the hole for the rv cassette toilet

It is very important not to cut through any of the structural metal in your bus wall. Please check beforehand with your engineer so you know where you are cutting is safe.

Step 3 – Cutting the holes for the drains

Now that the holes are cut in the walls, it is time to cut the holes for our drains.

The RV shower cubicle we purchased came with 4 specific spots for drains. When we initially were making the purchase, it was recommended to buy four drains and have one in each corner. That way, no matter what angle you are on, your shower will drain.

What a great idea!

toyota coaster motorhome conversion - cutting the drain holes in our rv shower

Using a hole saw, the same size as our drains, we cut out the 4 holes and preceded to put the bottom half of the shower cubicle back into place.

Now that the drain holes were cut into the fibreglass, we traced around each drain hole onto the floor underneath for the plumbing to go in. We then removed the shower cubicle again to cut these 4 holes through the sub floor of the bus as well.

This was a mistake.

After cutting the holes into the floor for the plumbing, we realised quite quickly that there was some structural metal underneath the bus that we could not cut through and could not get the drain hoses around. Two of the four drain holes would work, the others would not.

This is definitely something to check prior to cutting!

Time to get some fibreglass and resin and fix the two holes in our shower cubicle floor we could no longer use.

Step 4 – Attaching the two halves of your RV shower cubicle together

Now we could finally sit the two halves in position together and attach them.

The two halves are easy to attach together.

We started by using Selleys wet area silicone between each of the halves and sandwiching them together.

toyota coaster motorhome conversion - rv shower toilet combo being siliconed together

Then, on the outside of the shower cubicle, there is a small fiberglass lip. We used stainless steel screws to attach each half together on this lip, so they are not seen inside the shower. The reason we used stainless steel screws is to avoid any of them rusting from the water (if it leaks) in the future. Covering all bases!

toyota coaster motorhome conversion - rv shower toilet combo

HOWEVER, and it is a big HOWEVER, we have since learnt that the silicone we initially use is not great for fiberglass.

We have had a lot of issues with leaks. After seeking some expert advice from Bunnings, we have now used Selley’s Marine Flex Adhesive Sealant. This is specifically meant for fiberglass and wet areas. So far so good, so we recommend this one over any others (and we tried 4 different types!).

Your RV shower cubicle is now together and in place.

If you want to, this is when you can install a roof hatch into your shower. It is not a necessity. We decided to have one, and if you want to know about our install, watch our video below 🙂

RV Cassette Toilet Install

As we discussed early, we chose the Dometic CTS 4110 toilet. Lucky for us, this was also the one recommended to go with the shower/toilet cubicle we decided on.

Step 1 – The lip

The Dometic toilet we purchased for our Toyota Coaster motor home comes with a little piece of plastic which is used as a lip to help attach the toilet to the wall of your shower cubicle. Using the measurements provided, we pre drilled pilot holes and screwed it into place.

toyota coaster motorhome bus conversion - installing rv toilet, dometic cassette toilet

Step 2 – Sitting the toilet in place

Now that the lip is in place, you lift the toilet up, and lower it back down onto the lip where it catches, and clicks into position. This can be a little tricky and may take a few attempts. You can feel if it works or not because it will no longer pull away from the wall easily.

With this shower cubicle, the RV toilet sits perfectly on a raised part of the shower floor. It has a rubber edge which goes all around the joint between the toilet and the fibreglass wall. behind it which is supposed to prevent water getting in behind it.

We noticed straight away that it did not sit flush.

After consulting with the supplier this issue, he advised us what to do to fix it (he does this with all of his installs too, so it is good to know!).

To fix, we purchased 2 really long screws (8G X 140mm length) and screwed one on each of the 2 corners of the top of the toilet. These screws went through the toilet, and into the fiberglass shower wall behind. As we had discussed this, we knew there was nothing behind this bit of the toilet and it would be safe to do so. In doing this, it pulled the toilet nice and close to the shower cubicle wall which we were happier with; it means less chance of leaks!

Step 3 – Attaching to the ground

Now that your toilet is in place, it is time to secure it to the ground.

From the outside of your bus, you can now remove the cassette that comes with your toilet. Check the instructions to see how to remove it if you are not sure. Ours has a little plastic lip which we push down, this then releases the cassette and it slides out. It can be a bit tough and can take a little to get used to.

Once it is removed, underneath there are 6 places to screw through the bottom of the toilet and into the base of your shower cubicle to secure it in place.

Using the screws provided, screw them in.

Our Dometic toilet came with cover plates to cover these up. They simply sat into position and if you push down on them firmly, they click into place into plastic holes provided to secure them.

If you ever need to remove these, we have found the easiest way is to use a flat head screwdriver. We just put this in underneath them and lever them just a little. It gives it enough force to remove them without damaging the cover plates.

Your RV toilet is now secured into position!

The Issues!

Once we began our journey and started using our shower and toilet, we quickly realised the leaks.

The water was getting in and around the underneath of the toilet via the sides where the rubber was. The water even got in under the toilet seat and down into the bottom of the cassette!

This is when we starting researching and thanks to one of followers, found out that this toilet is not meant for wet areas. In saying that, Dometic appear to no longer supply one made for wet areas, and this was the toilet recommended with our shower cubicle. So we figured it must work somehow.

It was time to fix it – silicone.

We used silicone for the entire edge around the rubber on the toilet, as well as around the base.

Underneath where the cassette is accessed from the outside of the bus, we used silicone to get any holes we could see inside the shower cubicle.

We pretty much sealed every single possible spot where water may or may not get in to the underside of the toilet and shower cubicle.

If we are on an angle, or having drainage issues (which, there have been a few!), if the water level rises to the level of the toilet, we find it still makes its way underneath the toilet at the back and down under the floor. I guess it is about being aware what causes the issues to make sure that doesn’t occur again. This problem forced us to re-look at our drainage system.

With the toilet seat, we ended up buying a shower cap to keep on it during showers. Such a cheap, and easy way to fix the leak issue!

Now that the physical toilet and shower is in, it is time for tapware, plumbing and wiring up our RV toilet. Keep an eye out for our next post which will go through this.

toyota coaster motorhome bus conversion - installing rv toilet

The Walls and RV Shower Door Installation

Step 1 – Cardboard mould

To get the correct curve for our walls, we used a piece of cardboard to make a cut out we could copy.

We simply held the carboard up against the wall, and cut each bit piece by piece and adjusted as we went. It took a little while to get the correct shape, but it saved a lot of incorrect cuts later on.

You can measure along the way if you like, however I found it easier just physically looking at it and cut accordingly.

Step 2 – Cutting the walls

For the walls, we used 16mm white melamine panel. This is a water resistant panel which is good for wet areas. With this, we strongly recommended water proofing and sealing all edges before installing them as walls. While the white side of the melamine is water resistant, the inside is most definitely not. As we have had leaks, the water has come into the walls from the underside, and we wish we had known, or thought about sealing them before putting them in place.

To cut the walls, we used clamps to hold our cardboard cut-out against our melamine panel and trace around the outside. Something we didn’t realise at the time was how to get a nice clean cut on melamine. We were trying to use a jigsaw blade that had nice small teeth, however there is one other HUGE tip – use masking tape.

Once you have drawn around the cardboard cut-out and put this aside, use masking tape on both sides of the melamine. Put it over the top of your outline, exactly where you will be cutting. You can still see the outline through the masking tape so if you need to, you can redraw it on.

The reason you should do this, is it keeps all the small edges from flaking off while using the jigsaw. The jigsaw just rips through the wood and this helps to keep it together, and overall you will have a much neater cut.

Wish we had known!

Now time to cut it using a jigsaw. Ensure you have all of the necessary safety precautions and PPE. Clamp your wood in place to avoid movement, and cut around your outline.

For the front of the shower cubicle, our piece of 16mm melamine was the width of our shower, plus 16mm on each side to allow it to overhang the side walls.

We cut out a section for the shower screen to go in place. Depending on what you do for a shower screen, your instructions should tell you the dimensions required.

The original instructions we received with our shower screen wanted this cut out section to be quite large, however it looked too big and we decided to go smaller just in case and trim more if necessary. I am glad we decided on this as the space wasn’t needed… however it did make it a little bit harder to get in place.

Step 3 – Checking and adjusting

Once we cut our first wall, we tested and found there were a few spots to trim. Once happy, we used this first piece of wood as the outline for the rest, rather than our cardboard cut-out. Getting it close can take some time, and some patience, but it is worth it!

Time to repeat for each wall – double checking along the way they all have the same shape prior to cutting.

Step 4 – Attaching the walls

We used a very simple method to attach our walls – brackets.

Small L shaped brackets; these were only used on the inside of the wall where they would not be seen from the outside. Where possible, we attached each wall (in our entire bus) at the top, middle and bottom using 16mm wood screws into the melamine, and 30mm screws into our roof and walls.

If we were unable to attach the wall using a bracket, the other method we used was attaching it to others things.

For example, as we were unable to get a bracket on the inside wall of our shower cubicle at the back, we joined this wall to the front wall using angled screws down the side. After this, we used gap filler silicone to connect the top to the roof, as well as fill the gaps.

toyota coaster motorhome bus conversion - installing rv shower walls

From the inside of the shower cubicle, we put two small screws on each side into the fiberglass. These went through to the melamine wall behind and attached the side walls to the cubicle. This stopped the middle of the shower cubicle bowing in.

Step 5 – Door frame and screen

This is the one page instructions we received with our shower screen.

It is a blown out version of the shower screen and quite difficult to follow, and even more difficult to explain.

If you have any questions, send them through to us and we will try and explain a bit better haha!

Check out the video below of our shower screen. It gives you a few tips on what we decided to do instead of glass for the door, as well as some adjustments on the edging.

Step 6 – Edging

The final step to our RV shower/toilet cubicle was to edge. From Bunnings, we were able to purchase some timber edging. They have a wide range available, and depending what suits you is what you decide on. We simply glued them onto the edges of our melamine and used the nail gun to secure into place while the glue set.

So that is our RV shower toilet combo and how we went about deciding on what we did, and making it come to life.

After being on the road for a couple of months now, we are definitely happy with our decision to install a RV shower and toilet. There have been so many times we have used it and we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Check out the video below if you haven’t already, which shows us installing and building it.

The next post up will be the plumbing, tap-ware and electrical so keep an eye out for that.