Shower Mod:

I have gotten a lot of emails and comments and questions when on the road about the shower mod. So I thought I would expound about cool thing I did to the van. It does make it nice camping, and I have a platform on the rear trailer hitch

 (Hitch Hauler) that makes a nice drying rack when doing the dishes.

WARNING: It is not environmentalist friendly due to grey water issues, but I do use bio-degradable soap to help make up the difference.

BTW: Click the on links to see what I’m talking about.

So with that here is a list of materials needed.

1 each  

Single Pole Wall Switch, the kind like in your house from Lowes. Choose either Grey or Bakelite for the year van you have to match the interior.

1 each  

Wall Plate cover for the switch from Lowes.

1 each   

Old work, single gang cut-in box, to mount the switch, from Lowes.

1 each 

 Coleman Shower camp shower from Coleman.com. You willjust        use the shower head and tubing. The rest you will throw away, the pump is the wrong voltage and who wants to haul a bunch of funky batteries around.

1 each   

12volt pump from Go Westy!  Or from Bus Depot  , you will use the same type of  stock pump that you are using for the facet in the sink. My reasoning here is that when out in the woods, and if one pumps fails you have a backup.

35ft        

14-2 awg lamp cord wire from Lowe’s to run your wiring.

10ea       

14-16 awg butt splices

1 ea    

Clear tube of RTV caulk to seal the hole you will drill in the top of the fresh water tank.

1 ea       

Fuse holder and a 5 amp fuse

1 Roll    

Scotch 33 Electrical tape or equal.

I am going to assume the following:

That you have some tools to cut a switch in, a drill to drill some holes with, some electrical tools to skin wire and crimp butt-splices with, a chalk gun, and a saw to cut the cabinet and some common sense. This isn’t “how to install a shower in one easy step or please sue me, I did it just like you told me”

Here is the final product on the mod

Switch:

The scary part……..yeap you are going to cut that nice cabinet. In the back on the left when the rear hatch is open…..once you do it, you can’t go back. The best thing is to measure twice and cut once. I traced the cut- in box with a pencil, used duct tape on the pencil lines to keep it smooth when cutting. Then I drilled the corners of the traced out lines, then use a saw to cut the hole out for the box, then mounted the box.

Pump:

To get going open the cabinet where the fresh water tank is, unscrew the opening to the tank. See how the factory pump is mounted you are going to do the same thing, so get going.

Plumbing:

Use the clear tubing from the coleman shower and run it from the hatch, then under the linen closet to the fresh water tank, and then drill a hole into the tank, then remember to use the RTV and go crazy with it to make sure there are no leaks!

Note: If you don’t have enough tubing you can splice it, and get extra hose at Lowes in the Gardening dept, around the fountain area.

Wiring:

Run the wires to where no one can see them, you want a pretty job, not one that looked like a caveman did it. You are hacking on 15-20 old van, that they don’t make anymore, and if not done right you will hurt the resale of the van.

Positive Side of Battery (Red)

Take a wire from the positive side of the battery, then go to a fuse, then run the wiring to the switch, you cut in. Then from the switch go to the pump then make your connections outside of the tank….remember on-off, it how it is going to work.

Negative Side of the Battery ( Black)

Take a wire a going from the negative side or, you can go the metal body of the van, and run it to the other side of the pump and make your connections with the butt splices, once done wrap your connections with high quality electrical tape. The wrapping of the butt-splices cuts down on later corrosion problems at the connections.

Fill the Tank:

Check for leaks, then check the pump by turning on the switch you just installed….TA-DA….you got a shower!

Something for later?

I’m thinking of tying in to the rear heater, coolant circuit, running some copper tubing in the tank, insulating the tank so I can have some hot water.

Why you are there.

Why you are there, you might as well run a wire ,and install a light over the engine compartment, first breakdown you will thank yourself and it makes it nice camping too.