Floorplan for sleeping three with a bathroom

[MarcusBrody]

Has anyone seen any particularly good floorplans for vans that sleep three and contain a bathroom?

I currently have a Transit Connect with a removable folding platform in the back. It was great for my wife and I and worked when my son was an infant, but now the platform is too small, so I'm thinking about a bigger vehicle. I initially lusted after a cabover based camper, but I don't think that's in the cards at the moment and a bigger van is superior in a lot of ways. Right now the vehicle I'm looking at is a Dodge Sprinter 3500 with the 140 ( believe, it's possible it's the 158) wheelbase, but an extended body. It also has dual sliding doors. I'm not at all locked into this particular vehicle though, so I'm open to suggestions.

This won't be a true overland vehicle, but rather a basecamp for skiing, mountain biking, hiking, and possibly some of my wife's research. This means it will be parked in areas where we'll often need (or want in the skiing case) an indoor toilet which complicates the design. On the plus side, it also means that it won't need amazing ground clearance and approach/departure angles, so the extended body or lwb vans are an option.

I really like the Winnebago Revel's design, but its body is widened in the back it appears and the extra "bed" looks kind of half assed. I'm 6'2", so probably couldn't sleep horizontally in a standard width Sprinter. My wife and child could, so that's an option. It would just mean that the other bunk would have to be longer.

So does anyone have any good floorplans for 3 person Sprinter with a toilet?

Thanks a lot!


Edit: I somehow deleted the other thread. When I tried to change a typo, it clicked the delete button whatever I pressed.

Riptide suggested a Airstream Sprinter Westphalia. That looks like a pretty nice layout. How does it work in winter? I don't need a shower necessarily, so I'm not that committed a true black/gray water tank.

 

[lqdchkn]

Why not use Sportsmobile's configurator? Not like you have to buy from them but it will give you an idea of how to arrange things and their basic sizes

 

[shenrie]

^^^ link referred to above: https://sportsmobile.com/design-info/

 

[luthj]

Do you need a permanent bathroom? Or does a slide out cassette or porta-pottie work? There is a big difference between a 140, 158, (T1N) or a 144, 170, or 170ext (ncv3) sprinter. Fitting three in a 140/144 is doable, but will be tight. A 158 or 170 would be no problem. A 170ext has a long overhang, which has its downsides.

With window flares from flarespace, you would just barely fit cross wise. Check their site. They are a good option for saving floor space.

Do you need seatbelts for three? That will mean a third forward facing seat. Ideally with shoulder belt.

 

[MarcusBrody]

Why not use Sportsmobile's configurator? Not like you have to buy from them but it will give you an idea of how to arrange things and their basic sizes

^^^ link referred to above: https://sportsmobile.com/design-info/

Ooh, that's a fun tool. I know what I'm doing this afternoon. Thanks!

Do you need a permanent bathroom? Or does a slide out cassette or porta-pottie work? There is a big difference between a 140, 158, (T1N) or a 144, 170, or 170ext (ncv3) sprinter. Fitting three in a 140/144 is doable, but will be tight. A 158 or 170 would be no problem. A 170ext has a long overhang, which has its downsides.

With window flares from flarespace, you would just barely fit cross wise. Check their site. They are a good option for saving floor space.

Do you need seatbelts for three? That will mean a third forward facing seat. Ideally with shoulder belt.

I will measure the wheelbase sometime soon. The van belongs to the organization I work for and they are thinking about upgrading, but the guy I talked to didn't know all the particulars. It's just one option though. If it doesn't work out, I'd like to go with the slightly longer wheelbase. I think the positives outweigh the downsides for my situation.

We definitely need a third forward facing seat with a shoulder belt. Well, for the next few years a seat belt (or attachment points) would be fine as my son is still in a car seat, but this wont' happen until he's a bit bigger and he'll need a shoulder belt soon enough.

I'll lok into the Flarespace window flares.

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[Riptide]

Riptide suggested a Airstream Sprinter Westfalia. That looks like a pretty nice layout. How does it work in winter? I don't need a shower necessarily, so I'm not that committed a true black/gray water tank.

Works pretty good in the winter. We used to use ours more in the winter, snowmobiling or skiing, although we really didn't camp in it much during the winter. We used it more like a personal base lodge, since my wife doesn't ski; coming back from the trail to a warm cabin and hot drinks or soup is pretty sweet! I don't think the camper has much in the way of insulation, but the Espar heater did a pretty good job of keeping the cabin warm nonetheless, although the floor was cold. Carpeting would help, but the rubber flooring is very practical for snow and slush covered boots.

We didn't use the shower in the winter (hardly used it at all, actually), but just used a jug of antifreeze as flush for the toilet. The tanks are not insulated, but are within the confines of the van, and would probably do fine for the most part. The drain on the other hand, is mostly outside of the vehicle, and would make dumping a little bit of a challenge, depending on how cold it is. But this is going to be true of any vehicle. Also, cold-weather camping presents a lot of challenges with regards to condensation, maybe moreso in a smaller vehicle...

For a 140" wheelbase vehicle, there has never been a more useable floorpan designed, and I have looked at alot of them. Having owned mine for 9 years now, I still don't see how I would improve on it; every cubic inch has been thought out. And the build quality is actually pretty good, apart from the stuff Airstream *******ed up.

Yeah, I wish it was 4wd, but the tradeoff is a supremely thought-out 18 feet. After adding a lift kit and the most-excellent BFG KO2, it's done pretty well on backroads, and milder off-roads.

I lived thru the years with the car seat with this vehicle too; what a pain in the tookus. But honestly, that's how we discovered the Westy. It was the only one that had a bench seat within reach of the front seats. It didn't have seat anchors, but a fellow owner jigged some up, and they were pretty secure to latch the car seat to. Once we got to camp, the car seat went onto the front passenger seat. But man, am I glad my daughter grew out of those things.

 

[shenrie]

I'll lok into the Flarespace window flares.

iirc, the winnebago revel has them. the flared out window dealios on the rear windows so you can sleep side to side instead of front to back.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

...I'm 6'2", so probably couldn't sleep horizontally in a standard width Sprinter...

So what orientation would better suit you, sleeping vertically?