What vans have toilet and sleep four?

[Telegrapher]

New member here; I'll combine an introduction with a question.

We're a family of four, two parents and two kids, boy and girl ages 14 and 10. We're currently camping using a Honda Odyssey pulling a pop-up tent trailer. Our trailer is basically just a big tent on an aluminum box, with no appliances other than lights and a sink. Before we had kids, we owned a '97 Volkswagen/Winnebago EuroVan Camper for ten years, spending around 200 nights in it, so we're quite familiar with van camping.

We're tired of pulling a trailer, and tired of the associated setup/takedown, and we'd also like a bathroom.

Requirements:

• Sleep 4.
• At least four belted seating positions, preferably more.
• Bathroom.
• Not much longer than 19' (parking situation at home is limited)
• Reasonable sink, stove, refrigerator.
• Furnace and air conditioning at the campsite would be nice, but not quite essential.

Sleeping four with a bathroom may be a challenge, I know. The Winnebago Solis seems to match our requirements, with its beds in the pop-up roof as well as below, similar to what our old Volkswagen had. The side-by-side passenger seats just behind the driver's seat in the Solis look a bit close to one another for siblings, but we'd probably get the rear sofa bed option, giving us a total of 7 seating positions, and room for the kids to get away from each other.

We're also looking at getting a custom conversion from Sportsmobile, so we can tweak the appliances and cabinetry exactly to our liking.

Are there other options we should be considering?

Thanks in advance, and enjoy the chance to spend someone else's money!

[mkguitar]

the economical choice is kids in a tent
( or even drag the trailer for longer duration trips

then you are shopping the more common "sleeps 2"

and only need to ensure belted seating ( as many only seat 2) more models have seat belts for the rear sofa area


adding sleeping areas requires set up time or conversion time (imagine trying to convert a seat to a bed with 3 people under foot)
and may also require that cabinetry be altered to overhang beds which can be claustrophobic



at 14 & 10, the kids may well be out of the camping/travel picture in a few years


Mike

[GeorgeRa]

Unfortunately a camper vans for family of 4 is a huge gap in North America B-class market, plenty of them in Europe.

A Tofino RV could be a choice, no toilette. But toilette a porta-potty or cassette could be added. Safari Condo has cassette toilets just behind the passenger seat and I copied that location in our DIY van conversion with layouts copied from our 1977 and 1985 Westfalia VWs.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JVZNxKpmAm3H5t6X7

https://pleasureway.com/models/tofino/#video-tour

[Telegrapher]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

the economical choice is kids in a tent
( or even drag the trailer for longer duration trips

then you are shopping the more common "sleeps 2"

and only need to ensure belted seating ( as many only seat 2) more models have seat belts for the rear sofa area


adding sleeping areas requires set up time or conversion time (imagine trying to convert a seat to a bed with 3 people under foot)
and may also require that cabinetry be altered to overhang beds which can be claustrophobic



at 14 & 10, the kids may well be out of the camping/travel picture in a few years


Mike

All good points. We definitely intend to keep the van longer than we keep our eldest kid in the house, and probably the younger one will be out before we're done with the van. A tent is definitely something to consider. But I'm anxious to stop towing the trailer.

But a pop-up roof is pretty quick and painless to open. A sofa bed would also be quick and painless to convert, except for the inevitable clutter of things that get placed on top of it. Another aspect of the pop-up roof which we really enjoyed from our previous experience with it is the flow-through ventilation and view that you get when the side windows are unzipped, leaving you surrounded by just screens. In my previous "sleeps four" van, I really liked the option of sleeping upstairs on warm nights, or downstairs on cold nights, even when I was camping solo.

[W9TR]

You are going to need a pop-top van for 4. Here are some non-custom build options for you.

Hymer Aktiv 2.0 Loft. Mfg is out of business so no support from them but a great forum of helpful people to keep you rolling.on down the highway. Troublesome EcoTrek Lithium battery system.

Thor Tellaro 20AT - pop-top, big bed in back, small shower/toilet. Jump seat ok for 2 kids but small for 2 adults. We bought one.

Winnebago Solis - as you mentioned - small jump seat, but the big negative I see is no A/C so only ok if you don’t camp where it is hot.

There may be others but those are the ones I’m familiar with.

[TheMatrix]

A 19' Van that seats 4 belted and sleeps 4 comfortably is doable. If you have a loft on a 19' Van, you would have to give up the A/C on top. Our under mount A/C on our Hymer Aktiv Loft works, but not very well. If you go beyond 20', you would have more options, like the Solis 59PX or the Thor Tellaro 20AT with loft, both on Promaster 3500 chasis. If you can find one, Hymer did make an Aktiv 2.0 loft with the couch in the back, although it would put you over 19' as its built on the Promaster 3500 chasis.