Removing Black water tank and toilet in 72 Safari

[RichHog]

Yep that’s what’s next. Can anybody point me to a thread or blog where someone has documented this process? I’m sure it’s not you of the favorite subjects on the forum. Thanks!

[Manning G]

I am tearing out a rotten bath floor in my 71 Ambassador rear bath. When I got the plywood out and the belly pan loosened all the way back to the axles, I found that the pan under the black tank was totally rusted out. I lifted the tank out upwards and the pan was not attached to the Airstream in anyway. It was just resting on a couple of small cross frame members. I just lifted, turned it alittle sideways and dropped it out the bottom.
I think I have seen that the pan and tank can be removed from the bottom, eleminating the need to pill the floor. I can not seem to find that now however.
While we're at it, what is the purpose of the pan holding the tank. Can I replace the tank with just straps instead of having a new pan made?

[RichHog]

I’m not an expert at this yet and my black tank sits on top of the floor deck. I’ve seen threads similar to your unit where straps were used to hang the tank to the frame. Good luck!

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by RichHog

Yep that’s what’s next. Can anybody point me to a thread or blog where someone has documented this process? I’m sure it’s not you of the favorite subjects on the forum. Thanks!

You're not going to like it, and not because of the tank contents. You will need to remove the plastic surround of the tank, which includes nearly everything below the belt line, in order to access it. The plastic surround/ bathroom interior is one piece, and fragile.
These trailers were built by installing the bathroom first, then building toward the front door.

[RichHog]

Once the black water tank and rotten plywood is out and wet muddy insulation this is what you find, some support and a belly pan below.

[Mx468]

Its not too hard at all because the black tank rests on top of the floor. I have a 72 safari as well and i took mine out and replaced it with a nature's head composting toilet.

[RichHog]

We’ve gotten the frame fixed and the new black tank didn’t get the bottom drain in the right location so that is being rebuilt. Not sure what to do with the wet bath as the drain pan leaked and other plastic needs replaced. I’ll post photos when we get her back together.

[RichHog]

So a productive day today in the bathroom. Got a friend to work today on the flooring and put in hardy plank backing board with new small studs framing out the walls. Then he prepped the walls to seal the flooring and put another steel brace under the drain/sink end of the trailer. Here’s pics of the rebuilt floor and framing. Tomorrow tile goes in. [ATTACH]337734

[RichHog]

Side view. Door had a metal 4” high bar across it so tile can create a drip pan “levee”.

[RichHog]

[attach]337880[/

[RichHog]

Originally Posted by RichHog

[attach]337880[/

So I bought the tile from Floor and Decor and picked out two types, one for the floor pretty basic and a more expensive mosaic for the vertical side walls. Am pleased with the look.

[jaybauman]

Originally Posted by RichHog

So I bought the tile from Floor and Decor and picked out two types, one for the floor pretty basic and a more expensive mosaic for the vertical side walls. Am pleased with the look.

Looks great. Nice job.

[RichHog]

So I should have expected that this would become a bigger deal than imagined. As you can see in this picture there’s not much steel under the tank so getting a welder to create a new frame took some work. Then the new tank came in and the bottom drain hole doesn’t match up so a patch will be needed and new home cut. Looking in from the bottom there is more rotten wood across the whole shower pan area so that has been removed making the old plastic drain pan a piece of trash. So we will have to do some remodeling here. And dump valve and black water valve all had to be removed. I’m saying this in case someone actually reads this searching for answers to the same dilemma it will be worse that you thought .

[kevinkatz]

Rich that looks great. You must have thought about how the tile will hold up bouncing down the road and I am interested to hear your evaluation. It would be a wonderful solution to showers if it will hold up. Are you bringing it to the vintage rally so that we can see it? [emoji16]

[RichHog]

Trying to schedule going to the rally. I had seen a lot of pics on Pinterest showing tiles in Airstream remodels. It took a lot of framing to rebuild this bathroom. We used Hardie-plank as the backing and consulted with others so I hope it will stand up to the road.