Camper Van Ford Transit 

This 2020 Transit Camper Van is perfect for the “SURF SAFARI” or just cruising/camping on Kauai, there is room on the roof rack for surfboards, and even a locking storage unit on the roof rack to hold your bags, tents and other equipment. Hit the waves before anyone else when you are camping at or near the best surf spots on the island. It has as a two basin kitchen sink with gravity fed water, an under the counter fridge which is big for a camper van this size, two burner stove top and even an oven! Yes an oven! The ceiling fan works great for keeping it cool all night, and with the large Lithium Ion Battery you won’t need to worry about draining the battery over night and losing the food in the fridge by leaving the fan on. This van has plenty of youth and power to get you up and down the mountain to Waimea Canyon without having to worry about a breakdown. There is a full sized bed which folds up into a couch when not in use and a two seater bench seat that folds up onto the wall when you don’t need it, or fold the back rest down of the bench seat and use it as a table then swivel the front seats to face the rear and enjoy a meal. This camper has a lot of cabinets which makes it nice when there is more than just two people along for the adventure. Being a “Medium Top” camper van, you can actually stand up straight in the van anytime without having to crank anything up. The rubber floor makes it easy to sweep out sand at the end of the day.

Additional info:

This camper is equipped with sheets, a blanket, two pillows, two Egyptian Organic Cotton towels, two kitchen towels, plates, bowls, cutting board, knives, silverware, dish strainer, cooking bowls, trash can and some baskets for holding food, hand broom and dust pan, sponges, hose for showering, hose for refilling water, extension cord for shore power if you are near an outlet. Portipotti is recommended for pee only but can be used for number 2 as well.

Other things to note:

There is a $500 deposit and a $75 non refundable cleaning fee, deposit will be lost if extra cleaning is required eg. dishes not washed, sand or mud in the van, food spills, stains, portipotti not cleaned out properly.

 Propane Tank:

There is a 5 gallon propane tank attached to the right rear door, please check to see that it is at least 1/4 full before leaving our yard. A full propane tank would last a small family a month to a month and a half. You must turn the tank on to use the stove top and oven, please turn the propane tank off before driving

Fresh Water Storage:

There is a white pvc pipe on the top of the van which holds fresh water for the sink and shower. You will see if you park with the rear of the van higher than the front the water will run out quickly and when you park with the front of the van higher than the rear the water will last longer. That is because the water is gravity fed so keep this in mind. To fill the water hook up the garden hose(supplied) to the hose splitter that isn’t being used, turn the splitter side going to the inside of the van off and the splitter side that’s open on, only fill the fresh water pipe if the van is parked level or with the front of the van higher. Turn on the hose and once water comes spilling out of the vent on the white pvc pipe it is full. Reverse order to disconnect the garden hose. To use the shower hose attach the
supplied short hose to the unused side of the splitter as described above and open and close the fitting on the end of the hose to turn it on and off. Please note that if you use the water for showering it will run out much faster than if you use the water for the sink only. There are shower curtains kept in the pockets of the rear doors.

Window Vents:

There is a window vent for the front driver and passenger side doors please follow the instructions on the vents themselves, also note that there are visors for the two front doors so you can leave them cracked and allow air to flow into the van without rain getting in but you will still get bugs, the visors allow air in and keep the bugs out.

Roof rack:

There is space available on the drivers side of the camper for you to store surf boards, or other long items. Please, please be aware of the roof vent and solar panels and avoid hitting them in any way, both the roof vent and solar panels are sensitive equipment. Be sure to use good working rachets to hold down your cargo. You will need to use the included ladder to access the roof rack.

Ladder:

The gorilla ladder is attached to the rear passenger door of the van, there is a combo to unlock the bike lock in the van. There are four pieces of Velcro that keep the ladder snug to the holder please pay attention to how the Velcro is routed around the ladder. The bottom Velcro should be around the two thin pieces of metal of both sides of the ladder to keep it from moving around and making a lot of noise while driving. The ladder is used for accessing the roof rack and roof mounted storage unit. To open the ladder press both big black buttons on either side of the ladder and swing it open, then stand the ladder upright and open the spinning lock on the top portion, slide the top section of the ladder all the way up until the spinning locks can go into the round tube of the last step, lock both sides. Unlock the two spinning locks on the bottom half of the ladder and lift until the locks line up with the tube of the first step of the bottom half of the ladder. That will be the perfect height, please only lean the ladder onto the rack itself and not on the van or other equipment mounted onto the rack to avoid scratching or breaking something.

Roof storage unit:

The storage unit on the passenger side of the camper is there for you to use, you can store your luggage or whatever you won’t need every day. Please note that the storage unit is not completely water proof. It does a good job of keeping things dry but no guarantees. The key to the storage unit is on the key chain and you will need to use the included ladder to access it.

110V Outlet: 

There is a plug in for the provided extension cord recessed into the wooden box at the rear of the van next to the usb charger. If you are somewhere you can plug in feel free to use what they call “shore power”. This will keep your house (rear battery) charged, refrigerator and all dc functions (but not power coming off of the car battery) working and also send power to the 110v outlet at the rear passenger side on the end of the kitchen counter. When you are not plugged into shore power the 110v plug will not work.

Under counter fridge:

The fridge works off of the house battery and as long as the battery has power will stay on. There is a thermostat in the fridge but keep in mind that if you turn the thermostat down too much it may freeze some of your food.

House battery :

The camper has a lithium iron battery to run the fridge, usb and dc socket in the back, the LED ceiling lights and the ceiling fan. If the battery gets down to 10% it may turn off and the fridge will get warm. There is a battery monitor in the back of the van near the usb charger where you can see what the amount of charge is at anytime. The house battery is charged by the engine when you are driving or idling and also by the two solar panels on the roof when you are driving or parked. Please keep in mind that for the solar panels to help charge the battery they need to be in direct sunlight. If I had to guess I would say that the house battery would keep the fridge on for 3 days without any charge if no other functions were used that are on the system.

Stove top:

The two burner stove top runs off of the propane tank so be sure the tank is on before lighting. The lid to the range must be flipped up to be used, believe it or not I’ve had someone turn the range on then put the glass lid back down to cook on, and yes the glass exploded. To open the glass lid pull it towards you then lift so that the self setting lock can set. To close the glass lid you need to pull it up and towards you before you push down to get it from the open to closed position, it’s a self setting locking position to keep if from falling while you are cooking that you need to get past. You should never have to force the lid open or closed.

Oven:

To light the oven be sure the propane tank outside the van is turned on, then

1. Push the center knob in towards the oven and counter clock wise until you hear a click then hold the knob while continuing to press in, the oven never starts on the first try so just plan on trying at least two times. It’s a lot like lighting a pilot on a gas water or home heater.

2. Open the door and blow out gas for second attempt and between each additional attempt(trust us you don’t want to skip this step).

3. Repeat step one and listen on the right side of the oven for the burning sound of the flames in the oven. When it sounds like it’s lit release pressure on the knob and turn counter clock wise to the temperature you would like. You will know it’s lit when it begins to get hot.

The oven works great for being in a camper van but does not have a proper thermostat so when you adjust the temperature you are only adjusting the volume of gas, something like a range(cook top). It works great for making small frozen pizzas, toast or roasted veggies. Please do not use heavy amounts of oil in the oven and clean it before returning the rental if you use it, to avoid expensive cleaning fees.

Sink: 

The two basin sink is great for washing and drying dishes, brushing your teeth or washing your face but you do need to work under the oven so it can be a little awkward trying to see the dishes you are washing, I usually use the spreaded feet stance instead of the tilted head approach. The faucet only delivers cold water and has low water pressure because it is gravity fed, but does the trick. Please note that the sink is plastic and can be scratched easily. Tip for saving water: use the same water from bowl to pot to plate etc. and use your finger nails to do the first wash kinda like when you wash dishes in a river. Stack the hand(literally) rinsed dishes on the counter, then when they are all rinsed put them back in the sink for the soaped sponge wash. Use the same method of pouring the same water from dish to dish, stack the soapy dishes on the counter again. Lastly rinse each dish and place in the dryer one by one(this is the most use of the water).

Ceiling Fan and LED ceiling lights:

The ceiling fan can blow air out or in, has a setting where it will turn off when the camper reaches a set temperature and has several speed settings. You can leave it on over night on a low setting and it won’t use up the house battery. There are two sets of LED lights on the ceiling. The switches that bring power to the fan and lights are on the side of the counter with the sink in it facing the front of the van.

Foldaway Seat:  

The foldaway seat functions as a seat for up to two people and as a table top if folded down. Or if you want it out of the way it folds up onto the wall.

Key in the on position:

Never leave the key in the on position for more than a few minutes because the car battery will actually continue to charge the house battery in the back as long as the key is on which will kill the car battery.

Slide out bed:

The bed slides out into a full sized bed or can be used as a couch for sitting on. To pull the bed out it’s best to have one person on the front side of the platform and another on the rear side of the platform so that you can slide the bed towards the kitchen counter together. Then open the hinged portion of the platform. We usually try to balance the mattress up on it’s side to access the hinged portion of the platform. Place the two legs to the platform on the floor before attempting to slide out the bed, and be sure they don’t fall over before the platform lands on them. Reverse the process to put the bed back up into a couch. The mattress doesn’t fit completely and so one side will need to be up a little on the wall on the drivers or passengers side of the van, your choice.

Pivoting seats: 

Both front seats swivel so you can use them as chairs in the van while parked. It’s actually easiest to not be sitting in the seat when you are getting it to swivel. There is a red handle under the front of the seat that releases the lock so you can begin to swivel, then you need to move the seat front and back to get it all the way around. Be patient it will work and you will get better at it the next time. Important! If you pivot the drivers seat you will not be able to have the parking brake engaged and will need to block the wheels in-case the van begins to roll. There may be some wheel chocks in one of the drawers under the couch but if there is not please find a log, rock or something to chock the wheels.

Window shields and curtains:

The silver window shields and curtains work great for keeping the sun out of the van and for privacy. Please be gentle with the window shields and try not to fold them so they continue working for the next renter, the left and right side are labeled so you will easily know where they fit.

Fuel Fill:

The fuel fill is accessed by opening the drivers side door, then the small fuel door on your right.

 Grey water tank:

You will know when the grey water tank is full because water will begin coming up through the drain in the sink. The grey water tank is under the sliding door on the passengers side of the van and has a blue handle you turn to empty. Please be mindful of where and when you empty it, when you are in our yard you can empty it anywhere but in campsites you may want to wait until you leave the area.