Ask Dave: Update on wobbly RV toilet. Now it’s good to GO!

Hi Dave,
A follow-up on my RV toilet saga. Thanks to your information, I was able to find the piece I needed on etrailer.com, even though they said they didn’t have what I needed. Maybe I wasn’t describing it properly. Forest River finally got back to me and I’m having the part ordered through them as well. Since the etrailer part came in yesterday, I installed it.

There was an RV repair service in the park and I spoke with him. He told me if I would have turned the broken flange 90 degrees, there are two notches on it to secure the toilet.  I could have screwed the broken flange into the floor and secured my toilet using the two notches. Now I find this out. Oh well. The flange is fixed and my toilet is secured. And, I learned there’s a secondary fix on the toilet flange should it break.

Thank you for your quick response, which helped lead me to find the correct piece I needed. —Tony, 2015 Forest River Flagstaff Super Lite 26RLWS

Here is the original post.

Hi Tony,
Glad we were able to help and thanks for the tip on the two notches of the flange. Here is the original photo of the old flange.

It’s hard to tell, but it looks like the flange is broken at the upper left. Here is a photo of the new flange.

RV toilet flanges

I believe the notches you are referring to are on the top and bottom. The old flange most likely looked like this one when we replaced the toilet with a taller porcelain model on a 2003 Winnebago Brave. It has four slots that can be turned and repositioned.

You can see the threaded studs inserted on the side and the extra slots that could be turned as well.

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Can I swap my gravity toilet for a macerator toilet to help with dumping?

Dear Dave,
My fifth wheel has a typical Thetford gravity-style toilet, the kind that drops the stuff straight down to the tank. Are there any macerator toilets that would be a direct replacement? I am hoping to grind up the solids and paper before it enters the black tank. I am aware of the macerator options at the black tank drain but would like to make it easier for people renting my RV to drain the black tank. Thank you! —Craig, 2004 Keystone Sprinter 297BHS

Read Dave’s answer.

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Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”

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