desertrat

I have an aluminum roof. I used elastomeric paint and Eternabond brand tape on the major seams on the roof. Otherwise I just cleanes it good, pulled up some of the old peeling paint and layed three coats down. We had a huge rain storm here 3 days later, not a drop entered the unit.

I'm not sure about going from smaller to bigger. I was going to go from a 6 gallon to a 3 gallon, but had trouble finding the 3 gallon. I ended up getting a new 6 gallon to replace the old rotten 6 gallon that was in my unit. Only took about 60 minutes to get the beast in. I do know that the Suburban website has the dimensions for the 6 gallon unit on line. After looking at that, and measuring the space the old water heater was in, you'll have to figure out if it will fit. You might have to enlarge the exterior opening and I'm not sure about the size of the exterior access panel door for the 3 vrs 6 gallon unit. Maybe someone else who has more knowledge about these sizes can chime in. Good Luck

I'm sure there have been past posts on what battery or batteries people liked to use as house battery. I'm now looking to replace the battery in my coach 1988 Horizon. Just wondering what people prefer. Wet cell for cost advantage, AGM? I'm probably looking at a group 27. I'll only have a few fluorescent bulbs going, occasionally the heater when it's cold, and some charging of the Apple laptop, the ipod, my daughters portable dvd player and the occasional water pump use. I've checked winchester auto, sears, west marine, interstate. I'm just fishing for battery brands people like Thanks in advance

Just FYI, sorry bout my misinformation on last post here. The socket is a 23mm, not 3/4" as pointed out in another post.

I can't imagine this merited a post by itself, but I guess just a matter of making sure someone out there doesn't gather the wrong tools for the job. Not sure why I said 3/4" socket. It's a 23mm or my SAE 29/32 works too. Happy trails

I have not had to use the scissor jack that came with my 1988 Horizon, but a 6 ton hydraulic jack is one of the first additions I made. That cheesy little scissor jack looked like a toy and was intended to be used on a small truck without thousands of pounds of camper thrown on the poor beasts back. Jacks are cheap. Check Northern Tool or a tool place like that. Go big with the jack weight rating, bring 3/4" plywood bases and some kind of stands to stabilize her once she's up in the air, and you'll be fine. Also, you might want to consider a beefier socket/wrench just for those lugs. I carry a 1/2" bar with a 3/4' socket on it, in addition to a 3' piece of iron pipe to slip over the handle to gain leverage / mechanical advantage or whatever it is to make it easy to crack those bad boys loose. Good luck and don't forget to check that spare tire. Steve

I forgot to mention, photos would be great. My Horizon has 82K on it, way more miles than yours. At this point, I've had the tie rod ends replaced, the water pump, Power steering pump, belts, hoses, radiator recored, rear brakes done, tranny system flushed and the stock radiator cooler return line was plugged, so that was redone. Also the axles were repacked as well as all fluids and tune up stuff. The radiator had to be replaced as it ended up with a leak after the recore. Just so you know, it's been stressed on this site that the small tranny cooler is insufficient for these rigs. I'll be looking at installing an auxillary cooler in line with the existing cooler to increase my coolness capacity. I'll also have a transmission temp gauge installed when that happens. These transmissions are overworked and need some extra help. Check out some past posts on the issue. Mine too had a water leak which was repaired, and I also had damage in the kitchen cabinet area. I'm planning on resealing the roof soon with some roof tape and elastomeric paint. My stripes were also trashed. I ended up taping off the old stripes and spray painting over them, after cleaning with rubbing alcohol and light sanding, with good results so far, allthough I haven't had the rig very long. I guess we'll be doing similar work on sister coaches this weekend. Good luck! Let us know how it goes. I'll do the same if I ever get my baby back. I'm starting to think the mechanic took it to Mexico for a vacation... I hope she's home tomorrow. Steve

I too could use the owners manual. I'm not sure how you would get it to me. Can it be sent to this site? Thanks, if it's not too much trouble. I also have a !988 Horizon which I purchased about 2 months ago. I let a friends brother take (a mechanic) it to go through it and haven't seen it for 5 weeks. I'm hoping to get it back tomorrow. Thanks in advance Steve

His name is Robert. It is the guy with the station wagon. The guy is a trip. Spoke to him about 10 minutes this morning while I took the photos. He switched the mannequin from the station wagon to the toyota rv recently and said this was the second toyota motorhome he's had. He said he loves this motorhome. Not sure about the monkey on the swing, was that one on the station wagon? He dressed the Mannequin up in a wedding dress and put "just married" on the motorhome. This issue of full floating 1 ton axles has always been important to me as I based my purchase of my 1988 Horizon on this, and as I'm talking to him, I was eyeing his rear axle with suspicion hoping it would never come apart on such a nice guy. He's probably oblivious to the potential and I didn't feel comfortable bringing up the subject. I regret it, and next time I see him, I'll mention it to see if he's aware of the possibilities. It looked like there was some kind of protrusion from the center of the rear wheel, but it didn't have the 6 small bolts on it. It was more of a protruding cover. Robert is a self proclaimed "artist". You might remember the dog mounted on the hood of his first station wagon. He told me he pulled into the parking lot by cafe Rio and some dog jumped up on his hood and attacked the stuffed dog he had mounted there. So 2 hits on Aptos people? I'll be watching for bajaduice and Greg. FYI, I live in Rio del Mar area. There are several toyota Motorhomes in the area. Do one of you guys happen to live on either Martin Drive or Sumner Drive? I have seen Toyotas on both. If you see me in a Horizon with blue and tan stripes, stop and say Hi Steve

A local character with his 1984. He has a dancing female mannequin in the front passenger seat.

Any chance you have a square 4 inch bumper? Mine is mounted vertically on a clamp-on tire carrier attached to rear bumper. They are simple and cheap or easily self fabricated. I can't imagine mounting a spare under one of these rigs as the clearance is pretty minimal on most, but haven't seen your rig. Photos?

I'll take some guesses allthough many much more knowlegable folks on here than me #1-the swithch looks like one I have and it controls the charge fuction of the solar panel. One way charges house battery. The other the truck battery. Do you have a solar panel on roof? #2-the wire looks to be three strand, almost like one of those cheap extension cords. Get the meter out, test it, then test it on shore power. I'd cap those bare wires until you figure it out or remove it. If you can, poke around to follow it to it's source. If it's powered on AC power, I'd get rid of it orreplace it with real ac wire / romex. #3-Fridge will just have to be tried. If no manual, get the model# and check online for operating manual. #4-That's your sewer or grey water thingy. Do you have 2 tanks or just one? Does this rig have a toilet? If not and only one tank, then that's your grey water drain. #5-Looks to be an old cable hookup. Good luck

I've been holding out on this post, as it seems obvious and probably a repeat, but on the four wheel camper forum i look at (my other motorhome) we did this to make people aware of similar campers in their area. So I thought it might be interesting to have people post a photo of their Toyota rv and what town/city/area they live in. I see a number of these rigs around here and am always curious they are like (the owners and the rv's) I live in Aptos, CA on the California central coast. I have a 1988 Horizon.

Well, I didn't do the steps. I took the carpet and wood strips off the steps to expose the aluminum pan. Right now I have low nap carpet there. If I get around to doing the steps, I'll post photos. I still have to finish the bathroom. The laminate material is pretty easy to work with and steps, allthough would be more labor intensive, shouldn't cause too much trouble. Stay tuned and thanks Steve

Thanks again Turtle. I'll be getting on this cooler thing soon. I appreciate everyones input. It's a great learning experience and I am amazed at the varied levels of knowledge on this board. Howd you boys and girls git ta be so smart?

The Micro Alarm...I'm assuming it's a clock and alarm. Came with the beast and doesn't keep the time right, if it's supposed to.

Thanks so much for the info. Guess I'll be looking for an auxillary cooler soon. This mechanic said one of the lines to or from that aux cooler was clogged (not sure which one) so he flushed the cooler lines out. Hopefully that wasn't much labor cost. Any suggestions on aux cooler brands/models? Are these things easy to install? I'm not super knowledgable about mechanics. Thanks in advance Steve

Hi, I'm having my new/old 1988 Horizon ST gone through by a friend/mechanic. I was going to have him install an external transmission cooler on the beast, but he called today to say there was already one in the unit built in and utilizing the radiator to cool the engine and transmission. Can anyone explain how these units work. Wondering if the radiator has extra tubes carrying trans fluid to cool within the radiator fins? Thanks in advance for any help or info Steve

Thanks Greg. Steve

Hi, I live in Aptos. Just read an older post talking about some toyota motorhome group gathering in Felton, Ca above Santa Cruz sometime in September. Anyone have any info on this event, if it's still happening? Don't be alarmed. That's my dog Ruby smiling, not snarling. Thanks in advance

Put a new floor in. Removed that manky dark blue 21 year old carpet. Nasty underneath. I used a Home Depot product called "Traffic Master Allure" Laminate Bamboo. The stuff was pretty easy to install. It may not be real wood, but sure is better than before. The sub floor was not level (OSB Board) so I ground it down to remove to big differences and the laminate went over the rounds in the floor pretty easily. I did use some adhesive on the bigger bumps just in case. Now for the dark blue naugahyde question of the day. Has anyone dyed their naugahyde headliners or anything else, and are there any product recommendations? I want to erase all the dark blue from my new Toy. I assume I'll have to dye the stuff twice, once with a light dye, the a second coat with my preferred tan color. Thanks in advance

Thanks Turtle, I'll check Hammerite out.

Trying to add photos RE: aforementioned rusty wheel rims

Recently got a 1988 Horizon ST. Yes, I need an owners manual, but won't bother to ask as I'm sure I won't find one online. I am wondering what is out there for wheel covers. I'm working on the beast, but I don't have it in me to attack the rust that's present on the rims. I'd like to neutralize the rust with naval jelly product and then cover those rims up. I have 6 lugs on front and rear. Any suggestions? I'm not picky about rim aesthetics, I just want shiny and/or clean looking rims. Sorry, I posted pics of the rims ahead of this post Thanks in advance Steve

I'll try to upload a few photos of these wheels. Didn't work last time I tried. Be patient with me