Bob C

I work in a resort and we use those units to remove the smell of cigarette smoke from the rooms. It is illegal to smoke in public buildings in Wisconsin but it happens at least once a week. The guest gets charged for the air purification. Those things really do work well at getting rid of odors. Used car lots also use them to remove odors.

I just checked JC Whitney and they have some bumpers for Toyota DLX models. I did not know what to call the lower part so I could not look it up. You can also check out your local recycling place (junk yard) for many of those parts.

Just shoving you foot to the floor may not be all you need. Did the Toy downshift and let the engine wind up? I have not found a hill that requires the gas pedal on the floor. I shift down to the highest gear that allows the engine to spin freely at 4500 rpm's. I have gone up some hills that required first gear but even then I was spinning the engine and never came close to flooring it. My wife and I travel at the speed of slow and totally enjoy it. When we are traveling alone, we stay away from the interstate and stop at anything that looks interesting. I am retired and enjoy the pace. You also get to meet some really interesting people when you get off the super slab.

I had a lot of wind noise from the door gaskets. As a temporary fix, I put the thinnest foam weather strip I could find on the cab frame to close up the gaps due to worn out weather strip. I plan on installing new weather stripping in the near future. The other option would be to put in a really good sound system and crank it up.

Is the valve on the LP tank turned on and is there LP in the tank? Sometimes it is the simple things that get overlooked.

It is your RV so what the heck. Do what you want. Remember to document everything that you do and keep us up to date on your progress. I enjoy my Toyhouse because it keeps my life simple and uncluttered. I try to get the beautiful woman that I share life with to pack light (like that is possible) and keep things minimalistic. That is my goal anyway (everyone needs goals) If your goal is to have something unique, having a Dolphin slider you will definitely succeed.

While talking about that water system, you should also be told that you should buy and use a water pressure regulator to put on the hose between a faucet and your RV hookup. The regulator will only cost about $8 at Walmart. Some campgrounds and city water systems have way too much pressure and can damage your onboard water lines.

My wife and I have a 20' rear bath Escaper with 22re/auto. We love it. I test drove a rear dinette unit and my friend sat back there during the test drive. I could not talk to him due to how far back the table was. We take our two grandkids with us part time so that would not have worked. My wife and I also have gotten in the habit of saying watch your head every time we get out. I have also busted my head a few times on the coach door, but, it does not take many headaches to remind you of the low clearance. I talked to one guy on the phone about a 21' Itasca and he claimed 23 mpg with v6/auto. I did not even go look at the RV. In my opinion he had already lied to me once. I agree that you should test drive every Toyhouse that you find so that you can see what you like and dislike.

Was the MH properly winterized before you bought it? If it dropped below freezing with water in the system it could have broken after you bought it. I bought mine in August and the system had water in it. I was lucky and found this site before winter and learned how to properly winterize the unit or I would have had many repairs in the spring. I would have missed several drain locations. You need to get all of the water out of the system before more damage takes place. I wish you luck in getting the repairs completed and many years of fun with your new to you Toyhouse.

Welcome back Fred. I hope that you check in occasionally now that you returned.

I have an '88 Escaper. 20', 4 cyl, automatic. Our traveling weight is just right at 6000 lbs. I drive 55-60 mph and forget about flying up the hills. I get 13-14 mpg consistantly and occassionally get 15 mpg. With a 30 mph headwind going across South Dakota I once got 11.5 mpg. The trailer will definitly add drag. Keep the weight down and drive slower. You may want to drive with empty water tanks to loose a couple of pounds. I wish people would knock off the crazy mpg claims.

Speed is the biggest thief of gas mpg. I have a 4 cyl 20' MH and get about 15 on a good day doing 55-60 mph. If I travel at 65 mph my mileage drops to about 12-13. Head winds will kill your mileage also. I hate reading ads with 20+ mpg claims. It gives people unrealistic expectations when they buy. I would like to see some REAL records that prove that they are getting that kind of mpg. I track every gallon of gas that I put in my MH so my numbers are accurate. I just completed a valve adjustment before putting it in storage so I don't know what the mpg will be now. I know that it runs a lot better.

I have had pop-up campers for over 20 years and I still use the same jack stands that Linda has. Mine are also aluminum so rust was never an issue. They are easy to use and if used in conjuction with a hydraulic jack work well for leveling or just stabilizing.

For leveling I use Lynx blocks for leveling. For stabilizing I use a couple of scissor jacks that I bought at a salvage yard for $5 each. They have a hex head bolt to raise and lower them. I use my cordless impact driver, socket, and long extension to adjust them so I don't have to bend over to much.

Welcome to the group. That is a very sweet looking and rare unit. It looks really great.

When I pulled the 120 volt dorm refrigerator out of my MH I looked around for a good used LP unit. I gave up and installed my 12 volt (compressor) unit and am very happy now that I got all of my electrical problems sorted out. I think I pd $75 for the 12 volt. If I could get a 3 way unit for a good price I would put it in.

Thanks for the tip on using the air hammer. I am going to try getting my seals replaced this spring before vacation time.

Last summer I paid $1.79/gal and it is now $6/gal here in Wisconsin. They claim that extreme demand is the reason. I think that greed is the reason. I can get delivery tomorrow if I wanted so they have the LP. They are just ripping the people off because they can. Some people are jumping from dealer to dealer to get a better price and they are told that they will have to wait 3 or 4 days for delivery and it will be cash only. I have bought LP from the same company for 25 years and can get it now. Back when gasoline hit $4/gal a couple of years ago, the head of Mobil/Exxon made a really stupid statement to Congress and not one Congressman had the balls to call him on it. The statement (not an exact quote, but close) "Our profit margin has nothing to do with the high cost of gasoline." When was the last time you went to a gasoline station that was out of fuel? Yet they claim a shortage of gas. Gas inventories are very high right now but you can bet that in another 30 days the price will go up because they claim another shortage because they are switching refineries over to summer blend gas . They do it every year. 3 Enough of my venting, sorry.

Welcome to the forum. I hope that you have good luck getting your new to you MH repaired. You will probably find most of your problems discussed in the archives but feel free to ask any questions. The people on here have so much knowledge it is truly amazing. Without them, I would have gone broke getting mine fixed up by a shop instead of tackling the issues myself. It is really satisfying to do the work yourself and so much cheaper.

I also have an '88 Escaper. I believe that it came from the (RV) factory with an auxiliary tranny cooler. The one that is in there is not extremely large and I have a larger one (almost twice as big) sitting in the garage so it may get swapped out. Keep posting pictures of your repair, it may be helpful to someone.

I have an '88 Escaper w/22re-auto and I have towed a lightweight ATV (400 lbs) on a lightweight trailer. The trailer slows me down on the local hills but the RV handles it ok. You do have to remember that you are pulling a trailer no matter what the tow vehicle is. Towing a trailer will always increase your braking distances UNLESS YOU HAVE FUNCTIONING BRAKES ON THE TRAILER.

Welcome Kellerleo. When you start driving your new to you Toyota, go to a parking lot and drive it around to get a feel for the turning radius, braking ability, the way it leans when you turn. After you feel okay at parking lot speeds, head out on back roads and when nobody is around, do some hard braking to see how long it takes to stop the RV. Remember that these things are extremely top heavy. If a curve is listed as 45 mph, don't even think about going that fast until you know how it handles. Remember that hard braking while turning a corner can roll your RV very easily. Your Westfalia was different than a car and your Toyota is that much more different than your Westy. You need to know how tall you RV is so that you don't run into anything. Measure the total height, including the a/c unit so that you don't hit anything with low clearance. You also need to know how to enter and exit driveways with a steep approach or exit. Drive diagonally into the driveways and let the lead and trailing wheel help to keep from bottoming out. If you turn sharply into a steep drive, you will hear some really terrible sounds coming from you frame as you grind it into the pavement. Learn to drive slower than cars and enjoy the scenery. These things will really suck the gas if you try to travel at 65 mph. I like to take back roads when possible to avoid "hate stares" from passing drivers on the interstate, even though they have a lane to get around any time they want. You have a V-6 with more power than my 4 cyl but you will still have to learn how to take steep hills. With my 4 cyl I just "drive the tach" meaning that I don't care how fast I am going, I just keep the rpm's in the power band and drive whatever gear it will allow without lugging the engine. Ask a lot of questions around here. The people on here know most of the answers so you and I don't have to make all of the dumb mistakes ourselves. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that I can get my Escaper out of storage. Tomorrow it is forecast to get down to -20 degrees (f) I think that I will wait another month or 2 to get it out.

When checking for parts at your local parts stealer, make sure that you tell them that it is a Toyota cab & chassis. They may be looking for a Toyota motorhome part, Toyota never built any motorhomes, they supplied c/c units. Also note that the truck chassis may be one year older than the motorhome mounted on it. My '88 Escaper is mounted on an '87 "Toyota.

You said that the furnace starts when turned up all the way, does it actually put out heat or is the blower just running? If the furnace fails to ignite, the blower will turn off after 3 attempts at ignition. This could happen if the gas is not turned on, the battery has a low charge, the igniter is not functioning correctly, or the control board is bad.

I have a problem with my furnace lighting and found that I have a mud-daubber nest in my vent. I cleaned out the obstruction and the furnace worked properly. I also installed a screen over the outside of the vent. Warning - do not touch the screen when the furnace is running, the warning label is correct when it says that the screen gets hot. It leaves a nice basket weave mark on the skin.