Bob C

I would use a 12 gauge cord. Also use the shortest cord possible. When I bought my Escaper, the woman had a 50 ft 14 gauge cord connecting the RV to her garage to show me that the AC worked. When I unplugged it to take the RV for a test ride, I showed her that the cord was so hot that I could not comfortably hang onto it. In addition to the AC running, the converter was also trying to charge the dead coach battery.

I also put in a Progressive Dynamics 9245. My original converter was mounted under the oven and the distribution panel was about 4 ft away under the sofa. To mount the new unit I just had to unplug the old converter from a 120 volt outlet, remove the positive and negative wires, unscrew the unit and throw it in the trash. The new one was just the reverse, the 9245 gets screwed to the deck, attach the 12 volt wires, plug the unit in. It took about 30 minutes total. I plan on adding the charge wizard when I get the RV out of storage. I have seen photos on this site that had the converter and distribution panel in one unit. That may complicate the process.

Locks only keep semi-honest people semi-honest. The totally dishonest will get in no matter what you do.

I was told by an employee at one of the countries largest RV dealerships that most RV access doors (not the cab or entry door) have the same key. He showed me that my Toyhouse key for the storage area would open many of the doors on his lot. I found a locksmith that rekeyed my locks for me.

When I bought my RV, the original converter did not work at all so it was an easy choice. I installed a Progressive Dynamics unit and totally satisfied with it;

I added air suspension on the rear. The rear springs were actually arched down instead of up (frowning). I keep about 90 psi in my 3T's bags on the rear. It made a HUGE difference in the way the RV rides and drives. I no longer bottom out on every expansion joint along the road. I check my tires and suspension every morning before I pull out of my camp site.

I was told that replacing the oem flasher with a solid state unit would cure the rapid flash of led's. I looked at several money pits before I found my Escaper. I started looking in May and found my RV in August. DON"T be in a hurry. I take a friend with me when I go look at any vehicle and if he sees anything wrong we talk about the cost of repairs before any purchase.

I looked this up because I have a 22Re. The picture that I found shows the sending unit right next to the oil filter. One of the first things I did was to buy a repair manual for my truck chassis. Remember that your chassis may have a different year than the coach.

I have Good Sam's towing insurance. I almost had to use it last summer in British Columbia on Highway 5 between Hope and Merritt. I had an electrical problem that I was able to find only because my guardian angel was with me. That would have been a very expensive tow. Do you know if the furnace works? How old is the coach battery because without a good battery the furnace will not run. I would also carry 5 gallons of gasoline with me on the rear bumper. You are going to be going through some very sparsely populated areas in questionable weather. If worse comes to worse, you can always find a parking spot and run the engine to keep from freezing to death. Pick up a carbon monoxide detector so that you can sleep knowing that you are not headed for a nice long dirt nap. Carry a lot of very warm clothing, a sleeping bag, food, and water. Enough for several days in case you really get stuck somewhere.

I have one 100 watt solar panel that I use to keep my house battery topped off while camping over long weekends. You should have no problem putting 4 or 5 panels on the roof. Someone will correct this I am sure-- I checked and found that the average 5000 btu unit uses about 5 amps (120 volts.) My conversion skills are really rusty so I checked BatteryStuff.com and their power calculator says that it will require 600 watts to run the unit. That does not take into account converter loss.

I have gone over Trail Ridge Road. I did not have any problems at all. Next time I go through there I will be going up Old Fall River Road. I agree with DanAatTheCape about shifting the Toy yourself and not relying on the tranny do the driving. I keep my RPM's in the 3000 to 4000 range and have never run out of power. I also us compression braking when descending hills even here in Wisconsin. If needed use your brakes only for short sections to bring your speed down and then let them off. The steepest road I have every gone down is the west side of the Bighorn Mtns. Engine braking in first gear got me down without incident and I only used the brakes a couple of times.

I replaced all of my interior fixtures with led fixtures that I bought from eBay. This is the same fixture that I bought:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kohree-LED-Dome-Light-Fixture-12V-Natural-White-Interior-Light-/401239658588?hash=item5d6bbf505c:g:pPAAAOSwA3dYSQBc&vxp=mtr I think that I paid $14 each. We have been using them for 2 years without any issues. Keep watching eBay and you will find them at different prices. Yes they are from China but I like them. They are a daylight color I believe the package said 6000 K. If you want the warm yellowish light, this would NOT be what you want. My eyes aren't what they once were and these make reading easier for me and my wife. They are quite a bit brighter that the original .

I have an '88 Escaper with a 22Re and automatic trans. I was all over the Rockies and the west coast last summer. I had no problem with the climbs that I took the Toyhouse up. That being said, I passed on Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak because I didn't want to push my luck early in my trip. I think that I made the correct choice in not going up the two 14,000 ft climbs. Going up the west side of the Bighorn Mountains on US 14A I did have to stop once because the engine was starting to get warm. I let it idle for a minute or so and finished the climb without incident. I think that if I had a larger radiator I would not have had any issues. We never had any problems with descending even the steepest hills on our trip. I was taught to drive by my truck driver father. He taught me to drive while pulling trailers and driving heavy trucks. He constantly pounded that you go down every hill in the gear that you used going up or one lower. It worked well for me going down hills that were toasting the brakes on light weight cars.

I have never heard of a safety that keeps the pilot light from being lit if the heater tank is empty. I replaced the original water heater in my Escaper and neither the original nor the replacement had any kind of interlock. The only electrical hookup on the water heater is the power for the direct ignition. Have you tried to loosen the gas line to see if you are getting gas to the gas control?

Kitt-Don't go into owning one of these campers with the ideal notion that you can fix them up and drive them forever. They constantly require tender loving care and attention. The newest ones are over 24 years old. Ever look at a 24 year old travel trailer that is in perfect shape? I doubt that they exist. I love my '88 Escaper but my wife and I got a great big taste of reality when traveling for a month in the western US. Traveling at 55 mph with the windows open gets old when it is 105 degrees outside. We will be taking it from Wisconsin to Maine but the distances are much smaller out east so we won't be spending 8 hours of driving to get to the next place of interest. You also need to have realistic expectation about gas mileage. We get 13 to 15 mpg. We drive 55 mph and no faster. Some people advertise 20 mpg for a 21 ft RV that weighs 6000 pounds. If you know what you are really getting into, these RV's can be a lot of fun. We enjoy ours but we realize the limitations.

Just think, here in Baraboo Wisconsin it was -5 degrees two weeks ago. Today it was +40. A 45 degree difference. It sounds about right for this part of the country.

Does the isolator have a wiring diagram printed on it? I had a similar isolator on my '88 Escaper when I bought it and it was dead at that time. If I remember correctly, the left bolt is power to the coach battery, #2 is power from the alternator. #3 was the trigger voltage that put power from the alternator to the coach. #4 was power to the engine battery. My problem was no power to the coach. I think that your isolator is shot if the voltage on all of them are not the same. I replaced mine with another solid state isolator and it crapped out after only 4,000 miles. i have since replaced that one with a solinoid type isolator and have put 15,000 miles on it. I also installed a volt meter in the cab that reads the coach voltage. i now know if I am charging my coach battery at a glance. It cost me about $10 to put in but it gives me piece of mind knowing that I will have a charged battery when I need it.

I have an '88 Escaper with a 22Re and auto transmission. I have climbed some very steep, long hills including the Beartooth Highway, Going to the Sun Road, and the Bighorn Mtns on 14A from the west. I never ran out of power but I did run out of cooling and started getting warm on the long climbs. I think that I be putting on a larger radiator before my next long trip.

I have been using this forum to repair and update my Escaper. It has saved me a ton of money and time.

I had a problem on my recent vacation with the RV stalling out due to no connection from the alternator and truck battery. I pulled the coach battery and exchanged it for the truck battery. It turns out that I had a bad connection under the hood which I got around by installing a #4 cable from the isolator straight to the positive post on the truck battery. Changing the batteries took about 10 minutes and got me on the road again.

2 1/2 yr old lab/mixed breed. They used to be called mutts. Now people call them designer dogs. to me, he is a great mid sized mutt.

3 years ago I drove my 22Re auto into Yellowstone through Cody into the east entrance. We did not have any problems. We may have been slow but like most hills, I just downshifted, reved the engine up and snailed along. On long steep hills, I usually end up in first gear doing 30 mph. Even doing that, the engine does not get hot.

Can't you use a hydraulic bottle jack and and lift on the frame. Let the axle sag. Won't that give you enough room to get at the fittings?

Trial by 12 or carried by 6. I bet you know my feelings on some state laws on what I can carry. My trip this summer was the first time I didn't have some form of self defense with me. We went into Canada and spent over an hour at the Canadian border crossing. The first question the officer asked--Do you have, or have you ever carried guns in the vehicle? I told him that I have carried firearms but do not have any at this time because I knew that I would be going into Canada. They tore the blankets and sheets off of the bed, removed everything from the cabinets, went through the refrigerator, opened the hood and used a camera to look under and over the RV. They also wanted to know if I had any knives with me. I had my pocket knife in my pocket and my leatherman on my belt. They freaked out when I told them that there was a hunting knife in the consul, and 3 or 4 kitchen knives in the back. I must have looked some kind of red neck, hillbilly, terrorist to them. I admit to this being an accurate self description of my personality. My wife told me that she was glad that I kept my mouth shut and did make some smart remark to them before leaving. I think they would have tore the siding off of the RV if I had said what I was thinking.

I love the Badlands. It has always been our first night campgrounds on every trip "out west." I try to head west every 3 or 4 years just to keep from going through mountain withdrawal. It is about 700 miles from my house to the campground in the Badlands. We leave at about 3:00 am so that we can get there early enough to get a campsite. My wife and I are both morning people so it only means getting up 1 or 2 hours early. I never fail to be in awe when thinking about the settlers that tried to make a living on 160 acres of sand and rock. I think the only way I would ever get my 22Re to 80 mph would be to drop it out of a cargo plane without a parachute.