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zero

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  1. An added comment on my Fantastic Fan.  I checked it again. On high - with the windows all closed - it draws 5.5 amps @ 11.8 volts.  That is without the engine running and some voltage drop.  With a window open, on high it draws 3.2 amps.  On low - with a window open - it draws around 1.4 amps.

  2. 10 hours ago, WME said:

    The + ground systems ground the battery + lead and the controller + . Our batteries and the lights are - grounded. They don't mix. Would you ground both ends of a 100ah 12v battery??

    A house off grid who cares because its not hooked to anything external.

    Besides all your fancy LED lights would not work. Plain lights no problem with reversed power flow.

    Renogy even advises to get their - ground system for RVs.

    OK.  In a weak moment - I looked up the tech info from Renogy.   They say in their manual . . " Please Note: This is a Positive Ground Charge Controller. If grounding is necessary, it must be completed on the positive line. If the controller is to be used on a vehicle which has battery negative on the chassis, loads connected to the controller must not have an electrical connection to the vehicle body. "

    Does not look like a problem to me.  Our RVs do not have DC earth-grounds anyway so who cares?   Hook positive to positive, and negative to negative, and nothing to the chassis from the controller. Note they say "if grounding is necessary."  On an RV, it is not.  Again, what am I missing?  Also note that what Renogy is discussing is the "load" part of the controller that does not even get used for solar on an RV.   There controllers have three pairs to two terminals.  Pair #1 is POS and NEG to solar pane. Pair #2 is POS and NEG to battery.  Pair #3 is a load-controller circuit that does not get used for what we are talking about here.

  3. Hopefully the work on the springs lasts.  I don't know about the 31 year projection.  Springs are supposed to be re-arched and then heat-treated again.  What you had done is often called "cold arching" and is inferior to doing the job properly.   That being said, adding extra leaves on each side  has to help and long as they too have the right arch and are tempered to hold that arch.  Simply putting a leaf in a press and bending it does not restore its integrity.  It seems that specialty shops that do this kind of work correctly are disappearing.   The proper equipment is too expensive and new parts are often just as cheap.

    I think what the guy in the shop said about air-bag suspensions systems is pure BS.  I've got Air-Lift brand with Goodyear bellows.  Lifetime guarantee on the bags unless Goodyear stops making them. /They use the same brass fittings and plastic hoses like big-rigs on the highways use.  Just about every big-rig tractor-trailer on the road has air-suspension too.

    What the heck is a "100 lb press?"    Mine is 50 ton, so I guess it is a 100,000 lbs. press and it is not very big.

  4. 10 hours ago, WME said:

    The + ground systems ground the battery + lead and the controller + . Our batteries and the lights are - grounded. They don't mix. Would you ground both ends of a 100ah 12v battery??

    A house off grid who cares because its not hooked to anything external.

    Besides all your fancy LED lights would not work. Plain lights no problem with reversed power flow.

    Renogy even advises to get their - ground system for RVs.

    Automobiles have no earth-grounds that I know off.  Just positive and negative.  A negative-to-chassis system is not an earth-ground.   I am still a bit confused about the problems you are expressing.  I admit, I have not seen nor used a Renogy controller that is called "positive ground."   I have two Renogy systems and neither have any grounds.   Solar panel has an aluminum frame and a tempered glass cover over the solar-cells.  In back there are two insulated terminals.  One is negative and one is positive and neither is bonded to the metal frame. Note that in household systems - that metal frame is supposed to be connected to an earth-ground for lightning protection.  The controller also has two insulated terminals to hook  to the solar panel and two more to hook to the battery. One is negative and  one is positive and the controller body is plastic. I.e.., it is insulated.   So again - I don't understand the warning about "positive ground" here.  If by chance, Renogy sold some controllers with the positive terminal bonded to an earth-ground connection - then the smart thing to do is not to hook up the earth ground anywhere.  Like I said, cars and trucks do not have earth-grounds anyway.  The only time an RV has a true earth-ground is when it is hooked to shore-power.   You've really got me confused.  What am I missing?

  5. 9 hours ago, bicoastal eric said:

    Everything I can find online and other forums, no one's seeing more than 2.5amps draw on high. Maybe 6.5 amps is the start up current while it comes up to speed? 

     

    No, it's a steady 6 amp draw on high. I have two of them and both read exactly the same. I cannot account for what others post on forums and don't really care. Do your own testing.  I also have a roof vent-fan from a Winnebago of late 80s vintage and that only draws around 2 amps. It also has a fan that is much smaller then the Fantastic unit and also moves a lot less air.

  6. 9 hours ago, bicoastal eric said:

    .

    Your other fan draws 10amps? A 1200w fan?!? You may as well run the AC

     

    My table fan uses around 130 watts on 120  volts AC. I.e that is around 10 amps at 12 volts DC when running through an inverter. Inverters have some loss.   An RV roof-top air-conditioner, if run on DC, draws around 80-90 amps running and up to 200 amps to start.

  7. No, it is already in a Chinook.  Besides - I had some time invested in it. I tore it apart to every last bit and checked it all over.  I could not find anything wrong with it so I did not put in any new parts except seals and gaskets.  I do the same with any used trans unless it has come out of vehicle I get to drive first and check out.

  8. The last one I just picked mine up from a junkyard in Canada.  I was in the area anyway and they brought it across the border for me. It was part of a "package deal" to convert my 1988 Minicruiser with a 22RE to standard shift.  So I paid $400 for the trans, bellhousing, clutch, flywheel, clutch pedal assembly, master and slave cylinders, etc.  There are many transmissions for sale at centralized junkyard databases like www.car-part.com    Also note that Toyota transmissions that have removable bell-housings are light enough and small enough to ship via UPS.  I got my 1978 five-speed shipped to me from California and the total price with shipping was around $200.  That was the W50 I put into my 1978 Chinook. It is fine but I also put a 4.56 rear into it at the same time. I suspect I would not like it with the OEM 4.10 rear because of the higher first gear.  If I had known about the newer G54 being a better option, I would of done it. I just found out by accident.

    toyota trans ads.jpg

  9. 47 minutes ago, WME said:

    I have used Renogy and Windy Nation. Be careful with Renogy their cheapest sets are + ground, so read the fine print.

     

    I've heard that but why would anyone care?  A typical solar off-grid system uses no ground for carrying power.  So it makes little difference what the polarity rating is.  Any solar panel I've seen has a positive and negative.  Same with the controllers.

  10. 3 hours ago, WME said:

    At full speed the Maxxair fans draw 3.7 amps@13.4 v.

    200 w of solar is 16 amps at max sun, so even on a cloudy day you would have surplus power for the battery. Plus on a cloudy day you would be running the fans at a reduced power setting.

    A 200 ah battery set up and 200 w of solar would run the fans for ever.

    My 14" .Fantastic fan draws 6.2 amps @ 12.5 volts DC when on high-speed. I've tested it twice.  As far as solar output goes? I'm, talking about real-world figures. Not for someone living on the equator or sunniest places in the southwest.  I've taken Kyocera 120 amp panels and pointed at our brightest clearest sun here in northern Michigan and 6-7 amps @ 17 volts was the max reading in warm weather.  I've also tested Renogy 100 watt panels and the highest reading I got was 5 amps @ 17 volts.  I've also tested Sharp 200 watt panels and read 12 amps max.

    Also - here is a year-long average. This in central New York with 5400 watts of solar panels with a roof mount.  365 days yielded 3600 KWHs.  That comes to 9.86 KWH per day.  A "solar" day is around 6-7 hours.  That comes to an average of 100 amps per hour @ 12.5 volts.  Note that is with 5400 watts of panels.   Now if I make the solar array only 100 watts instead of 5400 watts - that comes to an average of 1.8 amps per hour assuming a 7 hour solar day.

  11. 3 hours ago, markwilliam1 said:

    When talking about "over inflating" the tires are you saying inflated Above the max of 65 lbs.? I don't consider a tire inflated to the max of 65 lbs. to be over inflated or is it??

    Of course it is over-inflated at 65 PSI.    Tires are designed to ride and perform when riding at a certain loaded profile.  That profile is solely determined by the weight bearing down on the tire and the proper inflation pressure for that weight.  Again - that is why Toyota and many RV makers recommended around 32 PSI for the back duallies.  

     In 1985, Toyota only made trucks with single rear tires and recommended pressure to be 64 PSI when run at max load of 5500 lbs.    

    In 1988, Toyota recommended 65 PSI for single rear tires at max load of 5500 lbs. and for duals - 29 PSI at max load of 5500 lbs. 

    In 1990, Toyota recommended 65 PSI for single rear tires at max load of 5600 lbs.. For duals - 32 PSI at max load of 6000 lbs.

  12. No disagreement here.  The only "problem" is one of maintenance, as I see it.  Toyota semi-floaters and full-floaters are both "sealed" design.  They get no constant lube refreshment from any centralized reservoir.  In the case of 5 lug semi-floaters - they have a single sealed ball-bearing on each side.  At X amount of miles they should be checked and/or replaced.  Ford 1/2 ton trucks used to be the same.  Chevys and GMCs do get constant lube with their semi-floaters.

  13. 17 hours ago, fred heath said:

    JD,

    Have you done the swap? Do the splines on the G54 mate up with the 20R clutch setup?

    It's something I may consider doing.

    I have three transmissions here that I've checked over and/or installed into Chinooks.   One is the four speed I've yanked out of 1977 and 1978 Chinooks.  Called an L42 or L43 as I recall.   Then there is the optional OEM five speed that was offered in 1977 and 1978.  That is the model W50.   Then there is this 1988 transmission I just got. Model G54 five-speed.

    All three transmissions are exactly the same length.
    All three transmissions have the same input shaft splines and use the same clutch disk.
    All three transmissions have the same output shaft splines.  I.e. a 1977 Chinook yoke fits the 1988 five-speed
    All three transmissions have the clutch linkage, slave cylinder, etc. in the same place with same bolt pattern.

    The 1977-78 four-speeds and the 1988 five-speed (G54) have the shifter in exactly the same place. The 1978 W50 five-speed is around 3" back further.

    1977-78 four-speeds and 1988 five-speed (G54) have the speedo-cable hookup on pass. side.  1978 W50 five-speed on driver's side.

    Rear crossmember and rear trans mount.  This requires change if swapping any 5 speed into a 77-78 that originally has a four-speed. you either have to modify your existing mount or just get the correct crossmember.  Note - at the Yahoo Toyota Chinook forum - one guy claimed his crossmember was welded in and not removable and he spent hundreds of dollars modifying the mount.  I'm not sure what to say but this. I've done two so far.  A 1977 and a 1978 and both had crossmembers that bolted in.   I just bought a 1978 crossmember out of a 5 speed truck last week for $35, plus $20  shipping.  I have also modified one of these and it took me less then an hour.  Certainly not "hundreds of dollars"  in work.

    Note that the OEM five-speed used in the 70s trucks has a higher first gear then the four-speed.  Four-speed is 3.67 to 1, and W50 five-speed is 3.28 to 1.
    The 1988 G54 five-speed has a nice low gear of 3.92 to 1.

     

    W50 five speed  1975-79 (used in trucks) 21 spline output

     Came in 73-81 Celilca, Corona, Supra, and 76-82 Hilux trucks

    1st gear is 3.28 to 1 ratio

     

    L42 and 43 four speed  1976-80  3.67 to 1 1st gear,  21 spline output

     

    L45  1981-82  four speed 3.92 to 1 1st gear,  21 spline output

     

    L50  1981-82five speed     3.92 to 1 1st gear,  21 spline output

     

    L52  198 five speed   3.92 to 1 1st gear,  21 spline output


    G52  1984-86   3.92 to 1 1st gear,  21 spline output

     


    G54  1986-88    3.92 to 1 1st gear,  21 spline output
  14. 7 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

    If you inflate your 4 rear tires to 65psi they are inflated to carry a total of 7,136 lbs. What does your rear axle weight?

    An overinflated tire is stiff and unyielding and the size of its footprint in contact with the road is reduced. If a vehicle's tires are overinflated by 6 psi, they could be damaged more easily when running over potholes or debris in the road. Higher inflated tires cannot isolate road irregularities well, causing them to ride harsher.

    Thus the reason why many Toyota RVs came with a 32 or 35 PSI recommendation for the rear - even with the 8-ply rated tires.

  15. 22 hours ago, markwilliam1 said:

     I'm assuming you need full sun for solar to work? Like JD, it's all about keeping my pups cool while they are stuck in the camper! I just purchased a 12 volt stand alone Fantastic Fan that moves a lot of air but it will be running off the house battery. I can place the fan on the bath floor & aim it @ the pups to blow the cooler air by the floor on them. Very nice in 80 degree weather but Grannie is in the shade! When I park in the sun that same 80 degrees becomes mid 90's inside in no time. Just don't know how long the coach battery can run the fan and I know that's where solar comes in. I think Totem and another poster suggested portable panels but I would be worried about theft if I'm not around.

    Fantastic fan draws around 6 amps when on high speed.  Less when on lower speeds.  A single type 27 "house battery" can run it for 12 hours without a serious discharge. If you have dual "house" batteries, then 24 hours.  Note that is just ONE fan.  When we leave our dog on a hot day - we have the Fantastic fan on, along with a table fan running off an inverter.  That is another 10 amp draw on the DC power.  So figure - with two fans - around 15 amps being drawn steady.    One "house" battery is good for 4 hours and two of them is good for 8 hours with two fans running.  If you have 200 watts of solar on the roof, then those panels might make 5-10 amps to help if the sun is shining.  Direct sun is not necessary but some sun is.

    I recently bought two complete solar electric systems with panels, wiring, mounts, controller, etc.  One was 200 watts and the other 400 watts.  It seems right now that Renogy has the best deals - either via Ebay or Amazon.

  16. 11 hours ago, Maineah said:

    JD just use a small charger on 120 skip the generators battery charger it will be making 120/240 any way as long as it's running.

     

    jd just use a small charger 

    Yes, you think like I do in this case.  It's just going to be a house back-up unit so a battery with a small maintainer will work fine.  Just irks me a little since the generator is brand new. But some day they'll be sending me a new regulator and I will likely never install it.

  17. I don't know what model refrigerator you have.  Some Dometics have a fuse hidden in back for just the electric operation.  Main things is - there has to be power to make the electric heater work.  Usually NOT from the converter but directly from the battery.  If there is power at the heater and it does not get hot - then the heater element is bad.  Some have two separate elements - one for AC and one for DC.  Some others have just one combo element for both.

  18. This same sort of nonsense happened with the Ford Pinto in the 70s.  It was investigated by the same NHTSA and deemed to be an explosion waiting to happen due to a faulty gas tank mount.  Ford took a big hit on it, and so did the Pinto.   In THAT case, many deaths were blamed on Ford's engineering goof.  Years later, NHTSA was found to be wrong and those Pintos were no worse then any of the other cars being made at the time.   Lots of info still out there though.  In fact, there were deaths in 1920s Ford Model Ts I can still find info on. Yet - somehow - all the "death crash records" with Toyota RVs from the 80s have been lost.   It must be George Bush's fault.

    I DO agree that if someone today has an axle and/or wheel fall off their 1982 Toyota motorhome, and gets killed, it might get a 2 minute mention in the local news and that is the end of it.   Probably the way it should be.  What is the alternative?  Do a post-mortem on the Toyota and try to figure out if "bad engineering" caused the problem 30 years later, or perhaps bad maintenance?  Or perhaps an idiot driver?

    The easily proven fact that Toyota kept using the same axle in over 6000 lb. GVWR trucks into the 2000s in the rest of the world tells me the axle is not all that scary.

  19. 11 hours ago, linda s said:

    Just because something isn't in the news doesn't mean it never happened. It was a long time ago. Dead people tell no tales

    Linda S

    With that reasoning I guess anybody can claim anything and go unchallenged?  In my world, he (or she) that makes a claim  bears the burden of proof.  It is not up to those that doubt to prove a negative.  For those that want to call it a "death axle" - show some proof of death.  For those that claim Toyota "had to fix it", prove that too.   By the way,  in 1977 - any Toyota truck that got driven on the Earth's moon would turn to solid gold.  Prove me wrong.

  20. Here is a photo of one that broke off a 4-Runner . No duals and not an RV.   I broke one off my 1964 Chevelle once, and also on my 1965 Ford F100 truck.   It happens.  Often from some cause other then an inadequate axle.  Overheated faulty bearing, overloaded vehicle, extreme stress, etc.  I broke a wheel and axle off with my Chevelle just by popping the clutch and trying to burn some rubber.  I still have not heard a single case - ever - of a death attributed to a Toyota rear-axle.

    Toyota was never forced by anybody to help out but they did - unlike General Motors when the Chevy S10s were found to have the same problem as some Toyota RVs.

    DSC04706.jpg

    Image2.jpg

    Image3.jpg

    Image4.jpg

    1981_2_Dolphin_S10_axle.jpg

    1984_RBR_S10_axle.jpg

  21. I never heard the "death axle" claim or "foolie" thing until I came here to this forum.  Maybe it is a west-coast thing?  I certainly heard about the axle problems in Toyotas.  A friend of mine got two new free complete axles for his Dolphin.  Neither ever got installed.  Two new assemblies in crates he got from making a lot of phone calls and whining.

    The point remains that Toyota has used a 1.57" diameter axle since the early 70s, on up with mid 2000 V8 Tundra trucks.  The same basic rear-axle assemblies that came out in 1975 were still used all over the world in HD Toyota trucks through the 2000s.  Obviously Toyota has not ever considered it a problem when used properly.  Toyota also sent out bulletins NOT to use "add-on" dual wheel kits.

    I am sort of in a quandary now with this axle-thing. NOT Toyota though.  I just bought a rust-free 1998 Chevy S10 from Alabama for $500.  I am going to build another Chinook based on it. Kind of an experiment.  It has a 2.2 liter engine just like the original Chinook.  5 speed manual trans. It has a bit more power then the Toyota 2.2 and is higher tech. So maybe better gas mileage?

    The Chevy rear-axle is what bothers me.  It is interesting to compare a Toyota to this S10.   Toyota has 1.57" diameter axles with bearings .9" wide.  Chevy S10 or Astrovan axles are only 1.4" diameter with bearings only .7" wide.  So it seems the Chevy rear axle is quite inferior when it comes to load-bearing.  I've searched and so far, cannot find any GM rear axle as an upgrade that allows the rear wheels to match the front.  So maybe I'll have to do what Fred Heath did with his Galavan.  Right now the Toyota "death axle" seems like an upgrade compared to what GM uses in S10s and Astrovans.

  22. I've got a pair of 100 watt panels on the roof.  Main reason we have them if for our dog.   There are rare times when we park somewhere during the day where dogs are not allow to visit.  So she stays in the RV.  I'll note that we've yet to ever find a parking spot with shade.  We have a Fantastic Fan in the ceiling that works great.   When we have to leave the dog, we also set up a table fan that runs off our inverter.  Note we are in northern Michigan, not Florida, but still get some days in the high 90s.   A pair of 100 watt panels is going to make around 8 amps total in best sun.   Not a lot of power, but you never plan on running any fans directly off of solar anyway. They just help out the "house" battery or batteries.  In our case, we have a pair of them.

    I'll add there ARE RVs on the market with electric AC that runs off of a battery bank and solar on the roof.  Takes a tremendous lot of power though.   Roadtrek E-Trek does it. it also has a huge alternator on the engine that helps charge up the huge battery bank fast.  I also just saw a small new travel-trailer camper that has a small rooftop AC unit that can be run for awhile with just the "house" batteries.  Has a bank of 6 Trojan T-105REs.

  23. A person can get a flat tire,crash, and die.  My point was, and still is - I have yet to see a single report ever - of anyone being killed due to an axle failure in a Toyota RV.   Thus it seems a little silly calling it a "death axle" (at least to me).  I will also note that plenty of Toyota axles in the rear have broken off on regular pickups, RWD cars, and 4-Runners.     Toyota went on to use the same "death axle" in the rest of the world up into the mid-2000s with GVWRs over 6000 lbs.  Obviously Toyota did NOT consider it dangerous for anyone else on this planet.  Just for use in parts of North America with silly add-on duallys.  I will also note that Toyota was NEVER forced to replace any axles in any cab & chassis trucks and RVs.

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