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Trojan used to recommend "equalization" every month or so. No more. Now they say to test a battery once in awhile and only equalize if it needs it. The test is for uneven gravity in separate cells. I think this new "outlook" came about because so many people have ruined AGM batteries that do not respond well to any equalization effort. Some battery chargers are programed to equalize automatically and it wound up ruining some very expensive AGM battery banks.

The most reliable way to do it that I've found is to use a relay. The relay gets energized by your igniton circuit when the key igntion switch is "on." So when you start the vehicle - your cranking battery and your RV batterie are tied together in parallel and charge. When the key is "off" they are totally separated. You just have to make sure you use a relay that can handle what ever amperage your alternator is capable of - and also use wire size adequate to do the same. My rig has the starting battery up front and two RV batteries in back 16 feet distant from the alternator. I have a relay capable of carrying 100 amps and use # 2 copper for the 16 feet run. It's good for 80 amps of charging. You can get by with much smaller wire if the RV battery is closer to the alternator and/or the amp-output of the alternator is less. You can buy a good HD 100 amp rated relay for $20. To energize it only draws 2 amps and is no problem hooking it into the igntion circuit. Just make sure you find a "full time" relay and not an "intermittent duty" relay. A cheaper and simpler way to do it with an isolation diode. I don't like them but work well enough for small systems. My 1978 Toyota Chinook came standard with an isolation diode instead of a relay.

There were tweaks along the way with beefier parts inside the ring-and-pinion area of the axles. Also the OD of the tube was increased over the years from 2 1/2" up to 3 1/8". But the actual load-carrying capacity was never changed as far as I can tell. Splined axle diameters and the single sealed ball-bearing on each side remained the same over the years. The only big jump in actual load capacity was the full-floater with dual lubed bearings on each side and no weight bearing on the axles.

The full-floating rear axle was an option on certain Toyota Land Cruisers. Maybe some other things also.

It's not really as simple as three "types." There are strandard cranking batteries for sure. They come in two sub-sets. Cold-area batteries with higher cold-cranking amps and less reserve-capacity . . . and hot-area batteries with lowered cold-cranking amps and higher reserve capacity. Then there are true "true deep cycle" with lots of stuff in-between. The type #27 12 volt batteries sold in chain and marine stores are not true HD deep cycle batteries. The heavier-built Trojan T-105s are also not what are usually regarded at "true deep cycle batteries." They are generally used in scrubbers and golf carts and for use in budget battery banks for RVs and solar homes. The true deep cycle batterie are the big Trojan L-16s or the many versions of Rolls-Surettes. What I'm callilng "true" deep cycle batteries have very heavy anchored plates and have expected life-spans of 8 to 30 years. Longest lived HD deep-cycle batteries I know of come in 2 volt cells made by Exide. They have an expected life of 30 years and are often used in the telecom industry. I've been using the Deka equivalent to the Trojan T-105s for years and they work very well. Type GC-12 with NAPA # 8144. Nice thing they have over Trojan is any NAPA store can order them in - so no shipping charges. The pair I have in my RV right now are 8 years old and still working fine. I also have 12 of them at a solar-powered cabin and they are 9 years old. Two of them hooked in series gives enough reserve to run a micorwave oven off an inverter without the input low-voltage breaker tripping. I've never regarded the AGMs worth the extra expense. Their big advantage is being spill-proof. Second to that is no required venting. Third is they have a very low self-discharge rate. Not really an issue in an RV as I see it.. Dollar for watt over a given time-frame, "old-fashioned" flooded lead-acid batteries still are more cost-effective - by far.

Why do you wish to remove the entire spring assembly? I've beefed up many. Left the top leaf alone (the one attached to the perches). Just cut the centerbolt, took out the leaves and added new or more as needed.

The Toyota full-floating dual-wheel rear has a tube OD of 3 1/8" (80 mm). Same as many lighter single rear-wheel trucks made after 1986. Older Toyota half-ton rears have tubes that are only 2 1/2" OD (64 mm). The U-bolts are easy to get. Buy OEM from Toyota or go to a good auto parts store and have them made in a few minutes. Local store near me does it. U-bolts for the Toyota full-floater use 1/2" diameter threaded rod (13 mm) with a 3 1/4" space between (83 mm), or better put - the two 1/2" rods are spaced 3 3/4" on-center (95 mm). In regard to the bottom plates with the four holes and shock mount? Easy to make or just get some from a late model truck with the same 3 1/8" axle-tube OD. Just keep in mind that if someone makes the plates - the steel used will mostly likely be mild-steel and need to be much thicker to have the same strength. Not a common failure area. I've seen some half rusted off and still holding fine.

I've had that happen on several cars and trucks. Caused by the brake hose the came apart in the inside where you could not see the problem and blocked off flow. I also had one do the opposite on a GM Safari van and it caused a caliper to lock and stay locked. The bad hose-on-the-inside thing is somewhat rare but it happens. I've had several Toyota one-tons dual-rear trucks apart in front -with the big brakes. The hoses on all I worked on including the 1986 four-cylinder box truck I just took apart - have hoses that measure 14" end to end. Each end has a female inverter-flare female threaded port with 10 mm X 1.0 threads. Also has snap ring grooves to hold in place. Very common part when you look buy size instead of odd-ball Toyota application. When not in a hurry I buy from Rock Auto but any NAPA also has the hoses. NAPA #s are - 38916 for the 13.5" hose like Rock Auto sells as Bendix # 77664. Dorman sells the same hose as # 36738. Other hoses that work include: NAPA # 381612 at 13.8", NAPA # 381377 at 14.1", and NAPA # 38802 also at 14.1"

I don't believe that is completely true. The majority of motor vehicles with disks in front and drums in back do not have any sort of load-sensing proportioning valve in back - and work fine. The different pressure needs for the shoe-brakes in back versus the disk brakes in front is usually taken care of by the design of the two stages in the master-cylinder and/or a fixed proportioning valve somewhere. The load-sensing valve on back found in heavier trucks is an added feature. I've had the one on my 1 ton truck disconnected for years and my brakes work fine. Granted it may be that Toyota trucks with the load-sensing valve on back may work better with it when varying loads are involved - otherwise it would not be there. I just drove home a U-haul type box truck that was minus that valve and the brakes felt fine to me. If the rear was over-agressive the back wheels would of skidded in hard braking. If underagressive - the front wheels would of skidded (which happens often in many of my GM cars and trucks at times). I guess that's why ABS was invented. And yeah - I'm somewhat guessing at the specifics for the Toyota. The 1 ton has heavier brakes in front and back so I can't say for sure how bad the need actually is for the load-sensor. I live in the rust-belt of NY so in heavy trucks - the rear load sensor is often the first part to get ruined by road salt and removed. I've noticed much difference without it.

How can any of us know that for a fact? Just in my area of New York State, I've seen many traffic deaths over the years attributed to tire blow-outs, broken axles, along with "undetermined but suspected" mechanical failures,etc. Just last summer a tour bus on the NY Thruway crashed and killed several and it was blamed on a "suspected" tire blowout - which I do not believe. If a bus cannot be handled with a blown tire - what sane person would ever ride in one? I suspect it was a combination of speeding, overloading, and driver error. I also read about a guy getting killed in a little Ford Windstar minivan when his axle broke or fell off. I wonder how hard to handle a 20-something-foot Toyota motorhome is if a rear wheel falls off? Can't say I've experienced it yet but also cannot say I want to. I'm going to assume that if you were doing 55 or less and had some room to weave around - you'd be okay. If in tight traffic and going 70-80 ?? I suspect it would not be too hard to lose control and get killed or crippled. When it comes to motorhomes - I doubt all crashes even get thoroughly investigated. We had a big Class A Winnebago crash near me on Interstate 88 a while back and the State Police made a statement that "maybe" it was caused by a failed tire or suspension part. That tells me it was not investigated at a high level. I DO know this. The standard 5 lug rear-end that Toyotas use has a single sealed ball bearing on each end - very similar to what Ford F150 (1/2 ton) pickups use. If it completely fails - it can cause the entire axle to fall out with the wheel still attached to it. The entire rear-axle load-rating is around 3800 lbs. more-or-less. Take that light rating and also the chance of an owner not checking the bearings once in awhile - and it most likely has, and still can lead to disaster. I check all my vehicles with "sealed" bearings every year -since I know they get no outside source of lube. A full floating axle not only has twice the bearings - it is also NOT sealed and can get lube from the gear oil reservoir in the center-housing of the rear-axle assembly. That is a big plus. So is the fact that if the axle even broke off - the wheel could not come off with it. Another plus. I had the rear wheel and axle fall off my 1965 Ford F150 once. I was only doing around 35 MPH on a back road when it happened but I DID have a load of firewood on the back. I did not get hurt but - it was not fun and if I'd been going faster in traffic - it would of been a disaster. The 5 lug Toyota setup is almost identical to the Ford F150. Each axle only held in by the integrity of a sealed ball bearing and a pressed-on steel collar. To make things even worse in some Toyota motorhomes is those with 5 lug "1/2 ton" axles with dual wheels. Those add-on dual wheels put uneven stress on the little axles and caused some to actually snap in two .

I know where there is a dual-wheel full-floating axle for sale for $350. Northern NY. It's in a 1983 Sunrader Toyota. Note that this also has the 6 lug fronts on it so no extra spare tire needed. I don't know what the guy wants for the extra front end parts. I was there to buy doors and a windshield when he gave me that price for the rear a few weeks ago. The Sunrader has 7 of the odd-ball 6 lug X 7.25" bolt-circle X 14" wheels. I just took apart a 1986 dual-wheel box-truck to get myself a full-floating rear. 1986 dual wheel and 2.4 four cylinder engine. I paid $500 for the truck and dismantled it. I found that the HD 6 lug front hubs fit the standard hubs on ligher trucks. So it looks like all you have to do to convert the front is change the hubs. I've been studying parts on these full floating axles and matching up with commonly found parts #s if someone needs it. It's not so easy to run down the auto parts store and order parts for a dual wheel Toyota full-floater. The parts are redibly available but the problem is the parts catalogs.