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Full time RV mode, interior renovation, mechanical, solar (in progress)


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The wife and I moved out of our apartment last week and are full time in the RV now, working our jobs until October then heading to Mexico for ~6 months.

The past two months of life have been non stop insanity but it feels so good now!

Some pics of what's been going on...

BEFORE:

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Bathroom had some water damage up near the roof, replaced all the shower walls with FRP waterproof paneling, after that was done and we got the interior prepped for paint I inspected under the overcab bed for the hell of it and found more water damage, had to do a partial rebuild of the overcab floor, mainly replacing rotted beams and rusted screws, oooo that sucked.  Not to mention I almost fainted when I realized there was more work to do...

Luckily it wasn't too bad... 

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AFTER:

Renovated shower, still need some misc odds and ends taken care of but you get the idea...

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Also removed the awful seafoam green seat covers

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Solar panels mounted, still have to put everything else together with it though, got the batteries/1100w inverter installed now, just need to run the wiring from the panels and install the charge controller & display unit.

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Time to replace some worn steering/suspension components!

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Logs are good for jackstands right?

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Front shocks:

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Replaced steering relay rod, one inner tie rod, idler arm & I still need to track down a steering damper, I ordered an Old Man Emu unit months ago but its not the right part and I can't return it anymore.

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BAM

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Now onto the rears

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The UPS guy hates me

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Officially on the road!

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So much work and frustration, excited to just enjoy it fully in the near future.

Edited by Jaunt
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Nice looking rig. Report your gas mileage.  I know a guy that owns one Sunrader, three Dolphins, and two Winnebagos. He swears the Winnebagos handle the best and also get the best fuel mileage.  True or BS, who knows?  I've never owned a Winnebago Toyota yet, but have torn apart several Lesharos and am very impressed with Winnebago build-quality.

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2 hours ago, whyverne14 said:

Wow, good job.

Thanks!  got the interior a bit more tightened up now, everything is more organized.  

2 hours ago, jdemaris said:

Nice looking rig. Report your gas mileage.  I know a guy that owns one Sunrader, three Dolphins, and two Winnebagos. He swears the Winnebagos handle the best and also get the best fuel mileage.  True or BS, who knows?  I've never owned a Winnebago Toyota yet, but have torn apart several Lesharos and am very impressed with Winnebago build-quality.

Thanks!  Yeah will do, I got about 10mpg on the maiden drive home from FL, I've maybe put 100 miles on it since january.  I later found out my oxygen sensor was stuck lean causing me to run SUPER rich, got that sorted out and passed emissions with flying colors, just filled the tank today, although now It does have a bit more weight, I can feel it for sure... The airbags in the back are shot so it'll ride much better when those are replaced im sure, the bilsteins definitely helped as well. 

As far as build quality, its ok I guess haha.  Found a lot of crooked screws and botched shit I discovered during the renovation, definitely seemed like it was built on a Friday lol, it's alright though, I've tried to make it better now than it was originally.

Edited by Jaunt
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On 7/24/2016 at 1:21 AM, Jaunt said:

I still need to track down a steering damper

I ended up with the Monroe because there wasn't a listed KYB one and the OEM was a tad expensive.  Has held up and works fine.  The original stabilizer was more worn out than the shocks and it did make a a lot of difference.

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12 hours ago, ambercaye said:

those seats are great! original or did you buy them? I am looking to swap my seats in my 1976 chinook... beautiful job! love the cushions too 

The truck seats?  I just removed the stupid covers on them, looks better and much more comfy go figure... Would love to find some second gen 4runner seats though.

Thanks for the compliments, my wife recovered the dinette cushions.

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7 hours ago, Jaunt said:

The truck seats?  I just removed the stupid covers on them, looks better and much more comfy go figure... Would love to find some second gen 4runner seats though.

Thanks for the compliments, my wife recovered the dinette cushions.

mtdave swapped Lexus seats into his, said it was almost bolt in.  I have been watching for a set since then!      http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?/topic/7761-1uzfe-swap-into-my-92-dolphin/&page=1

On the first page of the postings.     Jim

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22 minutes ago, jjrbus said:

mtdave swapped Lexus seats into his, said it was almost bolt in.  I have been watching for a set since then!      http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?/topic/7761-1uzfe-swap-into-my-92-dolphin/&page=1

On the first page of the postings.     Jim

B)

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I just looked at the pictures of the Lexus seats. They certainly look nice but they also look very high (off the cab floor). It might not be any higher than the standard seats, but something to consider/measure. I don't know how tall you or Dave is, but it would be a shame to go to all that trouble only to all that trouble only to find you've no headroom. :)

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On 2016-08-18 at 9:31 AM, Derek up North said:

I just looked at the pictures of the Lexus seats. They certainly look nice but they also look very high (off the cab floor). It might not be any higher than the standard seats, but something to consider/measure. I don't know how tall you or Dave is, but it would be a shame to go to all that trouble only to all that trouble only to find you've no headroom. :)

 I installed Ford King Ranch seats from an F250 in my toyota, and have plenty of head room, granted I am only 6 feet tall.

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12 hours ago, Derek up North said:

I just looked at the pictures of the Lexus seats. They certainly look nice but they also look very high (off the cab floor). It might not be any higher than the standard seats, but something to consider/measure. I don't know how tall you or Dave is, but it would be a shame to go to all that trouble only to all that trouble only to find you've no headroom. :)

Luckily I'm not too tall, I have about a half inch of headroom to spare in the camper haha

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On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 1:21 AM, Jaunt said:

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I am looking to replace shocks and steering damper on my 94 Warrior.  I have the bilsein part numbers for the shocks front and rear.  Is the Moog box is the photo above your steering damper?  If so, do you have the Moog part number, and what site did you order from, please? 

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Thanks for the reply.  I found somebody who put one on a few years ago and got a part number from him, it's just not Bilstein.  It is skyjacker 7000.

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Yes, specifically the #7900.  I ordered one today from Autoanything.com so cannot yet verify that it is right until it arrives.  I was concerned about the ends shown in the photo not matching what is on my 94 Warrior, but the man on the phone at Autoanything assures me that the photo is not the actual part and that the actual part will be right.  I hope to know by Saturday.

 

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On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 11:52 AM, Derek up North said:

 

On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2016 at 6:40 PM, BobBeery said:

Yes, specifically the #7900.  I ordered one today from Autoanything.com so cannot yet verify that it is right until it arrives.  I was concerned about the ends shown in the photo not matching what is on my 94 Warrior, but the man on the phone at Autoanything assures me that the photo is not the actual part and that the actual part will be right.  I hope to know by Saturday.

 

The skyjacker 7900 came today but it is NOT going to fit.  It has a post on each end.  The Toyota original has a post on one end and a tie-rod end fitting on the other.

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Please hold off on judgements of skyjacker steering damper.  It appears I made a mistake in ordering.  It is available both with and without "mounting brackets" (think adapter) and I chose without.  I am going to get the mounting brackets and try it but this may take a week.

Edited by BobBeery
wrong word
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