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86 Conquest complete rebuild


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I found this on ecomodder the other day. Very impressive. WME brings up a good point. Flat roofs suck.

Here is an idea.

How about a detachable roof?  Here is a thought for keeping things waterproof. At the top of the side wall, you angle it inwards at about 45 degrees. You end this section maybe 6 inches after the bend. You then make a roof that overlaps this angled section. You could then have great headroom and still get it inside when needed by popping the roof off.

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I have considered at least for a minute a pop top style RV.  It would require a serious redesign as well as expensive canvas/etc.  I can put a little hump in the middle of the roof, but I'm concerned about it still fitting in the garage.  It rubs the trim just barely right now with the rear tires basically flat and 500 pounds sitting on the floor in the back.  I'm going increase the size of the door opening, but I'll still be limited by the garage door itself and the associated lifting arm/motor assembly, particularly.  I want to be able to get the wheels off the ground for service in the future, so I have to tread lightly.  I'll be able to get it further in in the future when another project car a friend has stored at my place leaves.. but until then, I'm pretty limited.  
The plan has always been to leave the tires inflated and leave the 1000 pounds of band cargo in the back when entering/exiting the garage.  With a little less than 2" to be gained at the opening, I should be all set.

Perhaps down the road I'll build a bigger garage and increase the roof height then... It actually wouldn't be that hard.  Strip the roofing and weld in 2' uprights, resheathe/re-roof and done, minus some basic wiring.

I'm posting over at Ecomodder too, as 86rader noticed.  They've had some great ideas regarding fuel economy.  Specifically, rounded corners up front using 4" aluminum ducting from cheapo depot.  This could help all Toyo MH owners and is a cheap/easy mod.  You'll see it in the vids!

 

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What is your rear suspension? Do you have airbags?

Folks with weak rear springs have report a 5" lift in the rear after installing air bags ($$) . But you could create "bad" springs by removing a leaf. then just let the air out and garage it. On the road pump them up and have a level ride. Heck you might already have the bad spring thing going on a lot of the older rigs do.

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When I did the test fully loaded with band gear (not including the 300 addition pounds I estimate for the remainder of the build) it dropped the rear suspension to near level.  The rear lowered to below the threshold I need now to get it into the garage (just barely) which is 83".  
What's interesting about the springs is that there's an uneven number of them.  There are two extra leafs on the passenger side.  But it rides level, even with a mostly empty gas tank.  
I've suspected from the beginning I want to do air bags.  My 89' Plymouth Grand Voyager van has air bags... only a couple hundred bucks at the time and wow.... several inches difference.  
I've inspected my springs... no broken ones I can find, but that doesn't mean much.  Air bags are a likely thing for me, I think.  

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Any idea where to buy spare rims for this truck?  It has the 6 lug rear and the 5 lug fronts.  I'd like to start with the front as a spare, then buy the rear when $ allows.  If one of the duals gets a flat, I can probably get home or at least to a gas station driving gently.  If one of the fronts go, I'm out of options besides a tow.  Worse, most of the driving I'll be doing is at night to 3am.  
There's a guy locally who has the 6 lug from the box truck, I think.  His are 15", however.  Only wants $50 for both.  But then I'd have to come up with a comparable 15" tire that was the same overall height as the existing duals.  Not ideal... and not a front wheel either.
 

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Check the used duals carefully, the U-Haul trucks came with 14" 6 bolts. The rim should be marked 14-6J or something like that. Some of the 4wd pickups came with a 15" 6 bolt, but the pattern is different.

The 5 bolt is just a standard Toyota 14" pickup rim, from any junkyard.

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I have 5 lug fronts and 6 lug dually rear. I have driven a very long way with only one tire in back because of a blow out. That's another reason for buying the right tires. Extra load capacity in a pinch. I do remove the flat tire so it doesn't damage the good one. Most auto junk yards will have rims for the front. The dually is a problem though. Slightly different than any other year and you probably have left hand threads on the rear drivers side. Turning them the wrong way will break studs. wait a minute. just looked at that wheel. No hand holds? Never seen one like that. Now I'm clueless

Linda S

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5 hours ago, benfrogg said:

There's a guy locally who has the 6 lug from the box truck, I think.  His are 15", however.  Only wants $50 for both.  But then I'd have to come up with a comparable 15" tire that was the same overall height as the existing duals.  Not ideal... and not a front wheel either.
 

For $50 and local, I'd certainly go and check them out. AFAIK, there's no such thing as 15" ever sold in North America. Without tires installed to read the size from, it's pretty common for people to simply measure the outside diameter of the rim. A rim designed for a 14" tire will measure 15" overall. As said above, they should be stamped with the size, perhaps hidden under rust or dirt. :)

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Linda the last pic in the wheel well redo shows a hand hold. Looks like it might be a 3 hand wheel.

 

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1 hour ago, WME said:

Linda the last pic in the wheel well redo shows a hand hold. Looks like it might be a 3 hand wheel.

 

So maybe it is really an 85 and  the axle is an upgrade? Wheels can be found at http://car-part.com/ but depends on your location. Just put in your zip and part your looking for. Easiest to look for 90"s wheels. They are all the same. This for dually only. Front can be found anywhere. Even new ones on Ebay are pretty cheap

Linda S

This place is in Maine and they have a few of them for only 50 bucks each

Randy's Auto USA-ME(Auburn) Request_Quote 1-877-352-4898 Request_Insurance_Quote
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Hey all,
As Derek mentioned, I'll probably go look at that $50 set.  They probably are the 14" variety.  
Awesome on the front... I'll definitely call the yards and get one asap.  

Linda, the wheels do have hand holds, its just difficult to tell from the angle of the last photo.  I believe it has 4 hand holds, will check tonight.
Also, yes, they are left handed on the drivers side.  I figured that out early on when the impact gun wouldn't budge them.  I've had one trailer made from an old truck that had left handed lugs.  I broke one off before I realized my mistake.  Since then, I'm a bit more vigilant to it... so no damage to the Yota!

Also, Derek, the tires are rubbing.  But they are rubbing because I've moved it around in the yard with the tires near flat.  When inflated they have lots of clearance between them.  Good eyes, though!

PS-
I doubt any of you are considering the LED headlights sold on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/351892992424?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

And I suggest you don't.  The high beams are fantastic!  But the low beams are as low as the factory sealed beams.  There's such a difference between the two, I think it might attract unwanted attention at night.  I'm considering adding fog lights for the low beam if the seller wont take them back/give me my $ back.  The highs are pretty awesome...

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Here's the latest chapter.  I'm playing with the format a bit and using more dialogue... particularly allowing the Mainer' accent to show through now and again. 

 

 

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Love the plastic barrel fix. I need that. Tore off my guard for my fill tube after a major blow out and haven't made a replacement. Think I'm going plastic instead of sheet metal. Thanks. I don't hear any Maine accent. Must be that college degree talking

Linda S

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Aw to late. I had the same problem with the trailer hitch. I got just a straight 18" receiver and cut a 2X2' hole in the bumper. Mounted the receiver flush and butted it up to a 1x3  welded across the frame rails. The bumper takes the weight and the cross bar takes the twisting from the trailer tongue.

I also found a bolt on  5 bolt to 6 bolt wheel adapter. I carried it and a 6 bolt spare. Blow a rear tire, just use the spare. Blow a front, bolt on the adapter and use the spare.

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Good call on the adapter.  Might go that route too, do you have a link to where you bought the adapter?

I'm pleased with the hitch up high.  I should have mentioned that it will be 21" unloaded.  200+ #'s of tongue weight will drop it to 18-19", I think.  Should be just about right for my small trailer with a drop.  Big trailer it will be just right.

 

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The adapter came from Custom and Commercial Wheel in Stockton Ca. They seem to have vanished from the internet world.

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Nice, I'll do some investigating with them.

Any ideas on what weight to use for the rear end?  I'm certain it has it's oil from 1986.  Well not certain, but I'm sure it needs to be done. 
I'd prefer to go synthetic here.  I have a jug mobil 1 rear end 75? weight left over from another job.
 

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I might not have asked that last question clearly enough.  Does anyone have recommendations/capacity for oil in the rear end?

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3.8 pints for 2 pin, ...75-90w... GL-5

4.6 pints for 4 pin (v-6)

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I was curious why there would be a (relatively) big difference between a 2 & 4 pin diff, so decided to look in my 1991 Owners Manual. This is what they list:-

Differential Oil Capacity:-

22R-E engine -   1.4 qt

3VZ-E engine -   Rear single wheels -   1.9 qt

                       -   Rear dual wheels -   2.3 qt

Very baffling. So out came the 1993 and 1988 FSMs.

Still baffled. I guess the bottom line is to open 1 qt at a time and return any that are unused! :)

 

Differential Oil - Pg 957 1988.jpg

Differential Oil - Pg 1296 1993.jpg

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Huh.... well, only way to know is drain it and refill.  I have nearly two full jugs of 75w 90 mobil 1.  I also have a gallon of 80w90 conventional.  I'll buy more of the 75w90 if the consensus is 75w90 is the preferred weight.  It's probably splitting hairs, but I'd prefer to go synthetic for this application.

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My book said 75-90, Derek's factory book says 80-90. So I'd have no problem using the Mobil 1.

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Yep, 2 quarts did it.  I didn't warm the diff up because the truck isn't on the road.  So it probably didn't change it all, but it's good enough for now until I've put a few thousand miles on it.  The oil that was in there was pretty bad.... as expected.  So at least it's done.  

PS - I'm waiting on steel again.  Evidently my ability to keep track of just how much material I'm going to need is handicapped by my wallet....
I did get the folding seat arrangement installed.  Pace has slowed a bit as about 1k in unexpected expenses came up this month, but still moving forward.  Last of the steel should arrive tuesday.

Upper bed has a frame now too, so I've been able to test the size of the opening with my body up there.  Without the bed it's not at all claustrophobic.  With the 3" bed, it's a little tight.  Not too tight for me, but probably too tight for her.  Going to have to get some thinner material for the bed, I think.  

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Check out camping stuff for sleeping pads. A sleeping bag with a pad makes a snuggley place to crash

Edited by WME
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I think we actually have some sleeping pads kicking around.  There's also a discount store around here that sells odds and ends... sometimes you can buy 1" or 2" foam 4x8 for $25 or less.  
Man, that old rear end fluid is stinky... the smell of it still lingers in the garage more than a day later.
 

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The effects of old rear axle lube on your world have been discussed before. My answer usually involves burning your old work clothes, cause you dribbled a few drops on them.

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I think I've decided what to use for the outside.  I was thinking flashing in 2'x50' rolls, but now I'm thinking trim coil in 2'x50' rolls.  Price is $80 shipped x4 needed to do the whole rig.  Flashing was going to be $60 each.  Trim coil is PVC coated white and feels quite a bit thicker/stronger.

For the roof, same, but I'll of course 3m marine adhesive the joints.  Then roll the whole roof in henry roof coating or similar. No roof penetrations at all. So it should stay leak free for years without much maintenance. 

Thoughts?

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