Gulfstream Greg

11.8 volts is really low, that is considered a 35% charge which can actually be damaging to a lead acid battery if left that way for to long. I hope to one day put up some solar panels. I have found that I would have to run the engine for a couple of hours with a 14 volt charge to recover from 11.8 volts to a full charge. High current is good for running high current demand items when the engine is running but I am not sure that all types of batteries will like a high current charge rate as overheating the battery can shorten their life. Also be aware that lead acid batteries produce some serious explosive gasses at high charge and discharge rates and need to be well ventilated. AGM (absorbed glass mat) batteries are a good option as they will take high charge rates and low discharge rates with out damage and with out producing those nasty gasses. Everyone who I know that has solar have no battery problems and never complain about low batteries. Conservative use of lighting and other appliances are key though to battery capacity. Installation of low current lights made a big difference for me. A second AGM battery will be installed before my next boon dock trip which should also help out greatly. Even though I have said all that I think the high current alternator is a great idea and for me with AGM batteries it would work out almost perfectly. The addition of solar panels would make it all perfect.

You might try this guy http://www.rvdoctorgeorge.com/ he may be able to ship one to you. Greg

I am in need of a water pump if you still have it. Let me know how much. Mine siezed over the weekend. Greg

I have a Sunrader and am 6 ft on a good day. If I stand up straight my head presses into the roof. I can not say for the other manufacturers so hopefully others will post answers.

Same here, upside down and sometimes leening to the side to break the seal

Found an outfit that sells headers for the 20 and 22r and the v6's http://www.northwestoffroad.com/index.html Greg

Transmission overheat when using od has been a reacurring subject on the yahoo toyota campers group. It looks to me that the over heat issues are related to the 22r fuel injected engines which use a transmission that does not have a locking torque converter. I can not remember though anyone who has a temp gauge posting any data that they actually see the high temps when using overdrive. I might bee wrong on that though as I do not continuissly follow the postings there. With my transmission the torque converter goes into lockup when overdrive and remains there. It will seek 4th gear when needed but never go out of lockup. Remember I am talking about the 4x4 setup and not 2 wheel drive. 2 wheel drive uses a different transmission and may be a complete different ball game.

Well this is going to go against what everyone els has to say. But first let me make it clear that I am not saying everyone is wrong, I am running a different transmission than most, a A340F (behind a 22r turbo in a 4x4) and transfer case. Thats what its supposed to have for the year and engine but the firewall tag says A340H ( supposedly behind a v6 in a 4x4} so I am not totally sure. It does though have a locking torque converter. Any how for me what I have found is that I can look at my transmission temp gage when running with overdrive off and the temp can be high, say 220 or so even when cruising down the freeway at 60 mph+. I will turn the od on and it will drop rpm's and I can actually watch the needle fall to a lower temperature and when I say watch you can actually follow it with your eyes. I never see temp increase when using over drive but it is hard to keep the speed up unless on level ground with no head winds. What drives my temps up are curvy roads where you are on and off the gas, city traffic and sustained long climbs. I have never seen od to raise my temp only lower it.

A 1 way is propane only, a 2 way is propane and 120 volt ac (shore power), a 3 way is both the above plus 12 volt dc (truck battery power}. The way to tell is look at the selector knobs on the front of the refer. You will have a knob that has one, two or all three selections and each selection (gas, 12v, 120v). A note: 12 volt dc is only supposed to be used when the engine is running as it will quickly run down most batteries due to high current consumption. I do run mine on 12 volt dc when on the road. I have two ways to control it, one a relay that only supplies power when the ignition is on and two a separate switch on the dash where I can disconnect power to it when in slow traffic. Even 10 minuets in slow traffic can substantially deplete the battery. Hope that helps Greg

JC Whittney sells air bags for the toyota. I think they are about $209 for the set. Its highly unlikely that you will find a replacement just for one being that old. Go here Greg

Bajadulce - Now thats what I call a remodel. I have a question, did you increase the head room with the new roof? We will be at the Big Sur toyin in a couple of weeks. And we are putting on a toyin in sept. oct. in Felton. Keep up the good work and continue to post your progress in this thread. I wouldent mind checking out first hand all those mods. Nolan - Looks like Blue is out driving around! Send me a progress report and I will ad it to the pages. Greg

They do need the power supply. It raises and produces a high frequency voltage. The pwr supply is actually called a river. The best place to purchase them in on the internet. Do a search for cold cathode lighting and do some price research for the white. You will be able to find much cheaper than Fry's. Yes Fry's is a hard to store to not want to walk around and check stuff out. My favorite store is the Fremont store. The have one of the worlds largest Telsla Coils in operation and one of the worlds highest Jacobs ladders. Greg

Thanks Bill, the tilt/grade meter came with my rig when I bought it. Its actually a factory option. Probably really rare to find now. It has front and back, and left and right angle. It also has a barometer with elevation markings. If you know your present elevation you set it then you can see your accent or decent etc. Or even tell if a weather front is approaching. The tilt part is very accurate and can be used to level the rig. There is a name for the unit but I can not remember it though. Greg

Here are some pics of the final installation. I was able to mount the radio head using velcro to a plate which I custom bent to fit into the dash ashtray. A block of wood holds it in place. It all works really well. I have not yet though found a spot to place a bracket for the mike on the dash area. The head is easily moved from front to back with velcro holdig the head to the radio. 73's Greg

Try this guy http://www.rvdoctorgeorge.com/ Greg

The vent valve on the tank is only opened when the tank is being filled. If you are smelling gas inside the coach every connection needs to be checked. Including stove valves, feed lines to the burners. Gas lines can get microscopic holes in them from corrosion or wear. You can buy a gas leak suds mixture, its better than the home brew as its thicker and sticks in the same place longer to show the smallest of leaks. Greg

I know of two sources. One is the original manufacturers location. There is an rv dealer there now but the owner was part of sunrader and kept the molds for the front windows. A bit pricey at about $250 or so each. If your interested in that I will look up the phone number. Anoiher source for used is http://www.rvdoctorgeorge.com/ There are three or four different styles depending on year. Greg

Thanks bill I had thought of the magnetic reed witches but could not find what I wanted locally. So I went for the micro switches. They were not real hard to adjust, just a simple bending of the lever. When I first installed the lights I was worried that they would easily break from road shock. But they have withstood several miles of dirt roads. Since the cabinet project I have gutted a fluorescent light and installed two cold cathodes in it for over the table. Works great. Next project is a led reading light on a flexible wand for the bed. I have found that a single key chain led light is sufficient for reading. Greg

You got my vote for updates!! A lot of folks read without posting. Take photos from start to finish and I will put it all on its own page! Greg

Where is your coach battery located? My battery is about two feet of wire from the converter. I too have been doing some electrical mods for running my two way radio and other gear. The main feed comes out of my battery compartment then goes to a auto reset circuit breaker. Its under my closet and my access is thru some drawer areas which makes it hard to reach the breaker, anyway the connections at the breaker are some badly crimped eyes. My plan is to remove all that garbage and run some 8 gauge wire from the battery to the converter. I really want to add a second battery somewhere but can find a good spot. Any how look at all your connections in the sunrader. I have found many corroded oem crimped connectors and have replaced them by soldering on new connectors. The tail lights were one of the big problem areas for me. Same with all the wires that ran to the tank level sensors. Looks like I might need to check and see if I have a voltage drop to my refer on 12volt. I run mine on 12 volt when traveling. I use a relay that only supplys power to the refer when the ignition is on, I also have a disconnect switch on the dash to cut power when in stop and go traffic. Greg

The panel has been mounted above the refer in place of the OEM TV and cig plug. Radio is also going to be mounted on that wall. I will stick the head to the radio with Velcro. Reason is if I mount it under the cabinet facing out the radio is about 3 inches too long. I had thought of putting the radio inside the cabinet but stuffing a weeks cloths inside would eliminate any ventilation. The refer fan is mounted at the bottom of the outside top grill/vent facing up. Sp basically all I had to do was pull the grill fabricate a bracket and hook it up. The fan is a computer case cooling fan. 12 volt, low noise and low amperage. And it does work for me I think. It helps pull the air up and out but how much I really do not know. Anyhow I tend to have refer cooling problems in the summer when at the 7000 foot level. Last trip I found some snow and filled some bags and that did the trick. It gets warm when traveling thru the Sacramento valley on a 90 degree day and then it just will not cool down sometimes. I have thought of buying a replacement cooling unit and replacing it, but extra cash has gone to other projects and the needs of life. I have considered getting a bladder to catch the shower water with a hose like your set up but have not been able to find a cheap bladder. I actually like that idea better than the pump. Greg

There are two ways to ad an image to a post. The first is as an attatchment. Down towards the bottom you will see a "file attachments" Simply browse for the image on your hard drive and select it. Then click "add this attachment". Now you have two options, one it will just be a link in the post or two click "add into post". The latter will ad a thumbnail image where ever the curser is located. like here which viewers can click on for a larger view. The second way is to first upload your image to somewhere such as your own web space or to our gallery. A hint here, do the uploading first to where you would store your image as it makes this next step easier. So now that your image is somewhere on the internet, view it in internet explorer or your favorite browser. Right click the image and select properties. In the properties window you should see an address url. At the top of the post window you will see a small green tree icon. CLicking on that will open a window where you can insert the address url. Shoult be something like this http://www.myweb.com/mypick.jpg etc. simply enter that address url info into the box and select ok. If all is right you will see an image like below. Also remember that you can preview your post before you submit it to make sure it looks good.