Geysergazers
-
Posts
73 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Events
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Posts posted by Geysergazers
-
-
Actually, Stick framing/Aluminum siding/Paneling is the lightest construction method. Our '82 21Ft Dolphin (stick framing) weighed 4600Lb whereas our '86 21Ft Dolphin (Laminated Fiberglass/Luan/Foam/Paneling) weighed 5600Lb. The Cast Fiberglass Sunraders are I believe about the same weight as the Laminated Coaches.
Lew&Jan
Marco&Scape
Katz
-
This is just a point of information, as it makes no real difference RE 5Bolt dual overloading.
The Truck under our '82 Dolphin is what Toyota (according to the Owner's Manual) calls 3/4Ton, not 1/2Ton. The 3/4Ton rear axle is rated to carry 2905Lb whereas the 1/2Ton axle is rated to carry 2540Lb. Again according to the Owner's Manual, the Cab&Chassis requires 1.9Qt of rear-end oil, whereas the 1/2Ton truck requires 1.8Qt in it's differential. A good Parts Man will ferret out the fact that Toyota assigns different part numbers to the 3/4Ton Axle Shaft and the 1/2Ton part. BTW, the Wheel Bearing is the same part for both axles.
Lew
-
Anyone else having trouble with the link?? It works OK for me. The PIC is in the "Files" section of the Yahoo!Group for Toy MHs. Many of the Dolphin Brochures can be found there. Hmm, I wonder if you need to be a member to access the Files. This Linkshould get you to the Home Page and you can join the group.
Lew
-
Your Dolphin is a 21Fter. Yes, it has an aluminum roof. Under that is just those little 1X2 "rafters" (1/4" Ply under the skin for the last 4Ft of roof only).
Lew
-
No way. There isn't enough support with a single bearing it's not the bearing that fails it's the axle that brakes because of the flexing. Now maybe if the new axle was 4" in diameter….
I was told the direct opposite by National RV. The balls in the [overloaded] bearing spall which makes them run rough which causes vibration which is transferred to the axle shaft. This vibration causes Fatigue Failure of the axle. That is why the original "fix" (before availability of the full floating axle) was replacement of the wheel bearings at 30,000Mi intervals. To test the condition of your wheel bearings :
1) remove each axle shaft
2)suspend the axle in a horizontal orientation (NOT supporting the spline end) by the bearing/retainer/brake-backing-plate
3)rotate the axle shaft and feel for roughness.
4)rotate the backing plate assy' a few degrees and repeat
5)do this until you have gone the whole way 'round
6)If you detected roughness at any orientation replace the bearing (HINT-the outer race develops a worn spot at about 1-2 O'clock representing the vector addition of weight and forward thrust)
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
On my 18ft I have two tires on each side on the rear axel but only 5 bolts. Is there a single tire rear axel with 5 bolts as well? or do all the 5 bolt style have two wheels like the floater axel style?
thanks again for the info!
You really need to weigh your Sunrader before making any decision. Your 5Bolt rear axle should be rated by Toyota at 2900Lbs (its what Toyota called a "3/4 ton truck" axle). Look at the weight tag to confirm this. If you are more than a bit over that I would consider a one ton axle. If you are at or below 2900Lbs I would consider singling the rear axle (it accepts the standard Toyota Pickup wheel) using Load Range "D" tires.
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
We too have 6Bolt rear and 5Bolt front wheels on Ms Dolphin....I solved the spare tire problem by putting the Spare out for the Garbage Men. We carry no spare and haven't in 14Yrs and 170,000Mi of Toy MH use. I do carry a spare In-Tank Fuel Pump though. Go figure. Each to his own, Eh?
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
Our '86 has no clearance issues in front of the Rad. When the weather gets a little better I will take a PIC and we can maybe figure out why some have room and some don't. Everything should be the same between two '86 cabs, Eh? Oh, one possible difference might be that our Dash A/C is Toyota Factory. Maybe some Condensers are thicker than others??
Lew
-
The A43D automatics have a drain plug on the tranny oil pan. The first time I would drain the Pan and remove it. You should find a round Magnet stuck to the inside bottom of the Pan. Clean it (that also shows how much steel has been shed from tranny internal parts) and the Pan. I would also replace the Filter (really just a fine mesh screen) this once. Filter and Pan Gasket come packaged together (less than $15 if I remember correctly).
Our Transmission Oil Cooler is about 2/3 the size of the Radiator and is secured to the A/C Condenser (in front of the Rad) by those plastic gizmos already mentioned. I'm surprised your Toy MH doesn't already have a Cooler.
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
DONM, did the Toyota dealer end up dropping the pan and cleaning or replacing a filter?
Also, what improvements did you notice?
Thanks,
Dennis...
Dennis, it took me about 45Min to drop the Pan, clean it and the magnet which is inside the Pan, and change the Filter (it is really just a fine-mesh screen). At 60,000Mi Ms Dolphin's filter was clean and there was a thin layer of gray slime in the bottom of the Pan (one paper towel absorbed it all). Auto Parts stores carry the new filter packaged with a new Pan Gasket.
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
What I want to know is what automatic transmission is in that thing?? Note the tranny Dipstick on the Driver side (beside the brake master cylinder) instead of being on the Passenger side as in the later models.
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
At 150,000Mi our '82 21Ft Dolphin (4600Lb) was down to 130PSI compression pressure. BTW, the service limit is 128PSI. A "new" junkyard engine fixed that. Ms Dolphin (our '86 21Ft Dolphin, 6000Lb rolling) has 165PSI compression at 75,000Mi.
Lew
SKP #100106
Hotel Dolphin-400 nights and 50,000Mi in 4Yrs
http://traveldolphin.blogspot.com/
'86 21Ft RB Dolphin, 22RE, A43D, One Ton Rear Axle
5960LB rolling on P195/70R14 Load Range "B" tires
Kyocera 125W Solar, Solar Boost 2000E MPPT Controller
Lifeline Grp27 AGM
Atwood 7916II, Dometic 2410, Insinkerator 2.5Gal 1500W WtrHtr
Rear mount 8KBtu 10.8EER Frigidaire A/C
Permanent Macerator Sewage Pump (no Stinky Slinky for us!)
Rostra Servo-Motor Actuated Cruise Control
Sprint Sierra Aircard 595 in an IBM ThinkPad R52
Cyfre Dual-Band Cellphone/Aircard Amplifier
-
Katz has traveled roughly 80,000Mi and spent some800 nights in Old Dolphin and Ms Dolphin.
Lew
-
You might want to weigh your MH before deciding to add storage capacity. Our '86 21Ft Dolphin is within 30Lb of its 6000Lb max GVW with water, bicycles, food and us aboard. While I have seen a storage pod on a Toyota MH, I wouldn't consider it. I find the roof structure to be minimal at best and again, CCC will probably be a problem as well.
Does yours have the one ton rear axle upgrade?
Lew
-
The plug on your RV is 30A 120V, not 220. You probably have an Onan Microlite 2800 generator (in your Toy MH). If so, it provides 23A output at 120V.
Lew
-
It's like WME said. That old "linear" (transformer based) Converter has a small (separate output) battery charger built into it (not sure but I think 4A or 6A output). It is a battery cooker (voltage too low to fully charge but too high for floating long term-boils to much battery water).
Lew
-
I was told by a gentleman who sold the Toyota Dolphins in Dallas, Texas that the manufacturing of the small motorhome was stopped because Toyota quit providing the chassis to the manufacturers......John A
Yup, I was told by the Recall Guy at National RV during a phone conversation in 1995 that Toyota actually stopped manufacturing the 1Ton Chassis in 1991. This was reinforced by my eyeballing a field full of Toyota Chassis' which appeared at the Scotty Factory (Irwin,Pa) in late '91, early '92. The numbers slowly dwindled and I think were all gone (through the Plant and down the road as MH's) sometime in '94 or maybe early '95.
Lew
-
Those two units will have same heavy rear axle, transmission, coach body construction and appliances. The '92 has a significantly higher horsepower V6 . Some just have to have the POWER. The older 4Cyl 22RE on the other hand has a better reputation for longevity (V6 had/has head gasket issues) and gets better fuel economy. Some of us just have to have the lower Fuel Consumption. The '92 could have a rubber roof instead of the aluminum roof the '87 has?? The '87 may or may not have 6 bolt front wheels matching the rear wheels?? Rebuilt engines and transmissions for either can be had if necessary. Toyota and third-party parts for both are readily available.
Those differences and similarities aside, with vehicles of this age for me it is all about condition. Odometer reading is largely meaningless. 30,000Mi on a 20Yr old vehicle might actually be a minus. I would be looking very closely at the condition of the Frame, the Cab underneath, the coach Floor and the Roof. All else is not critical and can be repaired/replaced. Appliances that old are throw-away so not really a factor(i.e. if they work now soon they won't and if they don't it is replacement time-exception the Cookstove).
Lew
-
Both the RK and RB models have the Wastewater Tank/s behind the rear axle. With this setup you will sure notice handling/driveability changes as you accumulate Wastewater. Because the Freshwater Tank is well forward of the rear axle this affect is magnified. That is, the shift of some 190Lb (24Gal of Water) from a point about halfway between the two axles to a point centered about 30" behind the rear axle really makes the front end light and steering likewise.
The MB floorplans have the opposite situation, what with the Freshwater Tank behind the rear axle and the Wastewater Tank/s about midway between the two axles.
I find that dynamic weight issues (where the water is and how much Junk you load in/on and where you put it) are much more significant problems than is the as-built weight distribution.
As to which is better, we have an '82 21Ft Dolphin with Rear Kitchen and an '86 21Ft Dolphin with a Rear Bath and can say that, of course, there are advantages to both. The RK wastes less floorspace on the bathroom while the RB has a better Kitchen/Dining layout but in the end both work well for us. Neither of us like the Mid Bath (or maybe Front Bath is more accurate in this size coach) plan as it has a closed-in feeling and with the Bed made up there is no table (both our Dolphins came with the small-table-w/barrel-chairs-opposite-the-couch/gaucho setup).
Lew
-
Sorry....I lost track of this thread. Yes, that's probably what happened (soot/rust which you dislodged by turning it upside down got on or in the burner). Since operation is now normal it should be fine. If it worries you though, you could pull the Furnace and remove the burner (it actually can be removed without pulling the furnace), turn the furnace on end and blow it out (through the burner hole and out the exhaust) thoroughly with high pressure compressed air. Alternatively you can remove the burner without pulling the furnace and clean it, then vacuum the combustion chamber through the burner hole. If removing the burner I would be sure to have a new OEM gasket on hand (at 21Yrs age the old one will probably disintegrate).
Ms Dolphin got a shiny new Atwood 7916II Furnace for Christmas. Boy is she happy. Her old Furnace had a slight propane leak from the electric gas valve and the blower motor was pretty loose so rather than spend $200 on those parts I bought a new Furnace on EBay for $320 w/shipping.
Lew
-
I had read many places where the tires should be around 50PSI, and since there was no sticker on my door jam from Toyota I did my best to figure what the PSI should be, I had the tires at about 46PSI for most of the trip. But then when I was putting on my seatbelt one morning I noticed a sticker on the side of the cab, and it read 28PSI for the tires. When I spoke to a tire retailer, they said to do what the manufacturer says, not what the tires say. I have attached a photo of the label inside my cab, I lowered my tires to 35PSI at the next gas station, it had a huge effect on the bouncy ride and crashing noise everytime we hit a bump, it was smooth and quiet. Any thoughts on this???We run the P195/70R14 tires on our '86 21Ft Dolphin (5950Lb rolling) at 36PSI Back and 30PSI Front. Even tire wear across the tread says this pressure is about right. If I go above 30PSI Front the steering gets too sensitive in wind buffeting.
Lew
-
Our 4 CuFt Dometic consumes about 1 Lb/Day of Propane and has a usable freezer compartment. The smallest 2 CuFt (Dometic) models use about 0.6 Lb/Day. If you don't need a freezer compartment the 2 CuFt version actually holds a good bit of food and runs about $400 brand new.
Solar is pricey but a real investment because as Scrooge said to Cratchet "...and once purchased may be used indefinitely...". Solar just keeps giving and giving. We have a 120Watt Panel (around $600 right now) and can do a lot with that much juice. It provides about 35AmpHours a day (full summertime sun). As an example, that would run a Fantastic Fan on High speed for 12Hrs.
Lew
-
McShank, your experience is in very close agreement with ours. I see that your trip was at elevations above 4000Ft (except for the first and last few miles). When Ms Dolphin's ECU senses 4000Ft (actually about 3400Ft) and changes to the high altitude mode we immediately see consistent 15MPG (still air) or above. In Yellowstone at 45Mph we get 18Mpg. However, most of the 10,000Mi we traveled in 2007 was below 4000Ft where we get 14Mpg still air. Inevitably we faced a couple thousand Mi of headwind/crosswind at 11.5Mpg-12.5Mpg (across New Mexico with a strong headwind I once saw under 11Mpg). Hence the overall 13.89Mpg.
Engine OK with 163PSI Compression Pressure and ECU and all sensors OK. New NGK Plugs and air filter every 5000Mi. Mobil 1 Oil. P195R14 tires inflated to 36PSI rear and 30PSI front. Speed 58Mph.
In August 2005 I left Old Faithful in the morning and drove with a Tailwind all day into Western Nebraska and Achieved 19Mpg for that 500Mi. I would be lying to myself though if I claimed that "We get 19Mpg with our Toyota MH"....
Lew
-
Our '86 22RE A43D Dolphin achieved 13.89MPG for the most recent 10,000Mi. To the OP, you might be a little low (I hear about 12MPG for a late model V6). To you other Folks, unless your road speed is no more than 45Mph....I don't believe it. Keep every Gas Receipt for something like 5000Mi, add them up for a total number of gallons consumed and divide those Total Miles Driven by those Total Gallons Consumed and then tell me about it.
Lew
Re-doing the RV-what sort of wall material should I use?
in General Discussion
Posted
The lighter '82 Dolphin (stick&aluminum skin) was much Hotter in the Sun than was the Laminated '86.
Lew&Jan
Marco&Scape
Katz