McShank

When I lived in south Florida I learned from the locals that they would sprinkle "Twenty Mule Team Borax" onto their carpets. They say the borax has sharp edges that cracks the outer shell of the fleas and they die from dehydration before they lay more eggs. I don't know if the science is valid but it seemed to work. Seamus McShank

Travelmaster, I also have the Kohler 2.5. I had the carb rebuilt to remove the plaque that had clogged it from leaving gas sitting in the gen without something like Stabil in the tank. Old gas becomes bad gas. I have since spliced a shut-off valve into the fuel line. When done using it I cut the fuel off and letting it run dry. Since I started doing this the gen has started every time. I also got a Kohler Manual, cost me about $30, from Loftin Equipment in Phoenix. 602-272-9466, loftinequip.com. They will want the "spec number", its on the top right of the id plate attached to the gen. Good luck Seamus McShank

Mikie, Went to the bottom of King's Canyon last year and wish I could get back again. Anyway when you first turn on the furnace the blower motor will run for about ten seconds before the gas valve opens and igniter sparks. If you only get the fan motor, check the voltage at the furnace. It will not let the gas valve operate if your voltage is not pretty full; in this way if the battery is low and the fan slows down the furnace will not overheat and cause a fire. Can you hear the furnace "clicking" shortly after the fan begins to run? If you do the igniter is sparking - that would leave the gas valve as suspect. If full voltage and no clicking then look at the igniter. Hope this helps. Seamus McShank

JohnW, Years ago I owned a Dolphin with dual tanks. There was a toggle switch on the dashboard to go from main to aux. tank and when on aux. the fuel would drain into the main tank until empty - the engine kept running because it pulls from the main tank only. The fuel gauge would read the level in whichever tank I switched to. I never had reason to trace the lines but figured the aux. tank was mounted higher tha the main one and there was no pump, just gravity feed. Hope this helps. Seamus McShank

There is a new posting on Craigslist in Phoenix for parting out a 1 ton V6. He says the rear axle was rebuilt 26K miles ago. " sale-5dfmv-1827637117@cgaigslist.org " I know these are hard to find so I hope this helps. Seamus McShank

Gerinono Welcome to the Forums. The original size is indeed 185R14 although many run with 195's. Any larger and you run the risk of your back tires rubbing together when not fully injflated and causing tire failure. Even with dual tires on the rear there is a lot of extra stress on the sidewalls because our extra weight causes more sway. The difference in "C" and "D" range tires is an extra ply to the sidewalls, so I would only purchase 8 ply - "8 PR" - load range "D" tires. The most popular manufacturers ane Yokohama, Hankook/Nankook and Nexen. If you want to buy tires on line Tire Rack and Tires-Easy are good sources. I stress "D" because when I bought my Toy it had 5,000 miles on a full set of new "C" range and the rears were already showing signs of side wall stress. At that time I replaced the rears only thinking I could get mileage out of the fronts, but with only 8,000 additional miles the fronts had "feathered" and "cupped" and were causing an irritating thump going down the road and needed replacing. McShank

Skippervido, Count us in. I'll check with my "boss" and see what dates might look good. I'm in New River and haven't been in the White Mtns for a long time. Seamus McShank

Started off for a weekend in the mountains but turned around after hearing some thumping noises that reminded me I have been putting off replacing the left front wheel bearings. I know I have read some posts about getting the right ones. I have Auto Zone, Checker and Napa close by and would like to know #'s and if anyone has a preference. I assume the bearings on the 6 bolt front wheel must be stronger than stock 1/2 ton. Seamus McShank

Look at "rvdiscountsupplies.com" - they list escape vent covers for around $70. Measure yours first as they have several sizes. Replacement is pretty simple. Seamus McShank

If you can get a n umber from the existing bag that would be the way to go. The Ebay entry I saw said 2115 covered 86-89 and cost $278.36. Fastlaneusastore is their name. Give them a call or contact Firestone directly to see if 2115 is the right one. Seamus McShank

I am out in the desert north of Phoenix and summers here are not for everyone. Its nice to be able to escape the heat on weekends and my new found spot is Mingus Mountain near Jerome. There is a hang glider launch site nearby and a drop of 2600' into the Verde Valley below. Cool ponderosa forest with a great view. Anyone who wants to make fun of my summers should think about the other nine months when you might be buried in snow and I can fire up my BBQ. In winter I can go 2 hours north and crosscountry ski and still BBQ that night. Seamus McShank

Bestbowl Get online and go to Ebay, search "toyota motorhome firestone rite ride". Your complete kit is FIR-2115 and is listed around $250. The is also a youtube video on there that shows the installation. Good luck and keep us up to date. Seamus McShank

Your air bags are Firestone Ride Rite and they make a specific kit for '86-'94 Toyota dual wheel motorhomes. An entire kit can be purchased for around $300. You can "google" to find a supplier who can sell you a pair of replacement bags only and installation is not too difficult as long as you have the jacks, stands and tools. If one bag has blown I would replace both sides. If you have to pay someone to do it I would guess 3-4 hours in shop labor. I would keep the bags as you can soften the ride with lower psi or stiffen it up by filling completely to 80 psi. Your 21' Dolphin probably weighs about 6000#s. Seamus McShank

I think its about time I replace my monitor panel. Awhile back Maineah spoke of installing a SeeLevel II unit but the weather back then was still too cold to hook up the sensors. Hey Maineah how does it work now? Do the sensors give a pretty accurate reading? Easy to install? I have found a great dry camping spot only 2 hours away at 7800' elvation here in Arizona where the temps only hit 83 today, while it is 108 at my house, but I need to be able to know the levels in the fresh and grey tanks easier than by crawling around on the ground.

My '88 Sunrader's pinstripping has faded and cracked badly and I am wondering if anyone has experience with applications or with hand painting. I find if I slowly remove the old pieces I can see the color difference where the old had been, this could help me with taping off and hand painting. Purchasing new rolls can work where the lines run straight, but the old logo has a large section joining the lower and upper horizontal lines that has curves and wider sections that I could not find to purchase through pinstripping web sites. I'd like to keep the original design if possible. Any advice would be appreciated. Seamus McShank

Waitover13, Don't let anyone convince you that load range C tires are ok. The difference in C and D is that D has an extra ply on the sidewalls of the tires, and the sides are where the stress of 6000 lbs. swaying back and forth builds up extreme heat and takes its toll. Referencing weight ratings are fine when you're standing still but do it right and make sure you get D's. I got Nexens from tires-easy.com and were delivered to my door for around $70 each, had them mounted and balances for $8 a tire. Seamus McShank

I just had a hitch receiver installed on my Sunrader to pull a old lightweight 250# Coleman VersaTrailer. The welder repeatedly referred to the square bumper as "nothing" and he worked off the frame itself for strength. I would not trust the bumper itself to support much of anything. One good bump and I think your hitch rack and bike will be bouncing on the pavement. Consider the leverage of the hitch rack sticking out beyond the bumper, probably multiply the weight stress several times over. Seamus McShank

How much was the bill for the leaf springs? Seamus McShank

I travel up into high altitude often and od cuts out as I climb. When I think of my little 2.4L engine trying to push a 6000+ lb. load around I can appreciate that the cut out is there to insure I don't overstrain the engine (more than it is always overstrained). I keep mileage figures every time and I think my mileage has not changed when I've been at 8000' with no od; if I overrode the cut out the rpm's would be too low and my foot would remain all the way to the floor, no od my rpm's are higher but with my foot only half way to the floor. Peak torque on the 2.4 is reached at 3400 rpm's and when at 55 mph in od the engine probably turns close to only 2200 rpm's. That means you are lugging the engine by bypassing od at altitude. Remember you lose 3% of power for every 1000 ft. in altitude and these little engines are undersized already. Jack-Phoenix: I am in New River and lose my od just before the Prescott turn off and get it back coming down the Sunset Point grade into Black Canyon City. Seamus McShank

Check out Nexen tires on "tires-easy.com". Make sure to purchase D rated 8 ply (8PR) I recall my tires were delivered to my door for around $70, had to find someone to mount/balance them. Seamus McShank

Well my wife has decided cleaning the fiberglass will be her project. A guy from a boat restoration shop suggested using "soft-scrub" on the oxidation. It made some inprovement and did not scratch the finish. She next used "TR3" and it looks great, put some shine and depth back in. Probably will still need a waxing. I'd still like to hear from any other old fiberglass experiences. Going to a Toyhome rally in So. Cal. next week end and hope to meet more Toyota Motorhome owners. Seamus McShank

I am seeking advice on the restoration of the fiberglass on our Sunrader. It looks like a sequence of Meguiars' #49 oxidation remover followed by #45 high gloss polich and finished with #56 wax gets high reviews but I would like to hear from any Sunrader owner about what has worked for them. There are probably more good products out there than just Meguiars. Seamus McShank

futar, I have been thinking of replacing the crank up with a dish. My wife got interested and found a VuCube online for $500. It weighs about 13 lbs and is portable so you can place it in the open when you might be camping under tree cover. Model 1000 used a remote control to lock onto the satellite so now I won't have to mess with my dish on a tripod. I tried it out last weekend and it took about 3 minutes to get a feed the first time; I moved it to another spot and got reception in about 30 seconds. I might fabricate my own mount for it on the roof or off the ladder as their ladder mounts look great but are $175. Seamus McShank

Maineah, I put the batteries in a outside-access storage compartment just behind the side entrance door. Its under the dinette, I sealed it off from the inside and put a vent into the door. On the back of the dinette seat wall I installed a +/- 30 amp ammeter and a battery charge level gauge. While on the subject, there are comments about the solenoid type battery isolators maybe cooking the coach batteries; once I installed the ammeter I saw that when turning the key to crank the engine large amperage is briefly drained from the coach batteries helping the starting battery. It sends the ammeter off the range. Deep cycles are not supposed to give up large amperage quickly, so I also installed a switch at the dash that can disconnect that solenoid until the engine is running. Also put in a panel light as a reminder, and now I only charge when necessary. The evaporative cooler works best in the lowest humidity plus heat; in the extreme it can be 110 degrees with 4 % humidity outside (using about 1 1/2 gallons an hour) - the evap would then produce approximately 75 degrees w/ 50 %. 110 + 10% (uses about 1/2 gallon an hour) = 90 w/ 50% etc. At a certain point it just makes things muggy but I can generally run evap even in my home until sometime in July. Its nice to get back after a springtime hike and find the inside cool and comfortable instead of stiffling hot. McShank

Maineah, The framework you did looks clean and I have found the spot to mount a SeeLevel panel right where my water heater switch is located. Now I have another little project to find time for, but to have the tanks readily readable would be a great help as we intend to do more dry camping this summer. I put in two Trojan golf cart batteries and can run my evaporative cooler for a good part of the summer until the humidity rises in early July. While you are waiting for the temps to rise I got a little sunburn yesterday with sun, mid 70's and a hike in the desert with the spring flowers just starting. But within two months the temps make it hard to motivate and do too much work on the Sunrader. Its raining today so I am working under cover on an old '78 Coleman VersaTrailer, making repairs to the top cover. It might provide a little extra storage on some future trips. McShank