McShank

Maineah, My little experiment with the sensor plugs didn't make anything work better. My old panel is mounted above the exhaust fan shroud over the stove and is wide but not tall and none of the SeeLevels appear to be the same dimensions so I'll look for an appropriate mounting spot for one of the 712-LT's this weekend. Seamus McShank

Maineah, SeeLevel may be the way to go. After looking for sensor pads to replace the AcuGage ones that might be bad and finding they are $35 each I looked into your SeeLevel system. At a place called "rvupgradestore.com" I found model 712-LT @ $172 with readouts for fresh, grey, black, propane + temperature. Seems like they could be a lower priced source for you. Before I think seriously about SeeLevel I plan to buy two of the inside the tank probes @ $3.50 each and test them outside the tank with a glass of water in case they can give me readings other than empty. It will be an inexpensive experiment - I'm most concerned about the 20 gal. fresh tank as I use my roof-top evaporative cooler a lot in the spring and summer and can lose track of supply. Seamus McShank

The sensors for water and dump tanks have not worked since I bought my Sunrader. The sensors look like wires held against the tanks with heavy aluminum foil. Looking into parts catelogs the only sensors I find are ones that mount into the tanks through small holes drilled through the plastic side wall. My question is: would these newer designed screw-in sensors work with older panels? It looks quite easy to drill and install new ones and since I have the couch seat removed (to replace the water fill hose) I thought I would try some on my fresh water tank. Seamus McShank

I put in some buckets from a mid 90's 4Runner with lumbar support and adjustable backs. Found them on craigslist here in Arizona for about $100 a pair. The front bolts matched perfectly but I had to re-drill a little to get the back attachments in line. I met a guy named Rich in Quartzite last month who had put in some heated leather seats from (I think) a Chevy truck and they looked and felt fantastic. He was from the cold north, so the heat was worthwhile; I am in the hot southwest and am very happy with my find. Seamus McShank

D'Ogre, How did you fare the night. We are north of Phoenix in New River and planned to leave this morning but will now be delayed. Might not get out until very early tomorrow. How muddy is the ground around the campground and tent area? I hope all the venders are still around. Tell Tika to save our spot, late is better than never. McShank

Islanderic, Can you fill us in on the installation. How well does this fit, did you fabricate motor mounts or buy bolt-ins, how big is the radiator, did you need to install a lift kit to make it fit, did you use exhaust headers and what kind of cat converter. I have had some interest in oneday putting in a 4.3 Vortec v6 and wonder if a v8 is overkill. Some pictures would be great. Seamus McShank

I won't be getting to Mexico anytime soon but I can tell you that the road into the north rim of the Grand Canyon is closed in winter to auto traffic. It gets snowed in real deep. The south rim is accessible all year long at Tusayan and there is a full hook-up campground inside the park called "trailer village" that stays open through the winter. There is bus transportation all through the park with a stop at trailer village. There could be snow on the ground and the night temps will be in the 10's and 20's in mid winter. If you go to the canyon be sure to see the 40 minute Grand Canyon movie at the Imax theater before you enter; it will really give you a much better appreciation of the overwhelming views from the rim. McShank

I won't be getting to Mexico anytime soon but I can tell you that the road into the north rim of the Grand Canyon is closed in winter to auto traffic. It gets snowed in real deep. The south rim is accessible all year long at Tusayan and there is a full hook-up campground inside the park called "trailer village" that stays open through the winter. There is bus transportation all through the park with a stop at trailer village. There could be snow on the ground and the night temps will be in the 10's and 20's in mid winter. If you go to the canyon be sure to see the 40 minute Grand Canyon movie at the Imax theater before you enter; it will really give you a much better appreciation of the overwhelming views from the rim. McShank

Check out "truckspring.com", and call them at 800-358-4751. You are looking for a Firestone Ride-Ride kit #1130 and will cost about $258 + shipping. Not very difficult to install. Good luck. Seamus McShank

The installation is just that simple. You can find step-by-step with pictures at: www.bestconverter.com/Magnetek-63007300-Upgrade-_ep_8-1.html long address but worth the look. In my case the charger came with fuses attached, I didn't notice it had been missing one. McShank

I decided to remove the charger and send it in to their service center and would have expected them to find some component faulty but once I had out in the open I discovered that there are slots for two fuses on one end and one was missing. I put one in and amps began to flow and the float voltage went up to 13.6 and has stayed there. I guess I paid attention to switching all the wires on the circuit board and never noticed the charger was missing that fuse. Chalk this one up to "installer error". Seamus McShank

Thanks Greg, The 12.4v reading is directly from the batteries and the same voltage reading comes off the distribution panel. I used an external charger to top off, let it rest for 24 hours and got 12.8v reading, then ran the batteries down to about 12.1v, replugged the Parralax and watched it put amperage and voltage back in but it still stopped at 12.4v. I suspect this might have never worked properly and I thought the Costco battery was weak. Something doesn't seem right so this weekend I am going to pull the Parralax and send it in with a full description of my problem. I would rather have this working properly than mess with an external charger. Seamus McShank

I did the upgrade too, but when left plugged in my battery voltage gets to 12.4 and stops. I think it should get to, and keep, a float voltage of 13.7v. Anyone check their system voltage while plugged into shore power for more than one day? Seamus McShank

Shortly after I bought my '88 Sunrader I did the 7300ru 55 amp upgrade. I never checked the performance with a digital voltage meter but the lights got brighter whenever I plugged in. I have recently replaced my single Costo deep cycle with two Trojan T150's so I can do some dry camping and also put in a +/- 30 amp ammeter, but the charger never brings the voltage past 12.4v (about 75%) and it stops showing any + amperage; keeping it plugged in should fill the batteries and keep them at a float charge of 13.5v. I have followed their troubleshooting guide which tells me to check the voltage coming in with the "polarity fuses" removed and it is producing 13.7v as its supposed to, but with the polarity fuses replaced and the system fully connected it stays at 12.4v. Has anyone experienced this problem? I have about two weeks left on warranty and would love any input. Seamus McShank

I too needed the outside light cover for my Sunrader. I took the old cracked one out and found a replacement on the shelf at Bell Rd. RV in Phoenix. They have an online catelog that might help you out. Seamus McShank

Using GPS I have found that my Sunrader with 185's is going 5% slower than the speedo indicates. That also means I am getting 5% less miles-per-gallon. McShank

Nibs, Look into the Chevy 4.3L Vortec V6. This is a torquey motor that many rock-crawlers put into their Toyota trucks. The Toyota 1 ton axles are strong enough. You can find bolt-on motor mounts, close fitting headers, bolt-in radiators etc. on line. There is a place in Bradenton, Florida that sells complete pull-outs with transmission, alternator, ac compressors, ECM & all wiring intact for $2K or less + shipping. This is something I have planned to do if and when my 22re or trans ever needs serious work but if you have never done this sort of thing before I can tell you it will be much more expensive and time consuming than you think. For now I am content to take my time going up the grades. Seamus McShank

I live in the desert southwest where the temps are always 100+ during summer and climbing steep highway grades with the ac on always sends the temp guage higher than I like to see it. One simple thing I did was to attach water spray nozzles (like you use with drip irrigation) to the inside of the front grill so I can shower the radiator and trans cooler as I drive. Create my own rain storm. I use a windshield washer pump and draw from my water tank, running it in one minute intervals as I climb and the temp guage goes back to normal for about five minutes before starting to heat up again. Repeat as necessary. I only use about two quarts of water per minute and although I rarely have to use it the cost in time and material was minimal and the effect is great. Has anyone else done this? Seamus McShank

I just replaced the rubber mounts on my Kohler generator and it still vibrates the coach quite a bit. These older gens make a lot of noise and vibration especially when compared to the new Microlites. I live in Arizona where the humidity is very low (except July and August) and I added a Turbocool in addition to my rooftop ac. If you don't understand evaps I can tell you that if it is 100 degrees outside with 5 % humidity, dry air forced through a wet foam pad will evaporate the water and the air will turn into about 70 degrees and 40% humidity. I have had these on several other units and they have several advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side they work on 12v so you don't have to plug in or run the gen; I can keep the living area comfortable - not cold - when I am parked and I can run it while driving. It does use up your water but its a simple machine which spins water onto a pad with a cone that is part of the fan. Works on cool/intake or exhaust and does not draw many amps. It is much quieter than an ac, especially on low. However, if you live where the humidity is usually above 30% you may not be happy because it relies on evaporation to cool the air and high humidity can make the inside feel like a sweat box. If you set the fill level according to their instructions water can spill into the interior when you make sharp turns; it set my fill level a little lower. It provides cool/moist air but does not do the job of an ac. It is expensive but the only maintenance is changing the foam pad every year or so. In have a 21' Sunrader and I mounted it in the vent opening in the rear but had to mount it backwards because of interference with the ac, and I installed a little wind deflector from the back/top of the ac to the evap so the intake vent did not get the full force of wind at driving speeds. I think it is great for dry camping or just keeping the back cool while I am traveling around the (dry) Southwest. Seamus McShank

Tom W Thanks for your reply. I have found a small engine repair place that will get this gen running right but they want me to bring it to them. I did put in a hard-start capacitor in my 11,000 BTU ac and it runs great on shore power but not the gen yet. I tracked down a manual for this Kohler 2.5 based on the info plate that has the serial and model #s. They wanted the "spec" # (117101) so if anyone has the same and needs info I can email the necessary pages. I'll be crawling under my Sunrader to drop this gen early Saturday before it gets too hot to breathe. Seamus McShank

Replacing the ring & pinion and bearing has cured the driveline vibration - its completely quiet until I let her get up to 65 mph and then I get just a little vibration and that could be the trans bushing or something else. I don't usually drive above 60 anyway so for now I'm a happy camper. I took her for a 4 day break-in trip to the north rim of the Grand Canyon trading the 113 degree temps in the desert for highs in the 70's. Next thing to tackle is to get the generator running better so I can run the roof ac while driving my way out of this heat. Seamus McShank

mmtoy1 I have the same generator and my old muffler had rusted through and needed replacement. I found one on line through Jack's Small Engines for the Tecomseh TVM engine. It is quite a bit smaller than the original but the manifold size is the same. I had to use a section of the original minifold to extend it down to where my old muffler was mounted but it was an easy fit. Its still not very quiet but those old models were always noisy. I had the carb rebuilt because the old gas had varnished the insides, it runs but bogs down when I try to use the ac. Can't find anyone in the Phoenix area to work on it unless I take it out of the motorhome and I see that Tom W dropped his without too much trouble so that's my weekend project although I think I looked at doing this before and the mount looked like it was welded in place. With temps this week well above 100 I need the gen working to use the roof ac while driving. Seamus McShank

Finally "bit the bullet" and had a differential-only shop take the diff apart. New ring & pinion and bearing has eliminated the vibration problem and since this Toy is a keeper I am looking at the $1200 as a long term investment that had to be done. Going to the north rim of the Grand Canyon next weekend and expect no further problems in the driveline. I'm currently working on my vintage Kohler 2.5 generator (rebuild carb and new muffler) and the likewise vintage 11,000 BTU roof AC. Installed a hard start capacitor on the ac, the generator still doesn't sound quite right, but the ac did catch on low but stalled out when I tried medium setting. It seems even in the large metro area of Phoenix I can't find anyone to work on the generator unless I remove it and that looks like a major undertaking because of the way brackets were welded for support. McShank

Many, many years ago I put a 2.8L V6 Capri motor in my '72 VW Camper after I killed the air-cooled 4 cyl. There are lots of adaptors available for the VW platform and that thing cruised the mountains of Colorado with plenty of power. Got some funny looks when passing traffic going up I-70 toward the Continental Divide. McShank

WME: Which hard start capacitor did you install? I have been working slowly on my Kohler 2.5 rebuilding the carb and replacing the muffler and can run the ac on fan but when I switch to low ac setting the gen bogs down and stalls. Somewhere I read about someone installing a Supco SPP6E. The only one I can easily find is a Supco SPP6, not SPP6E. The company lists some differences in the circuits but I wonder if I would be just as happy with the SPP6. I'd appreciate your help. Seamus McShank