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lansisco

Toyota Advanced Member
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Everything posted by lansisco

  1. I've decided to add air bags to my motorhome. After the new springs and shocks I've gotten a better ride. However, I'm still only 3 inches from bottoming out the shocks. The bump stops are more like 6 inches of travel from the axle so they are useless. Also, I now have even more sway than ever. It is pretty sketchy actually and in the wind it is more than I'm comfortable with. I ordered the https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G92P4S/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 air bag kit. I'm hoping this takes care of both a slight amount of height increase as well as better sway control. Any thoughts?
  2. I have 100% new springs, shocks, bushings, shackles and hardware as of 3 days ago. I'm not happy with the amount of sway in the rear. I know many Toyota motorhomes have them. I'd like one too.
  3. My 1984 Pickup doesn't have a rear sway bar and could really use one. Does anyone know where to source either a new kit or used? I'm in Michigan. Thanks!
  4. I do, but they aren't terribly dramatic. You just see more tire in the wheel well. I'll post them when I get some better "after" shots, I didn't have time to take many after getting the job done. We just had the blacktop sealed today so no cruising this weekend until the blacktop is good and dry.
  5. 1985 Escaper, 1984 Toyota Pickup, 22R, 4 speed manual, carbureted. 97,000 Miles My rear suspension job is finished! I ended up with some very positive results. I bought the following: CS010R Old Man Emu springs, $254 OMESB6 Old Man Emu Spring Bushings ,2 were needed $48 OMEGS3 Old Man Emu Greaseable Shackles & Pins Kit: $119 04482-35030 Leaf Spring Pins, Genuine Toyota parts from the dealer, 2 were needed: $61.22 Bilstein Shocks 24-002585 Pair of B6 4600, $178.54 Mobil 1 grease, $10 I didn't need new U bolts because mine were nearly new from the rear axle replacement by the previous owner. He had added a leaf to the spring pack so the length was fine so I saw no reason to replace shiny U bolts that have less than 5k miles on them. Total for parts $670.76, plus about $60 bucks shipping because I had to buy each part from a separate vender due to supply shortages. I spent another 40 bucks on blades for my reciprocating saw to cut one of the spring pins out. The job took me and a buddy about 6 hours total. If we did it again I bet it would take 4. Results as measured from the bottom of the fender to the ground: Rear Drivers Old: 23 1/2 (23.5) New: 25 1/8 (25.125) Difference: 1.625 Inches Rear Passenger Old: 24 1/4 (24.25) New: 25 3/8 (25.375) Difference: 1.125 Inches For about $800 bucks my ride has improved greatly! The reason I made the decision to replace the rear suspension was due to a shock mount breaking off of the frame. I realized I'd been riding on the bottomed out shocks! Very unsafe and it needed immediate attention. My springs came with a + and - sign on them, because they were either a bit high in arch, or a bit low. I find this truly amazing that they do this because I was able to take a 3/4 inch heigh differential down to a 1/4 inch differential between the drivers and passenger side, as measured by the rear tire. My stove used to shake violently when I went over any bump or roughness, now it is silent! Going over transitions in pavement is now smooth instead of rough. The whole experience has improved greatly. Thoughts: Patience paid off! I took my sweet time figuring out the combination of parts and my needs. I didn't jump into a decision. This is key when making big changes to a 38 year old vehicle. Buying quality paid off. I bought the best parts I could find because I know that in the long run it will be the cheapest way to maintain my Toyota. I have been wrenching a while and I've never been let down by quality parts. I will be replacing the front shocks and torsion bars soon. I have the shocks already but the torsion bars are on back order. In the meantime I will tinker with the torsion bar adjustment this weekend to see what is going on there. I have a suspicion that they are not properly adjusted at all. I hope this helps others! Thank you all for your posts, it has given me the ability to take on some pretty intense projects. A special thanks to Linda S for her knowledge! I'd be nowhere without her posts.
  6. I have a pair of sleeves that I don't need, they came with a bushing kit I'm using part of. Would you like me to ship them to you for free?
  7. I have the same OME springs sitting here about to be installed on my 1985 Escaper. My chassis is a 1984 Toyota Pickup. I ordered the OME Shackles and the bushing kit you have. The OME Shackle kit fits the bushings perfectly. I don't need a sleeve and according to the OME install sheet, the shackles are optional, but to me if I'm going to replace 38 year old suspension I might as well do it right. I have similar shackles on an old Jeep CJ7 I redid and 20 years later they still look new and are easily greased. I don't know about your particular situation, but I can tell you mine is easy peasy.
  8. I do as well. They have about 4k miles on them and look nearly new. The crazy part was how much stiffer they were than the car tires someone had put on before me. I looked them up and they went on things like pontiac grand am etc.
  9. Linda, what do people do about the shackles? Re use? Replace with stock Toyota? Go aftermarket? The only things I'm seeing aftermarket are lifted...
  10. I've got an '85 that I did significant work to. Check my posts and let me know what you think!
  11. I feel that Redline is the best. It isn't cheap, but I noticed my rear axle didn't get as hot as with standard. Mine is a manual transmission and I used Redline in that as well and it improved smoothness of shifting. Commonly used in high performance trucks. Interestingly 22REperformance.com recommends regular oil (non Synthetic) for the engines. They are in my opinion, the best people when it comes to 22R-22RE advice.
  12. I had my propane tank filled for the first time yesterday by a nice young man. When I got home I took a look at the gauge and it was at 100%. Not 80% with a buffer, it was 100%. I fired up all four burners on the stove, and let them run for a while until I got it to 95%. I'm in a cool environment with weather below 70 degrees f. Should I be worried? Is the 80% rule a big deal? How do you avoid over filling in the future? It only took seconds to fill the tank.
  13. Linda, you are always the best.
  14. That youtube video infuriates me. Get the work done before you pick out a cute name for your rig IMHO.
  15. This is a big-picture project. First off, if you take the body off how will you keep it supported? There will likely be damage to it if it isn't supported very carefully. I have done frame up rehabs, and I have to tell you that once the body is off the frame things get weird fast. If you want to tackle drive train issues, there is no better time than with the body off. What is your budget? My rig was $3k and I've stuck $4k more into it and I"m getting close to being done. Over 10 months of HARD work. There isn't much of a way to get it done a little at a time. You really have to start adding up your assumed costs for materials and whatever you want to add... then double it. Again, think about what "done" looks like in your mind. Are you going to have a fridge? Appliances? Bed? Disco Ball? If it were me, I'd save up about $5k and take a lot of time making decisions about what you want BEFORE you buy a single thing. Most of the money I've wasted in vehicle mods and rehabs were things I bought that i thought I wanted/needed only to find out I hadn't thought things through carefully. Then I realize that my initial plans were nothing like what my plans became after careful deliberate thought. You have what everyone wants, that thing has huge potential. I'm sure by the summer of 2021 you will be close to done if you have the money and the backbone.
  16. I ordered that one. Thanks very much Linda! May I ask how you knew that was the one? I can't find much data.
  17. The opening measurements for the area the door apparently occupied are 21.5 wide X 13.25 tall.
  18. Thank you very much, Linda! The Suburban covers look to be what I need. The fridge is a dometic RM461 Gas/Electric.
  19. Mine is almost square. Take a look. Most of what I see are rectangular.
  20. I wanted to add a rooftop satellite radio antenna, without adding much of an opportunity for water entry. I ran the wire next to the sewer vent pipe which is where several wires were already run from the factory. I bought a marine grade antenna for several reasons, One of them is durability as the basic ones that are magnetically attached to car roofs tend to break over time, much like a phone charging cord does. The marine grade antenna also attaches near the antenna, so if I ever need to replace it I can leave the 50 foot wire underneath the roof of my RV. I bought a new sewer vent cover for a few bucks and drilled a hole in it the size of the base of the antenna (1/2 inch). Then I put some butyl tape between the antenna and the vent cover and attached the two together using the nut that came with the antenna. Then attached the cable to the antenna and mounted the base of the vent. Finally I put the top on the vent and screwed the two pieces together. I added some self leveling dicor to seal the job when all was said and done. I routed the wire to the dash board, by running the same route the rear speaker wires go from the middle of the RV to the dash. Finally, turn it up to 11, and hit the road!
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