JaySam

whoops didn't catch that detail, sorry about that!

If you do decide you need a new motor this is an option https://www.toyotatruckengine.com/brand-new-after-market-toyota-22r-or-22re-fits-toyota-trucks-and-4runners/ I purchased a new motor from them and have been very pleased, 10,000+ miles on it now and it's been running great with no problems

This probably partially depends on where you live. I'm in colorado and drive over loveland and vail pass a dozen times a year, the 4.88's have been awesome. If your in flatlands 4.56's probably work. I'm not positive but I think no matter where you are 4.10's make 4th pretty much unusable.

Cool thanks for the feedback on that. Next question: Which tires do people mostly recommend? I'm looking at the Hankook Vantra, Thunderer Ranger or the Haida Strong 717. Does anyone have any experience with these or feedback on any of these tires? I tried searching but couldn't find much on tire models, mostly just size and where to source.

Ok thanks for the feedback, I think I'll stick with the larger tire then if there's no reason to go back down. Not worried about the weight, it's sitting at 4800 with water and gas full.

I'm going to be ordering some new tires for my rig here soon and currently it has 195r14 tires on it but I know stock they came with 185r14. Is there any reason I should switch back to the smaller tire?

There is a flexible floor leveling compound you can use to fill in the gap. I think this is the product I used https://www.amazon.com/DAP-59184-Leveler-Light-Gray/dp/B003A74HT0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3Q1X2FWP4JYOT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.d48Vhsrar_inisqr7hEh_PYXgv0KBp8yu99gnhDb3a-v5UbArYRz4Fz2YD6snF9w5Jgtwf3uV9EInS3O_c2SYcGk8GAxWGbFv4BF7vGK-esCmNxOod82mkxSvSYFL_HML5X_yZ8kERF8gQuuC2BPag7GfSeeGbIDhVbmCK-onHUz8CXDmx0dRBzK6vYzvH5qinjfG-JAAGqqeiNPQnmYhcIjbg0097FsVceGUkgEJnp7DjVmK__hXRlXn7_zd2j3QEJOpkLB9fyeoeBfEDsfBLkkHWsP34uhU0sn85lfKl8.j9yLpLyC7ccEU0nqqcWae-KlLgd42aX-MWRAqN46lfk&dib_tag=se&keywords=floor+leveling+compound&qid=1729811752&sprefix=floor+leveling+compoun%2Caps%2C308&sr=8-1 But if not Linda for sure knows as she is the one who recommended this to me. I leveled mine over 4 years ago and it hasn't cracked, shifted or shrunk in the proceeding years since install. It also cured nice and hard so may help with the spongy floor in the area as well.

I replaced the original 3-way fridge with a Iceco 12v fridge/freezer and it's been working great for 4+ years. Made and built for the abuses of riding around in a camper https://icecofreezer.com I run this off a Lithium battery and there's no need for an inverter as these fridges run on 12v. Startup it pulls a little over 5 amps drops to 3.5 while running.

I don't know what's recommended for the 4 speed manual but I know 4.88's are what a lot of us have swapped to with the 22re - A43D automatic transmission. You should find out what you currently have and then go from there. 4.56's might be a better option, I think the manual transmission has lower gears than the automatic but I'm not sure. I had 4.10's and the rig was very sluggish so going to 4.56's didn't seem like enough. If you have 3.73's or something like that 4.56's might be a better options than 4.88's. You can find axle to transmission ratio calculators out there to help you determine what the best gearing option would be for your setup.

I would second changing out the rear differential to 4.88's. Easily the best bang for the buck. Find a used 3rd member and it's much easier for the mechanic to install vs buying ring and pinion gears and having it assembled/installed. Depending on your year of truck there are a lot of options to pull a 3rd member from. If I remember correctly for my truck it was any 3rd member from 79 - 95 from 4x4 trucks or 4 runners, and some 2 wheel drive 1 ton trucks. Gave a lot of options for pulling from a junkyard or finding used on craigslist/marketplace. Could probably get it done for around $1000. I paid $350 for the third member and $700 for install The axle code I needed was G144 - 8" 4.88 gears 4 pinion This page can help you identify what diff you currently have and what diff you need to replace it with https://www.lceperformance.com/category-s/23290.htm Otherwise a carb/header upgrade would be the best option

I think some people have repaired water damaged floors by drilling holes in the plywood and filling with some sort of epoxy/thickener and then a coat of epoxy painted over the whole surface. Maybe total boat thixo would work well? Others on here have gone this route you can probably find more info for that approach searching the forums.

You could also buy a infrared thermometer gun and point it at the thermostat housing to see what the temp is at the thermostat. This was suggested to me when I bought a OEM thermostat from 22re performance and my temp gauge was jumping all over and reading high. They thought my gauge was faulty and this was a way to confirm or deny. Turns out it was a bad thermostat, and I received 3 faulty ones from them in a row. The 190 degree (which i learned you need to get up to proper operating temp so the ecu will trim fuel/air) from napa has worked 100x better than the 'OEM' one from 22re Performance.

I went through something similar with my Sunrader a couple years ago. I blew a head gasket in Wyoming and left it with a shop there to repair. Went to pick it up and the needle went up into the red within 15 minutes of driving but it had never gone slightly above the halfway point before this. Took it back and left it with him again. Eventually he said he figured it out and drove it back down to Denver for me. By the time he got it down here he had blown the head gasket and the motor. He said he didn't know what was wrong or how to fix it and refunded my money. I contacted a shop in Colorado Springs to have a new motor built and installed. When talking about the overheating issue with the mechanic and being perplexed as to why it was still overheating after all the work that was done he said that often shops will have the head resurfaced but not the block. He said if you don't do both together it can be very difficult to get the head gasket to seal properly as there isn't a good mating surface between the two and you'll continue to have overheating issues. Had them build me a new motor bored 0.060 over and installed by the shop next door. Motor + install was around $5000. I also re-geared down to 4.88's at that time and it by far was the biggest improvement I've seen yet.

I have an 18 footer insulated with 3/4" foam board insulation and I would put up reflectix over the windows inside at night to retain some heat and keep out the cold. Also make sure to get insulated covers or make some for the ceiling vents, cold air pours in through those if there's no insulation there. I never did anything outside for heat retention like skirts though. I was also living in a city - not on the road - so refilling the propane wasn't a problem, there was a shop around the corner from my work. I would use the 20lb mostly and the 5lb was just emergency extra in case the 20lb ran out at night. Nothing worse than running out of propane around 7 pm in the winter when it's 5 degrees out.

Hey Doug, I lived in my Sunrader in Colorado for 5 days a week through the winter for several years. Depending on how cold it was I would usually go through a 20lb tank in between 5 - 10 days. I also didn't cook much on the stove and I don't have an oven but I do like it warm and would keep it at around 70, turning it down to around 60 overnight. The furnace was usually off during the day while I was working inside. I have a 25000 btu suburban furnace. I switched my propane box to 1 20lb tank and a spare 5lb tank, but I've thought about trying to modify it to fit the second 20lb tank in there for some time. Haven't really needed it, but if I was gonna be on the road more it'd be nice to have that much and not have to worry about finding somewhere to refill quite as often. Personally I probably wouldn't go to the trouble of plumbing extra propane lines for the spare, I'd just find a place to store the second tank and then swap them out when one runs dry.