mission mike

Thanks John. I guess its back to plan B for a roof rack!!!! Mike

A question about fibreglass and aluminum, I checked on the web about this and got two different answers! What I want to know is will fibreglass have a permanent seal when adhered to the aluminum roof of our winnie warrior, two reasons for asking, 1st one, at some time the middle roof vent has been glassed in place by a previous owner, still holding and no leaks. 2nd question, I liked waiters Idea for taking the sag out of a roof by fabricating fiberglass roof beams, (thanks waiter, a well thought out plan) I’ve always wanted to install a roof rack on our warrior, but never liked the thought of having to drill holes in the roof, so! could I use John’s plan to fabricate a roof rack beam to our aluminum roof? I’ve never done any fiber glassing and waiters Idea seems like it would keep my roof leak free. Thanks Mike

Thanks Vanman I've sent you a message Mike

Mirage! Not trying to highjack your thread here, but we both seem to be chasing down the same thing. Vanman, would you be willing to sell me 6 of your lug nuts that were on your rig originally, I would pay whatever you paid each for the replacements plus cost of postage, I have access to a mail address on the US side of the Canadian border. As long as yours are 14mm right hand thread 23mm socket size, can we make a deal??? Waiter, harder for us Canucks to get parts up here, personally I’ve never seen a U haul Toyota truck in BC. Mike

Hi Derek They were front Mike

I had to replace two wheel studs recently, the threads were messed up, I used a brass drift and they hammered out OK, I got replacement studs from our Toyota dealer no problem (14 mm Right hand thread 1.5 pitch) but for some reason they couldn’t get me lug nuts??? I located some aftermarket ones but smaller, correct 14 mm thread, but it takes a smaller 21 mm socket to tighten them, not the 23mm socket I use on the rest of the nuts, I would like to get the same size all round if anyone knows of a source. Thanks Mike

Oil filter on ours, impossible to get at from the top, and from below there are 2 lines running from the trans to the cooler that make it hard to get at, I can reach in with one hand to get the wrench on and get maybe an 1\8 of a turn if I’m lucky, cursing helps!!! Hi Derek Have you installed one of those remote oil filters? thanks Mike

Gave our Winnie an oil change, and once again, cursed whoever at Toyota made the oil filter so difficult to get at. Leaving on Wednesday for a ten day trip into Washington State, first stop Fidalgo Bay camp ground close to Anacortes. Mike

Hi Greg Old school for me too, same as the above two post, I'd like an address to mail to. thanks Mike

Hi Cascade A very nice job you have made of the rebuild, do you have any inside photos to post? in the before photo is that Mount Adams in the back ground? also looks like the Columbia River Gorge in a couple of the other pics?? thanks for sharing Mike

Most building supply stores sell thermocouplers, just pick one close to the size (length) that yours is, quite easy to install, we don't have an oven in our motor home, but the thermocoupler cant be much different than the ones used in home appliances water and space heaters. Mike

Good trip report Waiter, yes the Silver Strands Park is nice, my wife complains constantly about the cold draughts around her door when we are traveling in the winter, I did notice that the cab heater in ours blew a lot hotter on my side at floor level, in fact my feet were always too hot, so I duct taped most of my side of the heater vent off and that transferred way more heat over to her and kept her happy, also we hang a couple of blankets at our backs leaving enough space in between them so I can still see out of the back window, this makes the cab a lot warmer too. When we first bought our Winnie I built a cargo box on the back, among other things in there I carry a BBQ propane tank, I ran a pigtail from the tank to an extra regulator on the outside of the cargo box, added a half inch shut off valve after the regulator then a length of rubber hose tee’d into the black pipe propane line under the floor of our motor home, also added a shut off valve after the regulator on the stock propane tank, so when one tank is on the other is turned off with no back pressure on either regulator, this way I can drive and keep the fridge running using the BBQ tank when the stock tank is empty. Mike

Derek up north thanks for the web site, but I don't see anything there that comes close. I didn't mean to hijack this post from "fine artist" just that I would like to get hold of the same part As he mentioned the knob has about a 1" shaft, also it is hollow with a D shaped fitting. Linda s I sent you a PM, thanks also for your offer Mike

Hi Linda S No Luck!!!! This is the two reply's I got from the web site you posted on where we might get a replacement knob for the Norcold fridge At this time we are unable to ship any orders Internationally. We apologize for the inconvenience. We have cancelled your order at this time. If you have a United States address you’d like to ship this order to we can do that. Just let us know. Otherwise you can contact RV Upgrades to fulfill your order. You may ask for Deb and tell her that Stag Parkway sent you. 1-866-332-7881 http://www.rvupgradestore.com/ So I reordered, and I got this reply from them today Actually the part is NA. Try a local RV Salvage company to see if they have this part still. I have listed a couple that might be able to help. FACTORY RV SURPLUS 574-262-3327 RV SURPLUS & SALVAGE 574-264-5575 D&D SALVAGE & SURPLUS 231-547-0229 Thanks Linda I will keep trying and let you know what I can come up with. Mike

Hi Linda S I went through all the motions and ordered the Norgold fridge knob today, will keep you posted. thanks again Mike

Linda s Thanks for putting me on the right track, unfortunately with my Norcold fridge I can't make out the model #, the door has been shifting back and forth and kind of erased it, but I can make out a serial # so I will have to give them a call. thanks again Mike

These rigs are available right now, better gas mileage than our Toyota's too

Hi Ron and Sue I live in British Columbia too, our cool, damp and wet winters are not the best climate for leaving our old Toys sitting outside without some protection, and any chance you could erect one of those pole canopy’s? Picture below, I used one for a couple of years and it really did help in stopping water from pooling on the roof, the only disadvantage with the canopy is that you can’t let snow build up on it, you do have to get out there with a broom and knock the snow off once in a while. As for sealant I use “Pro Flex RV” I get it from our local RV dealer, as the others have stated there are two kinds of sealant, one for roofs and the other for windows and walls, we have had only one roof leak since we have owned ours and that was around the plumbing vent pipe, so was an easy fix, I wont mention the cab-over front windows!!!! but I do know what you mean with that hard grey sealant on our Winnies, it does have lots of cracks in it, and does look like a potential leak area. Last fall I built this carport for ours, now I don't have to knock snow off the roof!!! and no snow down my neck!!! Mike

Ha ha!!! let me know if you find one, I've been doing the plier thing now for 4 years, we have an 89 Winnie too, with the Norcold frig, guess that knob must have a weak spot!!!! Mike

This is our 89 Winnie; it usually lives in Mission British Columbia, but prefers Baja Mexico. We’ve owned ours for 4 years; we’d never been RVing until we bought our Toyota. We are planning another trip to Baja this coming winter, anyone fancy a Baja Toy in? Mike

Hi bajadulce Yes those truck campers do look nice, and very practical for getting off the beaten track down in Baja. It reminded me a little of the rig you are building, a nice job you are making of that too. Mike

Hi Guys Maybe a matter of interest to you 4x4 guys? I came across these 2 photos on another web site (Baja nomads) the guy who took the photos said they were for sale; apparently they are built in Germany, come with a diesel motor, not much more information than that! But they sure caught my eye. Mike

Hi Tony I am having the same problem with mine, (see post from last week) Maineah is right you have to buy the cable from a Toyota dealer, I had mine replaced 2 years ago, I paid $125 for mine in Oregon, up here in BC the same cable cost twice as much with tax. At the moment I have mine disconnected and tied up to the hood, with the hood open, every day I drop some transmission oil between the cable and the outer housing, hoping maybe to free it up some. I found this site below, hope it helps someone with trans problem, it does give you an idea what the detent cable is fastened to in the oil pan. Mike http://www.hilux4x4.co.za/manual/2_4Hilux/Chapter14_AUTOMATIC_TRANSMISSION.pdf

89 Winnebago auto transmission, detent cable problem??? I was driving today up a steep hill and kicked down to change to a lower gear, after cresting the hill the transmission would not change back up, it was stuck in the low gear. I pulled over and checked the TV cable (detent or kick down cable) there was a loop of loose cable at the end of the outer sheathing, I pulled on the loose cable and met resistance but there was no spring return feeling to it. So I pushed the loose loop of cable back into the sheathing and continued on my way, I avoided kicking down again and the transmission seemed to be changing up almost normal. I bought a new detent cable two years ago and had a transmission shop replace the old cable with the new, up to now everything seemed to be working fine; I admit I don’t often kick down to change gear, so I don’t believe the outer sheathing could be worn, causing the inner cable to jam??? One more thing! When the transmission shop replaced the cable, they added a grounding strap to the transmission to avoid electrolysis in the cable. Does anyone have an idea on what is going wrong, and how to correct the problem? Thanks Mike.

Hi all ! haven't posted for a while but still visit this great site weekly. Yes we have lost our gas cap once or twice!!! the last time we where down in Baja Mex, we used a rag stuffed into the filler pipe for quite a while down there, an opportunist gas attendant sold us one eventually, but not a good fit, but the best that he had, when we got home I tried the gas cap off an old Mazda pickup we have sitting around, was a perfect fit! I like Bob C's method, think I will try that, thanks Bob. Mike