Supurcar

I started to swap out a few of my markers with the LEDs. I did the other way around, I did the side markers first. I found it was a bit of work because the LEDs I used where flush mount and not much room for the wires, I had to make the holes a little bit bigger to make it work. I did notice the wires are very corroded, and I would gues that might be a common issue with older Sunraders. I have had to battle the same issue with my tailights (ground). You may have already done this, but nip the wires and restrip to get some fresher wire to connect to.

Looks like your's is exactly like my Sundrader, floor plan and all. The window came out great! I still have not dealt with the window issue, I was quoted $1200 by a local boat guy, which falls in line with "b.o.a.t." Break Out Another Thousand. I was shocked by that quote I would gladly pay 2 or 3 hundred to get mine glassed over. For now I am using black gorilla duct tape over the problem area, no leaks and it is almost a match for the original decal and rubber around/ between the windows, but very half a$$. I have thought of using the bedliner coating (Rhino etc.) and just go over the entire thing, rubber, window, and all. I have seen restorations on old Broncos where they used that stuff for the floor and removed the doors (very indoor-outdoor) and it looked great and very thick and durable.The roughness might lose some of the aero dynamics...who am I kidding what aero dynamics?... lol.

They should make a K&N that fits the stock air box, so you do not have to buy the snout and it should cost less. I clean my Mass Airflow Sensor with Mass Air Flow sensor cleaner, it will help give the proper reading to the computer which will adjust the fuel mixture. There might be another sensor on the exhaust depending on the year of the vehicle, if this goes bad it could also cause the fuel mixture to be adjusted improperly by giving a false reading and tripping the check engine light. When my cars start to lose power or not running at their best I start by cleaning the dist. cap (knock the corrosion off the contacts & rotor), plugs, injection/carb cleaner, MAF sensor cleaner, and check the air filter, and fuel filter. If this does not help (almost no cost to do this), then you may have a bigger problem maybe a cracked vacuum line you cannot see or a bad oxygen sensor (I think there are two depending on the year). Just adding my two cents.... On the K&N thing, I have heard newer engine control modules or computers will compensate for cold air intakes, and even chips. So we pay all this money to get more air going thru the engine and the computer makes an adjustment to negate it. Given the age of most of these Toyotas in here I do not think we need to worry about this. As far as dirt and junk getting in, as long as the particle is not big enough to break a valve I am not too worried, ha ha.

Good list! I might touch on a few other ares as well, We all know Toyotas are very reliable to begin with hence the loyal following on these pages. I replaced my shocks with the Rancho 5000 heavy duty shocks. I also inspected/repaired the air lines for my airbags as one line was sagging on the exhaust and was melting (I think a zip tie must have let go). Make sure the exterior lights and markers are working, I think these have a problem with the wires getting old and corroded and not having a good ground. Yearly inspection of the propane lines and water lines and I think you might have covered just about everything......

Cool, I crawled under there and found the leaker, all I had to do was loosen the clamp, nip off the tip of the hose about a 1/2 inch and re-attach it. I think the hose clamps just loosened up so I tightened every hose clamp I could see. NO MORE LEAKS!!! The funny parts is we had the RV sold, and had a deposit as well. They came back a couple days later and said they could not get a loan, but the guy was nervous about the leaks. I think he thought the transmission was no good because of the leaks, lol. So now I fixed all the leaks (and it only just started leaking recently, more of a drip really), found every squeak and rattle and fixed them, fixed the gear indicator pointer thing in the steering column. And guess what? We like it so much we changed our mind about selling it, I think we where just sad about losing our dog because this thing was as much for her as us. It just drives to smooth and quiet, I do not think I would be able to replace it.

We still take our dogs everywhere with us, someone even called our Sunrader a giant dog crate as a joke. Sadly we lost one of our Jack Russells last month, she had a tumor and there was nothing we could do about it so now we are down to two Jack Russells . We actually got the Sunrader for her, we will miss little Jetty-Jack of Hearts Jet.

Our dogs are why we got our Sunrader, so we would not have to kennel them. We had three Jack Russell terrors. We simply stacked their crates in the shower with some foam and towels and one would be up with us. It is interesting but a lot of fun and we can not imagine going anywhere with out them.

I have been getting ready for spring and trying to take care fo a few issues. Mine is still running great, and only has about 80k miles. I have notice some leaking up front near the radiator, and it is tranny fluid. Upon further inspection I see a short hose which appears to be going to the transmission coolor in the radiator, and it is soaked and the fluid is dripping slowly from the bottom of the radiator (I assume it is cracked). It should be an easy fix, but before I jump in I wanted to see if anyone has had a similar problem. Will tranny fluid pour out of it when I remove the hose? And does anyone know what size the hose is, so I don't have to remove it and go down to the store to match it, while it is leaking everywhere. I think if I am quick enough and have the replacement hose in hand, I should be able to swap it out without making a giant mess. Thanks for the tips

Well I had some nylon strapping string and I carefully tied it on the dial nub (for lack of a better name for it), and ran it thru the column and tied it off. There was some slack at first, but I put it thru the gears slowly and kind of tapped the shifter and it actually sinched up the knot enough to work. Thanks for the suggestions, it appears to working now, every once in a while I have to nudge the shift lever to get the pointer to line up perfectly but it is a lot better than nothing.

I am not sure about the water shooting out of the inlet. I had a similar damp carpet one time. Mine was leaking under the kitchen sink, a little water trickled down the lines and ended up hitting the flooring under the cabinet right next to my water holding tank, which made me think I hit it my tank with a nail or staple when I re-carpeted. I got lucky as that was not the case, I got under there and tightened all the fittings I could see and my leak went away. I found it was best to check all the water lines every year as they seemed to leak a little from time to time. My city water connection had to be replaced because it also started to leak bad one year, I think the weight of the water hose might have slowly wore out the fitting or split the metal. Good luck finding/fixing the leak...

I am wondering if anyone can help me discover what you would call this part, and where on earth to find it. My gear indicator on the sterring column (moves from park to "D" or "R" or "N" when shifted) has broken a little cable inside. I took it apart and there is a small braided cable that wraps around the thing and thru a gear which moves the red arrow so you can tell what gear you are in. I might be able to fabricate something, but I was hoping someone in here already had the solution and what in the world I ask for when trying to order a replacement cable. Thanks!!!

Hello it has been a while since I have posted. I still read the threads all the time though. My wife and I use our little Sunrader all the time, but of late we find it frustrating that there is not quite enough room to sleep comfortably together. I decided to improvise a solution, it is not real fancy but it seems to be a good quick fix to our dilema. We had an old sofa with a tilt out backing, which I tore out and will now sell to the highest bidder.. lol. I have a storage box across from it, which I covered with vinyl and super compressed foam a couple years ago (I may have posted pics in a previous thread). So I ran some rails on each side of the boxes after doing some reinforcements. And I had the idea to set a couple of pieces of plywood (cut to fit and covered with foam and something nicer than vinyl) across the rails and walla here it is. I am sure we will use an air mattress or something over the top of all of this, but it is quite comfy as it is. And we can now use the cab over section for more storage space! And we only spent $42.00!!!!!

This may be old news, but I can make iron on tranfers of almost any pictures with my printer. If there was a logo picked it would be easy to transfer to shirts and I can also photo shop the pictures to customize it or add text and then create an iron on-FYI

I have seen a few websites that carry these chrome hubcaps that would make a standard truck look like it has a dually rim. They have built in bolts and all and look very realistic, I ran into a guy who sells hubcaps, and I mentioned I am looking for chrome insets to put in my Sunraders rims, he told me of these chrome hubcaps that are available. I pointed to the rims on his giant delivery truck and told him I wanted my rims to look like his, he then said that his WHERE the chrome hubcaps, and they fooled me they looked so real. The problem is that I can only find them in a 16" size, the 14" is very outdated. I have seen some 14" insets but they are pricey. So I wanted to see if anyone in here has heard of them or has a line on finding a set. I have attached this link so you can see what I am talking about. http://www.autoameni...l-Simulator.htm

This is our 1987 Sunrader, we have had it for about two years now. We live in Eastern Washington and have driven it to San Jose California, Mt. Shasta, Central Oregon, Eastern Oregon, and the Washington coast (Long Beach) and we love it. At first we bought it for the dogs, and our cousin once called it the giant dog crate. But my wife "Soozie Bee" officially named it "The Bee Hive"and I like that name much better. This is not the best picture of the RV but it is the best location to take a picture, and the backround got the priority.

It looks great and just what I would like to do. I figure the bedliner or rhino liner might be easier and simply seal the whole mess up, if it will stick to everything, it is very thick and durable. I see the wood frame on the inside, was this just to hold the pieces in place until the gel cured? And is it strong enough to withstand the 65-70 mph winds on the freeway? I was thinking if I glassed it I might make some fibreglass ribs or cross supports like they did in the real old hand laid fibre glass boats in the 1940s. So basically remove the windows, tack in some boards to hold the replacement panels, add the gel (I assume you are using the mesh as well) and when it dries remove the wood supports and patch those areas, and on to the exterior. I do not think I would be brave enough to remove the side windows and the strips, just the wrap arounds. There is a rubber seal that goes into the exterior strips, it is cheap and is kind of pinched into the groove, it keeps water out and prevents the screws from rusting.

I have read a lot of things about the wrp around windows. I keep putting off the rubber seal replacement because I am not sure if I can reuse the ones I have as they are very weak. I have thought about fabricating metal frames for the windows, or even filling in the space with fibre glass just because I do not need the windows anyway. I recently hasd a spray on bedliner added to another truck, and I had the thought of simply spraying the bedliner stuff right over the wrap around windows seal and all. I just wonder if the stuff would stick to the seals and the fibre glass, or is it only for metal surfaces? I think it would be a way to end the leaks and worries, and with a good prep job it might even look acceptable (they can add color to the liner stuff so it would blend in). Any thoughts on this idea?

Well I am surprised no one has mentioned the 2.7 4 Cyl. which is in the 4X4 Tacomas. If I remember correct the 3.0 v6 has about 150 horsepower, and had issues with the head gasket in it's early years. The 2.7 liter 4 cyl. has 162 HP and should be bullet proof, but even more important is the 2.7 is not as heavy as the v6. I have heard that peoplel who offroad prefer the 2.7 to the v6 Tacoma because it is more balanced with less weight on the nose. I figure any increase in power without adding weight would have to favor the power to weight ratio of the 2.7, as for which transmission to use with it I have no idea. Maybe I will be the first one to try the 2.7 in a Yodahome if I can find one in a wrecking yard, and take some measurements.

Well it could be anything, debris in the fuel tank, bad fuel pump, ignition, etc. You might start with the easy stuff, clean the plugs, check wires,and tune up items. I guess since I cleaned my mass air flow sensor I swear by the results. Use the Mass air flow cleaner ( it is located inside the air snout on your air filter box). Both my Toyotas had running conditions, surging, hesitation, rough idle. I cleaned them both and they both run the best I have seen them run since I have owned them. Some people have expressed caution about cleaning the MAF sensor, but it did wonders for mine. Are you getting a check engine light? That may be the biggest clue to finding the problem(s). Good luck!

Well with 158,000 miles I may just do that as a pre-emptive move as it (bank1 sensor) will go out at some point anyway. At least I saved the $165 a shop wanted to fix the issue which would have been a guess on their part anyway. So far so good, still no check engine light, and it runs real good. The MAF cleaner is supposed to be real gentle, compared to Carb Spray I guess. And yes I try to keep the RPMs up or else it will lug when shifting.

Well I guess it is moot, I had it scanned 2 days ago and it read "bank1 lean", and they gave me some causes options to remedy the problem. Poor fuel pressure, Mass Air flow sensor, vacuum leak, the two ox sensors, and finally the TPS in that order. I wanted to do the cheap stuff first and got a bottle of mass airflow cleaner (just expensive carb cleaner really) and I took the thing off and sprayed it out, and I ran some thru the fuel injection for good measure (this was yesterday) and so far so good. It runs great and now has full throttle tho not much torque really. In the past the check engine light would have come on by now so I must assume I fixed it for free. It the light does come on I will replace the bank1 ox sensor. Have you done any mods to the engine or exhaust? I think my motorhome has a similar mass air flow sensor just an older design so I will get to spraying that one as well, I read about a lot of running conditions that may be cause by this little sensor being plugged or dirty. YES, I would love to have this 2.7 engine in my TMH.

I think the wrecking the transmission refference is for hill climbing, it is better to keep the RPMs up as it circulates the fluid faster and it may not get as hot. So under normal conditions use the O/D, if you are hill climbing try and keep the RPMs up by turning off the O/D. I do not think it is the O/D wrecking the trans.- it is the overheating.

So bank one is the sensor that is on the fuel rail, or right next to the engine and does it have a vacuum loines as well? I know there is no vacuum leaks already, I checked it at work, and I use the old reliable carb spray test as well at home. The TPS is the one on the throttle body and that is what most people say is the culprit most of the time. It is actually running real good now, just a little rough idle and very small hesitation if any at all. So I think based on what you said that bank1 is the one on the engine that is one I will replace if my check engine light comes on again. Autozone says it is about $97, the TPS is only $50. Thanks for the info you guys, I am absorbing all of this before I start wrenching lol. The most amazing thing about this truck is that there is not a drop of anything leaking and it has 158,000 miles; only dust everywhere.

Well I changed the plugs,they just made the spark plug wires barely long enough to reach is all. I had a tough time getting them out, but finally got them. Autozone was nice enough to put my truck on a code reader and it said I had a lean bank 1 error. Which amount to several possibilities, the TPS, Ox sensor (fuel rail), Vaccum leak, or the airbox sensor and I forget the name of it but it is the one in the picture, and I noticed there is another plug that is disconnected in those pictures, if anyone knows what that is for. I started by removing and cleaning the airbox sensor, as it was the most expensive to replace. I put it back on and my running conditions seemed to minimize, still a somewhat rough idle (smooth compared to my Sunrader), but now I can floor it and it takes off. If this did not cure the issue I will replace the TPS and see what happens. I almost think the catalytic converter may be plugged. The exhaust tip it real black with soot inside.