centralman

Have you tried running your car on idle, then simulate pressing the gas by pulling the throttle cable and see if the noise exist? If it does, may indicate a leak in the intake system.

Much appreciated for your write-up, JD. I am more inclined to do the conversion as I know a trustworthy and experienced mechanic in town, also for the fact that I think even though I could find a diff with the desired gear ratio, that diff probably itself has a lot of mileage on already. Since my RV is just at around 123k miles at this time I think it still has plenty of useful life left in the original diff. Could you kindly point me as to where I can buy (1) The gear set (2) Install kit and (3) Speedometer-correction gear-box? Please also provide me, if possible, the brand of the manufacturer of the parts mentioned and part number? Thank you so much for all the help given.

Thanks for the detail post again JD. Much appreciated. For my Mexico trip, I drive all the way from Vancouver to Baja California and there are indeed steep hills, the two big ones being Siskiyou Summit (Oregon/California Border) and Tejon Pass (Just outside of Los Angeles). So yes I would like the engine to work not as hard so that it could last longer. I would also like to be able to maintain 65mph with OD on flat road if possible. I bought my RV in 2009 and the first year I made a trip to Los Angeles/San Francisco and then I have made 5 trips to different places in Baja California. Some of the roads there are really steep as well. You've mentioned there are two choices available: Could you tell me (1) If I choose the Re & Re method, from what year/model Toyota can I get one that can "plug and play"? (2) If I choose to redo my current diff, what parts should I order and what's the way to do it? Thank you for your assistance.

Thank you JD & Linda for your posts. My annual Mexico trip is coming up during Christmas-New Year holidays. I will try to run a full stretch of distance in between gas stations (I usually fill up at fixed points over the years) so I will be reporting back on the MPG without OD. As long as it's ok to run at those rather high RPM continuously, I am willing to give it a try. My experience is on those flat roads on I-5, speed usually can be maintained at the 57-60mph range with OD on. Any higher will induce the kick-down on the transmission and I will then try to ease off the accelerator to let it go back to OD. JD, does changing the gear ratio actually helps the engine overall on highway speeds?

Thank you for your reply. I haven't been told by the previous owner (I think there were like 3 owners before me) that any modification have been done to the RV, it fact, when I bought the RV, the radiator was stock - so I don't think any modifications have been done to the gear ratio of it. Much work have been done by me, full tune up, changing the timing chain/guides, tune up, water pump, fan clutch even fuel injectors. I have also put in a second Transmission fluid cooler, also a 3-row radiator. I may try a full stretch of road with OD off in between gas fill ups to ascertain the MPG situation. I just worried that at about 60mph the RV is running at the high 3k RPM range constantly which could damage the engine. And, when I need to make the time and on the road I drive upwards of 600 miles per day (On a tight timetable as my time off from work are very limited).

Thank you for your post and advice. At long stretches of flat land, for example, driving from Albany to Roseburg in Oregon, my RV could stay at around 60mph in OD. But if I try to have it go at about 62/3mph, it starts cutting in and out of OD. One thing also concerns me is that when I tried cruising without OD at interstate speeds there things I noticed: (1) Coolant temperature rise (2) RPM high and engine noisy and (3) Significantly more fuel consumed. I do have an external ATF Temp gauge installed also. I really didn't observe any ATF Temp change when the RV was shifting in and out of OD though.

Thank you @WME for your post. I find the vehicle constantly forced to run in such a high RPM (Higher end of 3k RPM) quite worrying. Owned my Dolphin for about 6 and a half years now, and since my trips involved traveling the whole stretch of the I-5 (I go on annual trips from Vancouver Canada to Baja California) I would like my dolphin to run a bit less demanding of the engine and transmission, if anything I can do without a hefty price tag, I would do it.

Thank you @jdemaris for your reply. I have an external tachometer installed so I can only read from there, without knowing how accurate that is. Yes, when I am traveling on a flat road at speed slightly above 60mph the tachometer states it's at around 2700-2800 with OD. When it is without OD it's at around 3600rpm. So from your table, using 4.56 gear ratio will actually increase the RPM of the car when it's at OD than stock. But then I guess it wouldn't run to the point that will fell the power is not enough and need to downshift in order to keep the speed?

Hello fellow forum members may I ask what is the optimal gear ratio for my 1987 Toyota Dolpin RV (22-RE Engine)? It seems that the stock ratio may not be the best (4.10?) And any tutorial on how to do a DIY on this project please? Thanks for all the help! EDIT/Additional Info: I mostly travel on I-5 and would like to keep a constant speed on average in the range of 60mph. At that speed I noticed even in OD the engine is running at around 2700 rpm. Isn't that a bit high?

I wish you luck in your quest for economic performance. Beyond that, I really do not know what more can I say. To be honest, I don't mind to spend some money on the MH to gain more power, but I were to commit anything major into the MH, I must also calculate all related costs that could realistically keep the MH run for another 10 years or so to be economical. That will include both improvements and repairs needed both on the car part and the house part.

Yes, quite understandable. I was thinking about the bypass hose incident I had. It sort of had a internal crack and developed a tiny hole and I saw coolant droplets started appearing on the hood when I was crossing the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco (Long way from home in Vancouver, Canada) - I was fortunate enough to have gotten the part at a autozone store and performed my first ever roadside repair for the MH.

I would like to thank you for your answers to my questions, it's very educational. I would welcome very much on any ideas that could economically make the MH perform better, if you have, please do not hesitate to share.

Understood, maybe wait for my 22RE's cylinder head warp first before doing anything else.

Thanks so much for your answer. Looks like it's best to leave this one alone. You cannot actually make the 22RE a variable timing engine operation, hence I understand your point of a trade off. The reason I raised the question of boosting is because I think the 22RE and 22RTE are the same engine, just with an add on turbo, so I deduce that the baseline 22RE is designed for boosting?

Thank you for your information gentlemen. It's very informative to say the least. I highly appreciate the time you put in responding to my question. I guess to sum it up: 1. In order to gain any significant improvement on performance - Just changing the camshaft will not be enough. You'll need a lot more than that. 2. I was in fact considering to buy the RV Camshaft 270/430 H/O with RV springs set from www.engbldr.com, the one WME is currently using. At least it sounds like that I'll need to buy the cylinder head assembly modified exhaust plus a lot of other stuffs to make this work. Need to rethink before committing to that. Thanks again, but if I may impose: 3. Would supercharging be a more effective way to improve perofrmance?

Hi everyone, I would like to ask if anybody has any experience installing aftermarket performance camshafts on their Toy MH? Please let me know what make & model you used and what kind of experience you have with them on the road. Many thanks. By the way - do you know why those camshafts are called "RV Camshaft"?

Thanks everyone for their input. I most certainly will take Totem's advise into consideration. It's because: 1. I only need the hot shower during transit, and that amounts to less than 10 times in a year. Showering in campground at destination is usually not a problem. Unless there are times when I traveled to Mexico where those campgrounds say they have hot showers but in fact the showers are cold. 2. The wood panel in the shower room has some damage and I can see the color of the wood is dark looks like maybe water damage hence I never wanted to exacerbate the problem. Quote from http://www.pilotflyingj.com/best-shower RT Project5050: God Bless the Flying J and Pilot truck stops that give us a free shower with every 14 gallon fill up. @ShanePatrick50 was in need!! MuchLOVE If that's true problem solved!

Hello everyone, I am a Canadian living in Vancouver BC. I make quite a few trips down to the US every year. And I am wondering where I can have a hot shower while on the road - as I don't use my shower in my MH as I use it as storage place. Usually I travel with my wife and my son, and having a shower at truck stops was pretty expensive - something like 9, 10 dollars per person. Any suggestion?

I did the modification with the kit from trail gear. http://www.trail-gear.com/pdf/120120-1-k.pdf I have been using an 7294SE alternator for the past 2 years, all is well. The only problem is the charge warning light and the brake warning light comes on (albeit not in normal brightness, it was slightly dim), other than that it's good.

Do we have a 4 gallon hot water tank system in our MH? Anyone has experience installing the hott rod system? Is it easy to do so?

How often should the distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires be replaced?

Thanks everyone for their input, very helpful info.

Tried jump-starting yet? A weak battery won't turn the starter over.

Thank you for the information. For heating needs I just use a big buddy heater. I don't usually take showers in the RV, I found that water leaks out from the faucet when I turn on the shower. And of course I worry about propane consumption. I am a Canadian and I am not familiar with propane filling in USA, my idea is that there are lots of "propane exchange program" where you swap an empty tank with a full one. Looks like most gas stations do not fill propane. And while on trip I usually get gas at Safeway where I can do the fill up while my wife does the shopping. I don't see any propane filling service at Safeway.

Over the course of 3.5 years of ownership I never actually use the hot water furnace at all. Worrying this will use a lot of propane. Do we have a 4 gallon tank system in our MH? Anyone has experience installing the hott rod system? Is it easy to do so?