kananesgi

My brother was talking to a fellow Toyota MH owner (Dave and his little pup Misty - Desert Rat) here in Brownfield, TX, and he mentioned there is a mechanic in Hobbs, NM, that does good work on the 'Yota motorhomes. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember a name. I'm curious if anyone else here might know who Dave might be talking about. I'm curious because Dave believes my little 78 should drive out much better then it does now, and suggests my best bet would be to take it to this mechanic. Thing is, with the throttle firewalled, my truck can only do about 55 on level ground with no wind. Cruise is at best 45 mph, and even at that, it only gets about 18 mpg. This seemed very strange to me when I got it, but someone on another forum informed me that this was normal for these little older trucks. Dave, on the other hand, says he owned one very similar to mine and it would easily do 55 and cruising at 45 would generate upwards of 25 to 28 mpg - substantially better than what mine gets. I'm now beginning to wonder if my original assumptions were correct. Everyone on the forum (another one from this) informed me that I needed to get a true 1-ton axle that was geared at 4.56 to get the truck to run out on the highway better. This seems totally wrong to me, since that would dramatically increase torque and lower top end even more. I was thinking more along the lines of getting a higher gearing, in the area of a 3.56 or so. Dave said that was what his older one had and it ran out great according to him. However, I'm also wondering if the problems mine has are actually to do with fuel-flow problems or something. Also, does anyone know how to identify what axle gearing I currently have? I know its a non-floating axle, but I'm very curious what the gear ratio is.

Just currious, but how the heck do you find these things like this, and the ones you listed earlier in this thread? I have called every salvage in this area and a lot of them actually tried to claim Toyota never made a floating type axle, and searching on the internet generally comes up with bubbkis, so just how are you able to locate these so readily?

ooh, thanks for the heads-up on the Seattle axle. I had a shipper lined up to get it for $200, and was about to close the deal on it. The guy told me specifically on the phone that it was a 6 lug floating type axle. I guess that's why it's always best to get photos before buying anything, even if it's free.

I'm thinking I'll try removing that dial device and see what happens. I agree that it may be starving the engine of fuel, but I'm not expecting much, if any improvment. Yes, the smog pump does still have a belt to it, and the hoses are hooked up, I think. I need to look again to be certain. What about replacing the engine with a 22r engine? Theoretically, it wouldn't require any new fabrication for mounts and such, and it seems like it would give me at least some boost in power. I found a long block 22re delivering 130 hp for not too much. The V8 swap is out of the question, I think, as it's going to cost me a small fortune to do it. The swap kits are expensive, and a couple of the shops don't even think I could fit a 350 into this little truck without lifting it. That, and better fuel economy, are the reasons I was thinking of a 302 instead of a 350. It's a smaller block, and can get better fuel mileage than the 350. I found a few places making parts for a 302 swap, but nothing on prices. About the only price I managed to get was from V8Conversions.com, which quoted me about $11,000 to do the swap for a Chevy V6. That's just a wee bit over my budget, if you know what I mean. I would much rather just stick to driving at 40 mph all the time.

I had another idea last night abput getting a little more power, and it might be a little easier than shoe-horning a 302 or a 350 into this little rig. How well do you suppose a Ford 2.3 four banger would do? I can get a little 2300 without too much trouble, and I can get quite a lot of aftermarket parts for it. I could even go for a Thunderbird Turbocoupe and get a turbo 2300. Of course, that would require more fabbing than dropping a 350 in would, since there are parts out there to help with the 350 swap. Not sure if it would really help much. The Ford 2300 wasn't much more powerful than this little 20r. The Turbocoupe was better, but I don't know how much, and that would require installation of EFI, and I'm not sure I want to tackle that, as well. The turbo would definately up the top-end power some, though. For the foreseable future, I'll just be driving at 40-45mph everywhere I go, I guess.

Well, I finally got me a Toyota RV. I've always wanted one, but I could never afford it. Now I've got it. It's not great, but it's pretty descent. The seller advertised it as a Holiday Rambler, but I found out when I picked it up that it's actually a Royal Hawaiian by Royal Holiday. 80,000 miles on the 20R with a 4spd stick. Still on the original axle, but I'm working on that. Exterior is pretty good, with no major rust or damage. The grill is in good shape, but the grill surround needs replaced. It's really faded and cracked in one small spot, but not too bad. The coach body is in descent condition, with a few dings and a bunch of rather poorly done caulking gooped around the windows. I'll strip a lot of that away and redo it a little better. Interior is, again, descent. Upholstery looks very good, almost new. The bench cushions and front seats look to either be reupholstered or taken from something else. The wood inside is in fair shape, but needs refinished. I'm planning to rip out most of the interior and redo it anyway. Stove works, but the old gas fridge has been replaced with an ac only dorm fridge. Roof could use some work, but at least it doesn't appear to leak. Now, this is my first import vehicle of any kind, and the engine is a little different from what I'm used to. There is a little dial device attached into a fuel line (I think) leading onto the bottom of the breather. The line has what look like 3 inline fuel filters, then this dial thing before going into the bottom of the breather (to the carb, I suspect). The dial is made of a cheap looking chrome finished plastic with the numbers 1 thru 5 on the surface. It's currently set to 1, and I'm a little hesitant to mess with it till I know what it is. Anyone know? Also, there is a pump or something on the lower left side of the engine (on the engine's right side). It's driven by it's own belt and has 2 large black hoses that look like A/C lines, but they don't appear to go to a condensor. Would this be an AC compressor, or would it be a smog pump of some kind? If it's a compressor, I'll take it off to save some weight and friction, but I don't guess I could do the same with a smog pump. My main problem with it is power. I know these are not speed demons of any sort, but this is beyond being underpowered. It's basically all she can do to reach 55mph on flat ground with the throttle firewalled. I was forced to drive it like this for about 50 miles due to traffic (stuck on an interstate and I don't feel safe slower than that with traffic flying by at ~80). I filled it up at the next town because the gas gauge was dropping rather fast. Checked the mileage and got 11.5mpg. The rest of the trip was off-interstate, so I was able to keep it at around 45 or so, and when I got home, I checked the mileage and got just a hair under 19 (something like 18.8). That was a heck of a lot better, but still seems low. I thought these were supposed to get 20mpg easily. It's got a lot better power at 45, and it drives wonderfully. Very smooth driving, with no ominous vibrations or noises to speak of, but it's so underpowered. I've always thought these can at least cruise at 55, even if they can't go a whole lot faster. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to improve it? Would dropping a 5spd tranny in help?

Located in Kansas for now. I did some checking on a salvage axle this morning. Called every salvage in the area, most of them said they wouldn't have a 1-ton toyota axle almost before I could finish asking for it. Of the few that actually looked to see, they also could not locate one. I did find a couple of craigslist, but nothing near me. I'm now looking into the possibility of fabbing mounts to put a Ford 3/4 or 1 ton axle under the back. I don't know if this is possible for me or not, but I've been told a simple tapered Ford 9" truck axle can hold around 7000lbs, which I think is far in excess of what this little Holiday Rambler will weigh. 9" axles are everywhere, and they are cheap. I can get tons of aftermarket stuff for them, and a lot of shops can readilly do custom fab work with 9" rears, so I'm leaning in that direction for the moment. I think it will cost around the same as buying a 'Yota 1-ton axle and having a shop install it. That is, unless someone knows of a true 1-ton axle for less than $800. Another option I am looking at is an actual 1-ton Ford dually axle from a dentside ('73-'79) Ford. I have a '74 1-ton but I cannot take the axle from it as I need to sell it. It's a true full-floating 1-ton axle that would easily handle the load, but it's also rather large and bulky, so it might be hard to fit it in. That's the bright side to a 9", as they are typically a very compact axle. I like using the Ford axle for the fact that I can easily mount other wheels. If there isn't a clearance issue, I can install 15" or 16" rims and have a better selection of mud/snow tires to put on it. Only problem is I'd like to figure out how to upgrade the frontend to accept the bigger wheels, too. For now, my main concern is the rear axle. I searched the recals on it found that Holiday Rambler never had a recall issued for axles. It does have the "factory" duals on the back, but it is only 18ft and does not have a black water holding tank. I'm hopeing that as long as I don't fill the fresh and grey water tanks, and I keep my own personal load down to a minimum, the axle will survive long enough for me to get something worked out. I want to get the axle fixed before my brother and I head out on the road, but I may not. Also, would anyone be able to tell me what would a safe load rating be for the rear of this? All I'm going from now is a post on this forum about a '90 Dolphin having a rear GVW of 4400lbs. I suspect that would be a larger model than what I'm getting, and if it's true that a Ford 9" can handle 6000-7000lbs, then it should easily take the strain.

I'm planning to buy a 1977 Holiday Rambler 18ft. that has duals and the original 5-lug axle. I know I should upgrade it, but how would I do that? I've heard of using a GM 1-ton axle, but I cannot seem to find that info now. Was that something I imagined? Is there any other option for me to upgrde this axle? I know a fellow in Indiana had some a few years ago, but his email is no longer working and I bet he doesn't have any more left. Does anyone have a floating axle that I could buy?