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There was a 4.3 conversion Toyhome for sale last year. I asked them and the said it was easy. They claimed around 16mpg. I wish I had kept the info as I dream of doing one. The 4.3 is perfect. It is a durable truck engine with the accent on torque. I have one in a 96 Astro. The later models are better. Mine has 160,000 miles, no oil burning, with no end in sight. And that's with trailer towing. It's not unusual to get 250,000 miles out of one. The premier info people seem to be http://www.northwestoffroad.com/parts/engineadapters.html

You will periodically find that propane fill station personnel suffer from rectal cranial inversion ( A.K.A. head up their butt). Did you tell them that it was for an RV? They are exempt. The older RV tanks have a bleed valve that does manually what the OPD (overflow protection device) does automatically. Read this.. http://www.damouth.com/RVStuff/OPD.shtml The solution other than educating the nitwits that you went to is to go to another fill station. Maybe we have a propane expert that can verify what I have said.

Don't know if this will get to you in time. In southern Oregon, avoid Ashland. It's very expensive. Stop before or after. Round about Xmas is when I5 can get shut down with ice storms. But who knows with the climate changes. If the weather is bad, the Oregon coast route is an option. It gets very little snow at the worst. The road is very good, but just two lane and curvy in places. Plenty of passing lanes. The scenery is outstanding. Worth the drive. Tons of state and federal RV parks at nice locations for el cheapo and real nice. Good luck

I just want to comment on the chains. You just need two on the outside. The inside is problematic as they can rub on the axle, break drum and lines. The tensioner can not be easily attached either. I hope that you're talking cable chains. The regular ones can beat the wheel well to death. Definitely get the rubber tensioner that goes across from one side to another. You still have to carefully watch how fast your going. They are not for highway speeds. By the way, the dual rear wheels (depending on the tire tread of course) have an amazing amount of traction by themselves. Don't rushing to install the chains unless you really need them.

Hi Sharp, I live down here on the central Oregon Coast. Your Sunrader is not as critical for covering as some of the others because the roof is curved so that water runs off. My Winnebago has a flat roof with an indent where the air conditioner is. Water collects there. I wait until the last minute to cover because I have to shut off the fridge so that the heat won't ruin the cover. If you do cover, get the roof dry first so moss and mold won't form underneath. Some roofing zinc spray will help. I would use it on outside trim and window seals also. The black mold here is brutal to get off. Bi-Mart has it. I would cover and put it up during the ice storm season in Portland. In fact, I wouldn't drive because Oregonians panic if there's even one inch of snow on the ground. I bought cable chains for the MH. I made the mistake when I moved here of not leaving heat on in the MH the first winter. The cabinets warped and mold set in. I now leave a ceramic heater on low all the time. I pull out the drawers and leave cabinets open. Good luck, Oh, feel free to drop by if you're down this way.

I installed cheap halogen running lights hooked to the backup light wiring on the rear of one of my motor homes. That worked good. What I'm thinking of doing on the Toyota is replacing the backup bulbs with 3 watt LED bulbs. I have two 3 watt LED flashlights and they are very very bright. It would not need a relay as the LEDs are very efficient.

I bought a couple of the LEDs that have the standard 1156 bayonet bottom. They are not very bright. I use the inside one as a night light in the bathroom. I bought an amber one for the outside porch lamp. I bought mine from superbrightleds.com. Now I remember, I bought the whole new Bargman light fixture because I couldn't find the old lens cover. Besides the old switch was getting ratty.

You never said how many miles on the engine. The V6s have mechanical lifters that should be adjusted every 60,0000 miles. They depend on a specific weight oil to fill the clearance when the vehicle is warm. They can be noisy when the gap gets big. One inexpensive tool to have is an automobile stethoscope. They're about $6.

If I remember correctly the Powermax is Chinese made based on a Honda design.

I've had two r22 4 cylinder MHs. One had 122k and still chugging fine. I only got rid of mine because my then girlfriend wanted dash air. The only thing I've seen out there is blown head gaskets on the 4 cylinders and that's not that common. I wonder if that was when our retarded government made Toyota switch from asbestos gaskets ( Like how much asbestos is going to escape from a head gasket, DUH). I'm almost sorry that I got a 6 cylinder this time. Changing the cam belt is a killer. The mechanical lifters use shims which is a pain. My friend has had a problem with bad valves on hers and she only has 60k on it. I met someone with a 6 cylinder Toyhome who managed a fleet of Toyota one ton trucks with the six. He told me one secret is to adjust the valves around 60,000. He said when it's not done, the valves tend to burn out by 90,000. He converted his to the 3.4 liter Toyota six and loves it. If I had it to do over, I would have gotten a four and mildly hot rodded it. OR, I should have had the air installed on mine and converted to the GM 4.3 liter V6 which is a bullet proof truck engine and has the perfect torque range for these vehicles. It's a shoe in conversion. If my Toyota six croaks, that's what I'll do. It sounds like a number of people here have tweaked the fours. I wonder what reliability they got from them.

Check on the back of the tv for power consumption. You would be surprised how little even a large TV uses (like 150 watts). A dc to ac converter should do just fine. I'm assuming yours is a small tv anyway. A lot of people use propane on the road although it is not recommended. The fridges consume very little like 1,000 btu/hour at the most. A gallon has 92,000 btu. Normally the fires are from large leaks so soap test all the joints from the regulator on. That's something that should be done once a year anyway. By the way those fridges keep working for hours after they are shut off so usually they don't cool down much during an 8 hour drive. It may not be worth the risk. You should crank it up anyway the day before a trip.

Thanks, I thought that I was hallucinating. This is my third Toyhome although it's my first V6. It only has 60,000 miles on it. When I got it I did my usual, Bosch 4 element platinums, new wire wound plug wires, etc. I got a solid 16 mpg. Then I switched to to Mobile 1 extended performance synthetic oil. My mileage dropped to 14 mpg. Normally I use a good regular oil plus an additive like Duralube (I don't care what the government says about oil additives, I think they work). I also read that higher mileage ( greater than 50,000 miles) vehicles work better with regular motor oil. I'm going to toss in an additive when it gets down a quart ( long time for a Toyota) I'm curious what type and weight of oil you are using. I'd be curious what happens if you change it.

Those are all made by Bargman http://www.bargman.com/home.html. They are called lighted assist bars. There are two sizes for the lenses. Call them, they're nice people to deal with. Good luck.

If it's toggle breaker, pull it out and check the continuity. Also click it all the way off and back on again. Actually, it looks like it might be a push on/push off type. Sometimes they don't trip all the way off. A breaker that old could have worn points or springs. If it's a removable buss type fuse remove it and check the continuity. Do all this with the generator off.

Microwaves draw more than their advertised wattage. A 600 watt may draw 800 watts. It's because of their efficiency which is not 100%. Check the tag on the unit. The pricing sweet spot for inverters appears to be around 1,000-1,200 watts steady state draw for the less expensive ones. Price should be around $80-90 on a sale. I bought my 1,000 watt one at Costco. Harbor Freight recently had a 1,200 watt for about $80-90. Don't worry about the larger size. They only draw the amount of current of your appliance you have plugged in. I can run my microwave using a size 29 coach battery without the engine running. No, you can not plug these larger ones in to a cigarette lighter socket. They have to be hard wired. 1,200 watts is drawing over 100 amps. You need starter cable wire like what hooks to your battery and you should not go over five feet in length from battery to inverter. You have to hook it to your battery or else you will fry your vehicle wiring. #4 AWG is required for a 1,000 watts. Mount the inverter in a well ventilated place. You can run long lengths of extension cord from the 110 volt inverter outlet. Place it where you can shut it off when not in use. You can buy a 12 volt hair dryer for about $12-15. They use about 160 watts. They also have a 12 volt curling iron.

The only problem with the horizontal tanks are the chassis mounted ones. The ones mounted to the bottom of the frame can rot out on the bottom. Yours sounds like my Dolphin which was removable from a side compartment. I carry a spare vertical 20# bbq tank for extended boon docking in the winter. With the Dolphin it was easy. Just disconnect the MH one and connect to the BBQ tank sitting vertically on the ground. For my 90 Winnebago, I installed a fitting kit that lets you hook either a spare outside tank or use the motor home one for gas appliances outside. They are made by either Marshal Brass http://www.marshallbrass.com/rv.htm or Century http://www.centurycamping.com/accessories/propane/

Well my friend with the V6 Sunrader finally found out what the problem is with number 3 cylinder. It is a burned exhaust valve. In fact all the cylinders on that side had lower than normal compression. I always thought that these engines were "bullet proof". Any one ever hear of valve problems with these motors? It is a 1989 with only 60,000 miles on it. It was not one of those on the head gasket recall. Thanks for sharing

A few including me have tried the tire sealant without any luck. It doesn't move around like a tire so the sealant doesn't get to the leak. They crack over time and it isn't worth trying to patch. I personally don't like the airbags with the exception of the heavy duty ones on the Sunraders that go right over the axle. I don't like the bounce. The other airbag afterfits like on the Winnebagos are crappola. I just put a full length booster spring on for under $40. One I did I had to unloosen the shackle to slide it in. This latest one I got goes right over the shackle. Unfortunately you have to remove the clamps on the spring from the old airbags to fit it in. That means cutting the old airbag out. No loss as far as I'm concerned. Good luck with whatever you do.

The water going in to the water tank does not go too far in to the water distribution system. That is if it gets past the water pump, it can only go as high as the level in the tank. Besides there should be a tank overflow pipe that prevents overfilling. If you don't have a level gauge, get a flash light and shine it on the water tank. You'll be able to see the level as it fills. The main thing to do is turn on the water pump and open the hot water faucets including the shower one until water come out. This fills the empty hot water heater. It only takes a few seconds to purge the cold water lines. The first fill of the season it is wise to put a little bleach in the tank to disinfect the water system. Also make sure that all the drain valves are closed when filling the water tank. You'll see water dripping underneath if one is open. Once or twice a year check the gas nozzle on the refrigerator to make sure spiders have not made a web. They love the smell of the sulfur in the gas. Also particles can fall back down the chimney stack and block the nozzle. Take off the cover around the nozzle and with a crevice adapter on a vacuum, clean out all the crud. Clean with alcohol on a q-tip any thing that's left. If the gas nozzle is plugged the flame can start out the air feed collar so be careful. The fridge doesn't use more than a couple of amps on house current. If you have the 12volt option it is only good for maintaining cooling on the road. It is not designed for starting the fridge from being off. The chemical reaction in the fridge keeps going for a few hours so I don't even bother switching to any thing until I get to my destination. Using the fridge on gas on the road is very controversial. The flame could blow out. Although the amount of gas used is about 1,000 BTU/hr max which means it would take a week to go through one gallon of propane. I would also vacuum out the water heater external vents also. They get crudded up with rust particles. Good luck

The majority of them are Winegard Bat Wing antennas. They're about $100. You need to examine it closely to see what's missing. Go to the Winegard site and download the manual and make sure the replacement will have all the missing parts. The clip that you're talking about comes in metal and plastic and most all RV stores carry them. Good luck

An 1983 RBR was my first Toyota MH back in 1990. It wasn't made very well. The roof sagged I'm assuming because of a wood frame. The emergency brake was run through a cheap welded metal rod. Things like that. The rear springs sagged until I added a leaf and there were no rear shocks until I welded mounts on. Don't get me wrong, I had it for ten years until New England road salts dissolved it. So it really didn't owe me anything.

Laminate is formica over pressboard. Wait until it gets wet and swells. I know, I have it in my house. You have to use a special cleaning device so that it won't get wet. Read the instruction!! I wish you well but no way would I use that junk. Besides, it's slicker than snot when wet.

You might also check the thermal circuit breakers if it has them. They're small rectangular affairs connecting the coach battery. Winnebago likes to use a ton of them. The points inside get corroded . They could let electriciity go in one direction and not in the other. I just replaced all of mine as a good maintenance practice. They're cheap enough and available in most auto parts stores.

Rhody Days are over and summer is finally here. One of my friends bought a Sunrader and we went to a National Campground 14 miles north of Florence called Rock Creek. No hookups but each site is on the creek. Half price at $10/night for those of us with National passes. Great place. Went agate hunting on the beaches. Ron Swanson, you ready to get together up in Central Orygone? My mineral and gem club informs me that there's a couple of Pow Wows in Sisters and Prineville in later June. You people north of Roseburg, there's gold panning at the Bohemia Mining District in Cottage Grove. Or would you like to set something up on the Umpqua river? Of course , you're always welcome here on the coast.

I always use the spiral wire wound. I like MSD brand. I won't touch carbon conductors. I used Bosch Platinum plus four plugs when I had a 22R. They're spendy but they worked great and last a long time. Be careful putting them in as to not bend the electrodes. The oil weight depends on whether you're in a warm or cold climate and if your engine is starting to wear. If the engine is still tight and doesn't burn oil stick with the stock 10-30. Heavier oil when it's not needed can increase friction. Good luck