Alvin

Brian, try to destructively remove the ring. Use a sawzall or a drill to chew away at it. Be careful of the shower. I think the ring can be replaced more cheaply. I would avoid prying against the shower fiberglass.

Hi All. I've been living in my 89 Toyota Odyssey now for just over 2 weeks... it's parked next to my home (where I used to be welcome) and yes I have power... and LP gas... and gasoline. I'm in the dog-house I'm afraid with the marriage, but we're working on it and I hope to return to good-graces soon. HOWEVER.... I don't do #2 in my tank... never have, and won't unless I ever have to... and it has taken me 2 weeks to fill, but I filled it.... if you know what I mean. So I need to empty the tank. The problem is, the day-time high is only 32 right now... nights have been in the low single digits, and although the tanks are not frozen, the septic pipes and septic valves seem to be frozen hard! Tonight I am sleeping in my Odyssey with a space heater outside under the tanks attempting to warm them up so I can take it and dump it tomorrow. However I have a few questions: 1) Does anyone have a safe way to unfreeze a septic valve? 2) Anyone have experience with vehicle "skirting" in case I'd like to live here a little longer (hope not too much longer!) 3) Septic tank and gray water tank heaters. Such as www.ultraheat.com has tank heaters... and pipe heaters... anyone ever had a need for these? They kick on at 44F and run on both 12VDC and 120VAC. Thanks. Pray for me.

Freezer chilled Jägermeister.

I'm glad you found the issue. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I've seen this many times in various vehicles... nobody likes to pop for a new battery, but they're the darndest things... they will deplete and go bad at different rates... they are subjected to varying seasons. As I said, I never waste much time with a battery, and they simply don't cost that much to replace... and it almost always boils down to chemistry depletion. If you have one that is weak, you charge it, and it's still weak, just skip to the "bite the bullet" part and buy a new one.... almost. There is one test I like to do, and that is that I connect my current meter in series with the battery and the key shut off (of course) and measure to see if anything is drawing current... there will be a few uA's maybe if you can measure that for your clock radio... but it should be next to nothing. This test does nothing but test to see if the vehicle is drawing power for some strange reason that you didn't know about. If you want, you can turn on your headlights after you've connected your FUSED meter (on the right setting!) and test to make sure your tester actually works... which should draw an amp or two when the lights are on.

Darn amazing looking at that picture... it almost looks identical to the one I had custom engineered and welded up under my vehicle. Looking at your picture it's almost a picture of mine... except that mine has been painted black. Thanks for the verification that others have done something similar. The one major difference is that I left my original 17 gallon tank in place where this one sits... and the larger 23 gallon tank which goes over the top of the drive shaft is forward of that tank... about 5 feet up from the rear drive axle. To accomplish this we did have to re-route the brake cable slightly. The rest of the system is the common fuel input spout... Y'ed to both tanks, a small tube connecting both tanks... to the existing tank with a banjo fitting welded to the 17 gallon drain plug to allow easy connection without actually welding on the 17 gallon tank. And of course there are air hoses which rise from both tanks separately to allow the air to escape connected at the top of the inverted "Y" nearer the gas cap. (see drawing pdf odie2b.pdf which I attached earlier for a better schematic representation...a few posts above.)

I do believe the charge lights, since the battery does not have the capacity to start you vehicle n its own. Batteries can show 13 volts but the internal resistance can be high enough over time that they can't provide a serious amount of current for things like staring a truck. Solid state LEDs don't usually burn out, Okay here is what I suspect. You have a bad or old battery. See if you can charge it on a standard known good battery charger.... To a point that your vehicle starts. Give if a few hours to charge. If not, replace your battery and your troubles should be over. I believe that you'll find that things work after you replace the battery. Most of my experience is with with lithium cells as an engineer... but along the way reading multiple data sheets, I know now that lead acid cells can deplete due to chemistry. I suppose that if you cared (or I cared) we'd test the chemistry. (test PH when you buy!... not that I do... oooo batteries are annoying, but don't cost that much really in the scheme of things..............I don't test. Never have...... never will ). Also, they can go bad from freezing, from multiple discharges... from plating... they are sensitive. Simply, if you can charge it with a known good standard run of the mill in your garage charger... it's fine. Otherwise, replace it.

Well, for me it was a 19-day "odyssey" in my odyssey. But actually, the rally was very spiritual... there was a literal "sign" at the beginning... the only one needed, because the rest of the crowd did not bring signs. We had prayer for nation, for the congress, and for the success of our President. We "challenged" those who attended to be better to others and to themselves through acts of charity... best of all, there was a 40-day challenge to pray on your knees daily, to think about self-less acts of service to others. I came back basically a new man.... there was nothing but goodness in that place on 8/28 and I feel like it still lives in me now, months later. Did you go too?

Not sure if your layout is the same as mine (an 89 Odyssey), but if I were going to do what you propose, I would first make sure there is about the right amount of space in my compartment for two batterys and the box, then I'd secure an outer battery door of the proper size. I think I've seen these on the internet... or a local RV distributor might have one that would work. Also, you may want to consider the cost of 2 12V (or 4 6V) identical new batteries in the cost so that they're on roughly the same charge lifetime curves. In the Odyssey, there is room but a little bit of work would need to be done. One thing would be that I'd best be thinking about removing my oven temporarily which is right about the battery locations. This would give me easy access to work in the battery location... maybe yours is already located in a nice location such as under your couch? Then I'd build the box and line it with sheetmetal... install a battery drawer for a slideout... extend/replace any cables which may need the extra length... put it all back together... in mine, I would actually consider removing the oven completely and using the space for something else at that point since I've never used the oven... but then I'd just get a couple of surfacemount counter-top burners. If you had pictures that would help with the suggestions for those of us without warriors.

Yes, I've been puzzled about the 10 or 11 per gallon, except that I do tend to push it to 70 as much as possible. I agree it should be 12 to 14. I used 85 octane out here in Utah but like lots of places they now pollute (dilute) the gas with ethanol. My 2004 Sienna now gets about 5 to 10% fewer mpgs than before. I never did drive the Odyssey before ethanol so I have no basis to compare. I gave he fuel tank quite a bit of thought, but I can't take full credit. The finer details were added by the welder who has been building gas tanks for quite some time for other trucks out in the oil fields of WY and UT... on site. For example the banjo fitting was his... I simply gave him some options and he ran with it. Originally we were shooting for 50 gallons. That could have been accomplished, but only by putting the gas tank behind the rear axle where the tire ought to go (not mine though... not yet). His location of the tank just forward of the existing 17 gallon tank, along with the shape to put it in was his design. The Y fuel adapter was so that it would be no different to fill... costs less to build as well... a 2nd fuel spout was simply not needed. And with the bottom of the 23 gallon tank just about 1" higher than the bottom of the 17 gallon tank... and that very small fuel line connecting the two, fuel flows very well from the bigger to the smaller tank. The behavior of the fuel gauge is exactly what you'd expect: You fill up the vehicle. You drive for about 120 miles before the needle starts to move off of full. You drive for another 240 miles while the needle goes slowly from Full to about 1/4. The last 1/4 tank starts to go quicker... since by that time most of the gas is now in the bottom of the 17 gallon tank only. You have about 50 or 70 miles to find a filling station at about 1/4 tank. Very very nice to be able to drive 400 miles without stopping for fuel. Very very nice to have the generator working. The new tanks has made life on the road bearable. Like I mentioned before, I was often having to put in gas every 100 miles due to the way the cities fall along I-15. And yes, everything is simple gravity flow. I'm not sure how much of a deal I got. Actually for $1000 I tend to think that the welder of my custom tank gave me a great deal... but if he were to mass produce these he might actually make a bit more. I have to agree with you about the liability issues. I had to agree to take on liability myself... but I'm an Engineer and my Dad is an old Physics/Car-guy... and since even he thought it was a good design, it gave me lots of confidence to run with it. I have to admit that it has worked out flawlessly beyond my expectations... I thought I'd have a problem or two, and no issues... at all. I'm planning on publishing some pictures to go with my pdf and drawings above, but thats about as far as I'll go. Some ideas are best left in the public domain.

Right on. I believe I understand; you'd like to wire the Lamp as a function of relay 1, and the Camera as a function of relay 1 OR relay 2... therefore you get camera with or without lights. Cool idea. I'd be tempted to decouple the two features (lights versus backup camera) since I can think of situations where I'd like one or the other or both... There are times when you just want to light the back of the vehicle for example (in my case, spare gas, spare tire, ladder surfing, or trunk monkey deployment) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2867428821895024141#

Greg I think I saw an installation "how I did it" post with the camera up high (replacing the center running light)... was that yours? I thought it was clever and I can see how the downward view of the tail end would be really nice to have. For that reason I'm considering a 3rd wide-angle camera in about that location aimed straight down but attached to my pioneer AVH-P4200DVD system backup camera input... which would operate exactly as you say... on only when I'm in reverse. The upper corners of the vehicle are visible in the side mirrors. I have noticed that passing semi trucks put lots of wind pressure on my vehicle when they pass, and I like to have the camera view while driving to help give me advance notice that I'm about to be blown to the right, then sucked to the left as the vehicle passes. A general note about GPS: when it comes to GPS, I think there are many options. In the end, it really comes down to the accuracy of the database and also the user interface... the bigger companies (garmin, magellen, tomtom) have regular updates and are likely to be around for awhile. They also all offer expanded services if desired which can be handy in high-traffic area's. As far as reception is concerned, the gps constellation has been upgraded a bit at a time and the orbital transmitters are actually better than ever, but more than this, the GPS portable systems of 5 years ago do not hold a candle to the newer systems for the reason that the embedded receivers are now capable of detecting signals "out of the noise" due to amplifiers which can discriminate weak signals through the application of -160dB gain (as opposed to only -120db not long ago). This means two things: 1) much faster 'lock' and/or 2) reception inside some buildings and places where gps was previously not possible.

I guess people are doing it... http://www.gpsreview.net/ipad-gps-navigation-preview/ You still would need to add the GPS receivers, and an extension cable to get to the TomTom GPS dock. iPad comes with "assisted GPS" but that is not accurate and works off of cell-towers and wifi stations. Not good enough for the road. I love your dongle solution: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/tiny-dock-dongle-adds-gps-to-ipad-ipod-touch/ I'll have to nab one of those maybe someday. Interesting side note; using skype, I'm able to make phone calls on my iPad. Biggest phone you ever did see.

Well, no. I would not consider an iPad. It does not have a sunlight visible screen. I have one and in bright light it really lacks. The iPhone and iPods have a great screen for sunlight, but not the iPad. The only thing that might save you would be that in a Toyota RV, you're in the shade. Here is a related thread on the subject: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa;jsessionid=BCFE57BC14E40513AFCACBF6BA337AED.node0?messageID=11479183 We DO use our iPad in the front seat, with the Verizon miFi as a computer terminal... and it works great... so maybe the sunlight thing wouldn't be too bad. Just don't let the sun shine on it.

For iPod, there is apparently an external GPS kit you can buy to make it work. See the details in the description of the link below. Also notice that this is the USA/Mexico version. There may be a north America version, I'm not sure that includes USA/Mexico/Canada. You can also buy Europe and other locations. The USA/Canada version sucks up 1.6-Gigabytes of space (maybe a bit less). http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tomtom-u-s-mexico/id355682375?mt=8 For your reference, this is what you'd need for TomTom on an iPod (I think you need a 3rd generation iPod touch)... I think you can find this cheaper than buying from Apple. http://store.apple.com/us/product/TY168LL/A and... http://www.amazon.com/TomTom-Car-Kit-iPod-Touch/dp/B003DQPE40/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288020744&sr=8-1 I don't know how well this solution works. I'd look at the reviews on Apple and Amazon and other... Still seems rather inexpensive however if you already have the iPod Touch.

I agree AT&T sucks. iPhone rumors have it as a Verizon version starting the beginning of next year. I'm glad Android is out there. Apple needs the competition to keep them innovating. I can only speak to the iPhone. No, there is no external antenna and no way to do it. However, my experience has been that it really just seems to work in my odyssey. Here is a picture of my rig the day I bought it. I doubt you'd have any problem with GPS reception, most GPS units now days have better reception than the ones that were out even 5 years ago... you can receive inside buildings for the most part. The receivers are much more sensitive now.

1989. I found the switches on one of the Toyota truck websites. They seem to fit lots of Toyota pick ups and 4-runners... I looked at my 2004 Sienna and they're still using the same size cutouts so these switches are pretty generic. I did have to dremel off about 1/32" off the top but that was cake.

GPS cup holder mounting for iPhone... should work with Android too I believe. http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-TuneDok-Cupholder-iPod-Black/dp/B000A3X2GQ if you can find one. Mine is white. Lament: Losing a cup holder. Cup holders are precious. I hated to lose this one in my Odyssey, but after installing the Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD just below it (which swings out automatically just a bit for better viewing), it became apparent that I would definitely NOT be using that particular cup holder for anything holding liquid right over my new precious audio system! Therefore, using it for a GPS holder turned out to be the perfect use for this left-over appendage. We bought a console organizer from Walmart... fit perfectly and looks like it was made for the toyota. Here it is at Amazon, but it was in stock at all Walmarts just 2 months ago. http://www.amazon.com/TSI-Products-54215-Clutter-Catcher/dp/B000WHACHC/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1288019356&sr=1-6 The only downside is that it removes the place where you might put your foot as you're moving from the front to the rear of the RV. We love ours.

I just noticed your note about the Apple thing. I'm just the opposite (I also develop apps for iPhone in my spare time) but understand the feelings. As an engineer, I'll use whatever technology my boss wants me to use I'm equally comfy on PC or Mac or Linux... (another reason buy Apple computers... but I digress ha ) I love Android too. My buddy here at the office has an android and he loves it. I travel with a Verizon miFi which gives me tethering of up to 5 devices at once and 3G service over most everywhere I go in the U.S. More to your question about GPS reception, I always aquired a GPS signal (locked) within 30 seconds, and usually it didn't take any time at all, from the time I put my iPhone in the cupholder and turned it on. I did notice that the cab extension resulted in less signal than normal, but the iPhone always picked it up quickly. Sometimes in the city it lost signal when between large skyscrapers. I actually drove my Odyssey down Bourbon street in New Orleans a couple months ago... if you can imagine that. Didn't lose signal there, but did lose signal in and out of various tunnels. I would think that you'd fare well using Android or iPhone. One last comment concerning yours about Apple's control. You're right... it's good and bad... but mostly good I believe. It keeps the quality of Apple products way on the plus side. There are lots of happy customers and few if any malicious attacks; attacks can be launched to be sure, but Apple is pretty responsive plugging holes, and they are now the biggest computer manufacture in the world if you count iPads. I'll try to get a picture of all three screens at once... but it just snowed this morning... days are currently pretty dim here in Salt Lake City. Wave goodbye to summer.

One final note: I wanted to say that the Pyle rear-view mirror backup solution has had the advantage that it is exactly where I expect to find it... rear-view actually on the rear-view mirror. The other Pyle system that Greg mentioned does look to be mounted "in-dash"... which means that you'll be looking down quite a bit... and if you're wanting to actually use the radio for the radio, then you're probably not going to be able to use the system for "rear-view" while driving. I travel with 3 screens; 1) the Pyle rear-view camera system... mounted on the rear-view mirror, 2) an iPhone GPS based Tomtom mounted in the cupholder or on the dashboard, and 3) the Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD system... which I use for HD-radio and iPhone or iPod tunes down the road (I bought the HD attachment also on sale). I really think that if you have a smart phone and can get a GPS app for it, then you're ahead in several ways... it can be installed on multiple iPhones which you may own (I'm on my 3rd and two of them will run TomTom), and also since it lives in your pocket, you carry it to whatever vehicle you happen to be traveling in... no extra investment.

I also must add, I like Gulfstream Greg's solution better... although it costs more it looks to be worth it. My solution for the switches might work for you however. A note about the cable, you'll need 25-feet stretching from under the dashboard (near the switches), along the driver's side door jam (there are a pair of rubber knockout's to get you out of the cab and under the RV just behind the driver's side door... look for them under your vehicle driver's side just behind the cab)... along the frame, and to the dual rear cameras. This is premium 25-foot cable that has the 75-ohms needed for your video (I know it says audio... doesn't matter... video is 75-ohms). http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=2866&seq=1&format=2 Please note that this is 'dual' cable which supports two camera's on the back.

I wanted to share my backup solution. I used the Pyle 7" system. http://www.amazon.com/PLCM7200-7-Inch-Mirror-Monitor-Rear-View/dp/B000E1PXES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288012657&sr=8-1 ...which comes with one camera. I also bought a 2nd camera. The AVH-P4200DVD system also has an input for a backup camera as well, but I'm not using that for that purpose yet. The camera locations that I have so far are a left and right camera (one on the license plate and the other looking out through one of the rungs of the ladder... this has actually been handy because I can switch one or the other using the controls on the Pyle system. The camera's are NOT just for backup... I use them on the road to see what is behind me... so mine are point straight back. Pyle also sells a 'night-vision' system which looks interesting, but I haven't tried. The wires go into my headliner up near my dome light, and the side vinyl post along the left side of the windsheild separates easily pulling it back using two plastic clips, then straight up to get it out. One modification I elected to make: I opened the Pyle unit and soldered in longer video wires and longer power wires in order to make the connections under the dash-board in a better place. The wires that come with the unit along with the connector are just a bit short and you would end up with connectors in the side post. I simply opened up the unit and carefully clipped the existing wires leaving pigtails of about 3 inches, then I soldered in new video cables (using the video cables they supply... cut in half), and a length of red/black 18-gauge audio cable for power... red to +, black to -. Skip the green wire... don't use it, unless you only want this to work when you're in reverse. Just leave it unconnected. I also put the fuse inside the display unit. I now power the camera off of the front battery and it is tied in with the ignition key. I also found a custom switch which fit the opening in my dashboards to the right of the steering wheel almost perfectly (I did have to dremel off just a hair along the top edge of the switches to make them insert all the way flush). A 2nd switch is used for auxillary/fog lights which I installed ... because I can. I used a switch with a yellow LED for fog lights and a switch with a green LED for the rear-view camera system power. Here is the link for the switches: http://www.oznium.com/gsw-45-led Pictures included for the switches (before and after)... sorry about the "flash"... I took these pictures at night.

Hi, I have two suggestions: First my wife and I have iPhones. I bought Tom-Tom for the iPhone and discovered it runs on a deactivated iPhone as well, which enabled me to use my older 3rd generation iPhone exclusively for GPS Naviagation, Car Audio Tunes, and a number of other RV navigation and travel aids (there are 10's of thousands of iPhone apps and many many apps for RV travelers to find you-name-it). However, the GPS and the connection to the audio system gets used the most. The iPhone just sits either on the dash board or in a holder that was made for the cup holder in your toyota cab on the dashboard. Perfect. The Tom-Tom app cost me $70 and is amazing. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tomtom-u-s-canada/id326075661?mt=8 Also, you can get a Garmin app (and magellan might have one too) for iPhone. If you're using Android ("gasp") then you may have other navigation apps, albeit not as many. Second, we installed a Pioneer AVH-P4200DVD system (for $350 on sale at amazon.com not long ago)... for which you can buy a $250 add on pioneer navigation system. We did not go for this, but you might consider it. Personally, I'd get the iPhone app. http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-AVH-P4200DVD-Double-DIN-Multimedia-Receiver/dp/B0038BM7F4 Finally, my dad is very happy with his el-cheapo chinese made no-name nag system... I think he paid like $100 for it. I could ask him where he got it, but it's made in china and I think you get what you pay for... it seemed sluggish to me and strange.

I have created a very rough cross-section of the vehicle from the floor down through the gas tank, cutting across where the new tank sits in the vehicle (see the attached pdf a few posts above. The purpose of this diagram is to show how the upper and lower tanks sections sit in relationship to the drive-shaft and the frame, and also to show that some of the weight of the new tanks is actually distributed on both the right and left sides of the vehicle.