perry mason

So now you begin to see the conundrum. The factory shocks are long gone. The vehicle title says '84, the owners booklet is for an '83. The coach plate says '85. The old rear shocks were blown and oozing no-names that looked like they were owner replaced early on. The Auto-Zone PU shocks fit for size and install but don't ride well. I was lucky to find these on the road in a foreign country. A Mexican man with a floor jack installed these in a dirt lot for $20 in about 45 minutes. I ate a taco and watched an episode of Ophan Black which I especially enjoyed. I don't know what staggered shocks are. Mine are in front of the leaf springs directly across from each other and facing the same direction and angle. There is barely room for the light duty shocks to fit on the bottom shackle. I found an expired CraigsList ad for a 1983 Toyota one ton dually. I found pictures of toyota dual wheel farm rigs and u-haul type things with no spec for one ton 3/4 etc. There was only one reference on a toyota forum and the guy said they could not find duelly parts but the 4x4 models for brakes and suspension fit so I just thought I'd ask here. The front shocks are really tiny and are a KYB generic gas adjust. I doubt they are original. So,.. shocks are not purchased with a consideration for vehicle weight? It's just about excursion? Sorry this is so long winded. We move steadily forwards,.. pm.

Ok then, thanks guys, it looks like the King Ranch seat costs more than my whole RV so I'll keep looking but it's nice to know it can be done. I'm over to the Engine Swap section to see what other enterprising efforts are available. Keep rolling, pm.

Sigh,.. It's a 1983. How do you shop for shocks/suspension parts? The chassis is a Toyota one-ton dual wheel, six lug axle. I keep getting internet-shunted to 4x4 pickup truck parts based on the shock tube excursion length and not vehicle weight. Or course, they are all "super" and "heavy duty" and "turbo" and so on. Any real recommendations based on experience? Also: I hit an unmarked Mexican speed bump two years ago doing about 50mph. The front of both leaf springs about 4 inches behind the front hanger is bent up about an inch so it's not an smooth arc anymore. I found some used "helper springs" this summer which really seemed to help under way and even when parked. I weigh 150lbs and I can walk around inside now without the coach lurching around anymore. I looked at a local 4x4 leaf spring setup, similar year Toyota PU, not an RV and they are completely different from mine. Much smaller as you would expect. Anyone replace their set? Also: I keep reading about people who installed air-ride cushions in the Sunraders. My chassis measures barely five inches of space- not really enough for what the search engine shows as the best fit for my vehicle. Thanks as always and keep up the good work, pm.

Hi, I have a handsome 1983 Sunrader. Has anyone replaced the factory drivers seat with something more comfortable for distance driving? I'm reasonably handy and do it all myself so far. We have several wrecking yards nearby. I'm tired of limping away from the rig at the end of the day. Thank you, pm.

Hi, I think I need shock replacement advice for an 85 17 Sunrader on a 1984 Toyota 22r, magnificent fiberglass house, carb motor, 6 lug dual rears, 140k miles, new and expensive and correct load range tires finally. I'm in sunny Guaymas, Sonora, Mex right now where they REALLY know how to grow potholes. Every 20 feet the truck feels like its been hit by a torpedo. It just slams and shudders and all the dishes jump around. The back seems to hit harder than the front. Its hard on my already shattered nerves. On a smooth road the truck handles reasonably well, no swaying and not much oscillation. Any ideas? The only parts store I recognize here is AutoZone. I can wait and do the internet order at home I guess. I'm usually a do-it-yourselfer but I think the air bag idea is too expensive for me. Thanks as always, pm.

Hi, My Sunrader is an '84 Toyota 22R with a vacuum style cruise control. Nothing happens at all when I try to use it. Is there a trouble shooting procedure? Fuse is good and there's 12v to the controller on the steering column and the vacuum box. It's a black plastic box which looks like it gets it's vacuum from some complex looking valve on the passenger side of the manifold. Any starting point would be appreciated. I'm using a stick to hold the gas pedal down right now, which is getting pretty old. Thanks again, pm.

Brilliant!! Thanks much, pm.

It was hard to blow through but I got it done. Could just barely hear some gurgling at the far end of the line. Replaced the fuel pump for drill, $43. Couldn't find the gas filter, still looking for a manual too. Changed the oil/air filter. We'll see how it goes. Love my new tires, hate the ferry fare. Bye for now all, pm.

Thanks, I followed your advice. After a week of phone calls I got an appointment locally. DT swapped the tires out at no extra charge with the Yoko's after some back and forth. Somehow I ended up with no paperwork but 4 rear tires. Still have the truck tires on the front and am saving my pennies for the replacements. The SR handling is markedly improved as a result. Thanks again, pm.

About safety. Some particulars: I'm a physically small a 56 year old man traveling alone, no dog, no living relatives or attatchments and living on $1400 per month. No combat training. I have a prudent bank reserve to draw on in emergency. I speak some phrase-book spanish but am in no way conversant. I'm don't frequent bars or whorehouses or go out looking for drugs. The Ten Year import permit for the SR was $50us. I got it at K19, south of Nogalas. I keep a boat in mex so I'm mostly driving straight through to get to it rather than stopping to vacation and play cards with 1000 trail members along the way. I mostly sleep at the Pemex (gas station) parking lot for maybe 4 hours before driving on. There's usually someone with a machine gun playing solitaire there day or night. Idling 18 wheelers are the only really drag but I'm usually so tired I can sleep anyway. If I stop somewhere else when near a town or houses someone usually pounds on the door trying to sell me something. Kids are especially curious. They really like the convex wide-view mirror thing on the rear window. Really cool view of the interior from outside if the drapes are open. I slept ok in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Mazatlan but just as well at a Soriana (Mexican grocery/dept chain store) on the outskirts. No one seems to mind anyway. Lot's of places to pull out along the highway and usually a mexican family or workers in transit taking a pee brake there too so you're not stopped completely alone. I stop there if there's a nice view and eat lunch and use the shower. (Yes!!) Watch an episode of Weeds and drive on. I prefer to drive at night as I've made this trip a few times and have seen what there is to see already. Less traffic, less distraction and I'm less in everyones way. More chance of Huge Cow on the Road action but my number hasn't come up yet for some reason. This is advised against by almost everyone but I've never had any trouble. Plenty of it is one lane. There is no shoulder on 15 most of the way. If you break down you are blocking the whole lane. This would really suck at night more so than in the day. It's a crap shoot. Trucks and buses do about 75 along here at all hours. 60 in a lurching RV feels like you're risking your life. If you get a wheel off the blacktop you would probably cartwheel the Toy and die in a flaming wreck leaving a giant gringo consumer pinata spread over 100 yards of blistered desert. In the general sense people will usually stop and help you or ask if you need gas or a ride. Mexicans don't seem so freaked out over the whole "personal safety" thing which is weird since they've had some 30,000 dead or injured from drug/gang related killings in the past 5 years if what we read is an indication. 15 is mostly a toll road. Even though I weigh less than a Chev Suburban I pay double because of the dual tires in the rear. In 920 miles (Nogalas to San Blas) I think I spent about $250us. Fuel was roughly $4.80 gal. It's in liters so I'm never sure. There's only one gas company so it doesn't matter. You need cash most of the way. The credit/debit card capability if they had it wasn't consistently reliable. South of Mazatlan I took the toll road which I liked as it's through jungle overhanging the one-lane most of the way. Makes you feel pretty exotic. People on RV groups have recommended a "park" at the north end of Mantechen bay, just south of San Blas- I can't remember the name of it as there's a couple side by side. It was reported and circulated locally in the middle of Jan 2012 that in broad daylight 2 or 3 mexican men walked up to a small concrete pad on the beach which serves as an RV park there and jacked a mid sized RV along with the lone driver at gun point. This is a beach I anchored off and walked on every day for 2 months. I had a great time, never had any trouble or dirty looks. 3 inflatables and 4 outboards were stolen in the 3 months I was there but no one bothered me. It's about 3 miles south of San Blas. They wanted to kidnap and ransom him but when they found out he didn't have any living relatives they threw him from the moving vehicle. He survived with scrapes and bruises but never saw the rig again. I don't know how he got home or back into his country of origin. 60 miles away in Tepic they had 22 people massacred by automatic weapon fire. I think this was in Nov 2011. Not sure how this works. Drug cartels get pissed at the military for interfering with their traffic so they just random spray a bunch of people at a Soriana grocery store. Girls, children, everyone- totally indiscriminate. I'm just guessing as to the cause. People said it was drug related. Well, that's about all for me. I've never had any real trouble in mexico but I've kept pretty much to myself. I'v been in plenty of remote areas or anchorages. I plan to go back next year. I usually look around on the streets and if I can see kids playing and young girls/women walking around unaccompanied things are reasonably safe. If you don't see that I would start to reassess my surroundings. Good luck men, pm.

I'm sure you're right about this. The vehicle was sold to me with brand new tires, receipt and all so I thought I'd use them up. I paid $1700 for a running rig with 150k miles, a smelly carpet and bumper stickers all over it. The squirrel cage in the heater didn't work. Paid $300 to transfer the title in WA so $2000 all in, initially. When I limped into Discount Tire in Tucson, AZ they looked up the correct size for an 84 SunRader, stated the tires on it were the only prescribed size for that vehicle and replaced the rear set of four. It squats now like all four tires are stupidly low on air, just like it did when I bought it. 38lbs is the most they said to put in them. I did ask about getting more robust tires. If I understand you correctly I should be able to put 185R14's in 8ply and that will fit on the rims I have? The 70, 75 part of the sizing is taken care of when you specify the 6 or 8 ply rating? Not much of a tire guy. Thanks for your response, pm.

Hi, sorry it's taken so long to respond. I'm here at the library for Inet. My friends had your described, gas leaking into the valve cover problem on a newer model SunRader and lost their whole engine far from home. Gas thinned out the oil and failed to lubricate the lower end or something. Terminal. They had to mail their grandkids back to where they came from and live in a hotel while it was "fixed"; new engine. Over $5000 cash. The new engine developed problems about 800 miles away. (bring it back, we'll fix it,..). I seem to remember going through more oil than usual too. I'll just replace the FP to be on the safe side. Thanks, everyone for your input. p.s. I did check the hubs and brakes for heat each time but they felt normal. A dragging brake would smell real bad in my experience. Happy trails, pm.

Hello, I just returned safe and sound from my 5200 mile goodwill tour of sunny southern mexico in the 84 Sunrader. I had two flat rear tires (brand new tires) on the journey and had to drive about 500 miles with one odd size on the rear twice. (185/70/R14 from the spare for the front). I have since replaced all four rear tires. 185/75/R14 as per the owners manual. The problem is on three separate occasions the truck was stroking along at max warp (62mph) when it started jerking and stopping in spastic fits like a girl trying to drive a clutch for the first time. I coast to the side of the road, broke, discouraged and far from home and find the engine's running fine, nothing's hot- hubs, brakes fine, all system's normal. I drive away fine and get up to highway speed and it starts again, like something's gobbed up the carburetor but more violent and more like it involves the clutch or drive train. After a rest of about 10 minutes I drive away and everything's fine for another 1000 miles. It did it twice more, both times bucking 15knts of headwind on a long uphill pull at freeway speed. Again, I coast to a stop and the engine idles perfectly smooth. I wait ten minutes and drive away. Any ideas? Should I call Click and Clack? It's kind of a puzzler. If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate hearing them. Impending axle failure? It's an 84 Toyota Sunrader, 22R, 18 footer, 4-speed, duals in the back with 150,000 miles on it and brand new tires. TIA and happy spring to all, pm.

85 sunrader on a toyota truck. Mine's the mightly 18 footer. Eat your hearts out. With the water tank half full I can turn on the water pump at the LED panel and hear it rattle. Pressure comes up and water comes out everywhere it should. I have no leaks and no sputtering trapped air. It's all good except the pump keeps running. It's supposed to run up to pressure and shut itself off until you open the tap, right? When you're done running the water it shuts off, right? Is there a pressure switch in the pump head that needs attention? Also, the LED panel doesn't read the water tank level at all. It can be half full and shows empty on the panel. Any ideas? Happy motoring, pm.

VICTORY!! Ok, there aren't five guys in the country who could have fixed this,.. Still don't know exactly how this thing works but I see the first start-up partially popped off the old hose that was feeding air from the fan to the burner part where the lighting apparatus end of things is. I think some of that escaped air was blowing out the lighter or tripping some safety thing. Reconnected the hose and it starts right up and blows heat like it's supposed to. This works effectively with the compartment door open but is laughable with the door closed as the main heat vent is 6 inches higher than the vent that's cut into the door. I guess the forced heat is meant to fill up the whole compartment with all the stuff that's in the draws above it and leak out through the vent? Not much comes out of the 4 inch hose vents so maybe that needs to be run down next. Air coming out of the outside vent is really hot. You can lose the hair on your arm if you have to skinny by this because of where you are parked. Happy camping everyone, pm.