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Thats kind of where I got the idea from. When we went to RV shows, we seen the A/C units mounted like this. Very good idea. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Its an A/C unit. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Yawn JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) Auto tranny is OK, I was of a similiar thought, I looked for a manual, but in a way, I'm glad I got the auto. I would look for an 86, 87, 88 or newer. Look to see if it has an aux tranny cooler (you really want one) Important, climb under and wiggle the tail shaft as it exits the tranny, It may wiggle a tiny bit, about 1/4 the thickness of a dime. From what I've read, it seems like the trannys that have tail shaft problems don't have an aux tranny cooler. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

SCAM - This has been running for years. same MO, I'm in the military, getting deployed and can't show it to you in person, but I can have its shipped to you. blah blah. (no way ar Want to have some fun?? Try this and see what happens - send this response. "My husband died in Afghanistan two years ago, and I'm now getting to the point that I want to travel around the country and talk to VA groups about my Husbands experiences. This Motor home would be perfect. My sister and her husband are stationed near Cheyenne, They will be more than happy to go look at the Motor home. Please send your phone number, I already sent them the money. If they don't see anything wrong, they'll make the deal right there. Thanks and God Bless you for serving our country" Scum bags. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

No, (maybe) Some of the newer automatic switchover units do, but ods are good, you don't have one of these. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Brake pads can absorb water and become brittle. He will need to take the rear axle apart to check the rear brakes. Just make sure he is aware that the rear axle bearings are packed. He may want to install new seals, they are cheap. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

I believe the OEM calls for 185. If its too cool it drives the EFI controller nuts and runs a little richer, because it thinks the engine isn't warmed up yet. 185 / 195 should be OK. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Makes a BIG difference, brightens things up a lot. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Make sure your mechanic is comfortable working on the floating rear axle. IMPORTANT - He must be aware that the rear bearings are packed, not lubed by differential fluid. This is unusual configuration. You may want to print out the rear axle service info and make sure he has it. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Dully_Rear_End_Overhaul.pdf

Good route. We use bottled water for drinking (put a few in the freezer, this will hold the frig cold for a few hours if out of propane or elec. We use the fresh tank for washing and coffee. I wouldn't drink water from my fresh tank without first sanitizing the lines. If you make any of your overnight stops at a Walmart, run in there and buy a case of bottled water and any other supplies. Fresh water tank lasts us a week or so, same with the black and grey. Like Linda says, once a week, we'll do an overnight at an RV park, shower, laundry, refill fresh and dump black and grey. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Click this link, scroll down to the 23 Dec 2006 - Engine Cowling - Foam plug The entries go from newest to oldest Rather than use foam, you could use something like very thin sheet metal that will bend the large radius curve, use Bondo to glue th esheet metal in place from the inside, do the fiberglass on the outside, then pop the sheet metal off. I'd use four layers of glass. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 auto

If your going more than about 25 miles, Id say, drop the drive shaft. The engine is not circulating tranny fluid, so the fluid overheats in and around the bearings/bushings. (Look at the recent posts regarding the tail housing and bushing. FYI -There are companies that sell pumps that you can plumb into a Towed that will circulate tranny fluid and keep the bearings cool and lubricated. I don't think you would want to put one of these on a Toyhouse, unless you plan on towing it a lot. http://www.remcoindustries.com/Towing/product.php?f=lubePumpKit.php John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Since your on a roll, you may also find these of interest: Running Light LED Conversion Tail light LED conversion A word of caution before you give them your credit card. The running light I used are flush mount. there is no room behind them to curl up the wires. I think this was a problem with one of the manufactures, i.e. you couldn't splice the wires, stuff them into a hole, then mount the light over the hole. On my Dolphin, this wasn't a problem. As for energy use, the LEDs use about 1/5 to 1/7th the energy of a corresponding lamp. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

What WME said - ROFL. Its definitely an "Oldy but Moldy".. May not be in bad shape after you rent a 10 yard dumpster to clean it out. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 auto

Bob, if your drawing 3 amps on the frig, I believe you'll do just fine on the stock alternator. A small 3 way frig (110volt, 12 volts, propane) draws about 8-10 amps at 12 volts. These use a heating element to heat up the Ammonia boiler tube. draws about 1 amp at 110volts You need to be extra careful to shut off the frig when battery gets low. Should be able to come up with a low voltage monitor or even a trip circuit that would trip off at low voltage. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Tony; This is great, I'll see if the other moderators want to PIN this. I've been following your writeup with great interest. I knew there was a problem with the bearing, and I specifically looked for this when I bought my Toyhouse. I believe the theory is its heat related, and an aux cooler could reduce/eliminate the problem. Heres my take from following this tranny thing for a couple years, tell me if this is correct. 1) The rear yoke bearing and the yoke seal can be replaced, and the old Yoke may be re-used, if its not destroyed or chewed up from the bearing going bad. (i.e. replace the bearing before it fails) 2) If the yoke bearing goes bad, the yoke wobbles and destroys seals up inside the tranny, and now the tranny needs to come out. those seals (I guess they are the shifting seals, can only be replaced by disassembling the tranny. This is a very big job, but doable by owners, if they have the mechanical skills. (Note, housing may be trashed, and may need new housing) I have a feeler gauge and will climb under mine and measure the play in the yoke. it does have a small amount of play, it doesn't seem to be getting worst, but a "small amount" need to be measured so others know exactly what it is. Thanks for the writeup and the photos. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Tony, if it is a separate pickup (and it should be) I can't think of why you would have the roughness in the truck engine. (scratch head). I'm not that familiar with how the genny connects electrically or fuel wise., so I can't offer any experience, You should be able to run both simultaneously, i.e. people run the coach A/C unit while traveling down the road. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Doesn't make sense??? Might be worth throwing a mat on the ground and climbing under there and see what the fuel source is, where it connects to the tank. It should not be drawing off the main fuel line. The main problem with that, the genny could run you out of fuel. Usually the genny has its own pickup in the tank, and its located a couple inches above the bottom of the tank, that way when the tank gets low, the genny is out of gas, but there still a few gallons in the tank to run the truck. The genny is carb, if its "T" in with the main line, the truck is EFI. The fuel pressure from the EFI (40 lbs I think) could be pushing fuel thru the carb float needle valve, flooding the genny and making it run rough. NOPE - This doesn't make sense (I think I just talked myself out of that scenero) If this were true, it wouldn't make any difference if the genny was running or not, the EFI pump would push fuel thru the carb, and dump i on the ground. (unless the genny has a electric fuel cutoff valve in line) Perhaps our genny experts will chime in! John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

I've used the two part powder stuff in the past. drain and fill with water. The acid stuff goes in first, its circulated hot for several minutes, then drained. Refill with water and add the neutralizer stuff. circulated hot, then drain. Refill with water for a rinse, circulate, drain, Then refill with antifreeze/water mix. I'm not sure how effective it was, I believe the chemistry is that the antifreeze ionizes, and its these ionized molecules that are corrosive, I remember we had this problem in heat exchangers we used at a power plant, changed from ethylene glycol to propylene glycol to reduce the problem. Change antifreeze every couple years is the recommended solution. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Nice report on the trip. :-) Please update us on the tranny with photos (I was following your thread on this, I may be doing it on mine as a preventative maintenance. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Bob, JD, I don't think anyone was arguing (I wasn't) As everyone has pointed out, unless your doing something out of the ordinary, you probably don't need it. I believe you said you had a 12 volt compressor frig, thats out of the ordinary for a Toyhouse :-) You could probably benefit from the higher amp alternator, You might also want to look at your converter, and consider upgrade it to supply the higher current when your on shore power. Thats a great thing about this site, there is such a vast range of knowledge and experience, you'll defiantly come away with options you never thought of. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Alcohol in airplanes is unacceptable, at any concentration. My fuel certification states No Alcohol. (Aircraft must burn a certified fuel) With the legalize aside, water isn't an issue unless you make sudden altitude or temperate changes. These are rare events in a car, (sea level to 12,000 ft in 5 minutes, or 90 deg to 30 deg in 10 minutes, this just doesn't happen in a car. However, the problem with alcohol incompatability will be a big issue in cars, plastic gas tanks, fuel pumps, o-rings, fuel injection or carb parts parts. unless the plastic and rubber components are specifically designed for alcohol compatibility, there is going to be problems. 10% may require a long exposure before parts start swelling or disintegrate, raise the concentration to 15% and the exposure time decreases. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto

We faced these problems in Aviation for some time. First it was lead, then the introduction of alcohol. I test for alcohol in my fuel, I can also burn unleaded or leaded in my plane, it is certified for either one. Lead isn't a big deal, Its there for two purposes, 1) increase the octain rating ( how a fuel burns) and more importantly, 2) to lubricate the valves. The octain problem is addressed by higher quality fuel, blend and minor additives. the lubrication is addressed by harder materials. In an unusual turn of events. the Automotive industry was far ahead of the aviation industry on this one. Aircraft engines have been using harder materials for seats and vales for about 40 years, this was more for longevity and durability, and not so much the transition to lead free. Alcohol is a bigger problem. There are two things to watch for, and the higher the alcohol content the more these problems will start to surface. 1) Water - Alcohol absorbs water, when the temperature (or altitude) changes, so does the absorption point. Its possible, if the alcohol was at or near saturation, for the water to condense out of the alcohol. When this happen, if the fluid temperature is below 32deg, the water turns to ice, this can freeze fuel lines, which is not a good thing in a car, and can be a tragic thing in a plane. 2) Incompatibility with fuel system components, i.e. rubber, viton, gaskets, epoxy, Alcohol can cause some of these materials to alter their state, i.e. o-rings can go brittle or swell, seals could deteriorate, epoxy fuel tanks can start leaking as the alcohol leaches out the epoxy.

JD, That was the point, "Toyhouse". If you have a 40 ft diesel pusher, sure, you'll probably benefit from a 120 amp alternator, is that enough? But a Toyota pickup with a 21 ft house on its back, not so much. The 55 amp stock alternator will serve the vast majority of the cases just fine. Exceptions, yes, there will be. Thats what this discussion is about. And of course, personal; preference will be the trump card. Something may not make sense to me, but if JD or anyone else want to slap a 120 amp alternator to their Toyhouse, Have a ball. The goal of theis forum is to exchange ideas, information, experience, and yes, even opinions. As I said, IMHO - Your wasting your time and money, but hey, its your time and money to do your bidding. JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto