MontanaChinook

Great! Yeah, I don't remember the thread size, but I might remember that the cover is bigger than the nut...so you may need to use an open ended wrench to get it. Not sure...you'll figure it out! I don't know a lot, I just know that brake cleaner especially dries without residue, and is the best for cleaning parts. It's what everyone told me to use when I was doing a bunch of stuff to my truck. But if carb cleaner's what you have, I'm sure it's fine. So...two things. Take out and clean the vent, and take out the differential fill plug and let any excess fluid run out.

And by pushing gear oil through there, you're attracting dirt and grime, which will clog it. It's not there to correct an overfill problem, it's there to vent pressure. So it's not a solution to overfilling. You should open the fill plug and let the excess fluid come out. When it stops flowing, it's at the correct level.

The vent is a pressure vent, not necessarily for excess oil. A good thing to do is unscrew the entire thing and soak it in brake cleaner overnight. Let it dry, then blow through it to make sure it's clear. Often, when people's axle seals (at the tires) start to leak, it's because that vent is clogged and won't allow pressure to vent, so it pushes out somewhere else, like the axle seals. If you're pushing gear oil out of it, you overfilled it.

Not that all leaks are created equal, but I have a leak in the manual steering box of my 83 toyota. It LOOKS bad; there's oil and a bunch of dirt & grime all over it. But, the last time I needed to add more gear oil to it was over a year ago. A small oil leak can make a big mess.

Wow! I'll check that out. See what it is to Montana.

I've already decided its getting new tires all around this spring. I'll get some LTs, because they're just car tires now...and make sure they're rated for a heavier vehicle.

I'll stick with my singles and keep my bearings fresh.

Longfield is even making chromoly axles now. But it mostly talks about torque, especially at sharp turns (offroading). It does talk about more weight capacity...but I don't feel like searching through all the threads right now to really find out. I've been planning to just keep my Chinook axle stock and replace my bearings and always make sure they're in good shape, and call it good anyways. I just figured if there was an easy, not crazy-expensive upgrade, I'd look into it.

Yeah, there are longfields and other aftermarket "stronger" axles for 4x4's, which is why I was asking. Thanks!

Glad you're ok! This is what I'm hoping will save me...I have a 78 Chinook. It's the bigger, "Newport" model. Single rear wheels. It might have a bit of a low rating, but its passable, right? The big problem was the "fake" duallys, right? If there were heavy duty axle shafts and heavy duty bearings I could buy that were a direct swap, I'd definitely like to do that.

I'll report back to you in 15 years : ) Yeah, I hear you. Just sayin, no need, anymore, to suffer on a foam pad.

Not to discount anyone's reason for getting into rving, wanting to is reason enough, in my book, but HUGE advances have been made in sleeping pads. I don't even use a thin foam pad when I'm backpacking. I have an air mattress that blows up to 3" thick, and is light enough for backpacking unless you're a super light backpacker. https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Pad/qcore There is no reason not to have a nice pad for backpacking, much less car camping. If you have a little money to throw around and do more than just rv camping, you can be REALLY comfortable. No reason to suffer.

It'll make it up the mtn passes fine if its in decent condition. Just don't let being slow stress you out. I went from Utah/Montana to New York and back twice in my 86 toyota pickup, with 200,000 miles on it. I just learned to accept my speed...and stay out of people's way as best I could.

Yeah mine just has a converter, not an inverter, and its really pretty small. I don't have any photos right now but I'm thinking this will be a direct fit. http://www.bestconverter.com/PD4045-45-Amp-Inteli-Power-Mighty-Mini-Power-Center_p_353.html

Thanks! I think a lot of stuff people have done here won't quite translate to the Chinook...my power center is much smaller than that.

I'm in the process of mostly gutting my 78 Chinook. I'm going to replace all the wiring, put in led lights (interior), and replace the converter. Someone suggested the progressive dynamics pd4045 power center. Anyone have thoughts on this, if they're familiar with it, or have other ideas or advice on what to look for or avoid in a new converter?

For those looking into this...I'll start off by admitting I don't have personal experience with this, but it comes from Marlin (of Marlin Crawler), and that guy knows Toyotas: Unless you're an accomplished mechanic, not the usual sort like me who just can read instructions and replace most anything, I would leave the rear main seal in your engine alone if you do a clutch job. According to him it is very finicky, and you need to put the new one in just right or it will start leaking shortly. He says that in his experience, this seal very, very rarely leaks during the normal lifetime of a Toyota engine and tranny. And when you have your engine rebuilt, obviously the rear main should be part of that. Anyways, in his opinion a rear main leak is such a rare thing in the normal life span of a Toyota truck, and it's such an easy job to botch, that it should NOT be considered a good thing to change while you're in there doing the clutch. Leave it alone.

I'm 35 with a 78 Chinook.

Or a chinook! I've so far chosen to sleep in the lower bed, though I'll need to try out the cab over at some point, just to see what it's like.

Stick. I'm stubborn enough that I probably wouldn't buy a car or truck which was otherwise immaculate, if it was automatic. If I ever buy a new vehicle I might have to change my tune, but the era I'm usually looking for can easily be had with a manual transmission. Swapping out a stick for an automatic is more work than I'm willing to do for a vehicle. If it was as simple as just taking one out and putting the other in...not a big deal. I've considered getting an older dual range tranny for my Loyale. But going from auto to manual, or the other way around (especially), seems like too much work.

Lucky you! Getting the upper cabinets out of my chinook involved taking out a lot of screws, and eventually even breaking parts of the cabinet.

Yeah, I hate the idea of something so simple, which can so easily fail, being so hard to get at...

I wish I lived closer! I can always use parts, and as I have minimalist tendencies...the fact that I now have three vehicles bugs me. So ive considered selling my Loyale. It's not dual range, just push button 4wd, but it only has one or two spots, less than an inch, of surface rust.

Yeah, it blew me away that my 78 Chinook only had 48,000 miles on it. But it was just a weekend warrior, fairly locally used only in the summertime vehicle, so it makes sense. With any luck, in about 10-15 years ill get back to you guys on how a 20R does with the camper weight, and getting into high miles...

Well, I may be extra safe while I'm more or less gutting the inside of my chinook...might drop the tank, and seeing the coach area above the tank from both the inside of the gutted coach, and the outside with the tank removed, cut myself an access panel for the future. I'm embarrased to say that i don't know if my 20R has a manual or electric fuel pump...in my 83 and all the other 22R engines I've seen, the fuel pump is mechanical, and on the side of the cylinder head. Real easy to replace. But I've hear a lot of the 20Rs have electronic pumps in the tank...so maybe that's what I've got. The chinook is very new to me, and covered with snow right now, so I haven't really gotten to know it yet. I've fixed a mechanical fuel pump on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere southern Utah. I don't think I could do the same with an in-tank, electronic pump...