Astas

This is called Toyota Chinook Pop Up Camper.

Good progress, Zach! Did you ever consider making a small shower/bathroom in the nook where a port-a-potty was located? I am attempting to place a small shower pan there and a newer port-a-potty. Any thoughts?

I cannot find anywhere a new leaf spring pack for 1875-1978 Toyota Pickup. Everybody sells leaf springs starting with 1979 models. Did anybody have any luck with these? Do leaf springs from other vehicles fit 1978 Toyota 1/2 ton pickup chassis for my Toyota Chinook Newport? Please help.

I am still looking for the new leaf spring pack for my 1978 Toyota Chinook Newport. I looked on the General Spring site but they only start their sets at 1979. Considering that my vehicle was manufactured in 1977 and marked as 1978, I assume some things were changed. Also, what year Saab coil springs should I look for in the front of my RV?

Thank you for the link, Linda! I looked around the site but it does not have any parts for a Toyota pickup only Corolla. The gas tank is much larger and has a different design on the truck. Nevertheless, it was an interesting site.

I tried to look for the sending unit at the wrecking yards. The problem is that they do not have any vehicles older than 1984. Apparently, they turn them into a scrap metal as soon as they come into a yard. Moreover, there are not to many junk yards around me and they are also expensive.

Thank you for a good advice, Zach! Most of the preliminary tune up items have been done by the first mechanic. He checked all of the fuel lines, changed all of the belts, put on new tires with new discs and replaced rear brakes. He also repacked all of the suspension joints with a new grease. Later on I replaced the master brake cylinder and even later the master brake cylinder booster. Recently, I replaced my Carburetor with a Weber 32/36 Echoke. That is where I discovered that the left manifold (where the Carburetor was mounted on was clogged up with black substance so that I had to use a screw driver to clear it up from one end to the other using a carb cleaner. I probably need to replace the gasket on the manifold because it was quite worn out. And then I will have to go through all of my wires and through all of my suspension parts and brake lines. So, I know there is more money to put into it. I already spent a little over then $10,000 on the repairs.

It still does not give me an answer to where I can buy either the whole mount with fuel pump and sending unit or just a sending unit. I bought one from Thailand for $50.00 on the eBay but it is not the right one for my truck. All later model Toyota trucks have two openings at the top of the fuel tank with fuel pump mounted on one and a sending unit mounted on another one. My truck only has one but wider opening on the top where the combo unit is mounted. My mechanic could not find an original fuel pump that fits inside the tank, so he found an aftermarket one that mounts on the side of the frame. My original fuel line was completely blocked by particles from the gasoline and I do not believe that it had a fuel filter mounted on the bottom of the fuel pump. I, however, recently found an OEM fuel pump that fits in the tank but I wonder if I should just leave the one that is already working on the frame. My mechanic added an additional fuel line in the tank that leads towards the generator in the rear of the RV. I would probably need to block it if I remove the generator. I also removed almost 30 lbs of emission hoses, parts and vacuum lines when I installed a new Weber Carburetor that does not require emission controls and only uses one vacuum line and one fuel in and out line. My battery well supports have rusted out and I am planning to fabricate zinc plated 24 gauge steel battery support pans and install them by welding them on the front. Has anyone done that yet?

Although, I do not know how long this camper had an a/c on the roof, I do know that the generator and the tool box has only been on it on one trip from SC to AL. It was installed by the mechanic who prepared ths vehicle for its maiden voyage after it has been sitting in the field for about a year. I already bought the front and rear shocks as well as an add-a-leaf kit (short) but not the front springs. I will remove all of the heavy stuff from it, however, it is probably not going to happen until spring because it is quite cold, rainy and windy to patch the hole on the roof with a fiberglass.

No, it was Honda Civic 1.5 liter DX 3 door hatchback.

I absolutely agree that there is way too much weight in the rear of my Chinook. I am planning on removing the rooftop A/C altogether and installing a small 7000BTU standing A/C in the closet at the rear of the RV. I am also planning to remove that huge generator and place in that box 35lb Ryobi 2200 watt generator or a Honda 2000. I am also remaining a portapotty nitch into a small shower stall with portapotty fitting inside of it. That way, I figured that I will be able to loose at least 350lbs in the rear prior to changing the suspension. I had a terrible side to side sway when I took this RV on its maiden trip from South Carolina to Alabama. Besides, I was towing a 1500 lb Honda Civic 2door hatchback behind it. My max speeds were 35 miles per hour up the hill and 50 down the hill with a terrible sway. I almost got into 5 accidents and almost lost my brakes once and did lose all of my lights twice. So, as you imagine, it was not a nice trip. Having said this, I want to do everything that I can to make it a safe and dependable Motorhome.

The way my Chinook Newport sits now is it has it's nose up in the air and the rear is very low to the ground. Additionally, my mechanic welded on a steel platform in the rear and placed an aluminum tool box on it with an Onan 4000 generator that weighs about 200 lbs. Moreover, whoever owned it before me have installed a heavy air conditioning unit on the roof 13,000 BTU that made a sag in the roof because it did not have any support beams. And to add to these trouble issues, my Chinook' s leaf springs and shocks are sitting very low. I have not measured the 31/10.05/15 tire size next to my RV but they looked very wide and had good depth of thread that I did not see on any 185/R14 tires. I can use a 3" lift on my RV but judging by some other threads neither rearching the old leafs nor add-a-leafs will give me a lasting result. The Zuk mod looks weird and unstable for this type of vehicle. My only other option is to install additional air bag suspension stabilizers, new shocks, new springs and new spring leaf packs. However, I do not know if they even make new spring leaf packs for Toyota 1978 Pickups.

Did you ever consider putting 31/10.50/15 size tires on the rear axle ? They have an all terrain load C rating 2090 lbs 6 ply and 50 PSI max pressure. One of my mechanic friends suggested to me that I do it for my Newport. I am contemplating on using 185R14 in the front and 31/10.50/15 in the rear to maintain a proper height and weight distribution on the front and the rear.

On another note, for the rear tires on my Chinook Newport one of my mechanic friends suggested to go with 31/10.50/15 tires with 109 Q speed rating, 2,190 lbs load capacity, Load Type C, 50Psi max pressure, all terrain 6ply walls. Has anybody in the Toyota Motorhome community ever used these on their rigs? If yes, I would like to know how well they handle and how they performed on different types of terrain. Thank you!

Linda, Thank you very much for the link to the thread.

I own a 1978 Toyota Chinook Newport and my fuel pump/fuel sending unit looks the same as on the pictures above. I guess, it was a standard setup on many Toyota RVs. My problem is that my fuel gauge on the instrument panel does not work. And I am convinced that the reason is in the electrical part of the sending unit that resides in the fuel tank. I am also looking for help on fixing it or replacing it. So far I had no luck. Please help.