payaso del mar

there's another thing that's changed besides what JD listed: the prevalence of grid tie systems and 400-volt Li batteries has resulted in most new panels being a hell of a lot more than the old 17-19 (to charge a nominal 12) volts......a lot of em are 30-37 volts or more. this won't be as much of an issue in the small size panels you're looking at, but if they're higher voltage panels, be sure the charge controller you buy is able to turn their output into 12v. the current crop of MPPT charge controllers also can make use of that "excess" voltage between 12 and the 17-19....with the old style PWM (pulse width modulation) contollers, that excess voltage was just a "cushion" and mostly went to waste. remember the equation watts = amps x volts? MPPTs invert the "X" number of amps at 19 volt DC into AC, then change it back to a larger # of amps at 12 (or whatever you're running) volts DC. an MPPT controller might be worth it for you if you camp in cold weather a lot, as that's when you get the highest voltage from your panels and thus the most gain from an MPPT controller. that said, solar panels can be a great thing to buy used. they rarely "fail", just slowly degrade over time (20+ years), and you can test the output before buying.. for our cabin, I just got 12 panels totaling 2.8 kilowatt/day even at current degraded output for $40/panel. check your local CL. if you do get used panels, be aware that as JD noted, they may not have back-current blocking diode. most charge controllers will perform that function, unless you buy the cheepie $40 NPower unit from Northern Tool.....ask me how I know this! not sure a 100w panel is going to keep up with a fridge unless you have a very efficient fridge. I've done panels both ways: on the roof, and free standing with legs. the free standing approach has lots of merit but consider: 1) stowing it while enroute. 2) theft issues. 3) securing to ground so it doesn't get blown over and shattered in sudden breeze and 4) voltage drop on 12V will require relatively heavy wire to get it more than a few feet from toyhome. I think the best of all worlds would be to have one on the roof AND a bigger auxiliary free standing one that could be plugged in via an external 12v outlet when boondocking for extended period. you just wire an outlet to connect to the INlet side of the wires from panel to charge controller remember that if your Chinook is one of the poptops, you'll be hoisting the weight of any panels you put on the roof every time you set up camp. for this reason, I did a lot of searching for mine to find the most watts per pound, and just ordered one of the 24lb. Vikram 150W panels from Backwoods Solar.

Bob.s right. I suspect you're just feeling the vacuum assist. shut the engine off and see if it gets hard again. with the engine off, you shouldn't be able to press the pedal down much no matter how hard you try. but I think you're probably OK.

i'm curious to see your results. hopefully it will work out as planned. but if you're hoping for it to take your arrival time from 3 am to a "reasonable" hour, you are planning on it adding a lot more than 18% extra power........ me, i'm looking into JATO assist for those long upgrades.......

"I have constant paralyzing fears of personal inadequacy, powerlessness in the modern world, and the size of my, oh never mind. I NEED my pit bull with me at all times to help me deal with the world and make people respect and fear me Like I Deserve......" (nothing against pit bulls, have owned several rescues, just poking fun at the mindset of many of the owners)

damn...that jeep thing is as ugly as a Pontiac aztek. Looks homebuilt, and like it belongs in a photo essay on "why we love the Deep South".....or maybe one on "The Dangers of methamphetamine psychosis"..... bobblefrog, you make some good points. I suspect it would get rid of the axle issues, altho JD is right that it gets you into a new legal realm, where you may be treated as a truck rather than a car....think, stopping at truck weigh stations and ports of entry. not sure if this would be an issue but i'd research it for states where you'd be driving it before buying one.

that's really impressive. compare with this $1100, 4.3 cu ft, Novakool super dooper high efficiency model marketed to off grid types: As supplied the R4500 uses 480 watt hours / day, but with added insulation, just 240 watt hours a day on a 70 degree day. - See more at: http://www.backwoodssolar.com/novakool-dc-refrigerator-model-4500#sthash.K6yPZE8J.dpuf if you're using .48 amps (just shy of 6 watts) per hour, that works out to just under 144 watt-hours a day. and I assume you haven't added any insulation.

just theorizing here and not trying to dump on your suggestion. that's good to know. I hadn't seen those little panels before. and I like your idea for routing the pipe. BUT might not work in the Bandit since it doesn't have hot water heater or greywater tank, tho, or room for them*. not like one of those "giant" dolphins etc. but I might look into those for the now-stationary travel trailer at our place in the mountains. and yeah, any time I can make a $20 solution work and not have it look too ghetto, i'm very happy with that. that attitude is why I bought one of these and not the Sprinter conversion.......my wife calls me an Honorary Mexican because i do things like making hatch lid supports from PEX slit lengthwise (i have better uses for the $50 than replacing gas struts) *cue the Bandit theme music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OgjB6y70ew

I think we're talking apples and oranges here. what I envision could be built from scrap for $20 if you already have a sunshower bag. those systems you're describing no doubt work well but cost hundreds (thousands?) and involve a hell of a lot more installation and complexity, and bigger holes in your roof. maybe more appropriate for that $100K sprinter conversion than for a 30 yr old toyhome that I paid $2800 for?

well, you've already answered one Q I had: whether 225/75s would fit mine. I'm on my third set of Bridgestone Dueler AT Revos on the Taco and I love em, but the smallest size they come in is 235/75-15. let us know what you learn. if you decide to go with the 225s again, look at the Firestone Destination AT. reasonably affordable, some sizes available in LT, and they get great reviews on Tire rack.

Fred, I think you';re right. that looks like a vacuum diaphragm. some sort of bronze age unit there. the only other possibility I've seen is some sort of item that drives off the speedo cable and uses a junction box like that......something like it came in my '75 MGB.

so I got thinking about this last night. sunshowers (either bag or black jug) work well, but 1) they take a long time to heat up and 2) they cool down fast at dusk, so you need to shower before it gets late....not always practical. what about building a sort of modified solar oven, mounted on roof of rig and made low profile to keep additional frontal area down, that would hold a sunshower bag? with some insulation, it should keep the bag warm, and it should heat the water a lot faster. just dreaming here thus far, but....

would those things attached to it be speedo cables by any chance?

in El Paso so should be less rusty than northern vehicles. I don't know anything about it, just posting in case anyone is looking for one. probably overpriced at 1700 but...... https://elpaso.craigslist.org/cto/5504779860.html

very nice!

yeah, I've hit that "too big to fit in the fixture" issue too. there are also some that are directional and if the "direction" doesn't line up correctly with where you want the light when the bayonet lugs are engaged. the light goes into the fixture rather than out. I've replaced all the bulbs in all 3 of our RVs with LEDs. I LOVE them and feel this is one change with almost no downside. you can get them lots brighter than the old incandescents, and they use so little juice that, for all practical purposes, there's never an issue with adding lights to a circuit or heat from bulbs. Camping World has packs of 6 for about $75; they're not bad and a medium white color. but my favorite source is superbrightleds.com....lots of selection (they probably offer a dozen different sizes and intensities with an 1156 base), good info, choice of light colors ((usually 3 different shades of white, and even blacklight!), and good attitude. Also look at their LED strip lighting for fill light on countertops or inside closets etc. I noticed Sylvania is also offering 2 grades of LED replacements for automotive bulb sizes (which is what most RV bulbs are.....1156s were originally turn signal bulbs), in regular and extra bright light intensities, at your friendly local otto partz....but they're pricey, $10-20 each. got one for my MR2 and it's a lot brighter than the factory dome light

OK, thanks for edification. I was just parroting seller's claim on the 1 ton part. now I feel better about passing on it. back to measuring T100s and early Tundras....

OK, here's another thought. IF there's no coolant leaking into the oil, and IF your engine seems to be running OK (ie, no indication of head gasket leaking compression), you can just keep an eye on the coolant level and nurse the motor. I had to do this for sevl months once with an old BMW 2002, which uses a motor that is very similar to a 22R. I also gave a slight pull (maybe 10 degrees) on each head bolt. it kept weeping coolant but never overheated or got much worse til I was able to pull the head and do it properly. ideal? no, but might be a way to get it home.

got moving on the old crock again this weekend after being stalled for a bit. installed the rear Bilsteins, and stripped and cleaned the rear brake assy on one side . but our wind is supposed to be gusting to 55-60 mph for next few days, so that may bring outdoor work to a screeching halt. I think I heard an audible sigh of thanks from it when I scraped off the cheesy faux-krome laurel wreaths the IPO had glued around the keyholes in doors.

"88 4WD one-ton flatbed, 5 speed with FF axle, in southern NM, overpriced @4250, but if you want to build a 4WD Toyhome..... https://lascruces.craigslist.org/pts/5463077185.html

ouch! sorry to hear. sucks when you work your tail off and do it "right" only to have the results not come out like you planned. "been there, had that done to me"..... a few random thoughts: 1. blue 3M masking tape works great as a gluing "clamp" for stuff like this....shouldn't lift the wallpaper and usually even glue squeeze-out won't stick to the adhesive side of the tape. 2. you might could inject some thinned glue through any bubbles before clamping them. Bobblefrog, no, some of us dabble in all the poisons at once, thereby ensuring that we're always overwhelmed timewise and always out of $. at least I 'm not tossing $ into photography or airplanes these days...... but every time I feel discouraged, I go to the RV section of my local CL and exult that i'm not one of the folks trying to sell their originally-six-figure 37' RV for $3000........

try this: give the throttle a healthy stab just as you turn the key off, so the rpms are still rising as the ignition cuts off. not sure why, but this seemed to stop dieseling issues on several cars I had back in the 70s. maybe because the spray of fuel from the accelerator pump cools the heated bits that are continuing to ignite things?

We biked all over town, and my wife was able to explore the area when I was out fishing. Bikes are great transpo in a town that’s maybe 3 miles from end to end and basically flat with a speed limit of 40 kph (bout 25 mph). Stupid Boy here hasn’t been on a 2 wheeler much lately; I let the tags on my XR650 lapse and I haven’t been on a dirt bike in over a year. So when i tried to just ride over that curb on our daily ceviche run one day, I didn’t hit it at a sufficient angle and went over the bars, hard. Road rash all the way from toes to hip and on both hands. I can attest that Dos Equis makes good anaesthetic..... (Ai yi yi yi.....cantar no yores.....) But don’t expect to actually find, you know, bandages and adhesive tape at a Mexican farmacia...we used up all I had in the first aid kit (also learned the bottles of xylocaine had broken and contents gone....glad I found that out before needing to suture up self or wife....) All in all, it was even more paradise for us than on last trip. Coming back always leaves much to be desired, but it’s worse when you get the 3d degree from the govt (US or Mexican). At the big Mexican army checkpoint on MX15, we had to pull the bikes off and dig out our suitcases so they could pore through them. The soldiers were sniffing my wife’s spirulina (green algae powder, nutritional supplement), poking through her lingerie, and were very curious about the magnifying glass in the glove compartment (for reading small print on maps). After about 20 minutes of this, they let us go. Weird, because I’ve never before had more than a few Qs or at most a cursory look there previously. We got a motel in Magdalena for the night (too late to go see Padre Kino’s bones or the Colosio mausoleum) so we could hit the border before the line got bad the next morning. That part worked, but the Customs folks sent us to secondary and made us pull the bikes off and stuff out of the back AGAIN; they went through our coolers and threatened to fine us for the two apples in the cooler (we’d forgotten) as well as the apple cores in our trash (we’d sliced and ate what we thought was the last one as we approached border). Trip from there on out was painless....weather was nice and truck got about 21 mpg for entire trip. Dogs were glad to see us and the cat came out after only 5-6 hours (this indicates she’s not TOO mad at us....). I’m going back in May and spent next week or 2 prepping stuff for that trip, while the "issues" from last one are still fresh in my mind.

The guys with the 70' boats with the $40K suite of lectronix were no doubt quaking when they saw the portabote being unfolded....the fishing tournaments down there are sometimes worth $50K and are a big deal. I did a bunch of fishing and found that trolling results were as bad as I’d expected: three scrawny barracudas that I didn’t even realize had latched on; I thought they were wads of seaweed and pulled in lures to clear em. Kept em anyway, as I’d promised my wife that The Great Hunter and Provider would bring home fish tacos. Ever tried to filet a pencil? The next two days, I shifted to deep jigging: drop a 5 oz lure down 250' and yank it up as fast as you can. Never tried this before, don’t know what I’m doing, but the fish seemed to like what I was doing: got a 12-15 lb yellowtail one day and one closer to 20# the next. The adrenaline rush when you feel that locomotive pull of a yellowtail and the line starts screaming off the reel is so addicting......how am I supposed to go back to fishing for 10" trout in NM? One bit of sadness: we dropped in on some of my old friends, a family of commercial fishermen (known as pangueros, after the open skiffs called pangas they use) who befriended me when I was on some of my first trips and helped me learn what I was doing, and used to let me launch and beach my boat at their place. Now I slip my boat at the marina due to all-tides access, but I always try to bring them some food goodies and some small useful stuff (flashlights/batteries, big bottle of ibuprofen, some tools, used bikes I’ve fixed up for the kids, etc). They literally live in a tar paper shack with no running water, and the little girls had never tasted strawberries until I brought them some. This trip, we didn’t see the family matriarch, Mercedes, and learned that she’d had a leg amputated due to diabetes and was living with relatives in Guaymas; from the pics we saw, it looked like she’s not too long for this world. I’d guess she’s maybe 50 or so.........talk about a tough life.

Slightly belated trip report....multiple installments due to pix We headed south on Valentine’s Day, Saturday Feb 14. Took the bikes this time, strapped onto the rear carrier on top of the portabote seats....this turned out to be both a great and a not so great decision. I was hoping this would be the trip where I could finally take the plunge and ditch the big ice chest in favor of the 12v fridge, but when I tested it in the driveway, the one ancient 75W panel didn’t quite make enough juice to offset the consumption of the fridge. So back to the 70 quart wheeled Coleman monster. This panel is ancient and I suspect it ain’t putting out anywhere near the rated 5+ amps. Will try it again for the May trip after I either replace the panel or add another. Crossed at Nogales, AZ again. This time, we got 180 day tourist permits at the border.....these cost about $30 (the one-week ones are free) but I’ll get at least one more use out of it before it expires. The guy working at the INM (Mexican immigration) office was also able to change some dollars for us, altho I suspect this was not "official"....he gave us 16.5 per dollar, so someone was definitely making some $ given that the official rate was over 18:1. Still, it was worth it for the convenience.....I always like having some pesos as soon as I cross. Trip down was wholly uneventful. We stopped in Hermosillo to get some squid for bottom fishing, which was interesting as the big Soriana grocery store is in a mall....and on a Saturday night and Valentine’s Day to boot, it was hopping. young love at a mall, what's more romantic than that? We thought about staying in Hermo since it was getting late but both wanted to get to San Carlos that night so we pushed on for the last hour and a half. When we got there, it was midnight and we were both bushed. Didn’t feel like trolling for a decent motel so we stayed at one on the main drag although we knew it would be pricey and iffy. It didn’t disappoint on either count: $83, the most we’ve ever paid anywhere in Mexico, and it was a major dump even by Mexico standards. Light bulbs in less than half the fixtures, almost nothing worked, bed was crappy, you needed to take the "flushing assistance stick" to the john with you if you were planning on #2, and the housekeeping was, ah, diffident, to be charitable.....the hot water did work, though. The next night we moved back to the condo we’ve stayed at before, $10/night......total lodgings for the rest of the trip cost us less than we spent the first night on the Hell Motel. first pic is ready to head out, 2d is swapping light bulbs at Hell Motel as we went from room to room....

I have no idea how good a deal that is, but yeah, I think Toyota specifies 90k interval for T-belt changes so it's due. should be easy job on a truck since the engine is longitudinal, tho. get the "kit" (T-belt, tensioners and maybe idler pulleys, and water pump) and do the cooling system service while you have the coolant drained.