Chinooking

jdemaris, Thanks for sharing the pictures.

The XL high roof would not work for me because in SF I need to garaged it, I would have to go with the GT. I heard some negatives that the Astro could not handle to well the camper portion. Have you had problems with yours because of the weight of the camper?

Linda, you mentioned that you have a Tiger Provan. Is that the Astro Tiger Provan? If it is, How you like it? I am thinking that for me the Astro Tiger Provan might be a little more comfortable than the Chinook on road trips. I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

I joined this forum to learn about the Chinook I bough and people like Linda, Derek up North and others have been very helpful for me sharing their knowledge and information. Thank you to all of you.

Thanks for your thoughts Back East Don, I really appreciate it. I only use latex base paint because oil base is kind of hard to work with and hard to clean up afterwards. Kelly Moore does have an organic paint, so I'll ask them about it. Their organic paint is kind of new so they are kind of limited on the colors. Maybe they now have more colors in the organic paint. I was thinking about painting it in two shades of light gray. A bit darker gray below the counter walls and a bit lighter the walls above the counter to give it a two tone color. combination. Maybe somebody has another idea as to a color. I don't think all white would look right, but I might be wrong.

I want to paint the wood inside my Chinook with regular house paint from Kelly Moore paints, but someone told me that I need special odorless paint because otherwise I will not be able to get rid of paint smell. Its been painted before with an ugly shade of pink by previous owner but I don't smell paint odor. Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks for the info, Linda

Linda, I being looking for the Chinook Group in this forum and I don't see it. I can only see posts in the regular forum with the rest.

Mine is beefed up. It has the heavier shocks in the back for towing and hauling and wider tires. I just changed all four shocks. It only has 81,200 miles so I guess they where probably the original ones.

Thanks WME, now its beginning to make more sense. I guess I have to get use to cooking with propane.

All I know about the battery is that is a deep cycle marine. The inverter is the original one that came with the Chinooks, but I don't know any thing about the watts.

I am thinking of buying a single plate induction cooktop for my chinook instead of using gas. The Chinook has the original inverter installed and a house battery. Does anyone know if the induction cooktop will work without any modifications? I don't plan to cook for an army in the camper either, just simple quick things and boiling some water in small pot. Any thoughts or recommendations?

I had to go somewhere today and on the way over I saw a Camping World store so I stopped. What a disappointment. Their merchandise seems to be mostly catered towards the class As and large travel trailers along with kind of high prices as far as I am concerned, even with the Good Sam Club discount. I though I might check it out and maybe get a year's of Sam's for the discounts, but I think over all I can do much better on Amazon and Walmart.

iAmbercaye, I am new to the Chinook as well. I got a lot of important advise in this forum. People here know what they are talking about and are very helpful. As for the roof, I was told to open the windows and door of the camper so it won't create a vacuum of air and make it easier to open and close the pop up. Another thing you might want to check is the shocks because lot of people didn't bother to change them every 50 to 60,000 miles. Mine has 81,300 miles and I am changing the shocks this week being that they are the original ones. I am sure it will make a difference on the ride. Mine is a 76 as well. If you need the manuals for the camper look for me (Chinooking) and you will find them there. There were very useful for me. I found a used shop manual for the truck part on Amazon. The truck part is the same as any other 76 Toyota Hi-Lux truck. Good luck with your restoration.

I have a 76 Chinook and I don't feel too comfortable with the inside straps alone, so I am thinking of installing four latches, two in each side on the outside. I like payaso's idea of using stainless ones so they won't rust. Can I use regular ones to lock doors or must they be especially for pop ups, like the trailer ones?

Amazon has good prices. I bought a complete wireless set up for $30 in one of their Daily Deals. Have not installed it yet. I plan to install it on the direct line with a switch instead of reverse wire with a switch on the dashboard so I can check the rear while driving.

As I said in my first post, I just bought a 76 Chinook as my first RV. Going over it, I find that I really don't feel too comfortable with the five straps that hold down the roof while driving even though I plan to get new ones. As an added safety, I was thinking about installing four of the pop-up trailer latches (the ones to keep their roofs down when closed) in the outside, two in each side. Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks naganthunter for the info. I do have Amazon's Prime and so far most of the stuff I have bought has been with Amazon because its kind of hard to beat their prizes. For road service I have AAA which includes RV towing in my plan. The reason I was thinking of Good Sam is because I read somewhere that at Flyers you can stay overnight for free if you don't plug in with Sam's membership and you also get a few pennies off for gas. Although I plan to gas up at Costco as much as I can.

Thanks Linda and 86 for your advice, really appreciate it. And anyone else who wants to share their thoughts on the Chinook I will also appreciate it because this is my first RV and I am in the learning process. My mechanic took a quick look at it and told me that the motor is in great shape, but I still want to do some things to it before I go on my first road trip. By the way, Does anybody have any thoughts on the Good Sam Club? Is it worth it? Has anybody used the "up to 30% discount" at Camping World with the Good Sam Club?

Thanks Linda. The idea was so the fridge would be ready when I use it because I heard that they take up to eight hours to get cold, which means a whole day of travel. What do you do to get your fridge ready? Mine has the original optional fridge and not the standard icebox. I was also advised that the colder the items are that you put in the fridge the better.

Thanks for the advise Derek. Every piece of advise helps because I am new to the RVing world and I guess I have much to learn. Linda S give me a great idea. I am going to build a wooden leveling ramp just for the garage and get a simple store bought leveling ramp for the road. Amazon has one for about $12.

The problem with the garage is that its not level sloping a bit to one side tilting the camper about 2" to the left on the driver's side. I want to keep it leveled to relieve the tilt pressure on the shocks and because there is an electrical outlet nearby so I can keep the camper plugged in all the time with the camper's extension cord. By the way, I plan to use the camper 95% of the time for road trips. Do I still need to level it at the side of the road, parking lots, rest areas, etc.? Thank you to all of you for your advise. I really appreciate them.

I being watching videos on You Tube about leveling motorhomes and campers. I keep my Chinook in the garage, but the garage has a small slop to the side making the Chinook tilt some to the driver's side. Can any one recommend the best leveling blocks for that? I also want to take the leveling blocks on the road. I want to keep it level in the garage so I can have the fridge plug in so when I take camper out don't have to wait hours for the fridge to get cold. Thanks

_78chinookowner.pdf Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for the manual. You guys really blew me away seen the manual up. I was expecting some sort info but not the manual itself. Thanks a lot.