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benfrogg

Toyota Advanced Member
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About benfrogg

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  • My Toyota Motorhome
    1986 Conquest 22RE, 50k miles.
  • Location
    Augusta, ME

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Interests
    Music, mechanics, art, and a lot more.

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  1. Hey- I rolled the dice and changed out the fan. I've driven it about 90 miles since doing so under some pretty challenging conditions. The electric fans barely ran and the needle only moved a smidge at idle. I went with the cheapo ebay fans. I WILL upgrade these after summer. I just didn't want to drop a lot of $ if it wasn't gonna work. I also went with the adjustable fan control. It works great! That controls a relay, which turns on the fan AND a large LED light down near my right calf. It's not distracting, but I notice it and then look at my temp gauge. I built an aluminum shroud out of alloy angle iron from cheapo depot. The plate is an old road sign. There's more room under the hood, less moving bits to lose a finger in too. With two fans, if one fails, I've still got a backup. I've got a spare relay in the glove box. And with a couple of jumper wires I can run the fans direct to the battery in a pinch. But here's the important bit: Power= better. I don't have numbers to give you. But I can say the truck has noticeably more power up hills. We played two gigs in two weekends at the same club. It's about an 80 mile round trip with LOTS of big hills. Almost mountain like. Average speed 50mph. One big long hill dropped me from 60 mph at the base to 41 mph by the top. (full throttle) After replacing the fan, the speed at the top was 46 mph. (full throttle) The fan ran once on the uphill at the very top, but only for about 5 seconds. The temp gauge didn't budge. The driveability has increased. It's notable how much faster it can get to the speed limit when you need to pull into traffic. Fuel Economy: I did check fuel economy, although, these numbers are far from causation. One tank fillup is not nearly enough data to make significant conclusions. There are simply too many variables. If I had time, I should have done several fill ups with the old fan. Then swapped to the new fans for several tanks. Then swapped back. But I don't have time/energy for that. All that being said: 80 mile trip with tons of hills, fully loaded with gear and 4 people. 12.23 mpg Same exact trip, same time of day, same load only the fan changed 13.96 mpg This was calculated using the fill up, drive 80 miles, fill up and check method. Now the truck will hopefully get better than 14mpg long term. Lots of aerodynamic drag reduction projects yet to be done. I think I can get 16 or 18 mpg out of it. Maybe 20 if I really want get crazy. But that would be a HUGE percentage increase. Definitely a challenge. Someone good at math, can you figure out that percent change? My gut says 35%-40% increase. I've been able to exceed EPA by 30% in other cars. We'll see! PS: I removed my AC condenser as it didn't work and we rarely need AC in Maine. That might have an effect on the cooling ability of the radiator. B
  2. I've installed side and rear running lights. Agreed, less reasons to be pulled over are always worth doing. Definitely going to get some reflective tape for elsewhere because more visibility is good. Also agreed on the dyno results. Anecdotally, many folks have mentioned improvements in power and mpgs with electric. I found the type of controllers you're talking about. These are the type that fit in the fins of the radiator or in the hot side hose of the radiator. I'm going to get one of those. Also decided to go with the dual 10 or 12" fans. Just need to make some measurements and decide how to build a shroud for them. That aside, I'm not afraid to roll the dice. Interesting thoughts on valve clearances. With only 50k, I'd be surprised if they were all that far out to begin with. Agreed, if there was a better way, the manufacturers would likely have done it from the factory... I am, however, willing to believe that a 22re with 100k on the clock might be better served by tighter valve clearances. I suppose someone could adjust and test the results on power/mpgs. I'm considering removing the ac components. It presently doesn't work. I have a set of gauges and a refill kit. I'm going to give it a go. If anything other than the condenser is bad, it's all getting pulled. The AC pump has very little drag when the clutch is disengaged. However, it's proportional. At high rpm (when power is needed most) there could be 1-2hp being robbed by it. (IMO) Regardless, if it doesn't work, it's not worth fixing for 1 month a year's use. I'm sure it would be 50-75 pounds worth of kit that wouldn't be going down the road too.
  3. Absolutely on the lights and underpoweredness of these rigs. I'll add valves to my list and go with your 7/11. Only quibble is the HP gains from fan conversion. Here's the video I was talking about. A bit of hype going on here to sell the show... but the results are good enough for me to give it a go. Worst case, I spend a few bucks and gain nothing. I'm willing to roll the dice on that too. To be fair, the show did not actually test how much 30amps of load has on overall hp loss from the alternator. In any event, it will be a good experiment. I'll be the guinea pig for the Yota MH community. PS the existing temp sensor may or may not be compatible with the one from the fan kit. It has a motor controller, relay, and thermostat. I'll have to reach out to the manufacturer to determine if the sensors are close enough to work. Maybe? My basic understanding of thermostats is that they have resistance corresponding with temp. The range of the existing ohm's might differ from the Yota.
  4. Thanks Linda! The list of things needing to be done is getting longer. I'm active on the IRV2 forum. A user there pointed out that I'm low on clearance lights... I'm going to add 2 on back and two just around the corner on the sides in the rear. The camper is just over the legal limit to need the triple lights in the center... but only just. We're talking a few inches too wide. Since I didn't plan for them, I'll have to do some ugly wiring inside to make those happen. Maine is pretty lax on enforcement. I'll roll the dice until someone tells me I have to do them. I'm also going to try my hand at electric cooling fans/conversion. According to a motor trend test video I saw, that clutch fan could be killing 14+ hp. Sure, I'll lose some at the alt, but that's generally going to be 1-2hp max. And they wont run all the time anyway. I've driven it fully freighted with gear and passengers about 15 miles on the rather hilly roads around my house. It's pretty underpowered. Hills must be planned in advance. Net 10+ hp is a worthy quest, I think. I will, however, also add an LED on the dash to indicate when the dual fans (10" pair) are running. This way I can monitor them while driving. I do need to find a place to mount a coolant sensor. I'm all ears if anyone knows of any freeze plugs or similar that I can work with. Anybody opened up your cooling system lately? Oh well, the best projects are never really done.
  5. It's on the road!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, there's a pile of odds and ends that need to be finished up. But it's driving down the road and will be used for the first time at the end of this month. Let me know what you think!
  6. These are the gasket type roofing screws. Normally I'd dab each,yes, but in this case they are designed to keep the water out on their own. They aren't cheap... but little is anymore. My helper did get a bit carried away with the spacing of the screws on the overlaps... so now there's a precedent to keep doing it. They cant hurt. That sealer is nasty to work with. But the end result should last 10-20 years without maintenance.
  7. At long last, I'm back with more progress. Tax time put a serious dent in my funding, so I had to slow down for a spell. It has given me time to do some detail work, so no big deal. Enjoy! VROCRIDER: I've sent you a PM.
  8. Yes, although shipping the whole window might be pricey if it's over the normal shipping limitations. The window itself is in fair shape. The outer frame has black moldy caulking covering most of it. I don't think it leaks between metal and glass... I think someone was trying to solve a leak without understanding where the water was getting in.... most of the main leak up front was coming from the seams and penetrations further up the roof. The glass is dirty. I'll have to clean it up to know it's full condition. The inner frame is in decent shape. To anyone else interested in parts: I have one of the large side windows, lots of cabinet hardware/doors including the glass doors above the fridge. I kept all the appliances, sink, you name it. If it was still useful, I kept it.
  9. I've been thinking about towing more with my rebuilt version. I did some serious frame strengthening along the extensions to beef up the rear area for more cargo capacity. At the same time, I replaced the bumper and welded on a bumper mount receiver. My situation is different from most of y'alls, but I think the mods could work on any motorhome if someone was willing to put the time/$ into it. I know many of you have seen this, so if so, please disregard. Likewise, I was building a cargo ramp at the same time, so you don't need to watch the whole thing to see my hitch assembly. I decided to go a little light duty on the actual rear bumper metal, (heavy 1/8th inch) mainly due to cost and weight. But also because I knew I wasn't going to be towing a 6k trailer behind it ever. It's well braced and the hitch itself is welded to the 1/4" tube stock gussets. I'm confident it's not going anywhere. What I plan to do, after some engine mods to improve power, is occasionally haul an 1800# trailer. However, this would only be when the motorhome itself is mostly empty.(and is considerably lighter than yours to start with since it lacks a kitchen, bathroom, fridge, etc.) This would allow the cargo area to be used for sleeping.
  10. PS I've been thinking about a piece of plexi over the fan since I bought it. It could be way more efficient with a shroud like that. I'm thinking once it's roadworthy I'll add that and also install a resister or variable speed control to the setup to slow the fan down/pull less current. It moves TONS of air as it is... but draws a lot of current. I have a list of things to do once it's on the road/in use. Those will be easy enough to do once it's actually working/making $ with it.
  11. I had a moment of inspiration while replacing the diaphragm in the heater. The storage compartment is just... and I mean just... big enough for the standard 20 pound tank to fit. I'll put a vent in the front of the storage door. Problem solved! Bonus is the weight distribution improves too. The tank is now 4' in front of the rear axle rather than on top of it. The band gear is pretty much all on or behind the rear axle, so anything that shifts truck weight forward is good.
  12. Interesting. There's really no place for it to go on the outside. A box would interfere the the piece of cargo I had planned to go there... It kinda hugs the tank. The back has the platelight and door and such. Not a lot of room for it there. Underneath would be great like the old setup. But that setup was gone before I got it. Someone replaced it with a standard tank on the rear rack. I guess I'll start looking for some horizontal tanks. Other ideas?
  13. Okay, I know you've been sitting on your hands waiting for the latest chapter, so here you go.
  14. I left that in there for cinematic effect. I put 15psi in the tires and took about half of the weight out to see how high it would sit. I thought it was going to be less tight than it was... I'm going to remove 2" from the garage door opening on the next warm day. It was 50df the other day, but I was working. Now we're back to the 20's. After that, I should be able to get it in and out regardless of tires/weight. The structure is increasing the weight of the rig somewhat. It's going to be pretty light until the interior goes in and the equipment goes in. I hadn't considered lowering the floor near the door. I'll consider that after the door has been modified.
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