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Hello all, I have not posted here for a few years but am doing so given the fact that I know many of you possess the knowledge pertaining to my specific situational anxieties. I am going to be driving my 1981 22r 20ft 4-speed (L45) with 15X,XXX (odo stopped working years ago) Odyessy on not enough leaves but Rite-ride Airbags no compressor, upgraded 4-runner master cylinder, factory (too small) calipers/rotors, from Long Beach to Humboldt where my friend has some land. My rv runs greats, I've had her for almost 10 years and she got me through University up in Santa Cruz. I have driven her up to Santa Cruz probably 25 times up and back from Long Beach and never had a failure besides a mechanic not reattaching my brake line (I rather do my own work if possible) and losing hydraulic brake pressure. This being said....... I know all the different passes, ranges etc, that are necessary to traverse to get to SC or back. I once, in hopes of an initial attempt to get to true Norcal had to traverse Mt. Tamalpais because PCH was closed due to a landslide. Upon the descent of about 25 hairpins and extreme engine braking, I noticed and significant loss of brake power and the smell of burning gear oil. Turns out my rear drums got so hot they melted my axle seal (outer if I remember correctly) and the secondary seal also failed resulting in my brake shoes being coated in oil and the drums not functioning. Year and years later, about a year ago, I noticed they failed once more, where I was parked and it looked as if the seals burst with force (maybe I should check the breather on the axle housing for blockage). So after this, I have only driven a few 40-mile trips at a time up and down the SoCal coast. ...Anyway this was to try to elaborate my anxiety and concern for this trip. My friend who lives up in Humboldt and has a bunch of old 22re 4x4s and a few chinooks, advised me to take the 5 the whole way from Santa Cruz. I like this idea but we are in an extreme heat wave here where inland towns that the 5 passes through are hitting 115 and are 93 degrees at 3 am. Maybe this was more of an anxiety vent but any advice from those who have climbing/descending, mountain pass or experience traveling this route would be greatly appreciated. Thank you friends, -Zach

Hi all- I am currently in the market for a Toyota Motorhome, and I thought I finally settled on one until I stumbled upon a potential issue in my research today. This is the ad of the rig I am looking at. http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/rvs/4536487075.html It seems to be in excellent condition and has low mileage which is a plus. My intent is to possibly drive it down to South America, so it will be a pretty rigorous trip I assume. I definitely need something that can get me up hills pretty well, and is reliable. The issue that came up with the Sun-Land was that it can barely make it up hills, and someone mentioned it is because the 4 cylinder engine simply isn't enough for this RV. Does anyone have experience with this model? Are the hills a genuine issue for it? If so, are there any other models that would be more suited for what I am looking to do. I live in Denver currently, so needless to say there are a lot of "hills" around. Thank you in advance!