92 Warrior looking to replace carpet and tow jet ski

[krugerand777]

I wanted to see if I could tap into the knowledge on the board here.

Floor:

The 92 V-6 Warrior I just bought had a dog in it so the

wife would prefer some new flooring. I read the posts about the staples but my

biggest concern is that the carpet was laid before the cabinetry. Can I just cut

near the edge and put wood/vinyl down and it not look terrible? Any

suggestions/pictures?

Tow hitch:

Any suggestions/pictures? on your

hitches and where you bought them or had them installed? I will be keeping it

around the 1000 pound level as suggested here and thought a class I or II would

be plenty to do the job.

Generator:

It is broken and I was

thinking of trying to take it off and using the space for storage. Complicated?

Bad idea?

Thanks for all the advice in advace.

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[bufbooth]

Hello,

Regarding the flooring, take a look at some of the Armstrong wood type flooring material, they

are designed so that you can put them right over existing carpet. The type that I put in my

RV snaps together and becomes a floating floor. One only needs to screw down the edges.

Check out the floor in these pictures:

www.tipton-in.com/bunkbed/bunk1.JPG

www.tipton-in.com/bunkbed/bunk2.JPG

www.tipton-in.com/bunkbed/bunk3.JPG

Dennis...

[krugerand777]

Thanks for the pics Dennis, your floor looks great.

My concern is that the smell will remain if I put flooring over the carpet and I do not want to lose any interior height.

I probably just need to get the courage to cut around the edges and try to get the most carpet out by the cabinetry.

Anybody have hitch or generator comments?

[Desert nomad]

Two items (generator and adding weight/hitch to frame)

Generator - we just took the Kohler generator out of our 93 Itasca (likely the same setup, compartment behind the Driver's door on side of Motorhome). One thing we learned is that the wiring harness is actually plugged together where it goes through the compartment wall (no need to remove any wires at either end which is fairly slick and wish we knew before(!). You need to disconnect battery (for safety while doing the work) and then remove that lead from the starter solenoid on the generator (and either completely remove or carefully insulate and strap this wire so it won't ground/short out - that is what we did in case we decide to add another battery to store more electricity from our solar system). The generator is held on with 4-5 bolts, we drilled out a 2 inch piece of wood to accomodate the generator housing on bottom and distribute load away from that bearing housing (using a floor jack). Drove moho onto ramps, then disconnected fuel line and sealed (still need to fully remove) and then with two people carefully removed bolts while floor jack held it in place and lowered and pulled out generator - not too hard but may need to tilt to get out (away from oil filler and carberator to avoid spillage).

For now, I just attached 3 angle iron type metal pieces to the old bolt locations and cut out a board to fit (about 15 x 17 inches if I recall - note that it might not be square) - I left the dividers in for now as it seems to fit my jacks, small propane tank, levelling boards and extension cord (I greatly reduced the original one as heavy and I don't run A/C and microwave at same time!). I was thinking of making it larger but the previous owner had blocked up the storage under the dinnette that will accomodate longer/larger items and I found that our folding chairs fit neatly behind drivers seat (I am short so room there).

Weigth/hitch on frame - previous owner had built a large box and had weldled brackets to hold above rear bumper (which I believe is aluminum and can't take any weight or may fall off with your cargo). Anyways, I beefed this up to carry a spare tire and spent a lot of time re-inforcing, building attachment brackets inside box to safely carry tire, propane tank, etc... Loaded it on and filled it with tire, etc.. now likely weighing 150 lbs... Well before I drove off I am glad I noticed some movement when closing the lid - it (rear frame at bumper area) seemed to easily go up and done about 1/2 inch with me pulling it up and down. This is not good as you can fatigue welds, metal, etc... so I removed it and am now storiing items as discussed above and will mount spare tire deep underneath in original Toyota location (both yielding better load balance anyways). I have made a bike mount for the rear bumper brackets and have put my bike there (35 lbs, which someone at Winnebago service dept said should be fine and does not move up and down much at all).

So, the short of it (sorry if long winded here), is that the frame is likely adequate for the stock configuration but add much weight or a hitch and it likely needs beefing from the original truck frame back. Might not hurt to have someone check frame periodically - I am getting this done after realizing that 15 years of heavy box action might not be that good.

The other issue is overloading your unit, ours only has a GVWR of 6,000 lbs so you will likely definitely be over... check out what this means for insurance, motor vehicle dept, etc...

hope this helps, cheers from Desert nomad...

[krugerand777]

Desert Nomad,

Thanks for all the specifics...it is a big help.

Although I was hoping the generator removal would be a lot easier than apparently it is. A little worried about getting the fuel disconnected correctly and properly.

Do you have any pictures of your new space?

Towing,

I see a lot of ads for the Toyota Motorhomes with hitches but unfortunately mine is not rigged up. I want to be safe of course but I have not read anyone who has had any problems towing and think done the right way it would really enhance my usage and pleasure of my new toy.

Considering going to the Toy In, just to take a look at all the setups and pick brains.

[Tom W]

I have the same unit as yours taking the gen out not that bad had mine out to work on it.

As to the hitch take a look at the frame on the back end all I have is the spare tire the extended frame looks weak to me tried to think how to rienforce it,would have to go back to the axel to do any good. good luck!!!

[Foxy]

I have a 91 Warrior and added a class III universal RV hitch to the frame. The brackets bolt to the C-channel frame. The local RV shops would not do the installation because towing is not reccomended by Winnebago. We are towing about 600# so I was not too worried about it and added the hitch myself. I would not go over 1000#.

I did have to cut off the two skid brackets in order to mount the hitch, but the hitch is as low as the brackets were, so the holding tanks are still protected. You need a converter for the lights to function properly. (about $16 at the auto store)

We have towed the trailer about 3500 miles with no issues.

[Desert nomad]

Foxy is right about Winnebago not recommending towing.... once again you should check into what being over your GVWR means for your insurance and licensing, etc.... your call (and safety / wear-and-tear risk). Reinforcing frame all the way back to the original truck chassis is likely a good idea though...

Regarding the generator removal - sorry if I made it sound that complicated, it was not and only took about 1 hour for two of us (just wanted to give you all the info I had).

I am attaching a photo here showing the original metal dividers left in the box (one reason why two people is helpful so nobody gets a hand stuck in there when lowering generator which weighs almost 100 lbs). The propane tank is a 5 lb one...

Regarding carpetting, yes cutting out to edge of couch/cupboards and then installing either lino or laminate flooring sounds like a good idea - may wish to do when dry and seal it to ensure no residual moisture trapped or can get under to the original plywood floor...

Also one of the bike rack on the brackets that the previous owner had the box mounted to...

enjoy

[shandamac]

Kru and 777,

Re: flooring

I did what you suggested and just cut up to the bases of the seats, fridge, stove, etc... I used an old but sharp serrated steak knife, toothed flat pliers, and boning shears. It was dirty work. I used needle nose pliers to pull the rusty staples. WEAR HEAVY DUTY PANTS!!!!! I didn't and wore fiberglass shards in my knees and shins for weeks. You probably won't be able to keep the old carpet in one peice. (Sadie's shredded while tugging it at the staples and hunting for self tapping screws under the cab seats.) Just do your best. After I got the old, smelly stuff out, I then measured the floor section by section, marked them out on the reverse of the new carpet (backwards), cut it a tad long and trimmed as needed while I was putting it in. I didnt' staple it in, but used quite a few short drywall screws around the edges, just in case I get a wild hair a few years down the road and decided to change out the carpet again. One suggestion.....boning shears worked great, but rubbed some pretty nice blisters....

Here's pics of before and after.

Shanda

[krugerand777]

Thanks for all the replies and pictures. They help all to spec out and give motivation which may be the most important of all. I am going to try to tackle the carpet first and rip up today.

Fingers crossed.

[DanAatTheCape]

Tow hitch:

Mine has one - home made. I have a rack made for the spare that pluhs in,. Note = owners manual say no towing. Do nto put ANY load on the aluminum muffler or you will be looking for a welder that does heliarc.

Generator - easy to dop - disconnect the fuel line - (stick a punch like piece of metal inthe rubber hose and clamp). Disconnect the wiring harness (it unplugs). Diconnect the battery cable - preferably at the battery AND a the generator. You will also have to disconnec the output (110vac) cable, and the choke cable.

THen 4 bolts will let it drop - it weights about 90 lbs - a floor jack is recommended. If you jack up that side of the camper about 6 inches and have a helper, after lowering the gen you can lift it off jack, push jack out of the way and slide it out (drain oil before dropping)

What shape is your muffler in ? I am looking for one,

Dan, Cape Canaveral

[turtle]

I removed the carpet, put down a luan subfloor and put vinly tile over that flat clean surface.

[Gulfstream Greg]

You can put a small trim board along bottom edge of cabinets etc to cover carpet remnants. 1/4 round, flat stock etc.

Towing is a problem as I really believe almost every toy out there does not have a strong enough rear bumper extension in both material and how they are connected to the truck frame. Sure would be nice for someone who has beefed up theirs to post some pics of the work. Here is a pic of my extension where it connects to the truck frame, its lame in my opinion, a quick dirty job by the factory. I would like the option to tow a small trailer myself but not with my extension as it is. Note the two oblong holes in the truck frame where the original bumper bolted on. As far as I can tell the only weld points are at the end of the truck frame and on the other side, the end of the extension to the truck frame. I have not been able to tell what is holding the square tube block on top of the truck frame. The extension is taller than the truck frame, the reason for the block.

[Maineah]

As far as the carpet I had a guy that does home carpet install the new carpet in mine he used tack strips and brought the carpet right up to every thing perfect fit and he only charged me $75. (+ the carpet that I bought) The entire deal was only $155. I had wood floors in mine and pulled them out I like warm feet.