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The what did you do to your toyhome today thread


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Most car forums have them, a thread to say what you did to your toyhome thread.

Maybe give some pictures?

I'll start, I pull out the old dead stereo today and started installing the new stereo.

But I thought about it for a second, dont I really want the stereo connected to the rv battery so I can listen to it anytime?

So once I make sure everything is set up right, I want to connect the stereo to the other side of the isolator

also I drained the water out of the radiator and got ready for doing a prestone flush, then replacing the hoses and putting new coolant in.

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before you do much in the way of re-wireing you might check on the power the radio actually pulls and do a little math. you might find it would be plenty long to use all you want before you would have to worry about not being able to start the truck. most don't use many watts.

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Here's what I did today

Well the remnants of Isaac will be rolling in here tonight through Sunday, and I’m so glad I got all my roof seal taping done today. I can’t wait till next season for the replacement material roof I will be putting on. I got my final Harley bling put across the cab over bottom where I redid and covered all the old mess that used to be there. I will post more in a couple days when I get the new air unit completed. It will then be off for vacation for 10 days or so!

post-5603-0-18219300-1346453555_thumb.jp

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Today I finished drilling off and grinding off the last of the corroded, stainless steel fasteners that were in the aluminum trim strip that cover the join between the upper and lower fiberglass on the Sunrader. My rig is from 1980 and those screws were so badly corroded that only a few were removable with a screw driver. Got the last 40 or so of the heads taken off today. Not done with the job of course, much work still remains to be done to finish the removal and reinstall with new butyl tape and new screws and new vinyl inserts too.

If you are needing any trim strips for your vinyl inserts, I have a couple places you can get multiple shapes and sizes. Sounds as if you had a busy day!

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I spent $180 on two tiny, sticky backed pieces of plastic and applied them to my license plates! Good for 2 more years.

Steve

Must be that West Coast privilege of the road pricing! At least Oregon uses their funds to provide a number of transportation options for the city folk. When I lived in California from birth to 1990, all they did was squander the funds, though they have made strides in the latter years. I know, how dare I put California and Oregon in the same paragraph, LOL!

Wow, I saw your photos at the website you give in your profile, as I was truly impressed and inspired. You have a fantastic eye, a great mind's view of composition, and your use of light and contrast is awesome! Thanks for giving the URL, and if anyone loves great imagery, go see Eve "n" Stevens profile and click on the website. Very cool! Be well and happy travels!

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Ive registered my rvs in both oregon and california.

old Rvs is the only category where oregon is actually more expensive than california.

Cali does it every year though and its based on value. oregon its just a straight fee based on footage.

oregon will not let you get tags if you dont have proof of residence. California will take money from anyone. Who in there right mind would drive TO california to pay more anyway?

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Thanks for the compliment on my photography Davidadro!

I could actually lower my license fee, as they are presently charging me for an 18' rig and they round off to the next lower footage. Mine is actually 17'8". A whole lot of paperwork and a 110 mile round trip for inspection would save me about $8 for 2 years! Licenses are high for RVs in Oregon, but the flip side is when I go in a store and buy something for $100 and it costs me $100, not $109 (WA) due to sales taxes.

Steve

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well let me say registration for old rvs is a touch more in oregon than california.

However a new rv like,,, i dont know lets dream about a sprinter, the registration fees are around 2000 a year in california vs around 220 in oregon and it lasts two years

this form of registration is unconstitutional actually. It is taxation without approval by the people.

california also suspends your registration if your insurance isnt up to date. This is also unconstitutional

the price difference isnt just the taxes, everything is way cheaper in oregon too.

Gas is usually 40cents cheaper

Its in general the least livable state. Definitely the home to the most people making lots of money but having nothing.

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Nice. My rig has 4 bilsteins on it, old and rusty but working solid.

I had a dolphin 500 before this one with tokiko gas adjusts in front and gabriel air a just in the back

and it was night and day all floaty.

All brand new too I installed it myself vs this 85 has old bilsteins.

Got to get those bilstein HDs, the only shock I know of actually made for the toy home specifically.

anything else is going to just flop around like it was expecting a 3500 pound truck.

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I also did some audio fixin yesterday too. I installed new front speakers and put home speakers in the back cabinet after installing new cd/radio with ipod input and usb port for flash drive.

I hope to install car speakers in the ceiling at some point. If you want more than 4 speakers how do you do it? Just tap into existing speaker wire? Does the wattage decrease when doing this?

I also want to hook radio up to rear battery as i have killed engine battery while listening to music in the past. I thought i had to run wire back to rear battery. Can I somehow tap into rear battery from engine compartment?

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I also did some audio fixin yesterday too. I installed new front speakers and put home speakers in the back cabinet after installing new cd/radio with ipod input and usb port for flash drive.

I hope to install car speakers in the ceiling at some point. If you want more than 4 speakers how do you do it? Just tap into existing speaker wire? Does the wattage decrease when doing this?

I also want to hook radio up to rear battery as i have killed engine battery while listening to music in the past. I thought i had to run wire back to rear battery. Can I somehow tap into rear battery from engine compartment?

yes you can. actually you will connect to both batteries on the outside of the battery isolator under the hood. connect both the power and the clock to it. you can ground it there two on a different post.

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Gave our Winnie an oil change, and once again, cursed whoever at Toyota made the oil filter so difficult to get at. :angry01:

Leaving on Wednesday for a ten day trip into Washington State, first stop Fidalgo Bay camp ground close to Anacortes. :shit:

Mike

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I washed the cab today and thought I would give Bar Keepers Friend a try on the fiberglass cab. I mean the glass has black hairs all over. What do you know, she is coming clean! Unbelievable! Gonna take a while doing it by hand but sure will be nice.

Now to figure out how to restore those faded pin stripes....

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oh wow that oil filter is so easy to get at you dont even know.

I dont know what spoiled you but first off an oil filter you can get from the top is already one of the 1/4 easiest to get in the world.

true enough its behind the exhaust. what if it was turned 90 degrees like my bmw so you cant fit a fliter wrench on it?

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Oil filter on ours, impossible to get at from the top, and from below there are 2 lines running from the trans to the cooler that make it hard to get at, I can reach in with one hand to get the wrench on and get maybe an 1\8 of a turn if I’m lucky, cursing helps!!! :shit:

Hi Derek Have you installed one of those remote oil filters? thanks Mike

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ive changed my oil filter twice now with my fingers.

I have a whole collection of filter wrenches.

seems like one of the easiest ive ever done.

If the problem is your arms are short the best tool would be the type of filter wrench that fits on a ratchet, with about a foot extension on it.

but actually all of my filter wrenches work.

Im curious now because the oil filter is so far away from the transmission cooler lines theres no way to even re route them to be in the way.

the cooler lines come from the drivers side of the auto transmission, and the oil filter is on the passenger side of the engine.

IF theres a transmission cooler line on the passenger side of the engine it is actually crossing underneath the engine????

That is so wrong its catastraphically dangerous. hit a bad bump and your transmission is out of fluid.

it has to go straight to the radiator and crosses over in front of the radiator.

Take a picture of this cooler tube.

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we must have a different car is all im saying you must have a 22r

there is essentially nothing blocking the oil filter. theres exhaust that could be blocking a standard oil wrench best to put it on from the bottom up.

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Washed the Sunrader today and got the roof and cab waxed. Now the mosquitoes are out and hungry, so I'll give my arms a rest until tomorrow. It already looks so much nicer. One mud puddle will fix that though!

Steve

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Well my Air Conditioning unit came today and was so excited to finally get it, and installed! Here is what I did, and where I put it.

I placed a mounting board behind the passenger seat, and placed the unit there.

post-5603-0-84604400-1346876229_thumb.jppost-5603-0-59480200-1346876276_thumb.jppost-5603-0-63960000-1346876327_thumb.jp

I fabricated from the window exhaust plate and hose in the shape of the passenger window, with a channel to roll the window up into

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When set up at my RV park, or at a site, I hook it up by folding the passenger seat forward, attach the hose to the unit and to the window mount.

post-5603-0-05509500-1346876702_thumb.jppost-5603-0-38655000-1346876648_thumb.jppost-5603-0-19070900-1346876587_thumb.jp

It fits nicely without blocking the entry.

post-5603-0-46710600-1346877087_thumb.jp

Next season, I am going to redo the cab carpet and seats, and when I do, I have a fitting I am going to run a constant drip tube out the floor so I will not have to ever drain. It is so quiet even on high, has a remote control, is 7000 BTU, and covers 250 square feet, less than my interior. My generator will run it fine, and will be great to remove the roof air next season when I redo my roof. I got the unit for $199.00 including shipping. Happy travels!

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thats cool but I would defintely cut a permanent hole in the body as opposed to routing through the passenger seat.

also what is the wattage and amps of the dc? you may be able to run it from the cars alternator

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thats cool but I would defintely cut a permanent hole in the body as opposed to routing through the passenger seat.

also what is the wattage and amps of the dc? you may be able to run it from the cars alternator

It's not going through the passenger seat; the seat is just in the folded forward position, and needs to be in that position anyway to run, as the intake and exhaust for the unit is on the back.

I purposely fabricated the vent to fit the roll up the window vent so I didn’t have to cut any holes anywhere. I guess I would wonder why one would cut holes where they didn’t have to. To me, boring a 4 ½ inch hole in the body or through the home would be just another place for potential weather, wood rot, weakening or rust problems to eventually occur. The only new hole will be for a ½ inch hose fitting I will seal and mount to the floorboard behind the seat to run a continuous drip hose to drip on the ground.

It's easy to hook up, and takes about 90 seconds. Lift handle so seat folds forward, connect hose, lower the window, put in vent, raise window to lock in place. To pack up, roll the window down, remove the vent, disconnect the hose, store it away. Lift the passenger seat to upright, and still have room for a rider if I take someone with me.

Its 6 amps, and 650 watts, but I can’t see any application personally where I would need it to run the unit off the cars alternator, as I have Ice Cold working A/C in the cab while driving, but rarely even use that, as with the driver’s window partially down and the vent blowing on high, even in the hot summer, I never get uncomfortable inside. My generator will work just fine for anyplace to run it without a plug in.

Thanks for the comments. Happy Travels!

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I was thinking along similar lines but going for one like this

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Frigidaire-5-000-BTU-Mini-Window-Air-Conditioner-FRA052XT7/14254284

but as opposed to using up one of my valuable windows cut a new hole for it.

Hook it up to 12 volt dc so the whole place is cool while im on the road as opposed to just the front.

150 square feet is still way bigger than a toyhome. Id say we have 90 square feet. 120 if the cabover is square feet.

and like you say, theres the cars own ac to pitch in.

the cab ac is probably Im not sure but.... 1000 btu?

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Im definitely on the same wavelength on buying an actual air conditioner as opposed to a roof mounted rv one.

First off a 5000 btu roof mounted ac costs 800$ not 125$.

and the larger ones are cheaper ??? 600$ for a 13000 btu unit that by its specs cools 3 of our toyhomes yet we cant use it until we plug in to a landline ( what use is an rv thing that needs a land line? The purpose of the rv is to leave home)

on

top of that it just makes your rv too tall for the drive thru. The window mounted unit is just better.

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I was thinking along similar lines but going for one like this

http://www.walmart.c...052XT7/14254284

but as opposed to using up one of my valuable windows cut a new hole for it.

Hook it up to 12 volt dc so the whole place is cool while im on the road as opposed to just the front.

150 square feet is still way bigger than a toyhome. Id say we have 90 square feet. 120 if the cabover is square feet.

and like you say, theres the cars own ac to pitch in.

the cab ac is probably Im not sure but.... 1000 btu?

Not quite sure what you’re meaning Stamar, by using up valuable windows? For me, I can’t see any reason under the sun to need the passenger cab window when I am set up for my stay anywhere? Without a screen, one surely can’t keep it open or you will be overrun with flying pests and such. But, for the style of the A/C you are looking at, one would have to cut a huge hole somewhere to fit it in, and do see the point one wouldn’t want to put that in a cab window.

I guess if your traveling with someone that is riding in the back, then maybe having the A/C running back there would be something viable, but having the windows open in the back driving at 65 MPH would no doubt keep it comfy too. I just would never run the home A/C while heading down the road, to me, the space is so small that when setting up the RV for your stay, it wont take anytime to cool it down.

For me, I didn’t want to cut a huge hole and load the weight of a window A/C anywhere onto the 2x2 framework, as the point of my eventual removing the roof air is to take the load off the half-pint frames these things have, and not have to worry about sealing around yet another item. In addition, for me, I really never liked the look of an A/C unit sticking out the side or back of an RV.

If I am going to be traveling in the cooler months, I don’t even have to take mine with me. This unit is about 2000 more BTU than the Wal-Mart and was only 65 bucks more including shipping. It's cool we all have our own ideas of what pleases us, and the nice thing is that we have so many options available to us. Happy Travels!

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Hooked up city water first time this week to check water system

OUCH LEAKS everywhere....bathroom sink was the only thing that did not leak orhave to fix.....

1.toilet just keeps running water...Replaced ball valve...Still leaks at ball valve & water line.(bad rubber gasket) replaced rubber gasket FIXED

2.shower head line snapped off...Replaced shower fuacet...FIXED

3.kitchen sink drain leaks...had to use old trap( could not get fittings to match up)Fixed trap with a rubber gasket on drain and trap...

Ever thing now FIXED with no more leaks

total cost $55 got to love amazon and shipped everything in 72 hours at my door!

Picked up a Onan 24000 portable generator $200 off of Craigslist from a outlet wharehouse..They said we just put in gas and starts first pull but runs at half choke

went to pick up and looks like it was never used out of box...started gen up first pull choked halfway to keep runinng...They wanted $250 told them i give them $200 because of the way it running...

Turns out it was just cheap gas(87)

Put some good super unleaded and it ran like a champ

A/C is only 71000 BTU and gen runs good and quite (68db for rated load) Turned on microwave w/ A/C on generator would serge a little but kept running..(just a test)

Very happy with generator and trust Onan(not a honda and cant afford one)

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I think this thread is nice, but to be honest, instead of writing these different projects up in this one long huge thread, it would be nice if your doing a project, create a new thread in the appropriate forum heading. This makes it a lot easier when searching, following, or commenting on these projects.

example: I like the portable Air Conditioner project, well documented, lot of photos, but if I do a topic search for "portable Air-conditioner" I would never find this valuable information.

Just a thought.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

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