Four-Cylinder, auto 22re & Mountains?

[Toyota Newbie]

I am looking at buying my first Toyhome. The one I'm looking at has a 22re multiport fuel injection motor. It's a four-cylinder automatic with OD.

My family and I want to take it from Key West to Alaska. Is this realistic, to handle the mountains? We're in no rush, but I don't want to push.

[Sunnynshare]

As most will tell you, it will be slow but fine. Here is a video of us going over a summit to Lake Tahoe. Kim

[waiter]

Well, your off to a good start if you say your not in a hurry.. Read the logo on the forums; "Moving at the speed of parked"

We bought our Toyhouse for the sole purpose of doing an Alaska trip. Good choice, Basically, go thru everything on the Toyhouse with a fine tooth comb, bring all the Preventative maintenance up to date (wires, hoses, filters, brakes, bearings, etc, etc etc.) Put 7 new tires on the rig, Plan travel between May and Oct, Get a copy of Milepost magazine. Carry two 5 gallon gas cans and keep them full.

Have fun. We made it all the way to Prudoe Bay and walked on the Arctic ocean (was still frozen over in end of May.)

Here's the blog that we kept on our Alaska Trip Blog - you can click on the maps and photos to enlarge them.

Here's a link to Milepost Magazine

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[Maineah]

How big is the family that's a long trip!! Don't think you could get any further away and still be in the US!

[Boots]

I had one of these units, and you will find that the 22RE is an excellent motor, and generally the whole unit is good. A number of things come to mind, make sure you have the dual axel rear end (4wheels) - do not, I repeat do not get any unit with 2 rear wheels, you will break the axels. I would replace the transmission fluid, completely all of it, twelve to thirteen litres or so, get synthetic oil to be on the safe side, same goes for the rear differential. If you are handy, install automatic transmission temperature guage and while installing put the temperature directly into the output side of the hot transmission oil line.

Carry extra fuel cans, you will need then, fuel tank is about 7-8 gallons. Replace the coolant, buy the Toyota Brand (red coloured), make sure it is properly mixed; ensure you have a complete flush before installing new coolant. I would install the new synthetic 15-50 Weight engine oil (Mobil makes this). Inspect carefully all brakes, replace all of them if you can afford to do so. Again if you can afford to do replace both batteries, it will save you a lot of aggrevation.

This is an extraordinally long (return) trip, I think something in the order of 18000 kilometers, a very long trip.

This engine will pull you almost anywhere, but you may be travelling as slow as 10 mph going up hills, just be prepared for that. It also has an altitude compensating cut-out which will cut out the top gear, when it the unit goes over 5000 ft, so this may compound the speed issue.

[5Toyota]

FUEL TANKS RUN 17 U S GALLONS most MODELS

[waiter]

Oh Yah, Also consider getting roadside coverage that includes "unlimited" towing (Good Sams) If you break down in Prudhoe Bay and need to be towed, they will send a flatbed truck and load the toyhouse on that flatbed, you will get a bill for around $2000 to tow it the 500 miles back to Fairbanks (nearest place to fix it)

Of course, the bottom line, if your meticulous about your preparation, the odds of this happening are extremely remote. (but get the insurance anyway)

***

When I first started talking about doing an Alaska trip, my wife thought I was starting to show signs of senility. When I came home with the Toyhouse, I believe she made some phone calls about what it would take to have me committed.

However, Once she started getting into the fixup, cleanup, and planning the trip, she started getting into it. When we traveled, we kept a daily blog of the trip. When we got back home, I found a web site, Blog 2 Print, that could take the blog site and make a very nice hard bound book of the blog site (color photos and all) . My wife takes this book everywhere she goes and doesn't mind bending your ear and showing the book about the trip to Alaska.

88 Dolphin 4 Auto