Hey thanks! If things work out the way I plan, I'll be headed up the coast, hopefully from not much farther south than the SF area. Probably in June (ish).

 

Okee doke. I'm 2 hours north of SF, and we have some great brewpubs in the area.

 

Thanks. As I get to the more and more "finished" product, my lack of skills are showing more and more. It really looks pretty good, but the closer you look, the more you can tell it was me who did it all. But it's my first try at stuff like this, and it's definitely functional, and it's really not bad, all in all.

I'm really liking it on this trip. Camped outside Moab a few nights, and near Goblin Vally the last two nights. Definitely took the Chinook on roads it was never meant to travel...but we made it fine. Really nice to be able to hang out and cook inside when the weather sucks. Made some of the windy desert days and nights way more tolerable. And I can pull over anywhere and make a sandwich and sit down on a nice bench inside and eat. Cool to have a kitchen a living room wherever I go. Biggest problem is steep rocky hills, going up. I need to go really slow to keep from everything from falling out of the coach cupboards and cab-over, but first gear isn't really low enough. If I had endless money and time I'd swap a 5 speed in with a much lower first gear.

Yeah, door speakers are crazy...but it sure is nice to be able to hear music when I'm going down the road at 65mph! Never could in my 83. These doors or so thin no speakers will really fit in them, so these spacers were my best option.

 

ya my 85 pickup was so horrible to listen to music in. our 86 runner has a nice set up and a 12 in the trunk, so its pretty easy to drown out the swampers lol
and like i said, in a good way, i really like it. not having music on the road is the woooorst!

 

Does the OEM 5 speed have a lower first gear than the OEM 4spd?

 

I don't know...but I think Marlin Crawler has all that info. Someone swapped a 5 speed into my Chinook before I bought it. And a guy who posts on the toyotamotorhomes and yahoo Chinook sites says that the first generation 5 speeds didn't have very low first gears.

Driving my Chinook, I believe him. I'm always over-revving to get moving in first gear.

I got stuck for about 3 hours a couple days ago...spent all that time jacking up the camper, stuffing rocks under the tires...

There were a couple times that I had traction, but just didn't have the power/gearing to get over the steep rock I had put in the sand.

 

I doubt it, most pickup and cruiser transmissions were meant to be primarily streetable, so low first gears are rare. The two transmissions I know of that actually had respectably low first gears were the AUDM H55F for cruisers, and the R151F. Both are highly sought after.
It'd be tough to decide which direction to take a motorhome: I'd want taller diff gears to help get off the line and pull hills with all the extra weight, but I'd want shallower gears for highway cruising. Since motorhomes have wheelbase to spare, it would be cool to look into grafting in a second transmission in-line with the main one. It could be left in fourth to leave the first transmission's ratios unchanged, but could add reduction or overdrive as needed. But then again, I am crazy.

 

That would be very cool, though...

I'd be happy with just a lower 1st and reverse, and all the other gears just like they are.

 

I had a thought, that probably the easiest solution would be to find a way to swap a 4x4 transmission with transfer case into the Chinook. That would give me the crawling gears that I need sometimes. Then just take off the front driveshaft.

It wouldn't solve the issue of the tray sticking out the back of the camper dragging on everything...but still.

With more money, skills, and time, I'd put another leaf on each side, 4x4 tranny & t-case, locking rear, and the tray would take a 90-degree turn as soon as it came out from under the body, and go up another foot before sticking straight out. I drag that thing almost every time I go from any parking lot onto the street, because of the dips in the road. Annoying.

 

Lookin good!

 

Thanks

 

Hey Zach, I saw your chinook in Bisbee, AZ tuesday morning. You had parked next to a '78 Sunrader. The Sunrader is for sale and I stopped in Bisbee to check it out. I would have waited around for you to return (I saw your dog was in the truck) but I was with the Sunrader owner and didn't want to make him wait with me.
Seems like a great trip your on. How long do you plan to be on the road?

 

Hey nice! I saw that it was for sale, someone posted it on another site a day before I got to Bisbee. Was cool that I ran into it, but I was hoping to run into the owner and check it out!

I understand not being able to stick around. Did you buy it? Sounds like it needed some interior work, but the outside looks great. I was tempted...

I had planned on a year. Not sure if my money will last that long, though...I keep finding places like Bisbee that make me want to spend money.

 

I passed on it. The fiberglass as well as the coach interior was pretty rough.
When I factored in getting it home, almost 400 miles, I was at about half what he was asking. He was a very pleasant man though and I enjoyed the time I spent with him.So my search continues for a pop-top chinook or a shorty sunrader.

Now that you've been on the road for a while, how do you rate the functionality, space etc. of the Omega?

 

I'm guessing the Omega has the same layout as my Chinook.

It really depends on what you're looking for. I'm doing just fine in it. Considering the space it takes up, and the gas mileage, and the roads I can get it down, I think it's great.

It has just about two inches too little head space. I can stand up in it, but have to lean my head forward just a little bit. I can't stand up completely straight with good posture without pressing my head into the ceiling panel. Which is why it's padded...

But that's not a big deal.

When I compare it to other RVs, it's a little lacking in general space to move around and live in.

But I bought it with the thought of all the nights I spent sleeping in the back of my truck. I wasn't really in the market for an RV. This was just a great way to get most of the comforts of one, without really having one.

So when I keep it in perspective, the thing does everything I could hope for. Really comfortable bed, wherever I park. Stovetop, fridge, heater and sink, with a good amount of storage space. It's really pretty nice.

But if you really want an RV, with space, the Sunrader is probably the way I'd lean.

The pop top Chinooks have more head room than mine, once they're popped up. But they're more narrow (could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it). I sleep across the width of mine. It's over 6'. The pop tops aren't that wide.

I have no set up, really, when I get to camp. And when the wind is crazy, like it has been, I don't have to worry about the canvas.

Anyway, I've been living out of mine for a little over two months, and I'm surprisingly not sick of it. Winter would be a different story, though...

 

I thought your model chinook was called Omega, guess I was mistaken....
Thanks for the feedback. That's just what I was looking for, your real world experience in using, driving, living in that unit. Also good point about wind and the pop-top canvas, a definite consideration in the spring and fall. And no set-up with your unit is a real plus.

How does your chinook handle the wind driving down the road?

Thanks, MikeD

 

No I've got the Newport, which as far as I know, only differs from the Omega in the exterior stripes/paint job.

But I've never seen the Omega in person. I'm guessing the Newport and Omega are essentially the same, though.

Again...depends on what you compare it to It kinda sucks. Sustained 25mph + winds like we've been having are tolerable, but really annoying. It's the gusts on top of those sustained winds that are getting me. With gusts into the 40-50mph range, it gets pretty sketchy.

I almost thought nature was telling me I MUST go to the Petrified Forest park in AZ, because about 100 yards before the turn off, a gust picked up and sustained for about 10 seconds, broadside, and had me almost off the road.

I had one side all the way onto the shoulder and was steering way back towards the road and was still get pushed off. Pretty much forced me into the parking lot.

Pretty scary. The only thing that made me feel better after calming down a bit was that I didn't have any sense of almost getting tipped over, just pushed sideways. Which is a little comforting.

But when semis pass me it gets crazy. They break the wind up in ways that make the camper get pretty squirrely. But once you get used to the feel, it's not so scary.

So...not sure if that answers your question. If you're used to a passenger vehicle, this thing would be pretty scary till you got used to it.

Now that I'm used to it and it doesn't seem so scary, does that mean it's pretty safe, or does it just mean I'm used to a certain level of danger..? I don't know. But I'm used to the swaying and getting thrown around. I'm a pretty cautious driver. I think I can feel when I get an unsafe lean or shove, and now that I know better how to drive it, that doesn't happen much.

But there's no doubt: a 1978, 2wd-low-to-the-ground pickup with the weight of a big camper on it is NOT safe. Total deathtrap.

But I can only imagine it's much worse in a Sunrader or any other larger RV (they're all larger than the Chinooks)

 

I was afraid of that. I would assume the pop-top chinook might not get pushed around as much with the smaller profile.

Can't remember where I read it but there was a Sunrader owner who claimed that a dually axle swap improved that situation markedly, although he may have added air bags as well.

Thanks for the info Zach, enjoy your trip (I have to admit to a little envy).

MikeD

 

Yeah a one-ton axle with the matching suspension would totally help. I bought this in Seattle and drove it home, and every time I'd pass an oncoming semi, I'd be wobbling back & forth on the suspension for a few seconds. That was really scary.

New shocks, springs, and an added leaf spring on each side took care of that. If I had it to do again (and I'll get around to it eventually, when I have income again), I'd have put two leaf springs in on each side.

That would definitely help. But it's workable. Like I said, I'm a cautious driver. I want to live. I don't typically take unnecessary chances. I'm cool with driving the Chinook cross county. With a healthy fear of death, you drive in a way that makes it fairly safe.

Good luck with your search and let me know how it goes!

I'm actually really enjoying Flagstaff right now, smoke and all. Didn't realize this was actually a pretty cool town.

 

Hey Zach,

Great thread. Just got one of these, and after the winter going to start a similar project as you.

Thanks a lot

Pete