1983 Toyota 4X4 Chinook Build
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poormansearthroamer
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The controller on most of the units, or at least the one's I've looked at, allows you to change the frequency that the fuel pump pumps. By reducing fuel, you can compensate for the lack of O2 at higher elevations. The Facebook group "Chinese Diesel vehicle air heaters - Troubleshooting & Parts sales." has all the info you could need, including a chart that breaks down what frequency is needed at various elevations.
Thank you! I'm as pumped on the progress as you
Very nice on the build. I had a bigger family at the time of my build so I ended up with a 90 Toyota RV that I was going to convert 4wd and when I was going to do it, our Association gave me a ticket that I couldn’t have the RV parked in my driveway. My wife said to get rid of it and I started to build my 98 4runner into an overlanding truck. I was sad to let the RV go because I put a lot of time and work into the truck with a lot of man hours. I had almost 3 months of man hours I had on the interior of the truck. Ripped all the shag carpet, redid the floors front to back, replumed the wire lines, new toilet install, upgraded the electrical, and added solar.
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poormansearthroamer
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It's tough for sure. I had my city give me flak for the same thing, but mine's still titled as a Toyota Pickup. I fought back and they gave up because, I think, they didn't want to deal with it all. Luckily I'm not in an HOA; they're out of control.
poormansearthroamer
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Alright guys, a quick update. I've finished up trimming down the spray insulation and begun to work on the wall panels. Trimming the spray foam was nearly as unfun as fiberglass work, at least the way I did it. I used an angle grinder with a wire wheel to shave down the large chunks, then I used a combination of a palm sander and a handheld belt sander to fine tune it down to exactly where I wanted it. I left a fair bit of it a fraction of an inch above the level of the studs to help reduce vibrations.
This was super unfun; the small particles and dust I created was statically charged and stuck to absolutely everything. I also had to wear full protective gear. 100% would not recommend doing it this way; it took a several days and made a giant mess. I didn't use more traditional methods because I was being cheap and didn't want to buy one-use tools and because my studs aren't nice and perfectly aligned with each other. I'm still on the fence as to whether I would do this again... It may be best to pay an extra couple hundred bucks and have a company do it. Some photos below:
Also pictured above is my poor framing work to insulate the wheel wells. These are super out of whack and nowhere near flat or square. Since it's not gonna serve any purpose other than to hold the foam board in place, I just glassed in some 1"x2"s and then tied them all together with wood screws. The wood frame will also be used to sandwich the bottom of the wall tight against the studs in the wall. Once the walls are in place, I'll screw everything together and it should be just fine. I'm interested in working with Formica for parts of this build and I'm thinking about ordering some up to cover up the foam board, and possibly my walls, as you'll see below. Here's some photos of the roof and cab over, featuring my roommate's Ranger that I taught him how to do the rear main, starter, valve cover gaskets, engine and tranny oil pan gaskets. Glad to have that out of my drive way; that stupid thing was an infuriating mix of standard, metric and Torx hardware for no meaningful reason...
Next is the cab over portion. I've been neglecting the cab over windows because of rust issues. All screws along the bottom of the frame were rusted in place and when I first bought the rig, I didn't have the ability to remove those, due to the cramped space. I gave it another go a couple days ago and ground the heads off with my die grinder and a carbide bit. Worked like a charm. The plan to to sandwich some fabric behind the inside of the frame and tie it into the edges of the walls in various points.
And finally, I began working on cutting a template for the walls. I got lucky and snagged 4 sheets of damaged 4'x8' whiteboard material from the 70% off bin at my Home Depot. Took me 3 iterations on each wall to finally dial it in to where I was happy with the fit.
I'm trying to avoid the 'log cabin' look at a lot of the van builds seem to have. My walls are going to be almost entirely hidden behind cabinets and the bed and such, so I'm toying around with using Formica to add a little color and break up the wood-on-wood-on-wood look. Specifically, I'm thinking about a dark forest green color. I grabbed some paint from Home Depot and slapped it on there to see how I like it. In the photos, it shows up as super vivid, 'putting-green' green, but it's a few shades darker than that, in person. Either way, it's still too vivid in person, so I'll keep working on getting a color that I like. This color is coming out either way, since the paint looks cheap and not all that great up close. It's a work in progress.
This was super unfun; the small particles and dust I created was statically charged and stuck to absolutely everything. I also had to wear full protective gear. 100% would not recommend doing it this way; it took a several days and made a giant mess. I didn't use more traditional methods because I was being cheap and didn't want to buy one-use tools and because my studs aren't nice and perfectly aligned with each other. I'm still on the fence as to whether I would do this again... It may be best to pay an extra couple hundred bucks and have a company do it. Some photos below:
Next is the cab over portion. I've been neglecting the cab over windows because of rust issues. All screws along the bottom of the frame were rusted in place and when I first bought the rig, I didn't have the ability to remove those, due to the cramped space. I gave it another go a couple days ago and ground the heads off with my die grinder and a carbide bit. Worked like a charm. The plan to to sandwich some fabric behind the inside of the frame and tie it into the edges of the walls in various points.
And finally, I began working on cutting a template for the walls. I got lucky and snagged 4 sheets of damaged 4'x8' whiteboard material from the 70% off bin at my Home Depot. Took me 3 iterations on each wall to finally dial it in to where I was happy with the fit.
I'm trying to avoid the 'log cabin' look at a lot of the van builds seem to have. My walls are going to be almost entirely hidden behind cabinets and the bed and such, so I'm toying around with using Formica to add a little color and break up the wood-on-wood-on-wood look. Specifically, I'm thinking about a dark forest green color. I grabbed some paint from Home Depot and slapped it on there to see how I like it. In the photos, it shows up as super vivid, 'putting-green' green, but it's a few shades darker than that, in person. Either way, it's still too vivid in person, so I'll keep working on getting a color that I like. This color is coming out either way, since the paint looks cheap and not all that great up close. It's a work in progress.
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poormansearthroamer
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Finally got the photos uploaded. ExPo really needs to bring their uploading system into the 2020s; over on YotaTech, the images are all resized and koshered up automatically...
Anyways, here's a picture of something I've been looking almost a year for. Finally found one that was reasonably affordable and will match the truck well enough before I have the truck's interior gone through.
It's a little rough, tag says it was built in 1977; that just means I don't have to feel bad putting a minty fresh one of these in my 4x4 truck!
Anyways, here's a picture of something I've been looking almost a year for. Finally found one that was reasonably affordable and will match the truck well enough before I have the truck's interior gone through.
It's a little rough, tag says it was built in 1977; that just means I don't have to feel bad putting a minty fresh one of these in my 4x4 truck!
poormansearthroamer
Member
Got a couple updates for you guys. First, I knocked a decent hole in my roof in Moab while I was coming up out of a wash. I saw the tree branch, it didnt rub at all before it smashed into the rear of the Chinook. Kinda a bummer, but it was a quick afternoon's work to get it patched up. Enjoy some photos:
Not the best picture in the world, but I'm not gonna go outside and take another. I ended up adding some body filler and tossing on 3 coats of paint. It'll need to bake in the sun for a couple years before it starts to fully match the rest of the roof.
I've been avoiding the next task, which was modify the roof's body lines to allow me to center mount my fan. The square for RV fans needs to be 14" and the adapter and seal needs a solid 16"; the Chinook's center body line is only 13" wide. I had already spaced two of my struts out at 14" apart when I rebuilt the roof years ago, so all I had to do was modify the width. Some folks mount it off to the side on one of the flat spots to avoid the fiberglass work, but I think that makes it look a little funny. I took some hard foam and molded up a new body line on both sides that widened the space out to 16", then mounted my fan in place. The foam is the green below the fiberglass. The rig looks so much better with the fan centered, IMO.
Looks like I hit the file limit; I'll toss some more in next.
I've been avoiding the next task, which was modify the roof's body lines to allow me to center mount my fan. The square for RV fans needs to be 14" and the adapter and seal needs a solid 16"; the Chinook's center body line is only 13" wide. I had already spaced two of my struts out at 14" apart when I rebuilt the roof years ago, so all I had to do was modify the width. Some folks mount it off to the side on one of the flat spots to avoid the fiberglass work, but I think that makes it look a little funny. I took some hard foam and molded up a new body line on both sides that widened the space out to 16", then mounted my fan in place. The foam is the green below the fiberglass. The rig looks so much better with the fan centered, IMO.
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poormansearthroamer
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Here's the painted final product:
It looks pretty unlevel in the photos, but I used bondo glass and blocked it out; it should seal up pretty okay. It's still not my finest work.
I've also been chasing a henious vibration that is only present at around 45mph. I replaced most of my bushings and finally got new wheels and tires, which did the trick. These old mud terrains were hilariously out of round and, after inspection, pretty damn clapped out. I'm usually a KO2 guy, but I've read enough about the Wildpeak AT3W that I decided to give them a go. Pro Comp aluminum 'steelies' in 15x8 with 33x12.50xR15 Wildpeaks is the setup; no rubbing on my stock suspension. This is the single best driveability/comfort mod I've done yet to the truck. I had no idea how bad those mudders were.
I'm currently working on finishing the interior of the roof. I've built a one piece 'headliner' and have glued backer foam and a nice green flannel material in to finish it all up; I'm also wiring up the lights and the fan. I'll make a post when I have it all done. Attached are some glamour shots:
This obstacle stopped me the first time I came out here; the next time, I tightened up my line a little and stacked some rocks for about a foot on the passenger side and slipped right through.
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poormansearthroamer
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It seems to do pretty okay. It's two pieces of plywood with some foam insulation board sandwiched in between. Beneath that, I have a 1" square steel subframe. There's big grade 8 bolts that go through the subframe into the bed mounts. It flexes pretty independently of the cab; I have the cab through sealed up with an accordion gasket so it can all move separately.
poormansearthroamer
Member
Figured you guys might like some wheeling pictures.
As far as the build goes, I've got the walls in; I went with a dark blue off brand Formica. I've been out of town for well over half the summer, so it's been going a little slow.
Next, it's time for the camper to explode into a bunch of pieces in my driveway. I'm doing an emissions/vacuum delete, fixing a massive exhaust leak that's due to a stripped manifold bolt, resetting my valves, and am going to rebuild a spare W56 I have laying in my garage. The one that's in the camper has a little bearing noise and I need a redemption round on tranny building, anyways.
This trip was the first real wheeling I've gotten in with the new Wildpeaks; I can 100% vouch for them. Such a good tire. I ran them at 16psi through rain, snow, and some pretty difficult obstacles and they did great. I did Black Bear, Imogene, and Ophir. I've done them all many times before, but it was my first time on Black Bear. Definitely would have liked to run that in a regular 4x4 first, but the camper did it just fine. I didn't even roll my rig on the one area that everyone seems to do it. I did get the right rear tire over a foot off the ground there, though.
While on Pearl Pass, I winched out a stock TJ 300" from the summit. Down in the valley, there was a proper Maroon Bells thunderstorm but up on the mountains, it was a whiteout blizzard. A couple of kids had slid off the road and were creeping closer and closer to the cliff while trying to get out. No pictures; it was hopefully the sketchiest recovery I'll ever have to do.
I'm slowly getting a little more appreciation for the carburetor. It's jetted at 7,600" but to get it to run on Imogene (13,000"+), I had to completely lean it out, full lock on the adjustment screw. I also moved the idle speed way up and the truck ran pretty well, all things considered. I still would kill for EFI.
As far as the build goes, I've got the walls in; I went with a dark blue off brand Formica. I've been out of town for well over half the summer, so it's been going a little slow.
Next, it's time for the camper to explode into a bunch of pieces in my driveway. I'm doing an emissions/vacuum delete, fixing a massive exhaust leak that's due to a stripped manifold bolt, resetting my valves, and am going to rebuild a spare W56 I have laying in my garage. The one that's in the camper has a little bearing noise and I need a redemption round on tranny building, anyways.
This trip was the first real wheeling I've gotten in with the new Wildpeaks; I can 100% vouch for them. Such a good tire. I ran them at 16psi through rain, snow, and some pretty difficult obstacles and they did great. I did Black Bear, Imogene, and Ophir. I've done them all many times before, but it was my first time on Black Bear. Definitely would have liked to run that in a regular 4x4 first, but the camper did it just fine. I didn't even roll my rig on the one area that everyone seems to do it. I did get the right rear tire over a foot off the ground there, though.
While on Pearl Pass, I winched out a stock TJ 300" from the summit. Down in the valley, there was a proper Maroon Bells thunderstorm but up on the mountains, it was a whiteout blizzard. A couple of kids had slid off the road and were creeping closer and closer to the cliff while trying to get out. No pictures; it was hopefully the sketchiest recovery I'll ever have to do.
I'm slowly getting a little more appreciation for the carburetor. It's jetted at 7,600" but to get it to run on Imogene (13,000"+), I had to completely lean it out, full lock on the adjustment screw. I also moved the idle speed way up and the truck ran pretty well, all things considered. I still would kill for EFI.
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poormansearthroamer
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Time for an update.
I've got an ice climbing trip planned in February and I promised my partner that the camper would have heat and power so it can function as a chalet while we're out there. So, crunch time.
I finished the walls (made from 1/8 ply and Formica), the floor, and built a trial bed/dinette frame. The floor of the camper is super warped and the glass work along the edge where the plywood meets the shell is pretty rough. Because of all this, I was unable to use laminate across the full area of the floor. I terminated the laminate into outdoor carpet under where both the counter and bed/dinette will be; IE, you'll only see laminate unless you've opened up a cabinet or the bed. The bed/dinette is built for use with the top down (not popped) and it should be comfortable. The layout creates some issues, mainly regarding chest fridge location, but I'm confident I can solve all of them. For the trip, I'm just going to screw in some plywood on top and have it convert between a bench and a sleeping platform via a couple hinges. I'll do the rest of the trialing/testing after the trip. Picture attached, the bed frame in its position. Photo is shot with a wide angle, so it looks a bit disproportionate. Keen eyed readers will also note the presence of not one, but two Recaros up front. I got a good deal on a pair of black leather LXs that fit the truck interior way better.
Next, I installed the solar panels. I used RV With Tito's method on this
I was initially pretty worried about the center ridge in my roof creating an area for the wind to get up under my panels; I was picturing hours of glasswork to redo it to where the panels could sit flush up there. Luckily, the eternabond tape is 4" wide and was able to sit into the groove and everything is nice and air tight. I then tunneled the wiring for the lights, fan, and panels through the roof and dropped them out of the headliner (oh yeah, I built a headliner a few months ago) in the back corner near where the solar setup will be installed.
There's a couple things I already don't like. First, I used wing nuts on the solar mounting setup because the video suggested it. I'm concerned about ripping all of the things off on tree branches, so I will be putting in nylon locking nuts instead to reduce the profile a little. Second, the space between the panel and the fan is pretty tight. This is 320w of panel charging 250ah of lithium battery; I know it's overkill and I planned it that way for a number of reasons, including possible charging issues resulting from shadows cast over the panels. I suspect it'll be fine. I still need to do a little cable management up on the roof; I'm kicking around some ideas on that.
Next, a fun upgrade. I've wanted a synthetic line on my winch forever but have been unwilling to pay $200+ for one. I got this Warn 12S on craigslist for $250 more than I initially paid for my Warn 10. Turned around and sold the Warn 10 and ended up only playing $250 for another half ton of power and a synthetic line.
I've got an ice climbing trip planned in February and I promised my partner that the camper would have heat and power so it can function as a chalet while we're out there. So, crunch time.
I finished the walls (made from 1/8 ply and Formica), the floor, and built a trial bed/dinette frame. The floor of the camper is super warped and the glass work along the edge where the plywood meets the shell is pretty rough. Because of all this, I was unable to use laminate across the full area of the floor. I terminated the laminate into outdoor carpet under where both the counter and bed/dinette will be; IE, you'll only see laminate unless you've opened up a cabinet or the bed. The bed/dinette is built for use with the top down (not popped) and it should be comfortable. The layout creates some issues, mainly regarding chest fridge location, but I'm confident I can solve all of them. For the trip, I'm just going to screw in some plywood on top and have it convert between a bench and a sleeping platform via a couple hinges. I'll do the rest of the trialing/testing after the trip. Picture attached, the bed frame in its position. Photo is shot with a wide angle, so it looks a bit disproportionate. Keen eyed readers will also note the presence of not one, but two Recaros up front. I got a good deal on a pair of black leather LXs that fit the truck interior way better.
Next, I installed the solar panels. I used RV With Tito's method on this
I was initially pretty worried about the center ridge in my roof creating an area for the wind to get up under my panels; I was picturing hours of glasswork to redo it to where the panels could sit flush up there. Luckily, the eternabond tape is 4" wide and was able to sit into the groove and everything is nice and air tight. I then tunneled the wiring for the lights, fan, and panels through the roof and dropped them out of the headliner (oh yeah, I built a headliner a few months ago) in the back corner near where the solar setup will be installed.
Next, a fun upgrade. I've wanted a synthetic line on my winch forever but have been unwilling to pay $200+ for one. I got this Warn 12S on craigslist for $250 more than I initially paid for my Warn 10. Turned around and sold the Warn 10 and ended up only playing $250 for another half ton of power and a synthetic line.
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poormansearthroamer
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Finally, a fix for an issue that's been around since before I bought the rig: the missing piece of my rear door frame. It's a huge gap that's been letting in some water and tons of dust for at least 20,000 miles; now that the floor is done, I can't have this happening anymore. I extended out the subfloor, cleaned up and contoured the body work, bent up a replacement bit of aluminum, sealed everything with butyl tape and braced it up. Should hold for a while; I really want to buy a more modern RV door and cut it down to fit my camper. I'd kill for a screen door.
You'll notice the new piece I put in being unlevel across the door. Surprisingly, that's not a fault of my installation; the door frame is super clapped and cracked and the door no longer hangs a perfect 90 degrees off it. Hence the desire for a whole new door.
That's about it for now. I need to install my diesel heater and then I'll install the rest of the solar system next month with my father, who does it professionally. I also have a ARB dual air compressor that's been sitting on my shelf for a year or so; maybe I'll get around to throwing it on the truck. I've also been talking with a fabricator about getting a rear swing out bumper installed....
That's about it for now. I need to install my diesel heater and then I'll install the rest of the solar system next month with my father, who does it professionally. I also have a ARB dual air compressor that's been sitting on my shelf for a year or so; maybe I'll get around to throwing it on the truck. I've also been talking with a fabricator about getting a rear swing out bumper installed....
poormansearthroamer
Member
Here's how I created the headboard for the roof.
I started with 1/8in ply, and glassed the pieces together to create one single piece. This hid the seams and has made removal super easy; it was definitely worth the wait for the epoxy to cure.
Next, I started laying out the lights and began cutting out the holes for both the lights and the fan.
I used headliner material and a nice flannel fabric from Joanne's for all this. Luckily, the headliner was wide enough to cover the headboard, but I had to have a seamstress sew the flannel to make it all one piece. She did a great job matching the pattern and minimizing the bulk of the seam so hopefully it wont start pulling away there.
I initially used just Modge Podge, but it began falling off within a couple hours; we stripped it back off and used a potent combination of Modge Podge and an aerosol fabric glue. We did it in sections, pressing it down with a rubber roller and putting some weight on it while it dried. Now, it's been almost half a year and there's no signs that it's pulling off. Also, I screwed the headboard into the underside of the roof along every one of my struts at 8" or 10" intervals; I really don't think I'm gonna have troubles with this anytime soon.
I then stapled the wiring to the back of the headboard and cut the fabric to allow for it to also be pulled around to the back and stapled.
I started with 1/8in ply, and glassed the pieces together to create one single piece. This hid the seams and has made removal super easy; it was definitely worth the wait for the epoxy to cure.