Jeremy,
Was the new one difficult to install?
Mark
Our "new" Tiger...
- Thread starter HMR
- Start date
Jeremy,
Was the new one difficult to install?
Mark
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
It was a 1hr. job and not too difficult. I should've taken more pictures and done a better write up...
FWIW- The "old style" water fill works perfectly. Unless broken, there's no reason to replace it with the newer model. We only replaced it due to losing the hatch cover. Without the cover, a LOT of water is lost out the vent and fill holes. We plugged the "fill" hole with a rubber plug as a temporary fix but it didn't look very good. I searched every RV supplier I'm aware of but couldn't find the original model. If a direct replacement was found, it would only take a few minutes to swap out. The new version that Provan is using requires cutting a bigger opening and drilling pilot holes in the side of the cabin. This was the most time consuming part because, as usual, I had to measure and re-measure it 700 times before committing to making the cuts. I also slathered all the exterior holes and the interior hose fittings with RV sealant before screwing everything into place. I took it for a test run yesterday and it works great.
T.Low
Expedition Leader
Not to take anything away from the Tacoma, and yes we understand you are probably still in the honeymoon phase of Tiger ownership; but that being said, has the Taco been out much since getting the Tiger? How have you used the Tacoma and has your idea of it's usefulness to you changed at all lately? Just curious of your personal feelings towards it.
I totally understand your original thoughts of two rigs having different purposes (I own 13 different types of kayaks, 5 bikes, and would have three dual sports if I could), so I am just curious. Heck, I could justify three different Astro campers including a Tiger if I could, although my wife is convinced I don't justify so much as lustify. Hmm.
FWIW, there was a guy in Colorado with a lifted 4x4 v8 Tiger that he hauled a sand rail with. I could never get him to email me pictures of it, though.
Thanks for keeping this thread going, it's one of my favorite reads.
I totally understand your original thoughts of two rigs having different purposes (I own 13 different types of kayaks, 5 bikes, and would have three dual sports if I could), so I am just curious. Heck, I could justify three different Astro campers including a Tiger if I could, although my wife is convinced I don't justify so much as lustify. Hmm.
FWIW, there was a guy in Colorado with a lifted 4x4 v8 Tiger that he hauled a sand rail with. I could never get him to email me pictures of it, though.
Thanks for keeping this thread going, it's one of my favorite reads.
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Great question. The Tiger has definitely gotten the bulk of our camping time over the past year and we've become pretty spoiled by all the amenities/comfort provided by a fully self-contained camper. However, we also love the Tacoma. It hasn't seen much camping activity, lately, but that's about to change as we're currently sourcing parts for a little makeover.
Ha! We better bring a lot of wood if we ever get together around a campfire. I'll bet we'd have a LONG conversation on why we "need" 3 vans, 5 bikes, etc.
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
I replaced the bathroom ceiling vent this week. It only needed a new gasket for the lid but due to my OCD, I decided to replace the whole thing. Then, while I was stripping the old sealant from around the old vent, I got a bad case of the "May As Wells" and went ahead and stripped and resealed the roof racks, the rear vent, the holding tank vents... basically everything on the roof. It's a messy, time-consuming job but it's worth it for the peace of mind knowing the roof will remain good and watertight.
I snapped a few pics that might be helpful for other Tiger owners. This cross-section shows the different layers that make up the roof structure. I believe Provan uses 1x2's only around the vent areas for reinforcement. It seems like most of the roof is 1" plywood (just a guess as I've only seen inside the roof in a few, small, areas). Regardless, I was happy to see how good of shape the wood was in. It still looks new. It's proof that when properly maintained, the one piece fiberglass top does a good job of keeping everything dry:
Old vent and sealant removed:
Rare opportunity to get a pic of the whole Tiger bathroom:
The new vent:
EDIT: I deleted a paragraph and some photos in this thread because I might have given incorrect info on the removal of the fasteners used by Provan. dsw4x4 spotted the error and shared the correct info below. ThomD provided more helpful info. Thanks guys!
I snapped a few pics that might be helpful for other Tiger owners. This cross-section shows the different layers that make up the roof structure. I believe Provan uses 1x2's only around the vent areas for reinforcement. It seems like most of the roof is 1" plywood (just a guess as I've only seen inside the roof in a few, small, areas). Regardless, I was happy to see how good of shape the wood was in. It still looks new. It's proof that when properly maintained, the one piece fiberglass top does a good job of keeping everything dry:
Old vent and sealant removed:
Rare opportunity to get a pic of the whole Tiger bathroom:
The new vent:
EDIT: I deleted a paragraph and some photos in this thread because I might have given incorrect info on the removal of the fasteners used by Provan. dsw4x4 spotted the error and shared the correct info below. ThomD provided more helpful info. Thanks guys!
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dsw4x4
Adventurer
From the look of the screw in the picture it is not a phillips head screw it is a robertson screw, have you been using the right tool? Robertsons screws rarely ever strip no matter how old they are but the bits are hard to find. These are the most used screw in the RV industry because the tip will not slid off the screw and damage the cabinets the other plus side to them is they hardly ever strip out and can be removed easily years later. I have seen versions of these screws that look a lot like phillips at first glance but if you look really close there is a square hole in the middle for the robertson drive. When I was a kid I used to take a hack saw blade to put a notch in the screw heads of my old motor cycles to get the old screws out of the case. Wish would of had a dremel then that would of been a lot easier. By the way your tiger is looking great.
Derek
Derek
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Good question. The only Robertson (aka, "Square Drive") screws I'm familiar with look like this:
The Provan screws have a cross pattern like a Phillips. I'll see if I can find one to double check if they're actually the Phillips/Robertson version you mentioned. I didn't even know there was such a thing.
My square drive bits look like this (no "Phillips" version):
I'm gonna laugh if my troubles were caused by not having the correct $2 screwdriver.
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Thanks. I'd love to see what you could do to one of these Tigers.
Your custom fab work is amazing!
Good question. The only Robertson (aka, "Square Drive") screws I'm familiar with look like this:
....
I'm gonna laugh if my troubles were caused by not having the correct $2 screwdriver.
Oops. Take a look at the Wikipedia article on screws. There is indeed a combination Phillips/Robertson screw style.
Quadrex screw:
More info here
dsw4x4
Adventurer
Yes those are the ones I was talking about I may have been using the wrong name but if you use the correct bit, you will be pulling screws all day long with no troubles. They appear to be phillips at first glance but a phillips bit does not work worth a darn on those things.
Derek
Derek
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Here's an example of what I was dealing with:
Here's what I used as a replacement:
Even from a few inches away, it's hard for me to tell whether or not the original is a "Quadrex" screw. However, based on what dsw4x4 said about the popularity of those screws with RV builders and my difficulties in removing them with a Phillips screwdriver, I think there's a good chance he's correct. I edited my original post so I don't pass on bad info. Thanks, again, for the heads up!
Here's what I used as a replacement:
Even from a few inches away, it's hard for me to tell whether or not the original is a "Quadrex" screw. However, based on what dsw4x4 said about the popularity of those screws with RV builders and my difficulties in removing them with a Phillips screwdriver, I think there's a good chance he's correct. I edited my original post so I don't pass on bad info. Thanks, again, for the heads up!
HMR
Rendezvous Conspiracy
Tire Update...
I'm a dyed in the wool fan of the BFG A/T's and have used them on numerous vehicles for 10+ years. It was a big deal for me to switch to the Yokohama Geolander A/T-S when we purchased new tires for the Tiger. We've now put over 10,000 miles on the Geolanders. They've worked great in every condition: snow, rain, mud, aired down over rocks or sand and ride smoothly at 70mph on the highway. They also handle the weight of the Tiger very well (load range "D").
We've been impressed enough with these tires that we recently decided to swap out our BFG's for a set of the Geolanders on the Tacoma:
It was a slow day at Discount Tire so we figured we might as well get a set for the Rover, too:
We've been Yokohama-ized!
I'm a dyed in the wool fan of the BFG A/T's and have used them on numerous vehicles for 10+ years. It was a big deal for me to switch to the Yokohama Geolander A/T-S when we purchased new tires for the Tiger. We've now put over 10,000 miles on the Geolanders. They've worked great in every condition: snow, rain, mud, aired down over rocks or sand and ride smoothly at 70mph on the highway. They also handle the weight of the Tiger very well (load range "D").
We've been impressed enough with these tires that we recently decided to swap out our BFG's for a set of the Geolanders on the Tacoma:
It was a slow day at Discount Tire so we figured we might as well get a set for the Rover, too:
We've been Yokohama-ized!
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