On this page: RH 160 manual fan control. RB 145 suspension modification, RB 145 coil spring attachment. Hydrogen injection system. Placement of cassettes, gas bottles, batteries, BBQ, spare tyre, satellite dish. Manufacture of sun visor. Snugger diesel heater. Manual fan control.
RB 145 Suspension modification.
Brian Eiffe went a different path most RB145 owners have taken.
He did modify his RB145 by replacing the rear sway bar 32mm with a 42mm one from Bents Engineering in Bundaberg Qld.
They can contact Trevor on 0741524388. He will be able to answer any questions.
He is very happy with the ride of his bus as it was very tender before the change but now very stable.
Bents engineering can supply the buses and it is not a great job to do the change.
The sway bar was a $1100 and the bushes were about $300. This was in 2011
He makes batches as they are needed. I think when one lot is gone he makes another six.
http://www.localdirectories.com.au/Bundaberg,QLD/Bents-
RB 145 Suspension modification. A lot of 145 owners report excessive swaying. Here is a solution to the problem. There are a lot of suspension manufacturers who claim to be able to rectify the problem. The report I have from a 145 owner is that Dobinson spring and suspension has fixed it. The cost is around $3000 and entails the complete removal of the existing springs and replacing it with new ones. As you can see on the photo's a lot more leaves than the original springs. Also the shock absorbers need replacing.
Dobinsons springs and suspension. 58 Hollingsworth Str. Rockhampton. Qld. www.dobinsonsprings.com
Staring batteries repositioned beside motor on slide out Extra storage under steps
I removed the airconditioner which gave me extra storage under.
Two bins with gas bottles, regulator, watertank, cassette for vacuum toilet, box for spare cassette, waterpump and grey water outlet.
The spare tyre was removed to make room for a water tank. There was no tow bar when I bought the bus.
The most logical way was to combine the two. The satellite dish fits on the other side.
The batteries have been replaced with lithium and DC to DC charger
Home made sun visor blind. I finally tracked down a firm which sells the retractable sun visors but found out that the price was around $300 each. I bought a length of 50 X 50 aluminium angle and 10 X 3 flat aluminium. A the smallest roller blind from Crazy Clark and you can see from the photo how it is put together. I made a cutout at the ends to enable one edge to be folded back to give you the support for the blind. Everything is pop riveted together and works fine. Total cost for two is $45
I have a cupboard in front of the windscreen and can screw it to this. You might have to make a bracket to fit your situation.
Recently removed this heater and put in a $106 Chinese unit. More than happy and twice the output and less than half the noise. Best decision.
Latest addition: Snugger diesel heater system. The unit came with all required hardware and is fairly straightforward to install apart from the control switch. The switch is fairly small and has a large plug on it which has to be dismantled if you want to mount it flush to a wall. The supplier was most helpful in solving any problems I had and even replaced a part which failed and was probably of my own doing. I did not drill a large hole in my fuel tank and bought a T piece instead. For the RH 160, the hose to use is the one on the right. My placement is direct above the fuel tank and in a corner of the seat. Probably inlet and outlet a bit too close together but here was no choice.
Controller Buttons: Heating. Off. Fan and temperature control.
Air inlet top right. Exhaust keep well away from rubber or plastic. I welded a bracket on the bottom rail to mount the pump. The pump makes a distinct ticking noise which can be heard inside. The new models have a rubber grommet to mount the pump. Mine did not have this but easily made. Mount a fairly solid rubber strip between the chassis and the pump. This reduces the ticking noise to nearly zero inside the motorhome. While I worked on the fuel lines I also mounted a water separator/ fuel filter. The rubber fuel
RB 145 coil spring attachment.
To prevent swaying Brian added a coil spring to the front suspension. The photo's were taken after approximately 9000 klms. Both aluminium bushes are slide fits on the standard shock absorber.[There is no sideways movement] The bottom bush rests on the 20mm shaft that holds the shock absorber on (the shaft that’s pressed through the axle beam) not the threaded part that holds the rubber bushes.
there is a small indent in the aluminium approx. 1mm where it rests on the shaft but it doesn't seem to be a problem.
The springs are off a Toyota echo and were fitted with 50 KG pre tension
Manual operation of radiator fans on RH 160
To switch the front and rear fan manually you have to connect the correct wires to earth via a switch which can be mounted on the dashboard. Indicated here are the two relays. The black one is for the front radiator and the gold for the intercooler, The large relay on the left is the relay which operates the starter solenoid and is not a original Hino item. One plug removed for photo.
What to do. I used press on fittings to tap in to the wires. For the intercooler it is the yellow and red wire. For the radiator it is the yellow wire. I used ordinary figure 8 wire to two switches on the dashboard. The other pole of the switch to earth. This will not affect the operation of the original setup but I found that going on a long uphill stretch the cooling was inadequate and now I can manually adjust the operation.
*************************************
The lines are of poor quality. Check regularly for cracking. The only minor point is the size of the control unit. It is only slightly bigger than the plug atached to it and has to be taken apart if you want to mount the unit flush with a wall. I mounted mine on astandard wallplate which means that I only have to take the plug apart once in case something goes wrong and I have to access it.
Dometic vacuum toilet VT 2500 cut out before vacuum was reached.
Most people have trouble with air escaping. I have had the same but this is easily fixed with new O rings and silicon pressure grease.
I also had problems with the motor cutting out before pressure reached. Because my system is partially exposed to the elements the contacts create a bit more resistance. To combat this I replaced the thermal switch. Because of the resistance with the contacts it causes the fuse to heat up and the motor stops. When it cools down it will work again.
Modified switch T60 375
