84 Toyota Dolphin

That would be an especially great little rig to have on a 4X4 chassis. Note that the tanks are VERY small, however.

pnichols wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:
It's nearly the same as THIS Cruise America rental (VIDEO HERE) that measures 19' long, a Four Winds or Thor Majestic 19G. But it is not a 4x4.

But Ron ... how does one go about buying one of those new from an RV dealer??

:)

You ask a good question. There was a time they were sold brand new to the general public, but I think that is no longer the case. I imagine these days they are a "used market" item. Cruise America sells high mileage ones now and then but they seem to get bought-up fairly quickly.

I always thought that rig was quite creative.

ron.dittmer wrote:
It's nearly the same as THIS Cruise America rental (VIDEO HERE) that measures 19' long, a Four Winds or Thor Majestic 19G. But it is not a 4x4.

But Ron ... how does one go about buying one of those new from an RV dealer??

:)

It's nearly the same as THIS Cruise America rental (VIDEO HERE) that measures 19' long, a Four Winds or Thor Majestic 19G. But it is not a 4x4.

RobertRyan wrote:
Another based on the Ford Ranger

That is one great little RV!

I wish more of that type and size were available in the U.S.. I guess the closest similar model - and maybe just about the only model - in the U.S. would be the Tiger.

Enjoy your new rig. We love ours. here is a site just for toyota RVers. Lots of good info there.

http://toyotamotorhome.org

We had an '88 Damon Escaper built on the Toyota C&C. that thing was definitely a conversation starter.
We traveled all over the western US including the Big Horn Mtns, Rockies, Yellowstone, Glacier, west coast, Canada. I only had issues on 2 roads-going up 14A from the west in the Big Horns and going up the Beartooth Highway from the west. On both of those roads I stopped for a couple of minutes because the temp gauge moved up a bit, never got hot but got warm.
I had the 22Re engine and loved it. The one thing to remember when driving a Toyota RV is to keep the rpm's up. If you don't have a tach, install one. Those engines are built to spin. We bought ours with 20,000 miles on it and sold it with almost 80,000 miles. We sold because the dash air and roof air didn't work and we wanted to travel a little faster.

tamaratrav wrote:
My first braking issue is to have e-brake replaced. It's pretty much shot, have to pull it all the way out, and then still leave it in gear.....going to have Toyota dealer do that.

As mentioned by DrewE, I would almost "bet the house" that your parking brake is fine as are your main rear brakes. The rears drum brakes just need adjusting, then your parking brake will work properly with the slack in the parking brake cable removed. That's because the parking brake utilizes the main brake shoes. When your rear brake shoes are adjusted right, it all starts to work right including the parking brake. That is another benefit I forgot to mention.

Make sure the mechanic demonstrates to you the slight drag on each rear corner pair of tires after you see him pump the brake pedal, while the rear end is still raised. He might do a few adjustment cycles and call it a day, but it sounds like 18 per side are in your future as it was with our Toyota.

Both rear corners need to have some drag or the improperly adjusted side will partially cancel out the properly adjusted side...when it comes to stopping power.

If the mechanic says you need rear brake replacement parts, I wouldn't accept that unless there is a fluid leak. Have him take you into his shop and show you why. A fine layer of rust on rear drum brake parts is normal, not a good reason unless it is serious barnacle rust on the brake shoes. Your Toyota's rear axle was installed many years after the RV was initially put into service. If the rear brakes were never adjusted properly as part of the rear axle installation (as in my case), your rear brakes are practically brand new because they have been hardly used. They had lots of motion within the drums preventing the internal assemblies from locking up from lack of use, but the brake shoes hardly made contact to the drums. Make sense?

I am almost so bold to say....tell them not to take any rear tires off the vehicle. Just have the rear brakes adjusted (not inspected) which is done with everything assembled.

About your front brakes, for the most part, just trust his judgement, but have him show you why he recommends replacing something. With the rear brakes being ineffective, along with the rig sitting around a while, he might recommend new front pads and rotors which is understandable. Make sure to mention you want him to lubricate the front brake caliper slides, and if replacing the rotors, clean the front hubs of surface rust where the rotors contact them and add a thin film of anti-seize compound before reassembly. Not just a good idea, but the mechanic will be impressed with your knowledge and will stay on his toes working on your rig.

One more thing you want your mechanic to do is to flush your brake fluid system. That can also be easily done without removing your rear tires.

When you go there, talk like you "know brakes". That will help to assure the mechanic will be detailed and complete in all his work. If he does his job right, you will be so very happy with your main brake and parking brake systems. Your rig will stop so much faster with much better control, especially when braking while taking on curvy mountain and canyon roads. And your parking brake will work perfectly with the cable-slack eliminated.

tamaratrav wrote:

My first braking issue is to have e-brake replaced. It's pretty much shot, have to pull it all the way out, and then still leave it in gear.....going to have Toyota dealer do that.

That may well just be a regular brake adjustment issue or an emergency brake cable adjustment issue. I don't know about that Toyota chassis specifically, but most often on vehicles with rear drum brakes and often also with disc brakes the e-brake just uses a cable to apply the regular service brakes on the back wheels. (Well, big rigs with air brakes are a different story altogether, but that's immaterial here.)

ron.dittmer wrote:
tamaratrav,

Our originally equipped Toyota/Mirage had very serious handling problems of which were resolved this way. If you experience serious handling troubles, consider what we had done.

- Replaced the rear axle with true dual rear. You have that update already.
- Installed heavy duty Bilstein RV shock absorbers.
- Installed rear air bags with an on-board compressor and controls by the driver. The air bags each had a 5000 pound rating. On my website, you can see the compressor by the battery compartment, and the controls by the driver's left knee.

It would have been great if a front and rear stabilizer bar was available, especially a heavy duty version, but none was available for our 1st generation chassis. I suggest you look into that along with the other upgrades we had done.

About the air lift kit. Not just to lift the rear higher, but doing so also stabilized the rear end. The motor home handled like a drunken sailor until after all our upgrades were implemented. Don't try to live with a mess. Fix it right away to benefit all throughout your ownership.

About your replacement rear axle with heavy duty rear drum brakes. I advise to perform this test. Drive your rig in your neighborhood and hit your brakes real hard while in a turn at an intersection. If the front tires lock up quickly causing the rig to slide forward instead of go into the turn, you need to get your rear drum brakes adjusted.

We were in the mountains before I adjusted the rear drum brakes. While going down winding mountain byways in the turns, what saved our lives was down-shifting. Otherwise the rig would have gone right over a cliff. After I adjusted the rear drum brakes at home, the 4 rear tires woke up with braking power, a night and day difference with control and stopping distance.

The brakes need to be adjusted so that there is a slight drag after the brakes are pumped. It took me 18 adjustment cycles per rear drum before I got the slight drag and it was absolutely awesome afterward. I placed the rear axle up on huge wooden blocks, laid on my back with the adjustment tool, had my wife in the driver seat to pump the brake when needed, and our son spinning the dual rear tire-pair. I would adjust until there was shoe contact to the drum, then called to my wife to pump the brake which centered the shoes which made the tires spin freely again, then repeated until there was a drag after she pumped the brake pedal. I think taking 18 adjustment cycles to get them right meant the rear drum brakes were originally not functioning at all. Being a heavy duty setup back there, getting them working efficiently is surely worth the effort or money spent.

.

Ron - have your post, and processing this. I'll consider taking it to Les Schwab on the brakes; as I'm not set up to really try this.

My first braking issue is to have e-brake replaced. It's pretty much shot, have to pull it all the way out, and then still leave it in gear.....going to have Toyota dealer do that.