84 Toyota Dolphin

[tamaratrav]

Hello all! Am back RV'ing again, now in a classic 84 Toyota Dolphin; found it with 45,000 miles, stick shift. Goes about 25 MPH in 2nd gear up the passes on the big hills!

[ron_dittmer]

tamaratrav wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:

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.

Thanks! you were correct, all it needed was the e-brake adjusted. I did this at Toyota dealer. works great now, and I did use your info to discuss the brakes to appear knowledgeable . Thanks!

You are very welcome. We can only hope he adjusted the parking brake by adjusting the brakes shoes all the way to the point of light contact before adjusting the parking brake cable itself.

[tamaratrav]

ron.dittmer wrote:

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.

Thanks! you were correct, all it needed was the e-brake adjusted. I did this at Toyota dealer. works great now, and I did use your info to discuss the brakes to appear knowledgeable . Thanks!

[tamaratrav]

RobertRyan wrote:
A few more photos

Very Cool, I want one!

[tamaratrav]

ron.dittmer wrote:

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.

Ron - thank you for this detailed information; I will be in contact with the local Toyota shop soon. (it's parked, so not driving currently).

[ron_dittmer]

pnichols wrote:

ron.dittmer wrote:
I wonder what a custom size fresh water tank would cost me.

Ron ... I'm not sure you would need to go the custom route.

Take a look at this huge variety of RV water tanks - they also seem to be reasonably priced too: https://www.plastic-mart.com/category/33/rv-water-tanks

Thanks! I will look into it when I get some time. I'll have to unscrew the bed platform to get to the tank to measure.

[pnichols]

ron.dittmer wrote:
I wonder what a custom size fresh water tank would cost me.

Ron ... I'm not sure you would need to go the custom route.

Take a look at this huge variety of RV water tanks - they also seem to be reasonably priced too: https://www.plastic-mart.com/category/33/rv-water-tanks

[ron_dittmer]

pnichols,

Our floor is lower than most given that Phoenix Cruisers have just a 1.5" step into the house from the front cab area. Also Phoenix Cruisers are less wide, just 93" outside width. It's tighter underneath than your typical class B+/C rig.

I recently was under our PC this summer installing THIS back-up waste hose storage tube. We have a Sani-con macerator system, but I wanted to carry a Rhino kit in-case of a mechanical failure during a trip.

While underneath, I studied how Phoenix installed the waste tanks. They are hung under the rig in such a manner that seems designed to fit the dimensions of the E-series frame. It is an impressive hanging system. It seems the only way to increase the volume of waste capacity is to expand the tank downward toward the street.

Our 42 gallon fresh water capacity could be increased via a custom made tank specific to it's compartment, tweaking every available inch. Without calculating the extra volume, a custom made fresh water tank might gain 2 or 3 additional gallons of fresh water, maybe even more without other modifications to the rig. If I did some carpentry work, I could gain more than my two waste tanks can handle which is 58 gallons combined if filled to their tippy-tops.

With that said, I am sure every rig including that 19 footer would benefit from tweaking, but it is not financially practical to have custom made tanks for every RV model. Adding that their models seem to come and go with the wind, unique tanks per model would be costly to RV manufacturing.

Still, I agree with your point in that RV manufactures could do better with space utilization without additional cost. They just need to design smarter, maybe utilizing modular techniques for areas of their line-up that are consistent. The RV industry is generally a bit sloppy in that regards. Some manufactures much worse than others.

You have some interesting ideas on available space utilization. Some RV brands could easily do something with that space. If not for waste or fresh water, then possibly a secondary battery compartment for sealed AGM batteries for serious boondockers. I wonder if such a bolt-on battery compartment is available that could be mounted in the space you mentioned.

I wonder what a custom size fresh water tank would cost me.

[pnichols]

Ron ... sometimes "tradeoffs" are a bias in the mind of the designer or marketing person. They're not always "really necessary" tradeoffs. The Tiger's (about the same size rig) tanks are a bit larger, for instance.

You've probably been down under your E350 many times, as I have our E450. There's a whole bunch of open space up high against the coach floor in between the driveshaft and the two main lengthwise truck frame members. Long, flat, large grey and black tanks could be mounted up there - with skid plates and tank heaters on their bottoms - and with on outlet on each end to counter their long length along the axis of the motorhome when parked/camped on lengthwise grades. Some time ago I read of a Class C owner who added a 150 gallon freshwater tank up underneath their RV - for warm weather beach camping use (probably no skid plates or tank heaters, though). I mounted an additional 40 gallon gas tank up under against the frame of a Dodge van camper this way once - that the DW and myself had converted into a van camper in which we wanted a 1000+ mile cruising range.

For additional fresh water capacity inside a Class C's warmer environment, there's most likely several unused voids in behind cabinets where one or more 5-15 gallon fresh water tanks could be plumbed in to feed the main fresh water tank. Our Class C has some hidden open voids inside like that.

All it takes is a can-do attitude on the RV builder's part combined with aware enough and demanding enough buyers to at least offer larger tanks as an extra cost option. I would have paid for larger tanks if we'd had a choice ... there is physical room for them in and around our Class C.

Of course options like this would require that the chassis used under the coach have the additional weight carrying capacity to deal with the larger tanks.

[ron_dittmer]

ron.dittmer wrote:

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.

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

Yes all capacities are smaller, no surprise for being only 19 feet long. As we say often say on these forums, "it's all trade-offs".

[RobertRyan]

A few more photos

[pnichols]

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

[ron_dittmer]

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.

[pnichols]

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??

🙂

[ron_dittmer]

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.