How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

[whiteknight001]

I'm new here, and curious.

How many of us in Class C own Dodge B300 incomplete
cab/chassis based RV's? I know two others- Steve aka
Ripsaw, with a 1977 Brougham, and Leroy aka 1978_Dodge
_Delta who owns a 440V8 powered sharp looking 1978
Delta RV. I would like to ask, and offer, help, idea
swapping and comparing notes on our particular RV's
which are based on the Dodge B300 van chassis.

Yeah, I know. These are low tech, podgy old RV's that
would be considered "entry level" for folks like me,
but I have a deep and abiding respect for the quality
of these old "monsters of the open road". And anyone
wanting to pick brains, joke about, share notes or just
brag about our old A- Dodge-io's are certainly welcome
to PM or email me. Between all of us we can form a real
good support group, and help each other with problems
we know we'll encounter with an older vehicle.

Sure. I'd love a new RV. But I'd rather have an older
one already paid for, and a lotta great memories. Call
me frugal, an old hippie, or whatever you will. I'm proud
of my old land yacht.

Mopar Madness Manifest in the flesh,

Mark aka White Knight

P.S. Mine's a '72. Is there an older one out there someone's
motorvating in? Maybe even a Travco? W/K

[D_Sluv2fishandc]

I haven't posted in here for quite a while but I have read every page of this thread from the beginning! Not that I remember what was discussed on page 85 or anything. Too bad all of this information couldn't be organized somehow.

I don't post much because I really don't usually have any good advise that everyone here hasn't already covered, but I just wanted to let you all in on something that I discovered with my old MH. You might want to check the little plastic bushings that hold the windshield wiper linkage together. Mine have fallen apart twice and left me with a difficult drive in the rain with no wipers! After the second time this happened I finally got wise and fixed them all so hopefully this never happens again.

Thanks to everyone here for all of the advise. Luckily I havn't had to ask for too much help over the past 4 or 5 years that I have had this thing but I have replaced:
All water pipes(PO let them freeze)
water pump(12 v)
Alternator
tires (16.5")
exhaust manifold gaskets
muffler and tailpipe
probably some minor stuff that I am forgetting but all-in-all I dont think thats too bad, yet.

My projects for this year include:
new roof vents (1 of them is cracked)
laminate flooring
new paint on the cab
welding up a rack for the back to carry firewood on.

[D_Sluv2fishandc]

eyeteeth,
Maybe you can get Griff to sell you a waterheater out of one of his breeding stock.

[Leeann]

Ouch, Trish - that is bad news 😞 We did know the sate of (in)sanity of your PO, though. Worse is the $$$ for the new rims...what tires are you going to run?

That's really good news, eyeteeth. If he was pleasantly surprised by the condition of the framing, you're well ahead of the game. Sorry about the water heater, though. Keep checking on eBay and Craigslist 'cause you never know what you'll find. Oh, and call RV Doctor George or Sands RV, too. You don't necessarily have to spend the bucks on a new one.

[eyeteeth]

Good news for me... I have the back end completely gutted now. Bathroom wall, countertops, sink, fixtures, panelling... evertything gone. I had my "expert" stop by today who looked around, and gave me my next marching orders. He was actually surprised by the condition of the framing. It's pretty bad around the base, but except for one corner nothing is discolored above knee height. He say sit looks a lot better than some 93 & 94s he's worked on recently. So that's promising I guess.

I have a little more floor to remove, then I can start putting in new wood. I don't want to pull the sides of the RV off because I have nowhere protected from the elements to work on it. So I'm looking seriously at the CPES stuff to save as much as I can. But... my expert is surpisingly optimistic about the unit which makes me feel quite a bit better.

As I feared... the water heater has to go though. It works, but the bottom rusted out. 😞 I'll have some pictures up in a day or two.

[Trish_Davis]

Griff in Fairbanks wrote:

79powerwagon wrote:
We're all re-examining our own state of sanity...

Speak for yourself, I enjoy my state of sanity.

But, don't worry ... I sure am having fun in the meanwhile.

Hah.. What I am not enjoying is the particular state of sanity of the PO.

What kind of muffinhead puts body putty over fiberglass?
I don't mean a little bits of putty, but 1" chunks of the stuff...

My Travco was white w/ the turquoise stripe. Later, it had a brown stripe. Last, it got NO prep work, just putty, primer, and white enamel paint. All that completely ruined the gelcoat; worse, it was unnecessary.

Back to flat black, there is no way white is going to cover this.

Broke down, bought new rims. Oww.
Black with a red stripe.

[Trish_Davis]

Jer&Ger wrote:
Lug nuts ... guess I need to find a real heavy duty torque wrench for this.

Nah. Spray them good with PB Blaster and put a 4-ft bar over your 4-way.

[Jer_Ger]

Thanks for the reply. Mine are with the 1 1/8" nuts so I guess I need to find a real heavy duty torque wrench for this. Thanks again...Jerry

[RobinHoodRV]

Jer&Ger wrote:
Hi all, I have to replace my front brakes and maybe the rotors too. It's on a "77" Dodge MB300 Sportsman chassis with 16.5" rims. Does anyone know what the torque specs are for the drums and the lug nuts. I can't find anything on them. Thank in advance for any info....Jerry

CB300 & MB300 with 1/2"-20TPI and 13/16" hex nuts:
85 to 125 Ft-Lbs.

CB300, MB300, & MB400 with 5/8"-18TPI studs and 1-1/8" hex nuts:
300 to 350 Ft-Lbs.

(Info from Chrysler service manual.)

[Jer_Ger]

Hi all, I have to replace my front brakes and maybe the rotors too. It's on a "77" Dodge MB300 Sportsman chassis with 16.5" rims. Does anyone know what the torque specs are for the drums and the lug nuts. I can't find anything on them. Thank in advance for any info....Jerry

[ALnCORY]

So not so much a RV farm as a RV parts house, which is a good idea. Its hard to find some of this stuff, like my old plastic drawers, a couple of which are pretty well trashed... I love those old paralleogram windows... wish mine had them....

[Griff_in_Fairba]

ALnCORY wrote:
Griff is starting a RV farm it sounds like....

Junior, as well as these last two, were given to me by people who didn't want to see them go to the crusher. I had to pay to get Junior shipped up from Seattle but these last two are here in town, free for the taking.

The neighbors are starting to think these things are breeding. (Motorhomes mating ... now there's a mental image to boggle the mind.)

I'm rescuing these last two more for the parts for other people than for myself. (And, yes, I do hope to make a bit of spare change off the parts.) For example, try finding a replacement parallelogram-type window like those used on late 60's and 70's motorhomes.

eyeteeth - I've never used the stuff myself and have heard similar products are only marginally effective. As I understand it, the biggest difficulty is getting the wood dry enough for the stuff to work. I prefer to cut out and splice in new wood, if not replace competely, especially with any structural wood. But then, most of my techniques are based on wooden boat construction and maintenance practices.

[ALnCORY]

Griff is starting a RV farm it sounds like.... I think though if I had the time and extra coin, I would buy these old motorhomes and fix them up and give 'em to the kids or whatever. As crazy as it sounds I like working on mine and find a certain enjoyment from taking a neglected old bus and sprucing in up a bit....

[eyeteeth]

I posted in the general forum as well... but I'm just curious if any of you have tried anything like THIS and what your results/conclusions were.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Leeann wrote:

Griff in Fairbanks wrote:
Speak for yourself, I enjoy my state of sanity.

You mean your state of insanity :B

Sanity is relative -- in an insane world, the sane would be considered insane. (Or, is that relatives cause insanity ... head hurts, must not think so much.)

By the way, forgot to mention, I got another motorhome yesterday. (Yup, that makes three.) The body on this one's mostly junk but the frame, drivetrain (less engine), and fittings are worthwhile. In particular, it has the cabover bunk I want but don't have.

I haven't checked closely but I think it's a 1975 RM300 chassis ... as where is, as is.

Also trying to decide it I want the bus sitting next to it, which looks like a mid-70's RM400 chassis.

And, neither of them has the shackle I need ... @#$%^&. Neither did the 1970 Dodge pickup sitting in a buddy's yard nor either of the two junkyards I checked yesterday.

Now, if the remaining snow would just melt, I could get back to work.

[Leeann]

Griff in Fairbanks wrote:
Speak for yourself, I enjoy my state of sanity.

You mean your state of insanity :B