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

[Leeann]

I do hope you meant carburetion, not carbonaton :B

[eyeteeth]

Keep in mind the money and time involved... You'd have to run A LOT of fuel through the new system so actually see a return. Even at the current gas prices, we're talking around $.40 a mile. From the above feedback, maybe you could get 2 extra mpg. That's gonna take a while to make up the several thousand $$$$ you'd invest in the conversion before you'd see any real benefit.

You could probably get much the same effect, for far less money and time by swapping gears, and changing the carbonation.

That's what I'm hoping, and planning at some point in the relatively near future.

[Leeann]

I'm pretty sure we have a 4.56 - I'd be happier with the 4.10 - we do tow, but nothing over 2000 lbs.

I've got a 440/727 on a 20' chassis and we average about 9 mpg.

However, I also have a '90 B250 van with 360 and A-518 with 4.10 gears and I average 11 mpg (and Griff's right: stay as far away from the A-518 as you can...it's nothing but a PITA) - and that's loaded or unloaded, towing or not.

Here's the thing about the 440: I have plenty of power in the hills, towing or not. With the 360, the B250 struggles in the hills and the mileage drops to about 10. I had a 19' Class C with a 360 in it briefly and it had no guts whatsoever - it could hardly get out of its own way. And that was unloaded and not towing.

Personally, I think the 1-2 mpg difference is worth keeping the 440.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

I have a 318-3 in mine. Drove it for a few thousand miles before starting the rebuild. Gas mileage was okay (good considering the size of the rig). Probably would have been even better if I'd kept the speed down to 55=65 mph.

If you switch from a big block (i.e., a 440 cu. in.) to a small block (i.e., a 318, 340, or 360 cu. in.), you will need to change transmissions. The innards are the same but the tranny cases are different for small block and big block engines. (Not a big hurdles as A727 trannies for small blocks are still fairly common but the ones for the big blocks are becoming rare.)

Avoid the A518 overdrive tranny ... you're much, much better off with an A727 and a Gear Vendors Over/Underdrive unit if you want overdrive capability.

A lot of the motorhomes had a 4.56 ratio in the rear axle ... a 4.10 ratio would probably work just fine for you and would boost the mileage some. (Mine has a 4.10 ratio and I'm happy with it. My other motorhome has a 413 cu. in. big block and 4.56 rear axle ratio ... that one's definitely set up for towing a trailer or a toad.)

Ask Leeann what ratio she's got in hers.

[timmac]

Is there any old Dodge rv owners out there with a 360 motor that's in a 22-25 ft class c, was wondering about your gas mileage and performance,,, I am asking this because of the recent and long term high gas prices, and if I was to do any major motor work in the future on my 79 Dodge Xplorer with a 440 if it would pay off to get a 360 motor from junk yard and overhaul it, increase piston compression some and install my fuel inject system from 440 now to 360 and if it might get better mpg, or is this just a waste of time, any thoughts on this, any small block rv's out there what's your mpg, how is it in the mountains, etc...

[eyeteeth]

I believe most RV's use the square heads. They claim they don't strip out as easily as the Phillips head or bit. I have several boxes of different lengths, and plan on using them when I start rebuilding my unit in a couple weeks.

[Leeann]

Well...reporting apparently works.

The troll's post is gone.


Yes, that is the claim, eyeteeth. It's just a pain 'cause the bits wear out faster than phillips or slotted 😉

[ALnCORY]

Like LeeAnn's, mine has the square bit screws all around. Any time I work on something, ie: drip rail, windows, vents etc. I am replacing them with hex head (or phillips on the interior stuff) and I have been useing larger sizes, 8 or 10's instead of 6's for example. I figure as long as I am replacing them I will go with stronger stuff when I can....

[D_Sluv2fishandc]

I forgot about those square bit screws! I know that I have come across some of those on my rig but I think they are on the more cosmetic items of the coach conversion and I was thinking more motor and chssis stuff.

I do keep one of those screwdriver kits with a bunch of different tips that I have recieved as a present at one time or another over the years. Along with at least the bare essentials like, crescent wrenches, vise grip, pliars, wire stripper and crimper, and such

[Leeann]

I don't know about yours, but my rig came with those square-bit screws. Exclusively. Except for the few the PO put in, which are an ugly mix of slotted and Phillips.

But yes, glass fuses and a fuse puller are very important to have, as are stop/turn/taillight bulbs. I like to have one long spark plug wire, as wires can go bad or melt at any time, along with Griff's suggestion of ballast resistor, voltage regulator and ignition module.

And, thanks to experience, I insist on having at least 2 lug nuts on hand as well.

[D_Sluv2fishandc]

Kendas wrote:

D&Sluv2fishandcampMN wrote:
...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.

And you found the new bushings where? I "stole" (with owners permission) an old set from a '76 that was rotting at a camp ground in the White mountains and hope they last. Be nice to have an "extra" set when this set "goes way"

What Griff said would be the best way to go but i fixed mine by making the bushings out of Nylon at work on a lathe. Then I fastened everything together with a washer and an e-clip.


It would be nice to be able to fill a tackle box with the needed parts and tools in case of a major malfunction. The only things I can think of are obvious ones like fuses, extra wire, bulbs, a spark plug or 2, duct tape, and if you are only going to carry 1 screwdriver, make sure it is a standard head. I doubt there are any phillips head screws anywhere on these machines unless they were put there by a PO.

[Leeann]

:B

[ALnCORY]

lol... my tongue was firmly in cheek when I wrote it... I am enjoying fixing mine up, BUT... I think I will get one more ready to go next time... take care

[Leeann]

ALnCORY wrote:
LeeAnn,,,
I just remembered I was going to tell you this.. As I mentioned I live in Idaho where one of the Champion plants was located. I had noticed an old motorhome parked near where my daughter lives in town and was thinking "that looks alot like LeeAnn's rig" and sure enough I looked closer and its an old Champion about the size of yours... but looks pretty rough right now... so if you get yours all done and want to resurrect another one I know where you can get it...

Al, I think I can only stand doing this once (besides, the bf would KILL me) 😉

[ALnCORY]

LeeAnn,,,
I just remembered I was going to tell you this.. As I mentioned I live in Idaho where one of the Champion plants was located. I had noticed an old motorhome parked near where my daughter lives in town and was thinking "that looks alot like LeeAnn's rig" and sure enough I looked closer and its an old Champion about the size of yours... but looks pretty rough right now... so if you get yours all done and want to resurrect another one I know where you can get it...