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]

eyeteeth wrote:
And ya'll will have been there for the whole thing. lol.

We like that part 😉


I love the laminate flooring in mine - it's amazing how much cleaner and newer it makes it look. And it's the first thing everyone notices...and they don't stop talking about it (right, Trish?).

We got the material for our ceiling, finally - for free. The bf's brother is building a new house and had a ton of the plastic soffit covering left over - you know, the stuff that kinda looks like beadboard when installed? We held up a piece inside and it looks like it'll be as cool as the floor. I can't wait...

But first, we need to have the torque converter replaced and the tranny put back up...

[eyeteeth]

Thanks Leeann.

I was just hinking about how everyone here (whether they like it or not) has been privy to all the trials and tribulations of purchasing, taking delivery, and now the slow transformation. A couple years from now for giggles, I'll have to go back through the posts.

It's going to be a completely different unit. Eventually I hope to fix the panelling in the front of the unit with the same design as what's now in the back. Recover the sofa and barrel chairs, and put wood laminate down for flooring. And ya'll will have been there for the whole thing. lol.

[Old___Slow]

recently i sold a itasca class A with the p30 chassis. not long before i sold the sunflyer it required a front brake job. the right side had locked up. $2300 total to do the complete job with new rotors.:E i now own a dodge with the mb400 frame. sayes f40 on the door plate. anyway, it's ironic my 78/79 tioga 24' also required a front brake job which required new rotors. $500 complete. so a big yes, the dodge based frames seem to be less cost to keep on the road to happy camping. why didn't i know this long ago. should have found this thread sooner rather than later. am i correct about the cost of front rotors for the p30 frames?

[Leeann]

Damn, eyeteeth - she's lookin' great!



(except for the mess, of course :P)

[eyeteeth]

Back from another weekend working on the old rig, and this week I brought her home for a change. (The neighbors missed it! lol)

I really don't have any useful pictures, as for the most part, it was little time consuming stuff.

We got all the siding trim, and insert back on.
Attached the grey tank.
While we were at it, we ran extra wires to eventually add a See-Level II system.
I completed all the interior water, and vent piping.
Completed the exterior sewage plumbing.
Added a little more interior panelling, and door trim.
got the tub put in.
Most of the water plumbing is done, except I broke the city water inlet trying to tighten the hose... darn plastic parts.
Installed the bypass for winterizing the water heater, and installed the water pump.
Oh yea... I also made a new bathroom counter. I just need to figure out a formica design to finish it with.
Fixed the "errant" headlamp. Replaced one that was out, and fixed a couple marker lights.
Once we got home, I spent a couple hours starting to clean it up and organize the mess (before pic below) because I figure...

I only have two water items to fix... and we're going to say in it next weekend!!!! Whooo HOOOO!

It's bee a long road. I'll share a few pics anyway even though you can't see most of this weekends work.

Need to add the plastic surround to the tub before we can use it...


The Rest of the camper...


Just for reference, here is why we replaced the Black tank. The grey tank had aged the same. Every mounting point was cracked and or split.

[Brett_J]

Thanks Powerwagon, I am glad that I only have to buy 4 tires!


Take care

[Kendas]

Old & Slow wrote:
the stories of the dodge 440 and tranny are all so interesting. my 440 dip stick shows nice clean oil even with near 3000 miles since the last oil change. i plan to change oil and filter soon. the tranny oil also looks and smells nice. i would like to start out on my way to alaska but dw says i'm crazy. griff, do these oldie's have any market in alaska? maybe we could make it to fairbanks and sell ol' betsy. fly home. here in texas, from what i see, folks don't know the value we have found in owning a classic. i recently camped in a private park at port aransas next to a 1/2 mill. rig and suffered no harm. nothing tossed our way. perhaps they could see how much fun we were having. they stayed in their big box i guess afraid of perhaps tracking in a little sand. some folks don't know TRUE value. for us in our dodgie, we're happy. still concerned about the oil usage.

Well the 1978 Dodge Sportsman/Tradesman owners manual that I have under "Required Maintenance (page 36) states: For Light Duty applications "Engine Oil - 6 months or 6,000 miles.".

Next line for the Oil Filter: "Replace at initial oil change and every 2nd oil change.".

States exactly the same thing for "Heavy Duty Cycle" on page 38

This is what Uncle Sam used on the same year vehicles. And what I use "except" that I change annually and always change the filter at the same time. I never did care what "Jiffy Lube", "Grease Monkey', ETC. said about it (they're in it for the money).

BTW - The 440 in ours uses about a quart every 800 miles or so.

Ken

[Fezziwig]

I'm interested in learning peoples experiences with various lubes for these big engines and transmissions.

I switched all my cars to Redline MTL manual transmission lube many years ago and it's great. I use another Redline lube in diffs and automatics. I've been using a synthetic engine oil for years (Mobil 1 as it happens, tho I think several work well, Mobil 1 is widely available).

Also, I went back to using manufacturer recommended oil weight after a long series of discussions with an API oil engineer. I stopped using increased weight oil on high-mileage engines. On a really worn engine I might use Lucas Oil Stabilizer.

I'm considering using 0w30 engine oil because there is a good case for reducing friction in cold engines at startup.

[65CrewCabPW]

Old & Slow wrote:
griff,

partly grew up on the kuskokwim and flew in and out of fairbanks with frank barr on the mail run, so you know, i'm a old head. forgive the lower case, at present i'm one handed. thanks for the heads up on the 440. the one thing that concerned me was the use of one quart of oil about every 800 miles. the old engine runs so smooth. i bought this old relique as it is in near mint condition and many things like the toilet, refer, a/c and various other items have been replaced. i have cancer and have outlived the doctors preduction and i'm trying to squeeze just a little more out of the ol' hide. a new rv would not have added one day to my life. we flew to anc 4 years ago, rented a mh in anchorage and drove through fairbanks. didn't know the city. thanks again.

floyd

Normally, I would not worry about one quart every 800. Look carefully for leaks... it is not uncommon to leak slightly at the front and back of the intake.

Also, seeps around the valve cover are not unusual. Those alone would account for at least half to 3/4 of the oil consumption.

Also, if your carb runs rich, it'll increase oil consumption. Also, if your timing is off, same deal. I've owned several 440's and all of them would start to consume once the oil got around 2000 miles on it if it were low quality or broke down easy. I started using Castrol's best 20-50 and that extended it to around 4k before it stated sucking it down. Cheap oil would extend another 1500 or so by adding STP or Power Punch to it.

BTW, my wife worked a 6 month stint (a winter) at Bethel as a nurse a couple years ago. Did 3 at Barrow this winter... I went and "enjoyed" the "uncrowded" tourist season for 10 days....

Change fluid and filter in the tranny, use good oil, add at least 1 quart of 10-20 or 10-30 engine oil when you do that, and change ALL the tranny cooler hoses. The trans will run cooler and the converter will work better.

You should set the bands while this is being done, and there's a spring you can remove from an accumulator/actuator piston, for sharpened shifts.

[Old___Slow]

the stories of the dodge 440 and tranny are all so interesting. my 440 dip stick shows nice clean oil even with near 3000 miles since the last oil change. i plan to change oil and filter soon. the tranny oil also looks and smells nice. i would like to start out on my way to alaska but dw says i'm crazy. griff, do these oldie's have any market in alaska? maybe we could make it to fairbanks and sell ol' betsy. fly home. here in texas, from what i see, folks don't know the value we have found in owning a classic. i recently camped in a private park at port aransas next to a 1/2 mill. rig and suffered no harm. nothing tossed our way. perhaps they could see how much fun we were having. they stayed in their big box i guess afraid of perhaps tracking in a little sand. some folks don't know TRUE value. for us in our dodgie, we're happy. still concerned about the oil usage.

[Brett_J]

Sooo was it something I said?? hello, anyone out there?

[79powerwagon]

Brett J wrote:
Hey.
I finally made it!!!!!!!!

I have been in love with old Dodge class c's for a long time, always wanted one, missed a chance on one last year, but I have one parked out front now!! drove it home yesterday. It is a 72 Midas Mini but unlike most I have seen and read about here I have single rear wheels, I am wondering if this is a bad thing? I'm sure I will have more questions latter.

Thanks

There were many C's with single rear wheels back then. I assume it became some kind of issue because everyone went to duallys. But, you can simply stick her on a truck scale and see what the weight is on the rear axle, and see if your tires are up to the task.

My uncle had a Ford C with singles, and he used that thing from about 1974 to 2001 without any issues (other than having to rebuild the house several times).

You may want to install electronic ignition in there, whether it's Pertronix or Mopar...

Love these old crates! :B

Eric

[Leeann]

The 440, as Griff said, is almost indestructible. Mine uses a quart of oil every 1200 miles or so and, as Griff said, it's due to valve seals. Which we might get around to sometime...but we will replace the oil pan gasket shortly and have done the valve cover gaskets as they were all leaking pretty badly.

The tranny is also almost indestructible. We thought the tranny self-destructed when it turned out to be the torque converter - we'll have a rebuilt one Tuesday. We took it all apart and found no source of the metal in the pan...and the clutches and steels looked almost new. We did put a shift kit in it when we put it back together. We finally found the metal source when we unbolted the torque converter from the flexplate. All sorts of little pieces of metal inside clinking about.

Oh, and the deep pan with filter extender piece is a wonderful thing.

[Old___Slow]

griff,

partly grew up on the kuskokwim and flew in and out of fairbanks with frank barr on the mail run, so you know, i'm a old head. forgive the lower case, at present i'm one handed. thanks for the heads up on the 440. the one thing that concerned me was the use of one quart of oil about every 800 miles. the old engine runs so smooth. i bought this old relique as it is in near mint condition and many things like the toilet, refer, a/c and various other items have been replaced. i have cancer and have outlived the doctors preduction and i'm trying to squeeze just a little more out of the ol' hide. a new rv would not have added one day to my life. we flew to anc 4 years ago, rented a mh in anchorage and drove through fairbanks. didn't know the city. thanks again.

floyd

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Old & Slow wrote:
i have the 440. the last recorded record shows it was service @ 87,000 miles. now 90,000 it uses about one quart of oil every 700/800 miles but it does not smoke. it sounds smooth and idels smooth. the tranny is also smooth. how about the tranny what can i expect?

That engine should be good for at least another 90,000 miles and probably much, much more.

Oil usage is probably due to old, brittle valve seals, which can be replaced with the heads still on the engine.

That tranny is very sturdy and almost impossible to kill. Keeping it full of clean fluid and keeping it from overheating will make it last almost forever. (These are strong transmissions ... the same ones that were put behind race Hemi's.)

Replace the filter and fluid and flush the cooler every 50,000 miles and you should be okay.

The only problem I know of that can't be traced to owner neglect is the torque converter wearing out ... both Leeann and I have had that happen.

BTW - the extra capacity pan is a good, inexpensive investment.