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

[goreds2]

Has anyone worked on a 1989 Dodge Xplorer? I am having trouble with the drivers side electric window. Is the panel easy to remove? Hopefully, it just fell off of the track.

[eyeteeth]

Since I am back to working on the old girl, I once again have a few questions.

Next project I need to take on, is my DC seems to be taking a dump. It started with an interior, and the exterior light. Then included a DC power source and the TV antennae booster... now it seems to have crept to the other side and taken out the other DC power source...

All fuses are good. I'm thinking they simply lost ground. But... I'm not much into electrical. So, what is a good procedure to test/repair?

On a side note... Part of why I had disappeared from the forum for a while was lack of funds to do anything. Another victim of the economy... ended up letting a number of things go. Still having problems getting extra $$$ to get the parts, be decided I wanted to keep the old RV going. I became rather discouraged when I discovered I need to do a lot of work in the cab over area. Not sure how, where, or when to tackle that... still debating really. But either way, I need to get electrical working properly.

Thanks.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

regis101 wrote:
Question to those that changed to LED's.
Any difference in turn signal firing time? Do they blink faster or the same as before.
Having a lower draw than Incandescent lamps can make the flasher wonky, iirc.
No big but just wondering.

They typically require a readily-available flasher that depends on electronics rather than heat-resistance to activate the cycling.

Old style flashers relied on resistance to open and close the contacts. This is why these flashers tended to cycle faster with additional lights, such as from a trailer.

These are gradually being replaced by electronic flashers that don't rely on resistance. These flashers have circuitry that opens and closes the circuit based on a timer, allowing them to operate with a
variable number and types of lights. You can hook up a trailer without having to change the flasher ever time. They will also drive LEDs or a mixture of LEDs and incandescent lights without changing the flash cycle. They also tend to last longer than the old thermal flashers.

These days, most available flashers are the electronic type and it's hard to find the old thermal type.

Whenever I run across one of older thermal flashers, I replace it with a newer electronic flasher and toss the old one.

Both types are identical in appearance and connection so it's difficult to tell the difference without close examination, testing, or looking up the specification.

[Leeann]

I had bought a replacement heavy duty electromechanical flasher (EL12) at Advance Auto, so no trouble at all. I had already bought it because our race trailer has a ton of LEDs on it and I didn't want any trouble with the ancient mechanical flasher.

[regis101]

Question to those that changed to LED's.
Any difference in turn signal firing time? Do they blink faster or the same as before.
Having a lower draw than Incandescent lamps can make the flasher wonky, iirc.
No big but just wondering.

[TreeSeeker]

Chickennhead,

I don't know what the difference between the Miro-Flex 350 (yours) and the 352 is, but there are some 352's for sale here:

http://www.wolfsmarine.com/Miro-Flex-352-353-Trailer-Lights-Pair-P4613.aspx

They look the same.

[Leeann]

That's what we did. Brighter, lower draw...new. All good.

[timmac]

Geez just upgrade to new rear lights and go LED, new rear lights are not that expensive.

[Griff_in_Fairba]

Chicknnhead wrote:
well went to get my motorhome at the storage lot on Saturday, and it was vandalized! among the things I have to cleanup on the inside and replace, the only thing on the outside was the tail lights. I NEED HELP locating the bases
if anyone has a set of these bases( I have extra lens) I would be interested. maybe you know of a rv in a junk yard that has these tail lights, wasting away

It looks like the Miro-Flex brand is now owned by Optronics. Look here.

A quick search indicates your particular STT light may be obsolete. I'd contact Optronics to make sure and ask if they have any NOS lights left in a warehouse somewhere.

Assuming you want to stay with OEM style, you might have to fabricate new bases. I could do it, using fiberglass & epoxy, but it would be expensive due to labor.

Personally, I'd go the restomod route, fabricating something similar but not identical. I'd also upgrade to LED for longevity and lower current draw.

The primary issue is the angle between the body and lens. Most STT lights made today are designed to mount on vertical surfaces. I'd do it using built-up wood, fiberglass, and marine epoxy. Best wood would be Port Orford or Alaska Yellow Cedar, although Western Red Cedar would be lighter and almost as rot resistant. The first two are strong while the third is a bit more fragile.

Almost any wood would work as long as it's encapsulated (sealed) with marine epoxy such as WEST Systems epoxy. I have a boat built using epoxy encapsulated wood that has survived outdoors in Interior Alaska for almost 20 years, though rain, snow, and temperatures ranging from -50° F to +90° F. The downside to marine epoxy is it's UV sensitive so it needs to be coated with high solids varnish or opaque paint.

Take two 2X blocks of wood and bevel them to match the angle of the coach's rear mounting surface. Shape the blocks to match the new lights. (Depending on the lights you choose, this may just consist of rounding the blocks' corners.) Drill out the blocks' centers, leaving 1/2" to 3/4" of wood around the outside. Drill the mounting holes and seal all surfaces with several coats of marine epoxy, including the inside of mounting holes and hollowed-out area. Laminate a layer of 6 oz or lighter fiberglass to the outside and paint to match the RV's body.

The fiberglass adds a bit of strength but mainly serves to provide abrasion resistance and help build up epoxy for more moisture resistance. The paint, in addition to matching the coach, protects the epoxy from the effects of sunlight.

Contact me if you choose this route and have questions.

[Phantom59]

Had a friend who trashed a brand new one he had for 20 years about 6 months before he found out I was looking for one

[Chicknnhead]

I found the hood from a guy in NEW York that had never installed in from the 70's, I have had the hood about 7 years, took some hard searching to find one

[Phantom59]

You can still get aftermarket fiberglass scoops but it's difficult to put them on a steel hood without it looking like an add on. I want to find a true scoop hood so I can use it for a fresh air intake

[toedtoes]

A fellow clipper owner had a scoop made and installed it on his hood. Wasn't that expensive. It is taking him two tries to the get the scoop the right size and angle.

[Phantom59]

Don't have any idea where to get the tail light I changed mine over to a new flush mount set years ago. If you ever run across another hood with the scoop I would love to have one for mine

[Chicknnhead]

well went to get my motorhome at the storage lot on Saturday, and it was vandalized! among the things I have to cleanup on the inside and replace, the only thing on the outside was the tail lights. I NEED HELP locating the bases
if anyone has a set of these bases( I have extra lens) I would be interested. maybe you know of a rv in a junk yard that has these tail lights, wasting away

Passenger side, I can cleanup, I got it working again.


the drivers side is beyond repair.




part number on the back of the base is MIRO-Flex 350


Just a picture of our setup