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

[Old___Slow]

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?

[Leeann]

Hard to answer...what engine does it have?

If it's had proper care, you might be looking at forever. But who knows?

[Old___Slow]

i have a 78 dodge tioga 24' in close to mint condition. my question is, what might be the max miles before a major engine over haul assuming the engine had proper care? it has a lpg conversion for the engine. so it's either or.

[Brett_J]

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

[PPCLI-Jim]

yup saw one today . it was from california , he decided to back over my honda scooter with me on it . only cost him a new fender for my bike ..

[ALnCORY]

Nice job eyeteeth,,,, very nice!!

[Leeann]

Lookin' real good!

[eyeteeth]

No practice last night, so I went to the track, and spent a couple hours with the old horse getting a few more things done.

We pulled the battery to start contructing a new battery box/tray.
I finished attaching the ladder.
Put the top bunk in
Added pannelling to the bathroom
I turned the Fridge on... kinda making sure it still works. It was getting cold before we even left.
Lastely... took some sheets home to do laundry in preperation for using it soon. 🙂

Oh Yeah. As a bonus. I snapped a few more pics.

The Bunks


Bathroom


New Water Heater & "Trunk" area.

[Leeann]

^ hehehehehehe 😉

This one wasn't hard 'cause we hardly had to do anything to it :B

The hard part was doing the shift kit - Sam said he's never done one before. But automatic trannys are no mystery to him 'cause his dad was a specialist....and he was taught by his dad.

Personally, I still think auto trannys are voodoo!

[79powerwagon]

I love rebuilding 727's, Leeann! I don't know why, other than most people think I'm really smart or magical to be able to do it!

(Pssst! It's REALLY easy to do!) :B

[Leeann]

Oh, so that's what happened. I couldn't figure out why he couldn't make it water tight when he was sealing with 3M's 4200....now I get it. That stinks - he had made such good progress on his rig, too 😞

I'm jealous of the no salt on roads and low humidity - both of which we have an abundance of here in MD. I'm not fond of humidity...

But I love my Dodge. The 440 is strong and has such a nice throaty roar. It'll tow whatever we put behind it, even through the mountains. People look twice or three times at us on the road. Or maybe that's just because they can't tell if we're coming or going :B

We've just sort of rebuilt our LoadFlite and are about to get it back in. Let me explain sort of...apparently, it had work done to it in '96. The clutch packs, the steels, the gears, the bushings - all look great. However, the thrust washers were worn out - all the tin was gone from on top of the copper. And that's the metal sludge we found in the filter and the pan. Also, we don't think they cleaned out the tranny cooler when they did the job, which didn't help with the metal situation. And when I changed the fluid and filter, I dislodged some gook.

While we had it out, however, we put a Transgo shift kit into it, set up specifically for motorhomes and towing. So we hope this lasts forever...or at least as long as we're going to own it.

I had a big block 727, factory rebuilt, just sitting in the back of my B250 van. So we used the good parts from both, plus the shift kit, to make one good, new, strong tranny.

[Doug_in_CA]

Thanks for the welcome Leeann. I checked the pic on your profile. Nice rig. We see lots of vintage RV's her in CA as the roads never get salted and the humidty is generally low. The exception is the Pacific Coast where the salt spray in the air can be brutal over time.
I have chatted with Scott in Texas about his Chinook. He couldnt get it water tight even stripping it to the core. It seems the Texas sun has caused the fiberglass to go brittle on him. I got lucky with mine as it appears to have been stored indoors most of the time. I recently coated it with a UV protectant since my garage is to full of other stuff to even think of putting a vehicle in there. I agree with your "in any condition" statement. It's the heart of the RV that I enjoy the most, not just the outer skin. 🙂

[Leeann]

By the way, there's a member here - whom I haven't seen for a long while - who was rebuilding his '77 Chinook when he had the time, but eventually did give up.

http://www.birdsongguitars.com/chinook.htm

[Leeann]

Welcome, Doug!

We love our old Dodges here...regardless of condition 😉

[Doug_in_CA]

I just love my 1976 Chinook / Dodge. It has had loving care all its life and I intend to carry on the tradition. I have the Chinook Mobile Lodge manual as well as some other interesting paper. The 360 engine purrs and the camper has just over 36k miles on it. The smaller size goes well with the coast and fitting into those off the road fishing spots. Would love to hear from other 70's era Dodge owners.
http://home.comcast.net/~dougobayley/site/