TheLittlePuppy

Robert, It looks fantastic!! I bet you are tickled pink! We both had huge smiles just looking at your Yodahome all repaired. It was great you didn't have to scrap it after all. This makes a cold, snowy night in January warm! Charles & Dianne

Oh, my Perry, those pictures do look awful. What damage. Hard to believe, but there it is. So glad no one was hurt except your Toy motorhome and your wallet ... a big OUCH. Sure do hope you are able to have it fixed as you have a beautiful MH and would hate to see it end this way. Please keep us advised as to what you do. We're all pulling for you and hope things are fixable and perhaps, even better than before. Not yet, hopefully!!! Dianne

My goodness, that was certainly original! One could wake up in the night and think they were back in the '60s! We like the "retro look" in our '84 Dolphin. To each his own. Dianne

Hi CaptJohn, Welcome to the forum! We cleaned our '84 Dolphin with Totally Awesome cleaner we got at Dollar Tree or Family Dollar stores. It did a great job with all the dirt and black streaks. We have aluminum on the coach body and it didn't harm it. Put it on and rinsed it right off so it didn't stay on and streak. Check on here for past entries about cleaning and you will probably find what you're looking for if it is fiberglass. Clean coaches are nice! Dianne

Yes, these Toys do not stop on a dime from faster speeds (fast in our case being 55 mph). In fact, one of the major things to be aware of when driving your Toy motorhome are the wonderful folks that will see you coming down the road/street and pull out in front of you. Had this happen to me this week when I had The Little Puppy out. I had the green light and two vehicles turned right as I approached the intersection; one of them was a police car. So much for the "right on red after stop!" Guess they don't remember that means no vehicles approaching that have the right of way. When we are on the highway, we are always looking for anyone waiting to pull out because we know they will probably pull out. I guess they think they will have to poke behind us and they would rather give us a heart attack by pulling out and having us hit the brakes. So, be aware ... they're out there and they're waiting to get you, too. Safe driving and braking. Dianne

Hi Adel, Welcome! Let us know what kind of attention your Sunrader draws as you travel the next few weeks/months. Put pictures up as you can. Stay safe and enjoy your trip. Dianne

Hey Shanda, Nice to see you're back as I was wondering about you and Sadie. The Little Puppy is winterized too, and we still start him up and take him out for a drive. I've been hoping it would warm up and we could take him on a winter campout, but Charles just looks at me with this "look" and tells me to wait until Spring! Guess that is what I'll have to do. <big sigh> Johnny, how was that drive in the snow? We had a light dusting of it here in Tulsa this morning, but TLP is still sitting in the drive. He's a cold-natured little guy, so today would not be the best for a drive. Right now it is 19* so had better just let him rest! Dianne

Howdy! Welcome to a world of Toy motorhome info! Always glad to see another Toy owner. See, it was worth the wait and is so exciting to get just what you wanted! With the 4 cylinder, you will find it is not the fastest truck on the road, but it will get you where you're going, just slower. Actually you will see better gas mileage keeping the speed around 55-60 mph and also better control especially if the wind is blowing and also enjoy the passing scenery. Here's to your new one! May you enjoy it for a long, long time! Dianne '84 Dolphin (Took awhile to find ours, too)

Dennis, If you are near Tulsa, Oklahoma we highly recommend: Superwrench Import Auto Specialists (Toyota) Serving Tulsa for Over 30 Years - Kevin Medlin, Owner/Manager 11321 E 60 Pl. Tulsa, OK 918-250-0353 Thanks, Dianne ... '84Dolphin

Hey Johnny, Sorry you slipped through the cracks; welcome back. Yes, the '84 Dolphin is nice. I would think when and if you decide to sell this one, it could hinder it somewhat with the sink, fridge, stove and some cabinets removed. Probably most people looking to buy a Toy MH would want these items as they would like to travel and/or camp and would need them. But you may find someone that would want a nice tailgate MH so I suppose you will have to see what happens then. In the meantime, go ahead and use it and enjoy it. Best regards, Dianne '84 Dolphin 300 Den (we love it!)

Hey Beehaven, I love a happy ending! Sure hope you can really be happy and get your $400 returned; sometime miracles do happen! Hooray for the Toyota garage people , they do know their vehicles. We love our Toyota guys that work on The Little Puppy. These guys on this forum are the best and always willing to help. Wishing you long transmission life and fun times in your Toy! Dianne (we enjoy our manual 4-speed!)

Thanks, Dennis and Jim, for your info. We will check out your suggestions. Always someone here willing to help and we appreciate it! Dianne

Thanks, John, for letting us know this won't be a piggy bank buster. The 6 lug axle replacement was pricey and we are glad it's not in that price range. Good to know your system is still running smooth and delivering cold air. Best regards, Dianne

Happy New Year Everyone! Our a/c in the truck does not blow cold air. We have had it charged with freon, but it leaks out and only blows warm air. Wondering about changing over to the new refrigerant and what is a ballpark figure for doing that? We will need the a/c in the truck come spring, summer and fall as we travel with our dogs and they need cool air and we like that cool air too. Thought this might be a slow time to have this done so it will be ready for the road. Thanks for any info on this. Hope everyone is either working on their Toy, traveling in their Toy, or wishing they could load up and hit the road and enjoy their Toy! Dianne

Has it been driven and used or has it been sitting for awhile? If it has been sitting for months or even years, that can add to tune up costs. Gas left in the gasoline tank can cause problems. You might want a good mechanic to check it out first. Now for the 5 lug axle . . . that will have to be changed to a heavy-duty 6 lug for safety. We have a '84 Dolphin and had the 5 lug changed for the 6 lug. Cost was $2,200. It does look like it has a good coach interior, however check for leaks. We would suggest offering $3,000 since you will have to upgrade the rear axle. Best wishes, Charles & Dianne

Our '84 Dolphin had a Bargman L-300 lock that finally wore out. When we inserted the key, it would not lock. We took it apart and could see it was toast. They don't last forever due to road vibration, dust, etc. There is a place in Elkhart, Indiana that has Bargman L-300 locks listed on their website and they are the most affordable that I've come across...$40 for black, chrome costs $25 more. We got a black one and it works just fine and looks good even though we had chrome before. www.rvsurplussalvage.com Hope this helps you with your lock problem. They aren't hard to install either. Dianne

Hi Ezrider! Welcome to the wonderful world of Toy motorhomes! Whoo whee, did someone use this poor baby as a traveling trash dumpster? Shame on them . Thumbs up for you for getting it for free. With all the trash cleaned out, it looks like a motorhome inside again. Since you are in Bismarck and more than likely won't be doing any winter camping with it, this could be a winter fix-it-up job. Hopefully, the roof isn't completely toast and you will not find lots of other uh oh things. Since it was free, perhaps you will have some extra cash to use to make this a really nice little motorhome. Don't give up on it as you may have a diamond in the rough! Keep us all informed of your progress. Best wishes! Dianne & Charles

Hi Jeep! Nice to have another Toy owner hop aboard...there's room for lots more, too! We're your neighbors to the north in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We have a 1984 Toyota Dolphin called "The Little Puppy" and three dogs that enjoy going anywhere with us in TLP. These Toys may be small in the motor home world, but they are big in enjoyment. You will find there are lots of things to fix in them, but they are worth it; after all, we all need some tweaking now and then (sometimes major overhauls )! Hope you enjoy your Winnie on your deer lease...sure nice to have a "home away from home" while hunting and then use it on future trips. Texas has lots of nice campgrounds to explore. Happy Hunting! Charles & Dianne & The Boys - Buddy, Andy, Johnnie

Allen & Maineah, Thanks for your help. We will look for the anode brass nut and see if we can get it loose. We would rather go this route than the 6 gallons of antifreeze. This will be our Saturday morning motor home job. Charles generally shies away from anything that involves plumbing, but I think he will be able to tackle this! Again, thanks for your experienced input! Dianne

Hi All, Have read all the entries about winterizing. Was going to drain the hot water heater but are having a problem locating the drain plug on our hot water heater. I took The Little Puppy by a friend's yesterday so he could show me how he drains the hot water tank in his '90 Toyota Dolphin. Our Dolphin is a '84 model and they are different to some degree. He looked under the coach and located two drain plugs, but could not get to them because pipes were in the way. We then looked inside the coach under the couch and saw the water lines that run to the hot water tank, but that did not appear to be where the drains are. He suggested we put RV antifreeze in the freshwater holding tank, use the waterpump to run it through the lines and it should go into the HWT and protect it. Then drain it in the spring, etc. We have already blown air in the lines and put RV antifreeze in the drains, but could not figure out the HWT (no manual to go by). We have a great RV guy that has done some repairs for us, but would rather not pay $69.95 fee if we can do it this way. It does seem like adding a few gallons of RV antifreeze would be the way to go with this. Thanks for any help! Dianne

Shanda, Yes, The Little Puppy loves his new rearend and so do we! He is named in honor of our pups, but we think we heard him purring as we drove along! We were so pleased with how he performed on our trip. These little Toyota trucks are real jewels! We made it up some moderately steep hills without holding up too much traffic and he did just great on the interstate...just breezed on down the road. Didn't burn a drop of oil. He is a little cold natured when starting in the mornings, but so are we ! Had a grand time seeing the countryside more slowly, and didn't break our pocketbook filling up with fuel. That's a nice change. We will be taking TLP out for some winter drives so he doesn't have to just sit so long and will keep his juices flowing so we'll be ready to go places in the spring. The dogs just love him and can't wait to hear the words "load up, we're going places!" These little toys are so much fun. Sure hope everyone is enjoying theirs! Stay tuned for more updates as they occur! Dianne

Took The Little Puppy out on his first long trip recently. Drove on flat roads and some hilly country plus had some wind to deal with. We were fully loaded plus three people and three small dogs. Total mileage was 451, drove 55 mph (did creep up to 60 a time or two) and our overall mpg was 15.5....we were very pleased! Cheapest gas was in SW Missouri $1.83 gallon . The Little Puppy did a super job on the road with his "new" axle and was very comfortable for all of us. The only problem we had was before we left our driveway. Charles was checking the tires and found an inside dually tire flat. Called Good Sam and within half an hour the nice man was here to check it out. He couldn't find any nails or screws or defects (they are new tires) so he aired it up along with checking all the other tires to make sure they were okay and had the right tire pressure. He said that sometimes dually tires will go flat for no reason so always check your tires before driving. We had no further problems with tires on the trip. So overall, we were happy campers with the exception of the two COLD nights we endured because of an unexpected fast moving cold front that blew through. We survived and were glad to have the extra puppy heat from our dogs! We are looking forward to many more trips in our Toy....he's a joy! Dianne

Well, I see we missed a really fun time...bummer. But there's always next year, right? What's not to like....flea market, pumpkins, apple cider, Maid Rites (yummmm!), Lincoln Douglas reenactment, potluck supper and time spent with other Toy owners.......priceless! Even the dog enjoyed himself! We had planned on coming this year, but it didn't work out for us so we will put it on the calendar for next October and hopefully will be able to attend. That part of the midwest is lovely in the fall. Glad the attendance is growing....who knows with everyone wanting one of these little homes on wheels, perhaps there will be so many there next year we have to have the whole campground! Wouldn't that be a hoot! Dianne & Charles & "The Boys" (our dogs that enjoy going anywhere, anytime)

You might try a product called The Ant Bully which is a tape with repellant on it that can be wrapped around pipes, electric cords, water hose, sewer hose, etc. Check here for more information www.theantbullies.com. I haven't used it yet, but it does sound like it will keep the little pests out of your motor home. We had a few that showed up in our Dolphin that was parked on the driveway this summer; we put in some ant traps and so far we haven't seen any more ants. Terro is a good brand that works. One person on rv.net said they had ants take over their travel trailer and they got rid of them using Black Flag bombs (not the kind that actually blow up something ) placed at the front and rear of the trailer. They emptied all cupboards and left doors open, mattresses lifted and all storage areas opened. Said they had no more ants after that. Sure hope this info will help as it is creepy having these guys crawling over everything including you. Another thing, if you park under trees, make sure there not any branches touching your roof as they can get in that way too. Dianne

Hi Cathy & Mike, So glad you guys had a nice trip even with the broken weld. We have three dogs that will be going places with us in The Little Puppy so we have that in common. I bet you all were the talk of the campground with your little Turtle. It's nice to be a little different in a world of BIG rigs. These little ones seem to take a licking and keep on ticking with lots of tender care and $. Just think, this is the beginning of many more fun, enjoyable and somewhat affordable trips. Nice to hear that you took your three dogs and had a well-deserved vacation after none in eight years. Welcome home! Dianne & Charles