elskysto

Say hello to the newest owner of a toyota motorhome. It's a pretty decent truck for the year, I paid a grand for it and you know I'm happy with that. The tires are weird it did have the five lug axle but instead of dualies it had these super wide rear tires like a 245/60r14 and then the front were like 195r14 almost like the super singles that you see a ton of semi's driving around with instead of the duals. The tires that were on it were trashed he had the spare on one side and it was missing like a good 10 cubic inches of tread so that the radials were exposed. We drove it to a tire shop and they didn't having anything that would fit the rims with a high enough load rating so that we could drive it the three hours back home but they did have a trailer tire that would fit so we put that one on and limped it home. So first thing is to either locate a 6 lug axle or buy some tires. What do I ask for when I start calling junk yards? do I ask if they have an toyota rv's with 6 lug axles? I heard about one guy using a GM axle? I'll do some searching on the forum. Thanks for your guys help I like having a few projects around and this will be a fun one

sounds good waiter I like that plan. Thanks all for the replies you helped a ton. Well I'm off to go check out a 78 dolphin I'll let you guys know if I end up being the proud owner and newest member of the toyota motorhome nation

Thanks for the info derek if the dolphin was only a 15' vs say an 18' or 21' seabreeze or any other model for that matter (I'm just guessing lengths of models) wouldn't that 3 to 6 less feet make it significantly lighter?

RHS and Derek thanks a ton for the replies that's good to know about the particle board, Thanks for the heads up and pricing for the rear axle, as for what I've read on the forum and this pdf http://www.toyotamotorhomes.com/files/Axle_FAQ.pdf if it's less the 18ft it should be ok according to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallsearch.cfm only the 78 seabreeze was recalled from National RV who manufactures the dolphin. So I might be alright. Has the general rule of thumb been to to just go ahead and replace them no matter what? Is 1500 a fair price for a 78 with 75k on it? Are there any other tips or things you guys would recommend looking at before I buy? PS Kudos to the forum you guys are awesome I rebuilt a trail 70 this fall and joined a forum and it was kind of funny how rude some of the responses were to my questions. I read a lot of forums but when your new to a forum it's sometimes difficult to know what to search for but this place is pretty clean and pretty simple

Fred and Stamar thanks for the replies that knocks one question down no head gasket recall now all I need to know is what I can expect to pay in parts for a 5 lug to a 6 lug axle and if they are still available and if you guys think this is a decent deal or not, I love projects like this but I don't love nightmares you know I'll do some more reading Fred and I can't agree more there is a ton of info on this forum I love it

tell me everything you know about 78 toyota dolphins Ok so I've been reading through the forum and I've learned a lot, some great information. I hate crashing forums for answers but if any of you take the time to help me out it will be much appreciated. I've found a 78 dolphin with 74K and asking price of 1500. I've read about particle board water damage but how that doesn't apply to some model years. I've also read about 5 vs 6 lug rear axles, and something about a recall on the head gasket I believe. I'm fairly skilled mechanical wise and first thing I'd do if I bought it would be to replace all the suspension, new plugs wires rotor and boot, check and replace the cv axles if needed run full synthetic in the transmission and rear differential, do the fuel filter, air filter, oil, and radiator flush, possibly new radiator depending on the look of the old one. So mechanically I'm not super concerned but I'm oblivious to what I need to look for in a 30+ year old camper other then the plumbing, fridge, stove electrical all work but that's about it. I have a connection with a rino lining company would rino lining the roof solve any leak problems? What kind of price am I looking at in doing a 5 lug to 6 lug conversion? any answers would be awesome thanks in advance