Odyssey 4x4

That's awesome. Funny enough I bet they're still getting tons of annoying questions and inquiries. Free is free, get it and go!

Don’t get impatient, I waited about a year to find my current rig. They pop up every month or two locally and even more often if you don’t mind making a drive. The right one will pop up in comparison to ending up over your head!

Don't do it! Even if you were mechanically inclined, given the information provided I wouldn't want to spend over $2,000 on that rig.

Or even add airbags to even it out?

Awesome! Looks like it needs some pickup in the rear suspension. Is everything on the rear axle stock?

It's definitely gonna work the 3.0. You may be okay to make it, at least it's a mostly flat drive. Make sure your cooling system is up to par.

I actually got my Escaper from word of mouth and it wasn't even for sale! I was joking with the guy at advance auto parts and said, "I really want one of those tiny Toyota motorhomes, know anyone that has one for sale?!" He said his buddy had one he wanted to sell but hadn't put it up yet. I said yeah righttttt Two days later I was handing over the cash! Best part was that the dude lived five minutes from me.

You'll have to inspect in person. Bring a good flashlight. Open every door, drawer, and cabinet and crawl around on on your knees looking into every spot and corner top to bottom inside the cabinets on the ceiling and the floor. If there is water rot, you'll likely see it. If you feel any "soft" spots on the floor (especially near the bathroom), this indicates a rotten floor. If the roof appears "saggy" in person it is likely weak from rot as well. Crawl under the truck and look for soft spots on the floor or any obvious damage, check for rust while you're down there too. I just bought my 1990 Odyssey a few months ago and it was advertised (and looked to be) in pretty dang good condition. Upon tearing it down for a rebuild it was apparent there was a good amount of water damage throughout. The rear wall is the only wall on the Odyssey without aluminum framing. When we ripped that covering off of that wall it was apparent nearly the ENTIRE rear wall of the vehicle was a soft wooden pulp, barely held together by the cabinetry and other random parts of the camper. If I had been rear ended by a bicycle they would have went straight through the wall and landed in my living room!

Time and wear still has its toll. The Escaper could have a slipping transmission, yet the Dolphin may be 95% rotted inside from a heavy leak. I don't think one could begin comparing the two in consideration of purchase before seeing and inspecting both in person. If you are not mechanically inclined, bring someone who is. You say you have $4500, from the pics I can see both look a bit low in the rear. This could be an entire shot suspension needing attention. Once you start adding up little repairs needed from time and age, you can easily spend a few grand. I had an 87 Escaper that was a great vehicle but I did basically a full rebuild of the entire mechanical vehicle including the engine from the block up. There were also plenty of systems I rebuilt in the interior of the coach to bring function back, and this was all on a vehicle in excellent condition that drove like a champ the day I bought it. The 4-banger isn't going anywhere fast but you'll get there, some can find the lack of power intimidating on highway/ mountain grade roads. Not trying to be discouraging, just making sure you know the possibilities!

There are many more things to consider than just which model layout and year. These things are old and have high mileage and their condition varies greatly between one another.

You're telling me there are junk yards that still have 4x4 Toyotas?! Not sure if mine is aftermarket or just a different setup, but the design is a bit different than Dereks photo. Could be a year variation? (sorry for the dirty pic, I need a photo of it now restored).

I ask about the leaf springs to determine if that is the cause of your hard ride. When the weight of the vehicle is on the leafs, they should still retain a slight "U" shape, if they are flat or even making an upside down U, they are shot and will definitely cause a hard ride. I see there is also a helper kit installed on your leafs as well. If the leafs are okay, my next question would be the shocks. You can usually pull them off and feel if they have any life left in their movement in the form of having resistance when compressing, or seeing if they are all floppy and loose! From the photos you provided, the truck doesn't look to be sitting too low in the rear which is a good sign. When leafs are shot you will see the rear of the vehicle sagging. Air bags are not going to solve your sway bar issue. While airbags will certainly help improve ride quality and ride height, they do not prevent sway. The sway bar is used to brace the "coach" to the axle to prevent the coach from swaying too far left and right while turning/ driving. Eliminating the sway bar is definitely dangerous in my opinion, especially in these vehicles with high centers of gravity that are susceptible to high winds. Also, sway bar bushings are super cheap and super easy to change out! While the sway bar installation on your rig is certainly different and creative, I do not see any issues with it from the photos provided. It looks like it should do the job okay, and it will do it better with new bushings. You can even clean it up and paint it while it's off the vehicle.

You could see what type of amperage the compressor is attempting to pull at start up to see if it's truly locked. With residential work there are "hard start" capacitors for this situation, they give an extra bump of power on start up.

If the swap bar was hitting the wood you'd probably see the impressions in the wood. I'm going with the easy fix for a soft camper floor. I'm curious what the chain in the photo is holding up? Also, I can see in the photos that your sway bar bushings are shot! How do the leaf springs look with wheels on the truck and springs loaded?

Maybe someone’s quick fix to a soft floor?