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Hi, thank goodness for this site! My husband I and recently purchased a 1991 Toyota Dolphin. We think we got a good deal at $1000 and 80,000 miles. Mechanically we think she.s in decent shape, but needs some fixing up. Our concern is with the seemingly entire rotten wood frame of the living quarters. So far we pulled out the couch and eating area and pulled out the overhead cabinets and the whole left wall (drivers side) is rotten. The roof seems to be in OK condition and the sleeping area needs total repair. We plan to finish gutting it and rearrange the space with our own much lighter setup. My questions are - where do we start reframing? What materials are ideal to use and do we have to remove the fiber glass or can we rebuild from the inside? Did we get a good deal? Any thoughts or suggestions would be really appreciated

1985 Toyota Dolphin Motorhome. Owned since 1998 . Totaled by an F150 (right rear) fall of 2005. Re-man engine in 2007. Collision with a MOOSE June 15,2008 (right front) Time and pressure led to bowing and opening up a good bit. BEFORE : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v0psst7xu30l7dw/AAAD2CG8PIJpNRIXcLxtNOm0a?dl=0

I am planning on doing some work to the coach of my odyssey. Mainly floor repair, adding an awning and custom roof rack. I am wondering if there is any documentation/schematics out there of what the frame looks like under the skin. It would help to get a visual of the skeleton I am going to be dealing with. Does anyone know if anything exist from odyssey? If not has there been any write ups with pictures of a skin off restoration for a similar odyssey? Thanks

I have read a number of discussion threads on towing and frame reinforcement (along with pictures of towing cars with toyhomes!) but have seen very few pictures of what work was actually done to make that happen. Does anyone have any pictures to share? Just to say, I have no interest in towing at all, I only want to safely attach a hitch so that I can put a cargo carrier on the back for some wood, bikes and maybe a cooler (as we all know there isn't a lot of storage in these RV's), about 200lbs tops including the hitch, cargo tray and everything on it. I would love to see pictures of how hitches were mounted as well as how frames were reinforced for towing to get some good ideas on how I can attach this without droping the grey and black water tanks (I'm afraid of welding too close and melting holes in them) but there isn't much room along the extended frame rails back there. I'm including photos of the frame rails back there to illustrate exactly what I'm talking about.

Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself. My name is Matt and I'm the proud owner of an '89 Leisure Odyssey, Mesa Lounge style. This RV has been my project for almost a year now. It had extensive water damage in the rear and required new wood framing and panels. I have finally reached a point where the rig is almost finished. There's not a speck of rotted wood to be found anywhere in this thing. I've refurbished almost every nook and cranny. Here's my dilemma though: Now that its all legal and on the road I am noticing that when I park on relatively level ground, something doesn't look quite right about this rig! It was hard to notice on my slanted driveway (or perhaps I just blocked it out) but it appears the coach and cab are sort of cockeyed to each other! Has anyone ever experienced this before? I feel like I've seen several pictures of other Toyota motorhomes that had this same thing going on, but most only slightly. But on mine (particularly the passenger side) it seems pretty intense depending on what angle its viewed from. Here's some pics: The interesting thing is that the cab/chassis frame underneath appears to be perfectly straight. It's not like there's a big kink to be seen anywhere. Does anyone have any theories about what's going on here? All I can say is that there's a LOT of weight in the rear of this rig. It was designed so that the generator, air conditioner, water tank and up to three passengers where ALL located BEHIND the the axle. Probably not the best idea. Over the years it seems to have warped the shape of the overall motorhome. It's strange though because there wasn't any water damage to be found in the middle of this rig, only in the rear and a corner of the cabover. All wood in the middle of the coach is rock solid, haven't had to replace any of it. Just wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this and knows of a solution or at least a place to start. One more note: Motorhome drives down the road perfectly straight and headlights are okay too. Perhaps a previous owner compensated for the tilt? Also, you are seeing the rig with about 80-90 PSI in the driver's side air bag (to help with genny, AC and full water tank) and probably 40-50 PSI in the passenger side. Thanks so much!!! -Matt

Hi there, I needed to have a tow and called Good Sams Emergency Roadside service. They were great, the tow company not so good. When they pulled my Winnebago Warrior out of the driveway using the tow hook (?) on the rear of the frame they bent it which caused the pipe to the black tank to disconnect. See picture. The tow company is part of a auto repair shop which stated they will fix the bent part. I did inform Good Sams about the tow company as well as Geico who handles my RV insurance. They both said to let the tow company fix it and if there were any problems to contact them for the next step. My question, should I allow the tow co. to heat the metal in order to bend it back in place or should it be bent without heat? I guess I'm concerned about the integrity of the metal being bent again, I'm afraid it will break off? Or maybe this isn't a concern? Thanks for any advice. Lisa