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Another road trip


FredNewell

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Leaving in one week.

Humboldt County CA/Minden NV/Alamo NV/Gallup NM/Tumcumcari NM/Alma AR/Smyrna TN/(car trip without motorhome to Madison WI, Chicago, Branson MO, Madison WI, back to Smyrna TN)/Return route in motorhome will be based on weather.

Be home for Thanksgiving.

I may have lost count, but this is probably our 7th or 8th such road trip in the Dolphin.

We usually get stopped by cops under some false pretense because of our Humboldt County CA plates and checked for "whatever" transport.  TN, ARK, OKLAHOMA.  One we were in a health food store watching out the window while cops parked behind our rig and had their flashlights peering into our back window.  Creepy to say the least.

 

 

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Fred, 

When I we, wife and I think about your road trip we get envious. We had a 84 dolphin the same layout as yours. I can hear the engine noise, transmission whine, anticipating the gear down, really miss the large rear window, many times we wish we had not sold and some times wonder "why we did".

We also got stopped by cops on occasion for dubious reasons, must be as my family members would say,    the hippy MoHo.

Did you get the choke problem figured out?

Darrel

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Darrel,

How would you compare the Winnebago to the Dolphin?

Choke issue?  Not checked out yet.  I still have my can of start fluid, just in case.

We hang a thick sleeping bag off of the bunk in order to separate the cab from the cabin.  It makes it much much quieter.

Taking my battery into Oreilley's for a test today.  Bought it last month and it doesn't seem to hold a charge.

Old motorhomes always have something that needs fixed.  Fortunately, these Toyota MH's are relatively cheep to fix.  Actually, new rigs require attention and require skills/cash all the time.  It must be something you really like, and can afford.

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Fred,

You know what the Dolphin is. In comparison to the 94 Winnebago;  50 more HP, it does perform better, more power, worse gas mileage, breaking is smother and more forceful, engine is quieter, road handling is improved, Dolphin did not have power steering, overall Winnebago is bigger-3" wider-1.5' longer-more head room in over head sleeper- turns in a sharper circle- I personally liked the aluminum Dolphin siding better- overall the Winnebago has less fatigue in driving.  

We put 58 thousand miles on the Dolphin and 53 thousand miles on the Winnebago. That's a good comparison. The Winnebago is a little easier on tires. Dollar upkeep is more on the Winnebago, engine wise and trans fluid.  Gas mileage Dolphin 17.4mpg   Winnebago 13.3mpg.

The choke on the Dolphin carburetor would not completely close all the time. I would have to manually close it. Open the hood and feel under the air cleaner for the choke linkage open the throttle a bit and close the choke then let go of the throttle which kept the choke closed. Then start without touching the gas peddle. Never did figure out how to adjust the linkage properly. This usually happened when the air temp was 30 or below and I pumped the throttle too many times which had a tendency to flood the engine. Had to give it a few minutes rest then it started rite up.

I redid the Dolphin battery box to accommodate a 27 series battery. I always use Walmart batteries, they are made by Johnson supply and are suppose to be good. I now use a 29 series battery an get the heaviest one, yes I have taken a bathroom scale in to weight them. Even if you only get 1-2 years out of a battery what's that compared to the cost of driving down the road. I usually do get 4 years out of a battery. It does depend on how many duty cycles the battery goes through and how rough the road you travel.    This got winded.....

Darrel

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  • 1 month later...

Made it home last night.  Drove 7800 miles on our vacation.  Part of this was in a rented minivan, but 5500 was in the Dolphin.  No troubles with the Dolphin, except that there developed a pinhole leak in the radiator.  I dumped in a small blue bottle of "stop leak stuff" and the leak did stop.  Added a half gallon of anti freeze mix.  Needles CA to Fortuna CA in one day (800 miles).  We pushed it because of the smoke from the Camp Fire that has filled California.  Rather than breathe the stuff all night, we went for the coast where the air is clean.

 

Thinking about selling.   

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  • 2 weeks later...

I listed it on CL, Humboldt California.   If it sells, then ok.  If not, then who knows... might run it there and back again.  I have  one of those 7.5 mpg diesel coaches, and every time I take the trip in the Dolphin vs the big dog,  I save a grand.

 

Late Entry... Sold it.  

Edited by FredNewell
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