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STILL, Still looking to buy early Toyota or Nissan 18' like Dolphin 5/29


rdsrds123

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Hi everyone, this is a really cool and active forum, neatly hidden away off the paths most traveled. I especially like the way this site is set-up, and that it is not on FB for once.  I' m looking to buy an early Toyota motorhome, and the problem is that what I want has been difficult to find.  I like the very early aluminum sided 18' "shorty" Dolphin type rig (Dolphin name used here as an example only). The Sunraders and Chinook type are nice too, but my focus is away from fiberglass. These units came from many different manufacturers back then, few of which made it very far into the 80s. They are usually the 1978 cab style because shortly (not a pun) after that most companies that survived went to the 21' variety with the later body style. Difficult to find,  but so worth it to find a nice one, many would agree. I live on the East coast and will travel, no problem. I do not have a driveway, so I have no place to tear one apart to restore. I need one in, for the most part, decent ready to go shape. However, being rather weak in this area, the right one that appeals to me may not need to be in that great a shape. I do need to be able to somehow  get it home though. I daily use Marketplace and Searchtempest but come up short( I swear using that word again was an accident) or a day late. I can find Toyota motorhomes on these services myself. What I thought I might find here is someone who has one they would like to sell, or someone who knows where one is stashed that I may be able to pry away from its current owner. Any leads are appreciated, and I hope something shows up. Included here is an image something like I'm looking for. Thanks for reading.

1978_arroyogrande-ca.jpg

Edited by rdsrds123
Spelin' and gramer mistkes
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What you want is very difficult to find especially on the east coast. They are more prone to water damage and most have rotted away by now. Not a lot of Toyota motorhomes anywhere now. Used to be abundant out here in California but now few and far between. Your going to have to be patient and look for a long time. Even in California I searched for 2 years before I found my Sunrader. Be aware too it's very likely what you find will not have the full float axle upgrade. Another 2 grand on top of whatever you pay for it

Linda S

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Yes, this is all true. I've already been searching for a very long time. That's why I'm trying this approach. Most times if I find something it sells immediately and before I can respond to the ad. This way there may be a better chance, but still I have to find one.

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The sought models (~1978) would probably have shipped with single rear wheels, either standard width or wider (7"?) rims. It seems that it was only in 1979 that manufacturers started experimenting with tag axles and foolies.

1977 Dolphin Tires.jpg

1977 Dolphin Micro Mini.pdf 1978 Dolphin Micro Mini.pdf 1979 Dolphin 500 Micro Mini.pdf

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If anyone is interested in purchasing a 1992 Dolphin in good condition, ready to drive, give me a call (918) 645-1069.

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Not sure on that. I've seen them both ways. They say if you have to run the foolies to use 5 psi less air pressure in the outer tires. Most of the aluminum sided models are '78s. Only seen a few with later body style. Either is ok. I'll read your links. Thanks!

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Don't know who "they" is but running 5 lbs less pressure on the outside tire is just a temporary solution so you don't have a disaster before you can fix it properly. Also take into consideration that it's 40 years old and you have no idea what it's been through before you got it. Could be ready to snap. Unless your a pretty good mechanic these can be more than lots of people can handle. Costs to upgrade or service existing axle can be expensive. Some things are not available at all anymore. Where rust is a problem you should know there are no gas tanks made for these anymore. Toyota's data banks for parts now only goes back to 1979. For earlier models your on your own unless someone here can help. 

Linda S

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The early hilux has a frame that is 3 inches narrower than '79 and later. The spring perches need to be repositioned.Also shock mounts need welding work. That axle is 300 pounds. Not many go through the cost and expense upgrading that axle and none think their rig should be priced less without it. I wouldn't trust that old axle too far. I see the foolies going strong on 21 ft rigs. I know of several that snapped off. One was on a Sunrader that I've seen in pictures on this site. It was 2 years ago in Mexico. The woman who owned it was going 45 mph. Dodged a bullet. They just put in a new axle shaft and then she drove it home to Alaska. That's the last I heard of it.

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yeah, finding an older aluminum sided rig without water/rot damage, rust, and with proper axle is difficult.  I've spent all winter and most of spring working on my 79/78 Mini Miage, the aluminum siding is hard to seal with the higher ridges on the panels, improper maintenance allows lots of water to get in and rot wood.  A simple sagging camper repair turned into tearing most of the wood out of the cabover and rebuilding and strengthening and reframing.  If you are crafty you can do an axle upgrade swap for less, I got a loaded dually axle with 6 wheels and springs driveshaft plus an extra fridge and converter for 650.  270 for the shop to fabricate spring perches and modify shock mounts, 20 bucks for a brake line, and all in all costs less than 1000 to do swap.  But like I said, I've spent 100s of hours working on this thing over winter, so its either your time or money, or pay a pretty penny for a properly maintained rig.

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https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/rvs/d/compton-1980-toyota-dolphin/6883001765.html

 

Hi, same with me. Couldn't get ahold of him. Seems to now be sold. Looks good, but the underside is probably toast. However, I've seen them with surface rust on the sheetmetal and the underside still ok. That's what I was hoping here. Dolphin is a good model.

 

Here is one, but there may be too much rust underneith. Can't get this guy to return my call.

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On 5/11/2019 at 4:10 PM, moalaska said:

yeah, finding an older aluminum sided rig without water/rot damage, rust, and with proper axle is difficult.  I've spent all winter and most of spring working on my 79/78 Mini Mirage, the aluminum siding is hard to seal with the higher ridges on the panels, improper maintenance allows lots of water to get in and rot wood.  A simple sagging camper repair turned into tearing most of the wood out of the cabover and rebuilding and strengthening and reframing.  If you are crafty you can do an axle upgrade swap for less, I got a loaded dually axle with 6 wheels and springs driveshaft plus an extra fridge and converter for 650.  270 for the shop to fabricate spring perches and modify shock mounts, 20 bucks for a brake line, and all in all costs less than 1000 to do swap.  But like I said, I've spent 100s of hours working on this thing over winter, so its either your time or money, or pay a pretty penny for a properly maintained rig.

The siding on the Mini-mirage might be unique. Like you say, difficult to see. Never thought of that, but lots of them are still around and looking good. There is one for sale in Bakersfield CA, but the inside is strange. Looks low mileage and a good price. I call him when it was 1000 higher. He cant seem to sell it.

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IMG_0651.jpeg.87ac389c1d215f03111d0935e7ebcedb.jpegIMG_0650.jpeg.3fa7d71af590fd34a9410b36121e54f1.jpeg 

I found this little sucker just randomly on Craigslist.  Yes, it has foolies, and some parts are a bit hard to find, blah blah blah blah but I don't care.  I'm fixing it up on my spare time, I've already put in brand new Ecovan tires, and had to do a head gasket on its 20R with 45K miles but right now it runs like a champ.  The guy who did the head gasket job put in all the new stuff you would normally do (water pump, belts, etc...) and he was shocked he had to do one on a 20R because they're so dependable - thinks the previous owner was just careless and ran it hot.  It's a 4-speed manual, no AC, etc... but since the cab is always under the bedroom, you don't really need the cabin AC.  Mine's not for sale, but my advice to you is:

- Autotempest doesn't work for sh*t, for some reason it doesn't really find stuff, especially weird stuff like this.  I've done tests where I find a listing for something on Craigslist, and then I try Autotempest to see if it finds the listing, and it totally skips it.  Don't trust it, you have to manually search.

- Speaking of manually-searching, Craigslist has a lot of tools that can help you narrow down the years; if you're looking for an early RV, you would pick, for example, to only search for models "1975 to 1985" or something.  That clears a lot of clutter.

- Sometimes you can find them on eBay, but you'll pay A LOT more, because people who put them on eBay know that they're reaching a much wider market and so they want to get as much as possible for them; your best bet is to try different Craigslists, especially in the West so you find one that's not all rusted to hell.

One caveat - I really don't know what I'm doing, so be aware and probably listen to Linda S, that guy Derek Up North or something, like, they know a lot more about these things.

Bonne chance!

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That is a Keystone, your motorhome. Looks better than I could ever imagine finding.  When I use Searchtempest a lot of rigs get missed. I manually go all over using CL too. I also use FB Marketplace with a 100 mile search radius and go all over with that too. I'll try narrowing the search parameters like you suggest.  Keep a lookout for me. Thanks

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I have a Phoenix CL search that I Saved. It includes surrounding areas too, including Tuscon. These two listings do not show up in that search, and when I went to alTuscon CL I do not see either. Still, want aluminum sided. 

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Oh, I see them. They are listed under cars and trucks for sale. My searches are under campers and RVs. Never seen a Sunrader listed that way before. Chinook, maybe. Thanks!

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On 5/24/2019 at 11:39 AM, rdsrds123 said:

Mine was a project, I paid $2,000 for it.  This one is a PROJECT, and (this is HUGE): if you can do most of the work YOURSELF, it may be worthwhile.  This needs a ton of work.  I think all these guys in this forum know that you must work on the thing yourself.  I did some of the work on mine, and I also had someone else do some work.  I also have a '90 Dolphin V6 and this is what I can tell you:

- RV Repair specialists charge about $150 per hour.  That is INSANE for what amounts to be just basic electricity, woodworking, mechanical work.  That's more than I paid my specialized BMW dealer to work on my M3 (they charged $100 per hour and I thought that was crazy, but then again, M3's are like race cars for the street).  So be prepared to $$$$PEND!

- As if the labor rate wasn't bad, RV Specialists charge for EVERYTHING piecemeal.  You want that light cover replaced, as well as the light bulb inside?  They will ITEMIZE everything, so for that it will be like 15 minutes to "R&R cover", another 15 minutes to "R&R light bulb", plus the parts charge which is like (and I'm not joking here), 5X the price you can get on the internet for the exact same part.  So you just paid $75 to replace something you could have done yourself in 5 minutes (15 if you're me, because I'm an idiot).  The biggest scam?  The $300 "inspection" charge, where they go through and charge you for pointing things out that you can see for yourself.  They'll write down things like "it has rust on the hood" (no sh*t sherlock, I can see that!).  You think they'll get in and really see what's not working and why.  No dice.  "Oh, you want us to tell you how much to fix the rust on the hood?  That'll be another $150 for a "diagnosis fee"".  Just make a list and keep that money in your pocket, thank you very much.

- You can buy most of the "RV Portion" parts for your camper online, campingworld.com has a lot of stuff, also eBay, and sites people here recommend.  I have a love/hate thing for Amazon so I don't buy sh*t there, so don't judge me - just think of the "greater good".  For me, the most difficult part was figuring out what parts are called; it's hard to find stuff when you're searching for "thingy where garden hose connects to rv", or "frame for flip-up vent on rv roof", or "key for thingy where rv battery is".... stupid stuff like that.  For the car portion, just go to Pep Boys, Advanced, O'Reilly's, etc... and find the parts you need, but be careful and not try to put, for example, REGULAR shocks on your RV, you have to get the specific RV ones (I said "RV", so I slapped myself for doing so), but that's how you find the parts.  Some parts will be different, others won't, just be mindful of that.

So, anywhere you call, go, park, anything, AVOID using the word "RV" at ALL COSTS.  If you can remember this one thing, it will save you craploads of time, money, hassle.  When you say the word "RV" people assume you're driving one of those quarter-million luxury buses with like 20 pullouts and gold-plated everything inside, and they'll charge you likewise.  Instead, use words like "camper" (this one works out really well), or "truck" or something.  And then visit shops that specialize in truck or off road repair or just independent shops.  And always start by saying you have a "(fill in year here) Toyota Truck" and you need whatever.  I put brand new airbags on my '90 Dolphin, I ordered the Air Lift system online (for about $200 less than the RV repair shop wanted), and then I got some estimates to remove the old kit and install the new one.  The average quote was $600 to do this from RV shops.  I went to a shop that specializes in lifted 4x4 trucks and they charged $300.  Also, the RV shop wanted almost $2000 to put a head gasket on my '78, but I took it to a regular guy that that's all he does (head gaskets), and he charged me $800 P&L.

So, never say "RV", do as much of the work yourself (it's pretty easy, this coming from me, and half the time I have no idea what I'm doing), make friends with Harbor Freight (you'll be using them a lot), remember that Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart carries a lot of the same sh*t that RV parts places have so be sure and look there too, think of your Toyota as a Toyota and not a Sunrader, Dolphin, RV, or whatever and make others think that way too.

One last note is that for the longest time I saw an ad for a "camper" just like mine ('78 Toyota) in the Phoenix craigslist and the ask was $10,900.  It was on there for, like, 3 months.  It's not there anymore, so the guy either sold it or gave up.  It was in pretty good shape but definitely not pristine, so I have no idea what these things are worth, so if you can buy this for like $1000 at MOST (bring cash) and then spend some $5-6K you'll be in around $8K on it and you have to decide whether that's good or not.  Getting it to your house will be half the fun!  You'll need new tires straight away, no matter what.

I'm also near Mexico and I speak Spanish so I'm planning to have a lot of the work (inside upholstery, carpeting, woodwork, some electrical, etc...) there, and the prices are about 1/3 of what I'm getting quoted in the US.  That's probably not an option for most people, but I thought I'd just throw it there.

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Yeah, get your paint sprayed in Mexico. This rig in Oklahoma appears too far gone, but the pictures are dark inside. You can install an inline fuel pump external to the gas tank if carbuerated, to get it home. Blowing up the pictures I can see lots of silicone on the exterior. Probably rotted. I called the guy but he seemed alusive. Don't like that. The floor could need replacing, and if so, it needs to be gutted. I think Dolphin had a sheet metal floor underlayment.

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14 minutes ago, rdsrds123 said:

Oh, dear!  I noticed the description says: "It's a 2 door it runs but needs a jump first. Has a flat tire. Has a lost title. msg me for more info "  I just about crap my pants laughing.  I was, like, that's the least of it's problems!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes, I saw that one. It has a ton or east coast rust underneith. I talked to the seller who was selling it in NJ last year. Apparently this guy in PA bought it and is now reselling(at a nice profit). All the eastern examples I've seen are not very nice, but I still look here too. I'm sure there are some that have been taken care of. Thanks.

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I think that picture of the rusty wheel is a long unused spare tire, tucked underneith. May indicate how much rust would be under there keeping that wheel company.

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East/West doesn’t really tell you a whole lot. My rig was sold in NH, spent 20 years in Georgia, then 10 years in Maine. It’s now registered in NC. I’m the 3rd owner with all the original paperwork including its first factory oil change. 

The frames of the early Toyota were made of very light gage metal and prone to rust. The advantage to a motor home is it usually sat parked except for summer vacations, road trips etc. Not used as a daily driver. Even southern vehicles can have rust issues. A frame inspection would be recommended regardless of what state you were purchasing from. 

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