New '92 Toyota Dolphin Owner

[Mark Krueger]

Hi Everyone! I hope it's OK for me to post an "introducing myself" thread here. 

I recently became the owner of a 1992 Toyota Dolphin V6 with 55,000 miles, and am very excited to begin traveling the US with my family. Here is a little bit of my Dolphin's history:

My parents have owned 3 Dolphins. The first was a 4 cylinder. The second was a V6 similar to mine (which they lost when a trailer crashed into them on the interstate). And the third was this 1992. They didn't use it as much as the first two due to their age (my father just had his 90th birthday). That is why it is only at 55,000 miles :-) My Dad is meticulous about maintaining his vehicles, and built a garage specifically to fit the Dolphins; so it has been a garage queen for it's entire life. My parents decided they are now done with their RV adventures, and have sold it to me. My name is Mark, and I am 45 with a wife and 10 year old daughter excited to begin adventuring. I hope I can do justice to this incredibly well maintained vehicle.

I'm sorry I don't have great pictures; but figured I should at least share these two. The external shot was taken about 2 years ago. It looks basically exactly the same today; as my parents have only added 300 miles to it since then. That's me sitting on the step in the "outside" pic, and My Dad is center in the inside pic. I'll be sure to take more before we begin transporting it home; as it is a real all-original beauty.

I have a few projects to complete before we can begin our adventure. We live in San Francisco, so the first is securing a good parking place before transporting it here from Wisconsin. Luckily my father-in-law owns a lot where he kept his Class A RV for many years before selling it. It is a concrete slab with driveway that I believe has plumbing and electric! I just have to re-assemble his tent-garage-structure and we will be ready to store our RV. I will be taking a look at that this evening.

Next I'll have to figure out the logistics of driving it home. I'd like to make a trip out of it; as there is some beautiful country between Wisconsin and California -- as well as a lot of empty space. The dolphin has the extra-large gas tank option; so that should help with the long drive West. What kind of mileage do you all expect from the V6 on flat highways (I'll probably be a slow driver to save on gas)?

I don't think I will have much maintenance to do to the RV itself before the big trip West. The tires were all replaced 10,000 miles ago. My father has been doing regular maintenance as far as oil-changes, muffler, brakes, etc, at a local Toyota place. He keeps excellent records.

Please jump in with advice on anything I should be sure to check before the first voyage. I will also read all the existing threads on maintenance. I'm especially curious about the "air bag" suspension system I noticed when doing a walk around with my Dad. I'm not familiar with those; hope I won't run into any pitfalls with that due to its age.

I'm looking forward to re-doing the interior myself to bring the shag carpet up to something more modern, adding a solar system and battery pack to reduce reliance on the Onan generator (which is reliable; but quite loud), and lots of other ideas. I'd like to prep it for dry camping to maximize our adventure options; as well as hopefully camping at some free/low cost options whenever possible. But it will also need to be very comfortable for my wife. I wonder if replacing the driver/passenger seats would be a good idea for more comfort on long trips.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Many thanks to all those responsible for this amazing forum!  I'll keep posting in this thread over the coming months as our Dolphin moves Westward. First my Dad and I have a camping trip planned at EAA Airventure in July -- which is only about 60 miles from the Dolphin's current home. Maybe I'll see some of you there. We will be camping just outside the grounds near the ultralight area entrance (red barn). I am hoping to bring it West shortly after that trip -- if all goes well with preparations.

 

[fred heath]

Nice looking rig. Welcome to our forum.

The collective knowledge of our members will be able to answer any questions you may have.

It seems like your in pretty good shape for the trip out west. Knowing the maintenance history is a great plus.

[Wade]

Congrats! Great looking rig. You said 10k on the tires but that doesn't mean a thing. How many years?  Personally I wouldn't do a trip like that on anything more than 7 or 8 years old. As it was stored in a shed in WI I might stretch it a bit longer but not too much.  (Tire date codes not installation date.)

I like to make sure that all the rubber hoses on the engine cooling and fuel system at least are fresh. However, indoor storage in WI you are probably fine with a good visual inspection. Same goes for brake hoses.  Sounds like your dad kept up on the roof seams and frankly, from how good it looks, I hope you have the chance for some father son time where he can show you how he maintained it and pass that knowledge along to you.

Have fun at the EAA!  What a great rig to have for doing that!  Wish I could join you!

Wade

Edited June 13, 2016 by Wade

[Mark Krueger]

Things have changed a bit...thought I would update.

We decided driving the RV 2200 miles out to California would make it hard to get it back another 2200 miles to Wisconsin for next years EAA. It would end up being a constant loop of driving every year. I really want to keep taking my Dad for that camping week as long as it is possible for him. So I'm leaving the Wisconsin RV in the garage in Wisconsin.

Instead I found a 1992 Dolphin in CA and purchased it last week! Complete lack of rust is a bonus (got to love CA climate). Phew, here we go. I'll post new pictures when I get the chance. It has 60K miles and is in great shape; with much work done to the V6 a couple years ago.

Am I now officially a Dolphin collector? I seem to be not alone in this :-)

Edited November 6, 2016 by Mark Krueger

[fred heath]

This may sound a little crazy. ?

 

If you have two toys with dedicated parking in two different states, why not shuttle them back and forth. Drive the Cali toy to your dads house, do your camping, and then drive dads toy back to Cali. leaving your toy at dads place. It's still a round trip, but only adding 1/2 the total mileage each year to each vehicle. That would ensure the rigs get a good workout at least once a year. And you could use the in-between time for maintenance.

 

 

Just my rambling.

[linda s]

We have another member here who has rigs on different sides of the country. Plane trips are cheap and the way you have it planned you get maximum time with your Dad instead of all that driving time. I think your plan is perfect and I think your dad has a wonderful son. Your exactly right, every minute spent is precious

Linda S

[markwilliam1]

Welcome Mark! You are SO BLESSED to be able to enjoy your Toy with your Dad Man!! My Dad is 90 and in a Nursing Home so sad as I've had my 85 Granville for about a year and can't go camping with Dad. I'm upset that I didn't buy one earlier when Dad was more healthy and he could join me on adventures. Spend as much time with him as you can because health problems can happen overnight!! Best to You and your Family! Mark

[Mark Krueger]

Today our Wisconsin Dolphin moved on to a new home. Camping at Oshkosh was just getting to be too difficult with my Dad’s limited mobility, so we decided it should end it’s garage queen status. I hope the new owner makes a lot of wonderful memories.

 

If she happens to find this thread, I think she will recognize it. Always feel free to ask me any questions about it; and I’ll do my best to help any way I can.

 

I still have it’s sister 1992 Dolphin out here in San Francisco (as seen in my profile header photo). My Dad’s RV and mine were built just a few months apart.