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Am I crazy?


Kitt

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Am I crazy for wanting to live in a late 70's Toyota dolphin at the ripe old age of 21? I don't think so! I've never bought an RV before and it will probably be close to a year and a half before I have the money saved to buy one. My dads a mechanic and he's bought trailers before so he's coming with me for a pre buy inspection. I honestly have no idea where to start researching all this stuff. Like Toyota made motor homes other than the dolphin? Whaaaaa?? i don't even know how much one will cost because they are never for sale in my area. I once saw one with a redone interior for 7k so I'm aiming to save 5k by the end of 2017 then sell my car for 3k and hopefully start 2018 living in my new motor home. But is 7k enough for one in decent shape? I done even know where to start. Before this I was planning on building out a van to live in, then I decided I want standing room, a kitchen, and a bed and I liked the better gas mileage of the dolphin over other motor homes. 

 

Thanks all! 

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Kitt-Don't go into owning one of these campers with the ideal notion that you can fix them up and drive them forever.  They constantly require tender loving care and attention.  The newest ones are over 24 years old.  Ever look at a 24 year old travel trailer that is in perfect shape?  I doubt that they exist.   I love my '88 Escaper but my wife and I got a great big taste of reality when traveling for a month in the western US.  Traveling at 55 mph with the windows open gets old when it is 105 degrees outside.  We will be taking it from Wisconsin to Maine but the distances are much smaller out east so we won't be spending 8 hours of driving to get to the next place of interest.

You also need to have realistic expectation about gas mileage.  We get 13 to 15 mpg.  We drive 55 mph and no faster.  Some people advertise 20 mpg for a 21 ft RV that weighs 6000 pounds.  

If you know what you are really getting into, these RV's can be a lot of fun.  We enjoy ours but we realize the limitations.

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Oh trust me I know! I've had both a '93 Honda Civic and a '95 Tahoe. I'm used to things breaking and having to fix them. I really need to get out on my own and this is a good compromise between what I want, my safety, and what makes my parents feel better about it. 

My dads been a mechanic for 30 some years, he's also really good with repairs etc. he always works on the trailer him, my stepmom and their kids go camping in. I'm pretty mechanically inclined myself and pretty handy. I've been known to fix the sink in designer jeans, face full of makeup and nail polish still drying lol. 

I eventually want to upgrade to a Toyota Tacoma and a 19' escape travel trailer. But I want a 2016 Tacoma 4x4 double cab, long bed and towing package. Not cheap. The trailer is Canadian and comes out to about 22-25k. But after some research I'm really digging the Toyota sunrader. I also had plans for a Toyota Sienna build out and I contemplated building my own teardrop or restoring a vintage trailer. A smaller motorhome seemed like a good compromise. And yes I expected that gas mileage. Better than I got in my Tahoe! I was known to sleep in that once or twice or a week lol. 

 

After I've fully gone full time I'm going to be adopting a rescued racing greyhound as a psychiatric service dog prospect and need the room for a 50-90# dog lol. Thankfully they are mostly couch potatoes. 

Also as long as I have a bed I can sleep and live in something. So I'm probably gonna be crashing in it as I'm fixing it up unless there's too much damage. Like I said it's the ideal goal. Realistic? Maybe not but a girl can dream! 

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Not for sale in your area? I just moved from San Jose and there are tons for sale near you. Maybe not right now but they will show up in droves come spring. Sacramento is a good place to look too. I strongly advise you try to find an 86 or newer one though. easier to find parts, will have the right axle and efi engine. I live in my camper one week every month because I still work in San Jose then. I love it.

Linda S

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I'm mostly looking from my phone so I'm looking in Santa Maria/Santa Barbara area. Where this type of living is hella popular lol. I'll try looking at the San Jose craigslist and surrounding areas. I'll try LA too. Thanks. 

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21 is a perfect age as you get older you'll find you like your comforts more! Expect to pay around 30-35 K for a new Tacoma plus the 22-25K for the camper that of course makes a 7K little motor home a lot more attractive. Yes upkeep will be some thing to consider but they are a pretty simple motor home by comparison to any thing else out there so that is a plus generally they will not have a huge amount of miles on them, Parts are available still so that will not be an issue and for 1 or 2 people and a dog they are plenty large enough (we have a 150# Great Dane). They are also agile enough to go where you would never get a truck and camper. Good luck finding a nice one!

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Welcome to forum.

I own a1979 Galavan built on a 1978 chassis. I love the older homes because the systems are relatively easy to work on. I have the 20R engine with 4 speed manual transmission. My toy is carbureted with minimal emissions. As an old "gear head" , trouble shooting problems is pretty much straight forward.

 

 

On the downside, your dealing with a 35+ year old drive train. Big thing with the pre 1985 toys is the rear axle. Be sure you get the 6 lug ff axle. The 5 lug with fake duelies is dangerous and will cost anywhere from 3-5K to replace.

Having a dad that's a mechanic is a big plus. Follow him around as he fixes things. This is how you learn. Members of this forum have a wealth of knowledge they're happy to share.

Good Luck. Fred.

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On 12/29/2016 at 7:48 PM, Kitt said:

Am I crazy for wanting to live in a late 70's Toyota dolphin at the ripe old age of 21?

It's all a matter of perspective, my young friend. To me, crazy would be mindlessly subjecting yourself to four years of indoctrination, only to spend the next forty paying off your student loans. Grinding it out for eight hours a day in a cubicle, only to wake up sometime in your fifties and realize you hate your life and resent everyone around you. Strapping yourself to a 30-year fixed mortgage, only to be enslaved to the aforementioned job (and life) that you despise. Getting married and popping out 2.5 kids because that's what society expects, only to realize that all you ever wanted was to be free.

Or...you could live in a house on wheels, with no rent, no mortgage, no property taxes, no utility payments, no neighbors, and no fuggin' limits! The world is your backyard and you answer to no one but the open road. If you ask me, I would tell you to honor your gypsy spirit and live the life you desire; leave conformity to the 9-5ers.  

If you're looking for specific advice, I've just recently gone through a fairly extensive (nationwide) search for Toyota motorhomes, as I'm about to buy one of my own. I can tell you from my own experience that if you're patient, and willing to travel, you will have no trouble finding a plenty capable rig for under $5k. For instance, I just scored a '91 Dolphin V6, in primo condition inside and out, for $3500. These rigs are normally in the $8-10k range, but I found the right guy at the right time and am willing to fly to the other side of the country to pick it up. Lucky for you, you're already on the west coast - which is where 99% of Toyota motorhomes go to live. The remaining 1% are in Colorado. 

It's a shame you're not ready to buy now; I just came across a solid looking '79 Dolphin in Colorado for $3500. You'd need to swap out the rear axle, but other than that it looked like it was good to go. When you do start to get serious, I'd highly recommend downloading an app like Daily Classifieds which allows you to search multiple locations simultaneously on Craigslist and also sends you daily notifications for saved searches. I also created a pretty comprehensive spreadsheet to track all of the different rigs I was looking at, which was a lifesaver in terms of keeping my sanity throughout this process. If you think this would be helpful, let me know and I'll get you an editable link and explain my workflow in more detail. 

 

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I set out at 18 years old in a 1944 Dodge Navy Elementary School bus that weighed about 5 tons. It had the 216 Cubic Inch flathead 6 cylinder long stroke engine (96 Horse power @ 2400 RPM) with a 5 speed "Crashbox" transmission. A Crashbox transmission has no synchros, so to shift down you must "double clutch" matching the engine revs with the tranny speed. It was also blessed with a six volt system. I drove it up the mountains to Nevada City California from Chico to live in it for the winter. Wood Heat and cooking in the sierra mountains in a bus full of windows can get really cold. I learned to Double Clutch pretty fast, also learned what a choke knob was, then how to pull an engine and fix it. How to rig a 6 volt stereo. The biggest scary thrill was coming off the top of the grade from Flagstaff Arizona going west, and after a couple of miles at 45 MPH & deciding I would take it out of Fifth gear and coast the next 7 miles. It took almost the entire next 7 miles to slow down enough (45~50 MPH) and rev the engine high enough to Crash Box the tranny back into 5th. I would use up all my brakes, rev the engine close to the blowup zone , double clutch it and GRIND GRIND GRIND.... not get it back into gear...

Let the brakes cool down and try again, all the way down that grade.That thing would sure "shimmy" at 65 MPH as it really was not built to go over 50~55. When I got down into the Mojave Desert the wind was blowing so hard I had to shift down into second and then into "Granny Gear" to get off the road and park it dead into the wind next to an overpass for the night so it would not blow over sideways. Rocked and rolled all night long as they say.

Now that is crazy, Here's to crazy, "CLINK" a toast...

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You don't have to crazy to own and love a 30 year old RV....BUT it helps

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/11/2017 at 9:22 PM, citizenx said:

It's all a matter of perspective, my young friend. To me, crazy would be mindlessly subjecting yourself to four years of indoctrination, only to spend the next forty paying off your student loans. Grinding it out for eight hours a day in a cubicle, only to wake up sometime in your fifties and realize you hate your life and resent everyone around you. Strapping yourself to a 30-year fixed mortgage, only to be enslaved to the aforementioned job (and life) that you despise. Getting married and popping out 2.5 kids because that's what society expects, only to realize that all you ever wanted was to be free.

Or...you could live in a house on wheels, with no rent, no mortgage, no property taxes, no utility payments, no neighbors, and no fuggin' limits! The world is your backyard and you answer to no one but the open road. If you ask me, I would tell you to honor your gypsy spirit and live the life you desire; leave conformity to the 9-5ers.  

If you're looking for specific advice, I've just recently gone through a fairly extensive (nationwide) search for Toyota motorhomes, as I'm about to buy one of my own. I can tell you from my own experience that if you're patient, and willing to travel, you will have no trouble finding a plenty capable rig for under $5k. For instance, I just scored a '91 Dolphin V6, in primo condition inside and out, for $3500. These rigs are normally in the $8-10k range, but I found the right guy at the right time and am willing to fly to the other side of the country to pick it up. Lucky for you, you're already on the west coast - which is where 99% of Toyota motorhomes go to live. The remaining 1% are in Colorado. 

It's a shame you're not ready to buy now; I just came across a solid looking '79 Dolphin in Colorado for $3500. You'd need to swap out the rear axle, but other than that it looked like it was good to go. When you do start to get serious, I'd highly recommend downloading an app like Daily Classifieds which allows you to search multiple locations simultaneously on Craigslist and also sends you daily notifications for saved searches. I also created a pretty comprehensive spreadsheet to track all of the different rigs I was looking at, which was a lifesaver in terms of keeping my sanity throughout this process. If you think this would be helpful, let me know and I'll get you an editable link and explain my workflow in more detail. 

 

Rad! Yeah if you could get me a link that'd be awesome!! And yeah my grandma was your classic 60's hippie. She lived and traveled in a converted ford econoline and after she had my dad (born in 1969) she lived in a trailer with him and traveled. And when my uncle came along soon after they parked the trailer and settled for a bit. She has this adorable pictures of my dad when he was maybe 5, just this little blonde hair blue eyed chubby kid, can't remember if he's shirtless or full on naked, with my grandma at some hippie festival! The first picture my mom ever saw of my grandpa (he died when my dad was 11) was him standing on a rock in the middle of a river with a big ole bushy beard and butt naked!! 

As my dad has told my stepmom "no she's not a runner. She's not trying to run away from her problems. That's just how she is. She's a traveler, a free spirit. She's just gotta go and who knows if she'll ever stop and come home. But I've known that since she was a toddler and I've accepted that she might never come home to us because to her the road IS home." 

 

I elaborated a tiny bit and switched a few words to make it sound more poetic but that's basically what he said. When he told me about this conversation I damn near cried! Anyways. Glad to know I'm a bit crazy but that it's all good and I'm in good company. And thanks for the app recommendation I'll def look into it. And I don't mind traveling provided the rig can make the drive back to Cali! 

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