Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

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Topic: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

Posted By: Brewtus on 08/10/10 05:25pm

Griff in Fairbanks wrote:

Brewtus wrote:

You'll need a different tranny to go to a 440. Internally, the big-block and small-block A727 transmissions are the same. However, the case is different, with a different bolt pattern.

Personally, I'd stay with the 360 unless you're planning on towing a large (5,000+) trailer.

A simple oil test should tell you if the weak cylinder is due to rings or valves.

A swap to a diesel is possible ... the question is how much work will be required. (Motor mounts? Driveshaft? Radiator?)

Oh, I'm familiar with the drill believe me. I've owned and built Mopars all my life. The Mini is my first RV.

#8 is leaking past the rings, verified by the leak-down tester. Bummer that, as I have 2 spare sets of 360 heads in the shed.

I would like to think a Cummins is possible. I can't be the only one to ever think of it. I've seen several Cummins swaps into older Class A's, but no C's. Surely someone has attempted it, if not researched it further than I have. In the meantime, I'll keep persuing the mobile meth doner. [emoticon]

* This post was edited 08/10/10 08:15pm by Brewtus *

Montesa Hauler!! ">

Posted By: ALnCORY on 08/12/10 12:34pm

Well, I think we finally have the overcharging coach battery cured... knock on my cheap laminted wood desk. We went through a couple of voltage regulators trying to find one that actually worked right. Then we grounded the thing six ways from sunday. It now stays in the safe charge zone although its on the high side. The engine battery is charging right where you want it. Does anyone know if there is a regulator or resistor or something that you can put in before the coach battery to cut back the charge rate a bit?

Had some vapor lock issues on the last trip which were most likely caused by a weak fuel pump(it was only putting out a couple lb's pressure), so we swapped it out and rerouted the fuel line.. heading out in the morning for run down to Utah so that will be a good test. Wish me luck....

I don't think anyones dying statement ever contained the words "I wish I had spent more time in the office", so lets go somewhere!

Posted By: eyeteeth on 08/12/10 12:51pm

Well... Good luck! [emoticon]

I realized something this past week. "You might be a camper if... " We only make trips to the grocery store on Fridays as we're heading out of town... stock up the camper, then bring whatever is left into the house on Monday to get us through the week. lol

Posted By: ALnCORY on 08/12/10 01:31pm

Thats a good one Eye,,,, come to think of it, I just finished off some of the munchies I bought for my last trip,,, now I am restocking for this weekend....

Posted By: oldtrucker63 on 08/12/10 04:16pm

Brewtus wrote:

Greetings, everyone.

I have joined after lurking for about 2 months. Lots of good info here.

I purchased a 1975 Mini-Midas last November from a storage facility where the old Dodge had been abandon for 17 years. I paid a whopping 500 bucks for it, and after 4 hours of work, drove it home. It has the typical old abandon RV woes, such as leaky roof, baked plastics, questionable wiring done by an arsonist, and crumbling seat and bed foam. The 360's #8 cylinder is weak (88lbs of compression, all others 135-138) but the 727 looks as if it had just been overhauled prior to storage [emoticon]

. I've managed to repair most of the big stuff, leaving the detail work for later. A 440 swap is in the plans, as soon as I can scare up a doner rig. So far, I've only managed to find one doner 440 RV, and it appears that it had been converted to a mobile meth lab. I've never stripped a vehicle while wearing a respirator, but I guess there is a first time for everything..... [emoticon]

Anyhoo, thanks for all the good info. I'll keep you posted.

BTW, has anyone here know about a successful Cummins Turbo Diesel swap into one of these Class C's? Any info would be appreciated!

Yes you can make the swap alone with a bunch of cash, I would love to find a Cummins Turbo Diesel with the jake heads on it for mine, Boy would this go good with the chrome stacks and L.E.D Chicken lights,...LOL... This just may be in the future for my old dodge, No time soon but one day I would sure like to do this.

* This post was edited 08/12/10 04:23pm by oldtrucker63 *

Without Trucks,....America Stop's

Posted By: oldtrucker63 on 08/12/10 04:21pm

eyeteeth wrote:

Well... Good luck! [emoticon]

Yeah Just wait one weekend when you stay that extra day and don't catch any fish and by Wednesday your hungry as heck.....LOL [emoticon]

Posted By: JDMopar on 08/14/10 03:07pm

Got new tires for our rig. Did away with the 16.5 wheel/tires, and put 16" wheels on. The simulators fit the 16" wheels better than they did the originals! We put 225/75-16's on it, and they fit perfect. Load range E tires. The new tires are the exact same height as the 8.75 x 16.5's that came off of it, so we only had to buy 6 tires instead of 7. Finding the wheels was the hard part! I bought 5 off of Craigslist for $25 each, and found one more at a tire store for $35. Even having to buy wheels, it was still cheaper than just buying new 16.5 tires. Now as soon as my front brake hoses and calipers arrive from Rock auto.....we'll be ready to rock!

Posted By: Leeann on 08/14/10 04:36pm

Got any pics?

'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo

Posted By: Chipmunk222 on 08/15/10 09:56am

New member with questions...1978 dodge sportsman 440. Have been redoing the inside, not much time and has taken us a year. Little hard to start, changed the fuel pump and installed a new coil last year, had been starting better. Went out to start it a couple of days ago and it cranks fine but will not start. Have checked coil, the hot wire coming from the ignition switch to the coil is lighting the test light when the key is on but the wire running to the distributer cap will not light the test light with the key on. Just changed the voltage regulator last week. Checked the pickup in the distributer with an ohm meter and it checked out fine. We are getting fuel but no spark. The battery voltage is good ( new battery and is fully charged).

Can anybody give me a heads up on what to check next?

Thanks so much

Posted By: chinook440 on 08/15/10 10:46am

Chipmunk
With everthing else checking out good , it Sounds like the ignition module is bad. It,s the rectangle shaped box usually mounted above the battery . It,ll have a 4 or 5 wire connector going to it.

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