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* This post was edited 11/17/10 11:35am by 1976Sportsman *
Trish Davis wrote:
'Course not.
Leeann's got an A, Griff has 3 (I think), I've got an A.
Dodge questions answered here.
However, accurate answers come from Griff & Leeann.
I have the good sense (now) to do as they say and it's always been good advice.
'Course not.
Leeann's got an A, Griff has 3 (I think), I've got an A.
Dodge questions answered here.
However, accurate answers come from Griff & Leeann.
I have the good sense (now) to do as they say and it's always been good advice.
Yes, three Class A's in the yard, plus two more that have been given to me but haven't been retrieved yet. (One is supposed to be a Travco with a slant six engine.) My daughter also has a Class A.
The Dodge VIN is stamped into the outside of the right (passenger) side frame rail near the front axle. It may be hard to read due to paint and accumulated crud.
I always run the tires on all my vehicles at maximum pressure. It may make the ride a bit harsher (and cause the dishes and pans to rattle more) but it makes the tires last longer, gives better traction, and improves gas mileage.
Try to figure out the actual age on your tires. The government (NHTSA?) requires a date code on all tires ... the trick is decoding it. (If the tires don't have a code, then they're just plain too old.)
All the Dodge trucks seem to have "loose" steering compared to Chevys and Fords. If the steering box is new/rebuilt, the linkage is up to snuff, and the kingpins (or ball joints) aren't worn, I wouldn't mess with it. It's a truck, not a sports car, and driving it requires a bit of adjustment. (I'm used to driving trucks so driving a car requires an adjustment for me.)
1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A
'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo
alan jeffrey wrote:
Hi everyone. I would like to get manuals for my 1974 dodge vogue mh. A chassis manual for sure, possibly parts manual, and also a coach manual if there is such a thing anymore. Can any one direct me towards getting them please. Thanks Papa Al.
This is not a coach manual, But you might find some use for it.Hi everyone. I would like to get manuals for my 1974 dodge vogue mh. A chassis manual for sure, possibly parts manual, and also a coach manual if there is such a thing anymore. Can any one direct me towards getting them please. Thanks Papa Al.
Click here.
And this one too.
This also.
Without Trucks,....America Stop's
Leeann uses the parts manuals she has to decode some of the VINs. I have similar manuals but can't find them right now.
Part of the 'adventure' of owning an older motorhome is finding information on them.
OEM parts manuals are difficult to find but are good for finding OEM part numbers, if you can find the manual for your particular chassis. The manager of the parts department at the local Dodge dealer has a well worn one that he's manage to hang onto in spite of his bosses' efforts to throw it away. (Their thinking is who needs information on thirty and forty year old vehicles.) The parts manager is also jealous because I have the same manual, in much better condition than his.
With the original OEM part number, you can use parts store cross-references to find parts when their systems don't have a listing for your vehicle. Also, the exploded diagrams in the parts manuals are handy for figuring out how things fit together and how to take them apart.
Side note: PB Blaster is the best stuff I've found so far for loosing rusted and stubborn bolts. Sometimes it takes a daily application for a week or ten days to loosen things enough to get them off without damage.
As Leeann noted, eBay is a good source for older OEM parts manuals. There is also a few companies that sell authorized reprints but be careful ... one of them took my money, never sent my manual, and never responded to my email, phone calls, and letters.
The best place fir maintenance manuals is the reference section at your local library. (If you're lucky, they may even allow you to check out the appropriate manual.
Most motorhomes are built on medium duty truck chassis and/or use medium duty truck parts. The inexpensive manuals you find in bookstores and parts stores don't cover these. Instead, you need the big, thick Motors and Chiltons shop manuals, which are expensive.
Coach manuals, if they exist, usually only cover operation, so they aren't much good for maintenance. In all honesty, this thread is probably the best source of information on maintaining the coach, as well as the chassis and appliances.
If you want a complete set of maintenance manuals, you'll also need manuals for all the applicances, which means a separate manual for the furnace, water heater, cookstove, water pump, toilet, refrigerator, power converter, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, ad nausem.
Most of those are available online so it's better (with Leeann's help) to just look them up when you need them.
As far as the chassis goes, these are actually fairly simple. The engines most often used in motorhomes are the slant six (in very early models), the 318 or 360 LA small blocks, and the 413 or 440 RB big blocks. Almost all transmissions are the venerable A727 TorqueFlite automatic. And. most of the rear axles are Dana 70's.
Good third party books are available on all three types (slant six, LA small block, and RB big block) of engines. Just be careful ... many of the suggested modifications are intended for high RPM muscles cars and don't work well on low RPM motorhome engines. The engine serial number, stamped into the block, is the best way to determine what you have and how to maintain it.
The A727 hasn't changed much since 1966 and the newer A518 shares many of the same internal hard parts. Variations are few and fairly simple to figure out.
The Dana 70 has two basic gearcases, depending on whether it's a high or low ratio axle. To find parts and, to a lesser extent, information, you need the 'build number' stamped into the axle housing near the gearcase.
Many of the other parts on motorhome chassis, such as brake calipers and steering gearboxes, are medium duty truck parts produced by third party manufacturers (as opposed to Dodge). For those, it's best to get the manufacturer and number off the part itself. (The brake calipers on my 1973 are Kelsey Hayes and NAPA found replacements, in stock on the shelf, using the part number off the calipers.)
My 1970 Explorer is actually built on a 1969 chassis, with the title listing 1970 for the year and the original (1969) Dodge chassis VIN. It took me a while to finally figure out that I needed 1969 parts, rather than 1970 parts. (Dodge changed the VIN format between the 1969 and 1970 model years so the VIN on the title didn't even look like a 1970-type Dodge VIN.)
My 1973 Explorer (note the same coach manufacturer as the 1969/1970) has two VINs. The original Dodge chassis VIN is stamped into the frame but the title lists a different VIN, assigned by Explorer when they built the coach on the Dodge chassis. (Yes, both the chassis and coach are 1972 model year.)
I haven't really done anything with the 1972 Executive so I don't know (yet) what 'weird and wonderful' things were done with it.
Soooo -- scrub the crud off the outside right (passenger) front side of the frame and try to read the original chassis VIN assigned by Dodge for find out what all you have in terms of chassis, engine, and drivetrain.
Fortunately, people didn't swap engines, etc., on motorhomes very often, unlike older pickups and cars that might not have the original engine in them.
Bottom line: Older motorhomes require quite a bit of detective work. If you're not into mysteries and sleuthing, you might be better off with a newer motorhome.
R5= R500
0 = Motor Home Chassis
C = 10001 - 14000 lb GVW
A = 440-3 engine
4 = 1974
J = Windsor Truck
rest = sequence number