Leeann wrote:
Welcome!
You’d need 2 owners manuals - one for the ‘house’ - or the Midas stuff - and one for the ‘coach’ - or the Dodge stuff.
What engine do you have?
Welcome!
You’d need 2 owners manuals - one for the ‘house’ - or the Midas stuff - and one for the ‘coach’ - or the Dodge stuff.
What engine do you have?
Hello, Leeann thanks.
I am well aquatinted with the chassis, I need the midas stuff (built by ken craft)
Its got a 360 which has been running pretty well thus far.
Oldfrank wrote:
Hello, Leeann thanks.
I am well aquatinted with the chassis, I need the midas stuff (built by ken craft)
Its got a 360 which has been running pretty well thus far.
Hello, Leeann thanks.
I am well aquatinted with the chassis, I need the midas stuff (built by ken craft)
Its got a 360 which has been running pretty well thus far.
Glad you're well-acquainted with the Dodge stuff. I don't have any Midas/Ken Craft stuff, so I hope someone will be along shortly that does. I know several people in this thread have owned Midas motorhomes.
'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo
First up, I figured out that I was a bit off base. This 1980 Winnebago Minnie Winnie is truly an odd duck. It is not the CB300 chassis I originally thought, this tiny 20 footer is on an MB400 chassis. It is also not a small block, the little thing is powered by a 1978 440-1. Truly a rig built from leftover parts hanging around.
Anyway, I pulled it out of storage to begin prepping for Sturgis next month. I found my dash panel lights were no longer working. I rotated the knob back and forth, and the knob feels right and activates the interior light at the right spot, but nothing from the dash. Is there a common failure point I need to look at? I'm hoping rodents didn't munch on the wiring.
Finally, has anyone figured out how to diagnose and repair the cruise control on these? Mine has never worked since I owned it. The little vacuum diaphragm seems to hold vacuum and the supply is there. Nothing happens when I activate the cruise... no clicks, ticks, hums, or anything else mechanical, and the speed obviously falls to idle when activated going down the road. -or- would I be better off trying to retrofit aftermarket cruise control?
Anyway, since I started here, I have made a custom rear bumper with class 3 hitch, beefed up the extensions, wired in a brake controller, added LED lights all around, to include 4" round stop/tail/turn LEDs with integral white LED reverse in the centers, put in LED headlights (HD Daymaker style, only rectangular), added a dorm fridge, fixed the furnace, replaced the water heater, added a rooftop A/C, installed satellite radio and a CB with WX, changed to modern wheels off a late 80's ram D350 with 215/85R16 tires, built mirror arm extensions to get the mirrors outside the body and actually see down the sides and see the trailer... and finally, I bought the fabric this week to begin reupholstering the entire interior, since the original fabric is falling apart.
In the next year, I hope to source a built 47RH transmission with adjustable pressure and vacuum switches to automatically control OD and TCC Lock. Hopefully this will bring me up from the dismal 5.5 mpg I get towing the pictured trailer with one Harley inside at 60 and allow me to cruise at 65-70 without the engine screaming for mercy at those RPMs.
* This post was edited 07/05/21 02:52am by an administrator/moderator *
Resurrecting an inherited 1980 Minnie Winnie 20RG from the dead after sitting since 1998..
DRTDEVL wrote:
I found my dash panel lights were no longer working. I rotated the knob back and forth, and the knob feels right and activates the interior light at the right spot, but nothing from the dash. Is there a common failure point I need to look at? I'm hoping rodents didn't munch on the wiring.
I found my dash panel lights were no longer working. I rotated the knob back and forth, and the knob feels right and activates the interior light at the right spot, but nothing from the dash. Is there a common failure point I need to look at? I'm hoping rodents didn't munch on the wiring.
There's light is actually two units combined into one physical unit. A variable resistor (also sometimes called a rheostat) for the dash lights and an off/off switch for the interior light. The variable resistor part could be corroded or simply Tango Uniform. Check with an ohm meter or just get a new unit. (Shouldn't be more than $20)
I'm assuming the gauges in the instrument cluster work. If not, then it may be dash wires or connectors.
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
Capt Steve wrote:
How did you do on your cruise control project? I'd like to get mine working on my '78 but I have no knowledge about how a CC works.
How did you do on your cruise control project? I'd like to get mine working on my '78 but I have no knowledge about how a CC works.
See the post above. I got absolutely nowhere and am now considering installing an aftermarket unit, if possible.
Griff in Fairbanks wrote:
There's light is actually two units combined into one physical unit. A variable resistor (also sometimes called a rheostat) for the dash lights and an off/off switch for the interior light. The variable resistor part could be corroded or simply Tango Uniform. Check with an ohm meter or just get a new unit. (Shouldn't be more than $20)
I'm assuming the gauges in the instrument cluster work. If not, then it may be dash wires or connectors.
DRTDEVL wrote:
I found my dash panel lights were no longer working. I rotated the knob back and forth, and the knob feels right and activates the interior light at the right spot, but nothing from the dash. Is there a common failure point I need to look at? I'm hoping rodents didn't munch on the wiring.
I found my dash panel lights were no longer working. I rotated the knob back and forth, and the knob feels right and activates the interior light at the right spot, but nothing from the dash. Is there a common failure point I need to look at? I'm hoping rodents didn't munch on the wiring.
There's light is actually two units combined into one physical unit. A variable resistor (also sometimes called a rheostat) for the dash lights and an off/off switch for the interior light. The variable resistor part could be corroded or simply Tango Uniform. Check with an ohm meter or just get a new unit. (Shouldn't be more than $20)
I'm assuming the gauges in the instrument cluster work. If not, then it may be dash wires or connectors.
The funny thing about that is every rheostat I have dealt with felt different after failure, as in you could feel that it was broken or corroded. This one feels smooth as it did last year (and probably as smooth as it did in 1979).
I have to buy a new multimeter, as the cables on mine finally broke internally and is unreliable at best these days.
Always something to do with these old units, but there's nothing better than running down the road in a 40+ year old RV, seeing a 90's model blow my doors off on the flats, only to roar past him on the next hill (since the Ford 460 and gm 454 units can't pull like the old 440 can).
We haven't used our motorhome in a few years, but we needed it desperately this past week. Very strong storms came through Thursday afternoon and lightning hit the pole where the transformer for the 5 houses right here sits. Blew it, of course. Power went out at 3:45pm on Thursday and we got it back at 12:03am Saturday, for 32 hours out. Since it was only 5 houses, it was low on the priority list. If we weren't the last repair, we were one of the last.
But the Onan 4.0 CCK in the motorhome ran everything we needed - the fridge, the chest freezer, the sump pump, the well pump, one AC unit and device chargers. It just chugged along like the load was nothing. We had to chop it out of the jungle that grew around it this spring first, though - vines and weeds and a couple small trees conspired together to keep us from the genset compartment, the rear fuel tank and the front door (the shore cord is stored in an inside compartment).
The gas in the tank is 7 years old, but we put Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment in when we filled it. I had a good battery here, so we swapped it with the 15-yr-old battery in the compartment. The Onan started like it was fresh gas from that day and never missed a beat in that 32 hours. So we filled it back up yesterday, giving the new gas the Star Tron treatment as well. That stuff works as advertised and was recommended by my BIL, who's a marine mechanic, as better than Sta-Bil.
My husband (finally) is drawing up plans to have the shore cord (30-amp twist-lock) connect to a box inside the house, then BX from there to a box and outlet at the things we need to run, so no extension cords needed. Safer, no adapters, no cords all over the floor, and we'll be able to run more stuff. We didn't want to overload the adapters; they got pretty warm as it was.
We hadn't needed it for a while, but our power company (BGE) hasn't spent a dime on infrastructure around here in 20 years and the number - and length - of power outages has been increasing for the past 2 years. The idiots don't even trim trees any more unless they get a large number of complaints for that section of wire.
DRTDEVL wrote:
Finally, has anyone figured out how to diagnose and repair the cruise control on these? Mine has never worked since I owned it. The little vacuum diaphragm seems to hold vacuum and the supply is there. Nothing happens when I activate the cruise... no clicks, ticks, hums, or anything else mechanical, and the speed obviously falls to idle when activated going down the road. -or- would I be better off trying to retrofit aftermarket cruise control?
Finally, has anyone figured out how to diagnose and repair the cruise control on these? Mine has never worked since I owned it. The little vacuum diaphragm seems to hold vacuum and the supply is there. Nothing happens when I activate the cruise... no clicks, ticks, hums, or anything else mechanical, and the speed obviously falls to idle when activated going down the road. -or- would I be better off trying to retrofit aftermarket cruise control?
![[image]](https://i.postimg.cc/xdPYzf9z/Perfect-Circle-1.jpg)
![[image]](https://i.postimg.cc/GpRdt8nR/Perfect-Circle-2.jpg)
![[image]](https://i.postimg.cc/cLwdd7jT/Perfect-Circle-3.jpg)
![[image]](https://i.postimg.cc/hGQykM5P/Perfect-Circle-4.jpg)
DRTDEVL wrote:
In the next year, I hope to source a built 47RH transmission with adjustable pressure and vacuum switches to automatically control OD and TCC Lock. Hopefully this will bring me up from the dismal 5.5 mpg I get towing the pictured trailer with one Harley inside at 60 and allow me to cruise at 65-70 without the engine screaming for mercy at those RPMs.
In the next year, I hope to source a built 47RH transmission with adjustable pressure and vacuum switches to automatically control OD and TCC Lock. Hopefully this will bring me up from the dismal 5.5 mpg I get towing the pictured trailer with one Harley inside at 60 and allow me to cruise at 65-70 without the engine screaming for mercy at those RPMs.
I doubt you want an OD unit on one of these RVs, especially towing the trailer. The old mantra - tow in drive, keep your trans alive - is still true today. We had a 47RH in our '90 Dodge B250 with a 360, and the OD unit was a common failure point. And the failure on ours, too - my husband forgot the mantra and used the OD while towing our raceboat (open) trailer, which weighs a lot less than your enclosed trailer. If you could find a Gear Vendor overdrive unit, which bolts onto the 727, you'd be better off. They're built for heavy-duty use.
Leeann wrote:
I doubt you want an OD unit on one of these RVs, especially towing the trailer. The old mantra - tow in drive, keep your trans alive - is still true today. We had a 47RH in our '90 Dodge B250 with a 360, and the OD unit was a common failure point. And the failure on ours, too - my husband forgot the mantra and used the OD while towing our raceboat (open) trailer, which weighs a lot less than your enclosed trailer. If you could find a Gear Vendor overdrive unit, which bolts onto the 727, you'd be better off. They're built for heavy-duty use.
DRTDEVL wrote:
Finally, has anyone figured out how to diagnose and repair the cruise control on these? Mine has never worked since I owned it. The little vacuum diaphragm seems to hold vacuum and the supply is there. Nothing happens when I activate the cruise... no clicks, ticks, hums, or anything else mechanical, and the speed obviously falls to idle when activated going down the road. -or- would I be better off trying to retrofit aftermarket cruise control?
Finally, has anyone figured out how to diagnose and repair the cruise control on these? Mine has never worked since I owned it. The little vacuum diaphragm seems to hold vacuum and the supply is there. Nothing happens when I activate the cruise... no clicks, ticks, hums, or anything else mechanical, and the speed obviously falls to idle when activated going down the road. -or- would I be better off trying to retrofit aftermarket cruise control?
DRTDEVL wrote:
In the next year, I hope to source a built 47RH transmission with adjustable pressure and vacuum switches to automatically control OD and TCC Lock. Hopefully this will bring me up from the dismal 5.5 mpg I get towing the pictured trailer with one Harley inside at 60 and allow me to cruise at 65-70 without the engine screaming for mercy at those RPMs.
In the next year, I hope to source a built 47RH transmission with adjustable pressure and vacuum switches to automatically control OD and TCC Lock. Hopefully this will bring me up from the dismal 5.5 mpg I get towing the pictured trailer with one Harley inside at 60 and allow me to cruise at 65-70 without the engine screaming for mercy at those RPMs.
I doubt you want an OD unit on one of these RVs, especially towing the trailer. The old mantra - tow in drive, keep your trans alive - is still true today. We had a 47RH in our '90 Dodge B250 with a 360, and the OD unit was a common failure point. And the failure on ours, too - my husband forgot the mantra and used the OD while towing our raceboat (open) trailer, which weighs a lot less than your enclosed trailer. If you could find a Gear Vendor overdrive unit, which bolts onto the 727, you'd be better off. They're built for heavy-duty use.
Thank you for the diagram. I'll follow that and see what I come up with.
As for the OD trans, I have been in talks with a company nearby who had built billet 47RH transmissions that can tow *HEAVY* in OD and stand up to the stress. Warranty will cover if the trans can't take it, too. The stock 47RH sucked, and yeah, they would burn up if towing in OD. Technological advances, however, have been able to cure most of the issues and allow these transmissions to stand up to incredible power being tossed their way from the diesel ricer crowd that likes to blow smoke and push 600+ hp and 1000+ tq through them. I'll be sticking to the stock 440-1 with roughly 300-350 hp and up to 450 tq.
EDIT: I forgot to add that my trailer with a Harley inside likely weighs only 3,000 lbs, and my 20.5 RV likely only weighs 7500 lbs with the tanks full. This would be roughly the same as your B250 pulling a race boat with the stock transmission, as that boat on trailer likely weighed in around 5,000 with trailer, and the van likely weighed about 5,500 lbs. This puts the pair in the same neighborhood.
* This post was edited 07/04/21 09:45pm by DRTDEVL *
I had a Ram 1500 with a 360 and a 46RE (electronic version of the same transmission), and you couldn't drive into a stiff headwind in OD without the "Trans temp" light coming on and it locking itself out into D,