Buying 85 IDI ATS turbo motorhome!

[Cubey]

That's just plain crazy. I hope you find a more permanent solution.

I'm about ready to go dump off the RV at my mom's house and go back to the truck and it's tiny shell camper. So much less to go wrong on it since it's just a sell basically. I have the cargo trailer now, so I could pull that behind, behind despite it being a not so great truck for it (NA, 3.55 gears). What stinks is loading and unloading my dog. She's getting too old to jump up and down from the tailgate and she wiggles and flails when I pick her up and down so I worry about dropping her. (about 55lbs, so not very light)

Reason being... I almost lost the grey water tank (shower, kitchen sink waste) from wood rot. I had to spend $38 on a set of 4 ratchet straps from oreilly and rig it up as best I could with 3/8" nuts on the ends of (loose from wood rot above) studs that are also going through steel frame, so they (hopefully) can't pull all the way out through the steel. I don't dare drive it very far with much water weight now in the grey tank. I need to take out the tub and rip out the floor under it and see if i can replace the wood framing under there with 2x4s so the tank can be properly supported again. I need time to do that though, and once I start tearing it out I probably can't drive it (unless I take out the tank entirely, which I might have to do...) until it's completely fixed. I only used 2 of the straps but at least I have spares. They were the best deal, and they were in the shopping center where I already was parked when I discovered the tank dropping loose on the more wood rotten end. It was cheaper than buying a new tank from this one falling off on the highway. I dumped the tank nearby (about 2 miles) right after I got it rigged up.

I need to shower tonight but maybe the 1/4 to 1/3 full tank won't be too bad on the straps. I'll be dumping it 23 miles down the road at the next free dump station tomorrow I guess, rather than backtracking 5 miles to the closer dump station.

The next camp has a Flying J with a pay dump station, so I'll have to just pay for that before I hit the interstate again after the 2 weeks at the camp, unless want to I risk driving 35 miles on I-15 with a full grey tank held up by questionable straps, so i can go to a free dump station at a Maverik.

An empty tank doesn't weigh much so I'm not worried about it empty. I crisscrossed the straps so they can't slip off.

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Yeah, it is supposed to hang down like you see it, but it was down an inch or more than it was supposed to. I can see the floor above it giving way where the weight of water in it. I put the bottle jack under the tank with a 1/2" piece of plywood and carefully jacked it up so i could put the straps tight without stressing the tank. So, it's pretty secure now, but I just don't want to trust driving it more than a few miles when full. The straps have to bear all the weight now, especially at the rear end (right side in the pic)

But as it stands for now, I'm gonna see about tearing out the floor under the tub/above the tank this fall/winter once I'm in Arizona, so maybe I can get that fixed up and continue on.

I'm considering an RV park in Utah for September (right along the way to AZ) so I don't have to worry about finding dump stations close by for a month. Assuming I don't decide to stay 2 months to completely avoid the heat. October down there is still bloody hot. I can afford the rent, so it might be a good idea.

That or buy one of these and have it shipped to a store in Salt Lake City for pickup early next month, so i can empty the tank and stick this portable tank in the trailer for transport to a dump station. It's cheaper than an RV park, that's for sure.

$143+tax: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-28-Gal-Portable-Holding-Tank-E-F-39004/309650859#overlay

Or spend $250+tax on this better one (4 aired up tires, not 2 hard plastic wheels). Still cheaper than the RV park, and it has resale value if it doesn't totally fall apart.

Barker 32 Gal. Pneumatic 4-Wheeler Polyethylene Tote-Along RV Waste Tank With 3 in. Waste Valve 27844 - The Home Depot

The tow on the ground 4-Wheelers are equipped with standard 3 in. valves to eliminate lifting to dump tanks. Constructed of blow-molded polyethylene, zinc plated steel and aluminum. Double wheel, front-swivel

www.homedepot.com

...or just don't use the tank at all for the next 2 months... doing all my showering, hand and dish washing outside. That's how it is with the truck camper.

 

[Booyah45828]

Holy moly. This axle u-bolt I put on the driver side leaf spring (front side of axle) snapped. Dunno when, I was filling the tires and spotted it. I went to remove it but it's still pretty clamped on so I guess I'll leave it. A small sledge hammer couldn't knock it loose. For some reason, that spring takes a lot of abuse which is why the clip was broken already.

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The passenger side:

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Did the original one on the driver's side rust off? Or why did you replace it with the U-bolt style? Those clamps are to prevent axle wrap, the one you have on the passenger is correct as it's designed to allow the springs to slide on each other with suspension travel. The one that's broken locked the springs together, restricting that travel, which is why it broke. Find a replacement similar to the passenger side.

 

[Cubey]

Did the original one on the driver's side rust off? Or why did you replace it with the U-bolt style? Those clamps are to prevent axle wrap, the one you have on the passenger is correct as it's designed to allow the springs to slide on each other with suspension travel. The one that's broken locked the springs together, restricting that travel, which is why it broke. Find a replacement similar to the passenger side.

The original clip presumably just broke. It was missing/broken when I got it. You can see the bottom part of it still there on the spring.

 

[Selahdoor]

I think the kind you used would work if you would put it on upside down from the way it was, and tighten it barely snug, but not tight. Use nylock nuts, to keep the nuts from loosening up.

If you put it on like that, right where this one is, the remnant of the old plate will keep it from sliding back toward the eye. And the leafs themselves will keep it from sliding much toward the axle.

 

[Booyah45828]

The original clip presumably just broke. It was missing/broken when I got it. You can see the bottom part of it still there on the spring.

Probably rusted off, as in normal use they should never break. Those clamps are not supposed to hold the spring together tightly, just enough to keep the leaves from separating in an axle twist situation. The one you replaced it with was likely too tight which is why it snapped. The leaves being different arcs or lengths will cause them to slide on each other during suspension travel. With that clamp too tight, the leaves can't slide during suspension travel, binding the whole pack up, stressing the clamp.

I'd prefer you use the original type, as it can't be overtightened. But like selahdoor said, the type you used can work so long as it isn't overtightened.

 

[Cubey]

I think the kind you used would work if you would put it on upside down from the way it was, and tighten it barely snug, but not tight. Use nylock nuts, to keep the nuts from loosening up.

If you put it on like that, right where this one is, the remnant of the old plate will keep it from sliding back toward the eye. And the leafs themselves will keep it from sliding much toward the axle.

I do another of those u bolts since it was a 2 pack, they are meant for clamping a trailer axle to a leaf spring but it was all I could find at the time. I did tighten it down hard. Next time I get by a hardware store, I'll look for nylon insert lock nuts for the other ubolt. Probably 1/2".

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Or, if you have some regular nuts on hand, you could even double nut the clamp.

 

[Cubey]

I hate to admit it, but this RV is probably not going to last much longer as-is being driven the way I do.

The rough gravel roads I take are making it come apart in places worse than before. It needs to be gutted and rebuilt (including the outside wood inside just inside of the fiberglass exterior) at the very least, but the outside will still look like crap due to delamination. Basically it needs to be totally torn down to the frame and totally rebuilt to be done properly.

As it is, it's still a good rig to take and park in an RV park, or in a back yard on a rural lot so long as you keep up with sealing all hundreds of places it can leak.

So, I need to either:

A) keep trying to patch it up as it comes apart. (I tend to win small battles but I'm losing the war overall.) I'd have to just keep driving it until it gets to the point that it's basically beyond repair anymore (it's almost there now, I think), then try to get back to my mom's house with it in that horrible state, where I can part it out/scrap it/whatever. That's kind of risky, given that it's my house and if it starts breaking to pieces suddenly, I'd be in a bad way.

B) go park it at my mom's house and buy a class C RV cover (covers the walls and all to keep out rain/snow) until I can decide what to do with it (might be a couple of years...). Maybe even just leaving it there for use as a guest house for when I'm in town.

C) go back to my mom's house this fall/winter and try to sell it as-is (maybe sell the big Norcold fridge first, worth $500-70 alone). I'd also pull off the solar panels since I'd keep them for the truck camper.

I don't suppose anyone here might be interested in it?

Thankfully I do have the option of parking/storing it for free until I decide what to do, and using the pickup and it's tiny camper until then. Odds are that's what I'm gonna end up doing within the next 6 months. I was already planning to head out to TX this winter to visit Padre island. Maybe it'll hold up well enough March so I can get it back out there in one piece, park it, and put a $300 Class C cover on it to keep out the rain, and switch back to the tiny truck camper. The truck needs a cooling system cleaning and flush badly, so that's one thing I'll have to do before I leave with it.

I'm almost sick of IDis in a way. I like the form factor of a motorhome but this one is in such a bad way now, I dunno if I can ever keep it together. The truck is far more worn out so I dunno how much longer it might last mechanically. It needs a cooling system cleaning/flush badly, if not a thermostat and fan clutch too. I dislike a slide in and trailer setup so the truck is kind of a last resort for me since I already have it. If not for the piles of money I have in both, I'd just sell them both for whatever I could get and get something else, but I'd be starting all over a third time with something that probably needs $3,000 in parts/repair. So, I dunno what to do. :/ I figure the truck is still my best short term solution. The camper on it has some rot too but it's so small, it's far easier to repair and doesn't have to support much weight on it's wood framing.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I don't suppose anyone here might be interested in it?

First off, I still like the way it looks just like I said when I saw it in person. That said I have absolutely no desire to have a RV. If/when I go bigger than the slide in camper that I have now, I'll go with a pull behind type of camper. I like the idea of leaving the camper parked and still being able to take the truck around to different places. If I was living in the camper/RV full time like you are, then I would probably rather have a RV.
As to what you should do with the RV now, I think that you should plan to head back and pick up your truck. It may not be ideal, but you already own it. A coolant flush and a new thermostat won't cost all that much to do. While you're doing that, take the fan with the newish clutch off of the RV and put it on the truck. Then, if you sell the RV or even let it sit, you won't have to worry about a fan clutch that may be weak or not working right. You could make some type of ramp or steps for Lucy so that she can get into the back of the truck without having to jump. Or you may even find a good deal on a smaller bumper pull camper to pull behind the truck.

 

[Cubey]

Oh and the other option would be to do a partial gutting of the inside and rebuild it as best I can. Spend a month or two (or more) working on it in an RV park ($375/mo) in the city where my truck is so I can drive the truck to fetch supplies while the RV is being worked on. Fix it with thicker plywood so it stand up to the abuse. Maybe I'll get another few years out of it that way.

Or even just park it at my mom's to work on it, if I can do it within a month or so.

 

[Cubey]

RV (motorhomes, trailers, and slide in) prices are insane right now. Full size vans too. So buying something else wouldn't be very affordable unless I got insanely lucky.

I'm better off trying to rebuild this one from the inside if possible, rather than trying to take off the huge 20-27ft long fiberglass skins and doing the repairs from the outside.

Better off spending $500 on wood to rebuild this as best as possible than to start over, I figure.

Although, if someone wanted to give $5k for it with as is with the solar panels and fridge, I'd probably take it. It wouldn't shock me if someone was willing to pay upwards of that, especially if I could sell it in Arizona in winter. Problem is I wouldn't have a way to get to my truck then.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Or even just park it at my mom's to work on it, if I can do it within a month or so.

I thought about this too. The down side would be that you'd have to tag and insure the truck again. This also assumes that lumber prices will be more affordable whe you're wnating to do this.

It wouldn't shock me if someone was willing to pay upwards of that, especially if I could sell it in Arizona in winter.

That or maybe even south Texas (you did mention Padre Island).

RV (motorhomes, trailers, and slide in) prices are insane right now. Full size vans too.

That's funny. I've seen what I though have been some good prices around me lately. They should even get better during the winter. I have seen some pretty insane prices too. The "good" prices have just been looking at pictures online and may not be that good in person.

 

[aggiediesel01]

Have you considered putting the engine and trans from the motor home into the truck? Seems like over the past couple years you've put most of your money and effort into the RV and it's powertrain. If you're going to cut it loose, don't waste all that effort you put in it. You've got a proven drive line in the RV and the truck has been sitting since you got the RV, if you live your life on the road I'd be hesitant to start back over with a basically unproven platform again. If you want to build something there are a bunch of forums and build threads about how to take old trailers (flatbed, military, pickup truck box, ect) and make them into minimalist campers that can be detached from the truck when it's convenient if you don't like the truck/camper combination. Maybe the RV has stuff that can be harvested to build what you want.

As for getting home from Padre without the RV if you go that route, there's bus stations, uber, airlines and up closer to San Antonio I believe the Amtrak even stops there.

 

[Cubey]

I thought about this too. The down side would be that you'd have to tag and insure the truck again. This also assumes that lumber prices will be more affordable whe you're wnating to do this.

That or maybe even south Texas (you did mention Padre Island).

That's funny. I've seen what I though have been some good prices around me lately. They should even get better during the winter. I have seen some pretty insane prices too. The "good" prices have just been looking at pictures online and may not be that good in person.

Eh, registration on the truck is about $25 per year. Insurance is about $50-60/mo for 50/100/50 with uninsured/underinsured and roadside, so it's not that horrible if I had to short term.

Maybe I can continue on my current route to Padre island in the RV. I patched up the area that was worrying me. They have trim pieces to overlap the gap between the two huge pieces of fiberglass skins and it requires screws to hold it on. I put longer screws in a while ago but they have since yet go in the section by the stove. The wall there is already damaged and ugly anyway, so I did this.

Here are the new 3" long drywall screws from the outside. I put in a few more than these 4 pictured. I drove them all the way in, then backed them back out as you see in this picture (for the reason you'll see next)

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After backing out the 3" screws, I could see the holes they put in the wall inside. Then I took this scrap piece of board I already had, lined it up, marked dots for the mounting screws (the heads you see) with a sharpie, then drilled the holes through the board (away from the wall) and drove in the 4 gold screws. Then went back outside and drove in the 3" black screws into the board. You can see the tips of the black screws poking though. So, it's good and secure.

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I have had to do this in a couple of other places with the same problem a couple years ago, and those places have held up fine so far. That's why I had 3" drywall screws on hand today while out in the Utah wilderness. Yeah It's ugly, but as you can see, the wall was already duct taped so I don't really care.

 

[Cubey]

Have you considered putting the engine and trans from the motor home into the truck? Seems like over the past couple years you've put most of your money and effort into the RV and it's powertrain. If you're going to cut it loose, don't waste all that effort you put in it. You've got a proven drive line in the RV and the truck has been sitting since you got the RV, if you live your life on the road I'd be hesitant to start back over with a basically unproven platform again. If you want to build something there are a bunch of forums and build threads about how to take old trailers (flatbed, military, pickup truck box, ect) and make them into minimalist campers that can be detached from the truck when it's convenient if you don't like the truck/camper combination. Maybe the RV has stuff that can be harvested to build what you want.

As for getting home from Padre without the RV if you go that route, there's bus stations, uber, airlines and up closer to San Antonio I believe the Amtrak even stops there.

The truck's transmission was rebuilt by the last owner around 2016, so it's fresher than the RV's probably original build. Not sure if he did the torque converter or not but it's good aside from the typical "morning sickness" that rebuild 1960s designed transmissions always seem to get. I had a Dodge van with a C6 equivalent (A727) and it was the same exact way. Multiple trans shops have told me that's normal. Funny how my RV's original factory built C6 doesn't do that, or not as badly anyway. If it's very cold, it can act a little funny but truck acts way worse.

The problem with an engine swap is that supposedly van's turbo kits are van specific (pipes wise) so I'd end up with an NA engine in my F250 anyway, just not as worn out internally. The oil cooler would have to be swapped since vans use a different one, and also the fuel filter setup would have to be changed I would assume? It's on the driver's side on vans. The F250's oil burning isn't horrific but it does use more than my seemingly oil leaking (turbo leak, I think) RV. Unless of course I sell the van kit (not a very big demand, I don't think) and buy a truck kit and have that installed. The turbo itself could probably stand a rebuild if I were to swap it over somehow anyway, so there's more expense. It would probably cost less to have the truck's engine rebuilt than having the RV's swapped since it's a horrible job to pull out a van's IDI engine in and of itself.

I do see the point you're trying to make though: keep the RV for parts and just slowly scrap it out basically, That would be a last resort though. I'm bad at carpentry but I'm just good enough that I can keep patching this thing up if I have to and it'll help hold it together. Wood and hardware to redo the structure of the RV is cheaper than an engine swap/rebuild.

Main things I have spent money on for the RV has been:
- brakes
- tires
- fuel system (electric fuel pump, FSV)
- entire power steering system (hoses first, then pump, then gearbox)
- cooling system (rad hoses, heater hoses, thermostat, fan clutch)

And of course other stuff like belts, vacuum pump, new sealed beam headlights, wiper motor, flasher (the can that clicks when you have your blinkers on). Only thing i have done to the transmission really was a drain (incuding TC), filter change, and vacuum modulator or whatever it's called (the thing on the the outside of the trans with the vac hose). I did change the differential oil a couple of times due to how nasty it was.

I drove the truck a couple times a week for about 6 months last year when I was at my mom's house after covid popped up, so it hasn't been sitting THAT long. Last time I drove it was around the beginning of November 2020. So it got lots of fresh diesel run through it during that time. I recharged the AC too (very slow leak, took 2 or 3 years to quit being cold) so it did get exercised since I got the RV. I drove it for a few months after I got the RV too, so yeah. It hasn't been sitting for more than a year to a year and a half before being driven again.

Taxis, trains, buses, and planes do me no good, I have a large dog that might not be allowed even in a kennel as checked luggage on a plane, due to her breed type (breathing related for bully type dogs). She would probably stress out badly too, so it's not a good option. Amtrak and Greyhound outright ban large dogs that aren't service dogs.

Perhaps I'll go with ANOTHER option for repairing... stay in Arizona for the winter at the LTVA again ($180 for the whole season with water, dump station and trash dumper access nearby). I can be there after it cools down in the beginning of November and stay until it starts getting hot around late March/Early April like I did last season (got there around the end of Nov, stayed until the start of April) That would give me time to work on it, but I'd just have to buy the supplies in town first and then go back out to the LTVA to the work. Any uncut boards and unopened hardware can always be returned during the next trip to town. They don't care if you work on your RV as long as you don't make a mess (or at least clean up the mess after) and don't make too much noise during quiet hours.