So, I know this is ill advised, but I don't really have much of a choice. I've looked into having my vehicle transported and it's cost prohibitive. It's a 1977 Toyota Scat body Motorhome with a stock 20R and 4 speed manual tranny. $6300 to transport, which is far more than I paid for it. I have a friend up there that went and test drove it. It got up to 62 on the freeway with relative ease. Steers fine. Brakes are a little spongey. It's currently in Oregon and I'm in Louisiana. My friend is most likely coming this way in July and can follow behind me.

Advice I'm looking for is what steps are a good idea to accomplish before the trip. My thoughts are initially on safety. My plans are to get new tires all the way around, track down the brakes issue and fix it, and verify that the steering is sound. After that I'll give it a tune up, check the distributor, wires, and plugs are good, oil change, change the fluid in the tranny and the rear end, check and pack the wheel bearings, flush the radiator and engine and refill, and make sure all the lights work and fix any that may not. It looks like the valve cover may be leaking, so I'll investigate and repair as needed.

I'm going to ship a bunch of parts to have for the ride, just in case. I'll have a new oil pump, water pump, brake parts, couple of U-joints, fluids, fire extinguisher, etc.

I want to do a Weber 32/36 carb change and possibly put a header on it. I've thought about putting a D.U.I. distributor on it, as well. Kind of thinking that doing too many changes to it all at once and then taking it on a long road trip might leave me with too many questions if something fails (like did my change cause a problem or is it something else?)

So, while I know it's not the best case scenario, it's what I have to do. Any advice and suggestions are welcome to help make it a decent trip.

 

Brakes would be a priority for sure, I don't doubt it could do 2500 miles if it's well taken care of, but of course beats the shipping price and time for sure Never drove that far before so I don't have much advice aside from the basics like you mentioned. An energy drink or a few might help with all that driving perhaps..

 

Hey, thanks for the reply. I've driven it from Washington in an '86 Dodge mini truck and a few times in my '15 Tacoma. I like long distance driving, so that part doesn't bother me. I just was looking to see if anyone that's had one of these trucks had any insight that I might not have been thinking. It'll be an adventure, for sure!! Also, I've had AAA for about 15 years now, it might finally pay off.

 

Add some pics of the motorhome in here! Or a link to the listing you got it from. Always curious what other 77-78 motorhomes are out there.

 

Tried to post more but they all said they were too large.

 

Rather interesting how they slapped the mirrors onto the RV body and not putting those really wide set mirrors onto the doors, pretty unique sorta like some busses do!

 

Yeah, I kinda like them. My grandkid said "Oh look, it's got ears!"
I'd imagine there aren't replacements. There's a knob by the attachment point so you can fold them in. Hopefully, they live a long life. I guess I'll see how much I like them when I finally get to drive her.

 

If you haven't, some blind spot mirrors would be a nice quality of life help. For sure helps whenever I'm hauling cargo that obscures the rear window, or having an RV too!

Also, do document those mirrors, they look unique.

 

Unfortunately, I don't get to play until mid July, most likely. I'll definitely check into some blind spot mirrors, though. If there's a place for the stock mirrors on the doors, I may put them on and point them on the blind spot. Dunno, it's a blank canvas at this point. The waiting is killing me.

 

2500 miles is a long trip in a motorhome you really know little about. One thing you should definitely change is the crankshaft oil seal. These are a high fail item on the 20R and 22R engines. When they let go (almost immediately) all the oil in the engine will dump out within a few minutes.

Coolant change including thermostat is also a must.

I’m hoping you only have single rear wheels. If the rig has duals, that’s an accident waiting to happen.

I do annual trips from NC to NH on a yearly basis. 965 miles each way. You need to be sure your camper is in tip top shape. Breakdowns on the highway can get very expensive.

A “flat tow” tow bar with a truck might be a better alternative. At least you won’t be dependent on the drivetrain to get you home.

You might also consider buying or renting a two wheel tow dolly. You have enough ground clearance in the rear to make this work. You would also need trailer light extension as the coach would hide the lights on the tow dolly.

All you need then is a good size pickup truck with a trailer hitch.

It makes more sense to get the truck home, then deal with all the mechanical updates. IMHO

 

Thank you for the reply. I know the situation isn't ideal, but unfortunately, it is what it is. I will hopefully have a friend trailing me so if it breaks down, I'll at least have someone there to go get parts, etc. I do plan on having an assortment of things with me to try to handle anything that pops up.

Right now, my list of things to do prior to making the trip is:

Rear wheel cylinders, shoes, and hardware (drums if needed)
Front brakes (I haven't been able to determine if they're disc or drum, found something saying all trucks after 75 were front disc, but I don't know how reliable that is)
Master cylinder and brake lines (if needed)
New tires (most likely all around)
Pack the wheel bearings all around and replace if needed
Coolant flush, thermostat, water pump if necessary
Fan clutch (if necessary)
Crankshaft oil seal (possibly whole oil pump)
Coil, cap, rotor, wires, plugs
New battery
Oil change
Weber 32/36
Header (possibly)

The carb and header are not to try to go faster, just to try and make the engine not have to work as hard. My plan is to get up there about five days before drive day to make changes and assess. If I'm not comfortable with having at least a decent chance of success, I'll shift to plan B.

 

If you have road service like AAA you want to upgrade to the RV coverage.

I have AAA Plus RV coverage. Tows up-to 100 miles. Costs about $100 per year. We’ll worth it. They do have a wait period before coverage kicks in. I think it’s about a week. So something you want to do early on.

Your front brakes are disc. Rear drum. Your rear axle bearings are non serviceable. Would have to be replaced.

Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the AAA tip. I didn't know there was an RV upgrade. That would have been annoying.

Also, thanks for the info. I appreciate the help. I really want this to go as smooth as possible. If you think of anything else, I am open for any suggestions. I see you post all the time and you seem to have a seriously deep knowledge base.