Hi everyone. I am the proud owner of this 1977 "Pegasus" motorhome built from a Toyota Pickup.



Probably 10 years ago (heck maybe more), my wife and I bought it for cheap. It needed considerable repairs however - we put in a brand new roof (insulation, plywood, sheetmetal, etc), rewired the motorhome bit, got new cushions made, etc. Camped in it for several years.

However, my wife never liked riding in this. While it was amazing on gas, it feels top-heavy and tippy to drive, especially in crosswinds. We eventually bought a trailer we tow with our full-sized pickup. Now it has sat for a couple years and I've been wondering what to do with it.

I could do a bunch more work and fix up the motorhome portion again. It developed a leak in the front part of the camper which has caused some wood rot - i.e. it would be another significant renovation to get that fixed up like we did to the roof. The fridge isn't working, but I could just remove it and have storage space for coolers. I'm not terribly keen on it though, because now we have a kid... and it's a two-seater... and my wife doesn't like it.

That got me thinking - wouldn't it be awesome if it were a pickup instead? After a little googling I found some videos of other people converting Toyota motorhomes back to pickup trucks. It doesn't look that hard to me!

It has pretty low mileage and is actually in pretty darn good condition for the year (not to mention where I live).




Here's the videos if anyone is curious. The last one is kind of a hack job, but even that one worked fine.





Here's a screen grab from one of the photos. It's about what I expect to see if I take the motorhome off:



And here is a photo of a finished conversion:



I genuinely think I could do it. I'm pretty mechanically competent. I'm not crazy talented with body work, but it wouldn't be my first time bending and welding sheet metal.

Not sure what to do for a bed though. The motorhome part is framed out in 1" steel tube, so I'd have lots of material to work with if I DIY'd a flat deck. That would make the most sense. I think finding a replacement bed is highly unlikely.

 

Well that looks like a decent cab to start with! Welcome. Hope you mock up a good idea for this one. You got all the nice OEM parts for a good build!

 

These early Toyota RV’s are fetching good money now. The interior looks really clean. The only potential deal killer is the rear axle. If you have duel rear wheels with only 5 lug nuts the axle is unsafe. The upgraded axle is a full float with 6 lug nuts.
Not many of this year left on the road.

 

Thanks fellows. This doesn't have the dual rear wheels oddly enough. I wonder if that's part of the "tippiness" my wife feels - I.e. I think some of that is tire flex.

It's going to take work whether I fix up the RV part or convert back to truck. I'm leaning towards truck simply because then I could enjoy it. As an RV I should probably sell it off (unless I can coax my wife into driving out to campsites with our son in a separate vehicle).

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to start stripping out the RV wall sections that need replacing, just to see how much effort it would take. If it's bad, well truck conversion would make more sense.

 

It's ultimately up to you, but personally I'd sell it to someone who'll appreciate it as an RV and buy a truck if you want a truck instead, it's not like those are a rarity, but the RVs kinda are. Small RVs are definitely sought after these days and will likely fetch some decent $ as-is compared to years past. IMO just from them being less common, it would be a shame to take this and turn it into a truck.

In my experience with married life...if the wife has already expressed a disinterest in the RV, it's going to be a losing uphill battle trying to coax her back into it.

If you did try to do the conversion, I'm sure you could figure it out. I've seen a few beds for these trucks for sale over the years - usually as trailers, lol. Heck, just the other day I was looking at truck stuff and saw a Toyota Stout bed for sale - now THAT is a rare item!

Good luck

 

Ha, I think the market must be different in your neck of the woods. A couple years ago I tried putting it up for sale for $1000. No interest whatsoever.

On the other hand, I've been keeping an eye out for old Toyota pickups for the last month or so. Prices I'm seeing here are $5000-16,000 (the top end being pretty nice of course, the bottom being way too rough for the price IMO). Maybe just a Covid effect?

BTW, here's a picture I found of someone else who did a conversion that is pretty much EXACTLY what I would like to achieve:

 

Honestly IF you want a truck and can find a replacement cab, fuckin do it bro. The parts can be hard to come by but you already have the title to a clean chassis. Long run it'll be cheaper to mod what you have than to sell yours and buy a truck you want.

 

Where are you located? I saw a CL ad in Portland OR for a bunch of Hilux parts and looked like a cab was available.

Here in CA all sorts of vintage vehicles still pop up for sale and I see at least a dozen of these trucks for sale every year. Prices have been going up though, as with everything

 

I'm up in Canada. We have some old Toyotas here too, its just that they seem to fetch pretty high prices.

Lots of the trucks that survive lose their beds to rust. A few years back I had an '86 pickup myself - the bed rusted to styrofoam-stength and I swapped it for a flat deck. I miss that truck - part of the reason I'd like to get this '77 back on the road.

Interestingly... I got a tip! I had posted a WTB ad yesterday looking for parts and someone sent me a photo of a farm field not too far from me. Apparently this fellow went there looking for something else and happened to spot this. It's got potential!

I don't have any contact info, just a pin drop and this photo - I think I'll have to go door-knocking this weekend!

 

I remember last year tried to sell a busted and rusty '77 1 owner truck that i had tried to buy 10 years ago and the "i know what i got" was used but wasnt worth it

As for the pic, id drive that as is instead of swapping parts