Mirage chassis rebuild/retrofit. The previous owner had upgraded the front end of the Mirage to 1 ton spindles and wheels, but the rear end was still the 1/2 ton with the original wheels that were bolted together. There was a recall on these wheel sets years ago, so I knew I needed to take care of this. In addition, the rear wheels were 5 bolt pattern, which would require carrying 2 spares! The previous owner sold us a 1 ton rear end to go with our Mirage, but after getting home and doing some more research, I found out the hard thing to get was the 1 ton dually wheels!
That's when I went back to Craig's list and found a 1983 Toyota Dolphin Motor Home with 101,000 miles on it, and a good 22R motor and transmission, and yes, with a good 1 ton rear end and those (4) 1 ton dually wheels!
The inside of the Dolphin is water damaged, so I will be parting it out on Craig's list after I take what I need. So I took the rear end out of the Dolphin, and put it in the Mirage.
This took several days. I cleaned up both rear ends, and chose the one that I felt was in the best shape for the Mirage. The emergency brake cables, and shock mounts had to be taken from the Dolphin to accommodate the Mirage chassis. The drive-line rear yoke had to also be taken from the Dolphin and changed out with the 1/2 ton yoke on the Mirage. The 1 ton rear end I purchased with the Mirage came with a really cool anti-sway bar, which I also retrofitted to the Mirage chassis. The rear brakes were cleaned and rebuilt, the bearings inspected, cleaned and re-greased. The rear differential drained and refilled with new gear oil. The rear-end was primed and painted. Ready for the road! (Almost!)
Notice that the rear windows have been removed for the interior remodel, coming soon. I currently have the front end torn apart, as I detail and check the front end for any problems.
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