sunrader

[katmaureen]

Bob: You seem to be the resident expert on Sunraders, I hope you can share some of your expertise. There is a 1983 Toyota Sunrader with 78,000 miles on it for sale in my little town ($7000) I don't see any obvious fiberglass damage or rust. I live in Oregon and we don't salt our roads in winter so that helps. I'm going to meet the owners in a couple of days and am hoping you can share some good questions to ask. I know that the rear axle could be a problem; I asked about that already and the owner said they had taken care of it. The price seems low......these things are hard to find. At this price I can afford some repairs but sure don't want to just through away my $$. I'm retired and hope to take this on the road. On interior repairs I have no problems....(spent 25 years remodeling houses and/or teaching woodworking) but I'm not a mechanic so need help there. Will I have trouble finding a mechanic to work on this (if needed). Sorry, don't mean to overload you with questions but appreciate any advice you can provide.

Kathryn

[ZachO]

Your best bet is toyotamotorhomes.org.They have much more experience.

Mildew or mold smell, cracks or soft spots, all the typical vehicle stuff like leaking engine or transmission or axle seals. Make sure everything works. Have them turn on the fridge the day before you come so you can see that it gets cold. Run the heater. Don't take their word for it that "it all works".

And "as far as I know the fridge works, I never used it" means it doesn't work.

Sunraders are great. I had a Chinook but the Sunrader was my dream RV. Smaller or bigger one? Can't remember the lengths...I think they came in 17' or 21'?

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by katmaureen

Bob: You seem to be the resident expert on Sunraders, I hope you can share some of your expertise. There is a 1983 Toyota Sunrader with 78,000 miles on it for sale in my little town ($7000) I don't see any obvious fiberglass damage or rust. I live in Oregon and we don't salt our roads in winter so that helps. I'm going to meet the owners in a couple of days and am hoping you can share some good questions to ask. I know that the rear axle could be a problem; I asked about that already and the owner said they had taken care of it. The price seems low......these things are hard to find. At this price I can afford some repairs but sure don't want to just through away my $$. I'm retired and hope to take this on the road. On interior repairs I have no problems....(spent 25 years remodeling houses and/or teaching woodworking) but I'm not a mechanic so need help there. Will I have trouble finding a mechanic to work on this (if needed). Sorry, don't mean to overload you with questions but appreciate any advice you can provide.

Kathryn

Kathryn, if you are asking Bob Miller, he passed away over a year ago. We all lost a lot of info when he went.

[Jack L]

If the rear axle has dual wheels, it needs to be replaced. If it has single wheels, it has been changed. "Taken care of" leaves me wondering. More info needed.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by katmaureen

Bob: You seem to be the resident expert on Sunraders, I hope you can share some of your expertise. There is a 1983 Toyota Sunrader with 78,000 miles on it for sale in my little town ($7000) I don't see any obvious fiberglass damage or rust. I live in Oregon and we don't salt our roads in winter so that helps. I'm going to meet the owners in a couple of days and am hoping you can share some good questions to ask. I know that the rear axle could be a problem; I asked about that already and the owner said they had taken care of it. The price seems low......these things are hard to find. At this price I can afford some repairs but sure don't want to just through away my $$. I'm retired and hope to take this on the road. On interior repairs I have no problems....(spent 25 years remodeling houses and/or teaching woodworking) but I'm not a mechanic so need help there. Will I have trouble finding a mechanic to work on this (if needed). Sorry, don't mean to overload you with questions but appreciate any advice you can provide.

Kathryn

Actually that price seems spring/summer season, excessively high.

Will you have trouble finding a mechanic to work on it? Maybe yes and maybe no. The guys who worked on that vintage of vehicle when it was new have all reach retirement age unless they started when they were very young. Certainly the young guys in shops won't really be familiar that era of vehicles unless they grew up working on them with their family. The other issue is a lot of times vintage vehicles have sometimes been through ownership of backyard mechanics who have done a less than stellar job on basic repairs. I would suggest you have it inspected by a qualified mechanic before you purchase it and also request any records of repairs that have been done on it. Then you can look at the list the list of the estimated cost of needed repairs and you will have a better idea of what its true value is.

[sweetleon]

As an owner of an 18' Toyota Sunrader and an 18' Nissan Sunrader, I can tell you that the following isn't quite correct:

Originally Posted by Jack L

If the rear axle has dual wheels, it needs to be replaced. If it has single wheels, it has been changed. "Taken care of" leaves me wondering. More info needed.

You can get full details at ToyotaMotorhomes FAQ, but the short answer is that you do want dual rear wheels, but each wheel should have 6 lugs, not just 5. The 5-lug duallys are not "full-floating" and have been recalled, but the 6-lug duallys are good.

[sweetleon]

Originally Posted by katmaureen

Will I have trouble finding a mechanic to work on this (if needed).
Kathryn

Kathryn, if it's got the Toyota 22R engine (or the 22RE), it should be pretty easy to find mechanics familiar with that engine as it was widely used in Toyota's pickups of that era, and is very well-regarded. The V6 engine, however, is the only engine Toyota ever recalled. IIRC it has issues with the head or maybe head gasket. (Google for more details.)

Similarly, the transmission (manual or automatic) and exhaust are identical to Toyota pickups of that era, which are very common, so lots of mechanics know how to work on them.

Apart from the "house," which it sounds like you're qualified to work on, this is just a Toyota pickup with an upgraded rear axle (see my other post in this thread for more details on that issue). So it should be easy to find mechanics who can help you. I certainly haven't had any trouble getting my mechanic to work on my 18' Toyota 22R Sunrader.

Cheers,
Lenny

[Rix]

Finally got an hour's help

[Buggeee]

Those wrap over windows are awesome. The trailers they sell nowadays have no windows at all it seems. If you get the chance pop up some pictures of what it looks like from the inside. I bet it feels like you're sitting outside on a patio.

[Rix]

Nearly, but they are tinted plastic. Curtains are still necessary though.

[rebar]

Nice work.. I really like the Sunrader's.. Especially the hatch back!

As usual, everything I like is either to expensive, or in this case no longer made.

For sale?

[Rix]

Not really looking to sell it, at least not at this point.
Everything has a price though.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by Jack L

If the rear axle has dual wheels, it needs to be replaced. If it has single wheels, it has been changed. "Taken care of" leaves me wondering. More info needed.

The recall was on the Toyota Sunraders. The Nissan Sunraders were not involved in the recall.

[Rix]

Wife is wondering if we should sell and buy something newer.

[Jon in AZ]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I love towing my molded trailer behind a modern, comfortable, and reliable vehicle. I love being able to update the vehicle as needed and keep the trailer, as molded fiberglass campers can outlast quite a few vehicles.

I do understand the appeal of these classic campers, but if your wife is wanting something newer, I would pay attention.

Upside is there is still a strong market for vintage Sunraders. Maybe they're all single...

[Rix]

I am..... Stubborn. So I may end up finishing this thing anyway just out of sheer spite. But at the same time I'm not getting any younger and just buying something is very easy

[Buggeee]

Originally Posted by Rix

I am..... Stubborn. So I may end up finishing this thing anyway just out of sheer spite. But at the same time I'm not getting any younger and just buying something is very easy

It should serve you, not the other way around.

At 4 years old that little one is ready to camp. When mine were that age I slammed together a pile of... um... old camper, and we went camping. I played with it on my own time for years but it functioned in the meantime so we never missed the season. If it was not serving us during the season I'd have cut it loose in favor of something that would. Harvest Rix. Believe me, they grow up-and-out fast, and they don't care what they are camping in, just that they are camping with their fam.

[Rix]

Bring this home tomorrow night



I've still got too much stuff to do to get the sunrader ready this year.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by sweetleon

As an owner of an 18' Toyota Sunrader and an 18' Nissan Sunrader, I can tell you that the following isn't quite correct:



You can get full details at ToyotaMotorhomes FAQ, but the short answer is that you do want dual rear wheels, but each wheel should have 6 lugs, not just 5. The 5-lug duallys are not "full-floating" and have been recalled, but the 6-lug duallys are good.

The Nissan Sunraders were not involved in a recall on the axles. Only the Toyota Sunrader was issued an actual recall. Most likely there were not enough Nissan Sunraders made to generate a recall on them. But then again it is also very likely they may have used a different axle for the Nissans.

[Rix]

new one is fiberglass too, So I get to still hang out here