runfromturtles

I guess i'm still too picky, I passed up on a nice sunrader for a good price (wrong layout) Looks like someone bought it for 4500 and is flipping it for 9k. Another really nice nissan hard body got bought real fast and was back on craigslist the next day at double the price. Lots of flipping going on. I ended up buying a sunrader for $500 last year and it was a total loss rust bucket. (Only because they miss spelled sunrader) I did learn some lessons that sunraders are NOT moisture proof The floor very much can rot and replacing a sunrader floor is near impossible due to the fiberglass sandwiched into it. (Unless you're experienced DYI) I feel if i'm going to pay over $6000, it better not have a blue tarp over it!!! I see lots of "moisture damage", "needs TLC", for over 6k....I mean really, it's going to cost mega bucks to repair that stuff. People think their crap is treasure. On and because your tires have good tread does not mean they are "like new"...grrrr Someday, i'll be going on my road trip vacation....

What is a fair price to pay for late 80's in decent condition? (no leaks, good tires, running, everything works) Anytime something pops up it is sold in less than a day. I have missed out on 3 motorhomes in the past month (under the 4k mark). I have been searching all through the winter but almost nothing decent came up for sale in my area. The decent ones sell like hot cakes. The range of prices are pretty crazy, starting around $3,000 going upwards of $10,000. I used to hold out for a sunrader, but now i'll settle for anything, however I feel the popularity is rising and they are becoming more rare. Wish I had purchased one last year when they were in abundance. 84 short Sunrader listed for 9k right now...insane. Anyone have some tips, like how to get e-mail notifications on craigslist? I check once or twice a day, but you really have to respond within an hour now days to get that hot deal.

Thanks linda. As for the floor yes...it is actually glassed in with fiberglass, so simply replacing the floor means one would have to cut a section of the fiberglass out and reglass it and hope that the structure stays lined up during the process....not exactly for the faint of heart. Shortly after posting this my friend wants to tinker around with it and sell it for me. But I told him no one is gonna pay more than $500, not gonna stop him from trying.

I know everyone is sad to see a project get abandoned and left for dead. However this is what happens when an idiot like me comes along... Basically I have a 78 sunrader with the rear awning section that opens up. The shell is completely gutted and I discovered that 1/4th of the rear floor has rotted. I would definitely be happy to continue the project if I hadn't have also discovered significant frame rot towards the front of the vehicle. It does run and can drive but brake lines rusted out on front brakes, so could only be driven onto a trailer. I was going to remove the camper and find a donor vehicle for it, but financially it just doesn't make sense. I am quite embarrassed to come back here with the news of abandoning my sunrader like this. Does something like this have any value or do I keep it around the yard for storage? hah...

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bfs/3968604160.html I almost cried a little bit.

nice deal if the frame is good. I'd be all over that if it were in Oregon.

I appreciate you putting up the photos. It might be tempting if it was closer to me. Cost in fuel to pick that up would not really be cost beneficial. As for the diesel conversation. I used to be a delivery driver with a diesel truck. There are some smaller towns that actually didn't sell diesel and you'd have to drive out of your way to find it. Other smaller towns would only have diesel available at one location per town. Most of these places would not be open 24/7 either. So yes I can understand going to remote areas and having a little more difficulty finding diesel. However if you are anywhere near main highways where trucks are there was never a problem. (something that you don't really do when camping)

It's going to take some time, although I am very underemployed so it could progress when i'm motivated enough. HAHA, give me a chance to screw this up first, then you can have my shell I am liking the ideas of diesel rams very much so, but they are NOT too cheap. I could tow a boat no problem behind my MH which is a great perk. However some of these older toyota 1 ton's I can find for 1500ish. I'm now learning to weld as well....this should be interesting. Thanks again for all the ideas.

Wow, it might give me hope for my current frame.

Of course the most logical thing to do if I found a good deal would be a 4x4. As if I were to ever sell it there would be a higher demand. More upfront cost for me though. Trying to keep this as $ low as possible in case something disastrous happens to the project, I wouldn't want to be out too much.

As you might already know i'm working on moving my 78 sunrader shell onto another truck. I am open to ideas. Finding a toyota pick-up that already has the 1 ton axle with duallys is pretty rare. However, Toyota did make a pick-up called Toyota 1 ton. It doesn't have the dual wheels but it looks like it's got a nice pay load. I'm not even sure why the early toyota's axles were recalled, I thought it was the later over loaded ones that were having the problems? Some have mentioned the T100, great but the stock axle is only half ton if I do recall. Plus the toyota's from the 90 are ridiculously overpriced. Once a truck is from 89 it apparently is automatically half the value...

I am surprised more people don't re build sunrader shells onto 4x4's and sell them for a premium.

Frame looks mighty rusty to me, not like it had been parked under cover at all.

Well I will at least be cutting out a few feet of it. Depending how far the rot goes.

Thanks again for the info. Heres some pics of my progress to give you an idea where i'm at here. I agree Karin that making things level will be the biggest challenge. But I have a great indicator for that on this shell. The rear hatch door will easily tell me if something is wrong or uneven as it won't be able to close unless it's just right. I am now working on removing the shell from the truck. The truck itself is in very sorry and rusty shape. The frame is beyond my abilities. So I will park the shell until I find a decent truck to build upon. I would really like to rebuild the floor before I get the truck because I don't know how long it will be, before I find the right one. This is my favorite part about the 1978 sunrader, the rear hatch...or whatever you want to call it. Sinking rotted floor I can see daylight through the skin. It appears it had fiberglass on the bottom section.