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So I bought a '78 Sunrader...


Redwing

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You should take a close look at the frame of your old truck and the floor of the shell. On many of the Toys, the floor height is determined by the kick up on the frame for the rear axle.

If you haven't checked out  this thread you should look at the frame carefully.

 

Edited by WME
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20 hours ago, WME said:

You should take a close look at the frame of your old truck and the floor of the shell. On many of the Toys, the floor height is determined by the kick up on the frame for the rear axle.

If you haven't checked out  this thread you should look at the frame carefully.

 

Good to know and yes, that crossed my mind as well. Ultimately, the frame of the donor truck I will be putting the truck on will justify which move I make. 

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Ok if you don't have the truck then all this is vapor ideas. BUT one of the first RV I had had a low floor. The frame kicks were in the cabinets. If you don't mind a narrow walkway maybe will work for you....just find a truck with a wide frame 🤪

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I've stepped foot in a Sunrader that had the whole floor lowed 4" to the same height as the side door. It had plenty of head room and mounted up on a 80s F-250 nicely sitting right above the cab. 

 

Personally I'm installing a new subfloor under the existing floor and then fixing the arch in the roof to increase headroom. I'm only 5/11 though and don't mind if my hair barely touches. I'm only supposed to get shorter with age anyhow right!

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13 hours ago, fzj80joe said:

I've stepped foot in a Sunrader that had the whole floor lowed 4" to the same height as the side door. It had plenty of head room and mounted up on a 80s F-250 nicely sitting right above the cab. 

 

Personally I'm installing a new subfloor under the existing floor and then fixing the arch in the roof to increase headroom. I'm only 5/11 though and don't mind if my hair barely touches. I'm only supposed to get shorter with age anyhow right!

Good to know. Yeah I think thats what I'm leaning towards at least for now, but yeah like WME said these are all conceptual right now but with good research I hope to have a good outcome :)

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On 4/3/2019 at 11:46 PM, fzj80joe said:

I've stepped foot in a Sunrader that had the whole floor lowed 4" to the same height as the side door. It had plenty of head room and mounted up on a 80s F-250 nicely sitting right above the cab. 

Also, do you have any photos of this build?

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On 4/4/2019 at 10:02 AM, Redwing said:

Good to know. Yeah I think thats what I'm leaning towards at least for now, but yeah like WME said these are all conceptual right now but with good research I hope to have a good outcome :)

Ive got faith in ya! 

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I don't have any pictures of it but I can ask my friend for some and post them if he doesn't mind. I understand the conceptualization process. I've been doing that all winter! Eventually you just have to have faith in the research you've done and try something. I figured just like most things in life you never know the outcome until you try something! 

I also talk my girlfriends ears off throwing out ideas... It's nice to have someone to listen to my thoughts! Today I might have decided to also remove the factory floor and move it down 4 inches like my friends. But I need to take a few dimensions off a truck tomorrow that I'm contemplating. 

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18 hours ago, fzj80joe said:

I don't have any pictures of it but I can ask my friend for some and post them if he doesn't mind. I understand the conceptualization process. I've been doing that all winter! Eventually you just have to have faith in the research you've done and try something. I figured just like most things in life you never know the outcome until you try something! 

I also talk my girlfriends ears off throwing out ideas... It's nice to have someone to listen to my thoughts! Today I might have decided to also remove the factory floor and move it down 4 inches like my friends. But I need to take a few dimensions off a truck tomorrow that I'm contemplating. 

Yeah man, you're definitely right. Cool, well please keep us updated on your project as well! :)

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  • 2 months later...

Hey guys, just wanted to give you an update.

Sunrader shell is totally gutted and she is sitting perched as she awaits her new home

1160428988_SunraderShellOnDollys.JPG.dc308cf2b51976074fc31e2d636b82f7.JPG

I ended up selling the Hilux it originally sat on (for what I paid for it initially) as it was more of a project than I wanted to take on and ended up buying a '81 Hilux as my daily while I work on this project :)

Soooo, I'm still on the hunt for my donor truck. I'm really leaning towards a Jeep Comanche Long Bed. I've done quite a bit of research and talked to Jeep experts about the project and all that, but I would love to hear your opinions on the idea...

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  • 1 year later...

Thanks for the pictures and write up. I am looking to do something similar, I was hoping you might be able to provide some estimate of the weight of just the fiberglass shell. I'm trying to figure out how big of truck I need to transfer the shell. The last time I went to scales with a full tank of gas my rear axle measured 3500 lbs, so I'm thinking the shell could be anywhere from 700-1500 lbs. Do you have a feel for much you lifted with hydraulic jack and/or supported wit the wooden frame?

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The shell gutted of an 18 ft Sunrader weighs around 1000 lbs. Probably slight variances depending on year and model. Side door or rear door. I think the rear door one might weigh more because of the weight of the lifting door and hardware. All probably within 100 lbs of the 1000 lb

Linda S

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Also take into account of the roll out canopy, that with the door would offset the balance a bit.

Edited by Gary_M
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