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Looking for a Sunrader


TDH4L

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Exactly what I was thinking also. Bouncy and no real safety. If it was just me and my wife I would have a lot more option on a Mini RV. What I wanted is something that is small enough to park on a standard parking space. Drive it anytime and not be to big that I have to plan just so I can drive it. My neighbor has a Westfalia Vanagon and he is driving it all the time to work, grocery and camping on the weekend. I also see him fixing it all the time too Haha. I've always been a Toyota owner so I would prefer Toyota. The only RV in my mind is a 18ft Sunrader, Chinooks, and a Bandit. Portland has a bunch of RHD Toyota RV but I don't want to go that route. I like the 22R or RE motor. Im sure ill find one just need to be patient.

 

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13 minutes ago, Derek up North said:

indeed; then all toyotas are illegal in the following states to travel with family in anything other than front seats as toyotas ONLY had bench seats that are NOT regulation approved; even the barrel chairs are floor mounted and would fail inspection by officers:

  1. Alaska
  2. California
  3. Colorado
  4. Delaware
  5. Washington
  6. D.C.
  7. Georgia
  8. Idaho
  9. Iowa
  10. Kentucky
  11. Maine
  12. Massachusetts
  13. Montana
  14. New Hampshire
  15. New Mexico
  16. Oregon
  17. Rhode Island
  18. South Carolina
  19. Utah
  20. Vermont
  21. Washington
  22. Wyoming

I have violated 13 of these personally :)

Fairly certain this would be a catch 22 legal situation, since the year of manufacture did not produce legal seat belts to the current laws of the states.

Edited by Totem
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RV seat belt standards according to Class of RV–

Whether you have a Class A, Class C, or Class B RV, keep in mind that, manufacturers are ONLY required to comply to seat belt standards for the front passengers, not any rear occupants that may be traveling in the rig.

http://blog.rvshare.com/things-need-know-rv-seat-belt-laws/

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/injviosaf/Documents/RV_ChildPass_JDeCarli_VOSP_June18_2015.pdf

 

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I know this. It does not matter if a vehicle complies with regs when built if those regs get more restrictive later. When I first moved to New York in 1979, seat-belts were not required anywhere in the vehicle if it did not come with them new.  Early 80s, new law came into effect and we had to install a lot of new seat-belts in vehicles that never had them before.

I put new seat-belts in the back of my Minicruiser this spring because I had two kids who were riding with us this summer.  My Minicruiser had them when new, but someone had cut them off.  I will say that here in Michigan, I've never been checked.  Heck, I never even had a cop look at me cross-eyed yet.  Boy am I glad to be out of the police-state of NY.  My son had just gotten out of the service and we took a ride virtually in the middle of nowhere in the New York Adirondacks.  Some state cop was hidden on the side of a deserted road -  decided it looked like my son was not wearing a seat-belt and pulled us over.  Gave my son a ticket and it was over $50.  Hey, nice "welcome home from the military."   He was a Colorado resident and did not hang around to fight the ticket. I would have.  Two people's word against the cop's and yes - I would of lied and said he'd had it on.   

Michigan is the first place I've ever lived where restrictive laws have actually gotten repealed. Like the motorcycle helmet law. In fact, one of the politicians who helped get rid of that law just got killed on his motorcycle. Ironically, he WAS wearing a helmet.

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3 hours ago, jhdbad said:

I have a 18 ft Sunrader 1990 6 cylinder that I'd consider selling for 10K. Not sure that's in your budget. 

Just PM you.

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  • 8 months later...

Its been a while. Im still looking for a Sunrader. Prefer the V6 or 22RE.  Not looking for a fixer or project.

 

Thanks guys.

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  • 1 month later...

May I ask why specifically a Sunrader?  Yes, the fiberglass clamshell looks more modern and helps prevent some leaks.  But the windows can still be a problem, and I gather the floor can be a point of vulnerability in Sunraders.  I will admit that my unicorn Toy was a rear dinette sunrader with a manual 4-cylinder transmission.  But in the end, I decided to buy local where I could get help with the initial evaluation and repairs from a friend who restores old cars and trucks.  Ended up with a 1987 Mini-Cruiser that belonged to a friend of his, and that he had been helping to maintain, so it had a somewhat known mechanical history.   Wasn't sure about the rear kitchen and bath layout at first, but it's working well for us, and the automatic tranny hasn't been a problem, tho we did install a tranny cooler as part of our initial repairs/upgrades.  No matter which model you buy, you will need to budget a chunk for repairs and such.  These are 25-30 year old rigs, and will need a certain amount of TLC no matter what.  I've been very happy that I took the plunge, bought "Mosey" and got out on the road.  And down the line if a "unicorn" should come my way, I'll know how to evaluate it.  But Sunraders command a premium at the moment because they're fashionable.  Any reasonably well maintained Toy home will give you a lot of pleasure. 

Edited by KGordon
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Thats just it. You do not need nearly the amount of roof or window maintenance on sunraders. Everything sets flush. On mine the only leaks proved to be from marker lights wire holes. 

On other non fiberglass builds corrugated siding and roof eaves etc constantly need to be caulked and maintained. Theres also the fact they just look way nicer after 25 years mine still looks identical to the brochure glamor photo, no gobs of caulk all over the roof or rubber etc.

personally i also believe the monterey liesure builds to be even better sunraders because their portal windows are real glass and linear (flat) not formed plexiglass thats l shaped and nightmare to replace. When i gutted my monterey liesure build the subfloor was half inch marine ply that had also been clear coat glassed as if it were boat floor gunnel. Maybe the California sunraders floors were inferior?

no idea but dont lump both builders in the same basket. ?

Edited by Totem
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I know you've worked your behind off on your rig Totem. The ultimate Sunrader!  Sure would love to see some pictures! I posted requests for pictures from other members but got Only 2 responses. Why I wonder?

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