I am a former product planner for GM, as well as Lexus.  A big Toyota fan, we have 2 LandCruisers, just sold an 88 Supra I restored in 2022, and currently vacation all over British Columbia, Montana, Idaho, and Washington states in our restored 1988 Volkswagen Vanagon Wolfsburg Weekender.  We love getting away in a self contained capsule - stopping when and where we feel like it.  

I was forbidden to touch the Sunrader until I completed a home renovation project, which took all summer.  Finally, two weeks ago I finished that, and last week I turned to this project.  It has an incredible 32,326 miles on it and mechanically seems excellent.  The cab is pure time capsule - completely unmolested just as you'd expect from a vehicle owned by older folks.  First order of business was to locate a proper 1 Ton axle, which I did last week.  Hoping the salvage place calls me tomorrow as I've had the trailer hooked up for several days expecting to come pick it up. It came from a Dolphin with 45k on the clock, and I'll swap my third member into it to keep the proper diff flange, and of course to use a diff with only 32k on it (!).  They let me go out in the yard to laboriously disconnect the parking brake cables as I was afraid they'd cut them, and as it's a manual tranny model (yay!), I will want stellar parking brakes.  My Cruisers have full floater 1 ton axles, so I'm familiar with the seals and repack process though I understand there are a few differences I'll discover when I perform it.  I don't yet have a welder in mind to properly move the spring perches, but hope to figure out the proper location and bring it to a friend in Priest Lake who's a talented fabricator.  I believe this axle was a later recall installation as the black paint on the ends looks like new, so I suspect it got new recall axles and was parked soon after.  The axle even has cool covers over the protruding flanges that are embossed with "National".  I took those off it in the yard just in case whomever pulls the axles either accidentally breaks them, or leaves them behind.  I suspect they're a bit of a "collector" item among Toyota motorhome types as I've never seen these in all the research I have done.

What's the plan, you ask?  Well, I am going to make it into quite the little luxo-cruiser actually.  Many of our friends have bought larger RVs but we prefer to motor around and explore for our getaways where they prefer the set piece method of arriving at an RV camp and sitting in one place. We love that, like our VW, we can park the Sunrader in ordinary parking spots right in the little towns, trail heads, and hiking destinations we prefer.  So with a little pride in my heart for those times we're with those luxo-barges, I'm going to use my product development background to make this a bit of a show off build.  The kitchen will be either a composite or marble top, new appliances with a larger fridge, leather dinette, solar, huge electrical capacity, and a cool paint job all frame my intentions.  I'm going to reinforce the roof so we can sit up there, pull kayaks up, and of course have solar.  We are also boaters and I've been on some boating sites looking at the interior materials the marine industry uses.  I plan to use some of that in the interior, such as the walls and ceiling in the over cab bed.  

Sequentially, I'll completely gut it leaving only the bathroom (love it!), replace the sagging floor, lift, reinforce and re-arch the ceiling/roof, then build out the cabinets, kitchen and such then install the new dinette and appliances.  That should take most of the winter.  Then in the spring, I will remove and reseal the windows, and paint the exterior. Somewhere in there, the 1 ton axle will be swapped and I'd like to go to single wheels if I can find the right wheels.  Kinda bummed the fronts will then be 5 lug while the  rears will be 6 lug.  Oh well. I'm also a lighting fanatic, so it will receive high quality forward lighting as well as full perimeter lighting similar to the system I installed on the Vanagon.  One touch full perimeter lighting is great for peace of mind when you boondock and hear a bump in the night. We all it the "Zombie switch" as instantly you have full visibility for 50 meters into the dark woods in all directions. 

I'm posting tonight because in the last few days I got to mess with her a bit, culminating in her first oil change.  I weighed her on a scale as this is as light as she'll ever be with empty tanks, missing dinette upholstery, empty cabinets and a quarter tank of fuel.  Scale says rear axle is 3120, front 1800 for an all up empty weight of 4920.   Honestly, the 22R and 4 speed manual move her along better than our Vanagon, so I am surprised and impressed with the powertrain.  Turns out our 22R is also the model they only made for 3 years with the double timing chain and all metal guides, so it's up to the task of our often mountainous journeys. 

I expect I'll add 250lbs with my remodel as there's no way I'm going to build an interior as light as this stuff.  It's really a marvel how they built these cabinets to reduce weight. 

So that's it, I guess. I've read everything i can find on this site and met many of the excellent folks who provide the great advice that makes for a nice forum environment.  Thanks for that nice welcome and advice so far - get ready for a ton of questions.  I'll be documenting the project in the weeks to come with pictures.  Here's one from the day we drove her home. It was not without drama as I stopped to fuel her up and dumped about 4 gallons onto the ground before discovering mice had chewed a hole in the rubber section of the fuel filler. That's replaced from Rock Auto. She's a rear dinette 21 foot model. Got lucky on that - didn't even know there were different floorplans until we got her home.  Several other vehicles will be keeping her company - extra points if anyone can figure out the vehicle next to her.

I have a question and then depending on the answers you all give, I may start this project.  I hate metal blinds.  They really give me the heebeegeebees.  Dust, metallic sounds, all of it.  

Is there a reason sunraders have metal blinds rather than curtains?  I can't think of a benefit except letting in a little or a lot of sunlight.  I can get the same out of some light blocking curtains.  

They will be interesting to mount, but I am up to the challenge and I can take photos to share my progress with you all.  

Thank you for your input. 

SC

Once I had the cabinetry and carpet out it was clear that this project had to begin from the bottom.  The floor was springy and far from flat.  

The floor is about nine feet long, and the main piece of plywood is only eight feet long.  The manufacturer put the seam at the rear, and there was an odd step at the junction where it once met up with that last foot.  (pic 1).

The rear edge of the fiberglass coachwork was sitting on the bumper (pic 2).  

The steel beams behind the wheel wells between the frame of the truck and the floor run from left to right and are only about four feet long, and the rear one isn't far enough back.  So the support of the coachwork depends on the strength of the composite floor construction.  The weight of the coachwork bears down on the edges, but the steel support beams are well inboard from there, so they are cantilevered out.

In the case of my 1980, the floor is composed of a thin aluminum sheet on the bottom, 3/4" inch of plywood Styrofoam, and 3/8" plywood on top.  There is no 1/8" plywood between the aluminum and the foam, as later models are apparently built.  The aluminum/Styrofoam/plywood sandwich is a reasonably strong composite construction so long as the adhesive between the layers holds, but once it doesn't - all hope is lost.  That's what happened to mine - allowing the coach to sink around its supports, resulting in the gap where the two pieces of plywood once joined flush, and sunken areas behind both wheel wells.  The ends of the steel beams had punctured the aluminum and the floor he deformed around them.  The junction between the rear of the eight-foot plywood floor and the rear piece had popped open, and that rear edge of that rear piece, still attached to the fiberglass, had sunk well below the support.  The front edge levered up, resulting in the gap seen in pic 1.

I suppose the "right" way to fix this would have been to remove the entire fiberglass coach, set it up on some kind of stand, cut all the plywood and build a new floor in from scratch, working from below.  But I couldn't see myself taking that on.  I didn't want to remove the coach from the cab, either.  But to fix droop I had to raise the coach off the truck's frame enough no only to eliminate the droop, but to give myself enough space to replace the bulk of the floor from above.  I found that the coach is attached to the frame in several spots:  two carriage bolts at the  rear edge, two more just aft of the wheel wells, three in a line in front of the wheel wells, and six stock Toyota mounts between the cab and the frame.  I fought loose the rusted nuts holding the floor to the frame and the six mounting the cab.  I then jacked up the frame of the truck, placing it on jack stands and shimming until it was level.

I removed all the nuts except the front two in the front side of the front wheel wells.  Here I backed off the nuts until they were just engaged on the bolts by a few threads.  Then I jacked up the coach OFF the frame, pivoting on those front two bolts.  I didn't want to lose the registration of all those holes, which would have been a nightmare to re-align.

I learned later on that the three bolts in front of the wheel wells attached a length of angle iron that is not attached to the frame.  It wound up lifting with the floor and hanging loose.  The heads of the two carriage bolts on it's ends are glassed-in to the fiberglass wheel wells.  The center bolt was the only one i had to cut out with a fiber wheel as it was just too rusted to remove.

The last pic of this first post shows a chunk of 2x4 supporting the coach on the rear bumper after lifting the coach.  I had another piece of 3/4" lumber in the stack when I had it fully jacked up into a working position.  Once up, the aluminum sheet did not contact the frame any more.  The floor at this point was only supported where it was attached to the edge of the fiberglass coachwork.  At this point the floor inside was VERY soft, and i could only walk around the edges or on the wheel wells.

Here's the main "before" pic, showing the step between the main floor piece and the rear edge.

Here's where the coach is sitting on the bumper.  Good thing the bumper was there to limit the damage!

After jacking the coach, I put this block in place to hold it up.  Later I added another 3/4", for 2 1/4" total

I love this little RV.  Or should I say I love the idea of it. The fact is it's 33 years old and was probably designed to last half that. It is bravely outliving itself, kind of like an old dog, or my old Honda motorcycle.  But I'd buy another one, only it would have to be a Sunrader that was stored mostly indoors.

I bought this rig for $8000, invested another 2500 (approximately, who knows, it's like beer at some point) and hopefully I now have something than I can enjoy a couple epic months traveling in.

I was able to upgrade the electrical system and water plumbing easily. Electrical: mostly Chinese components from LiTime, 200W of solar on the roof, affixed with some crazy 3M tape that they put skyscrapers together with. Water: new PEX lines throughout, new gravity and city water inlets. Found a cheap Suburban 6-gal water heater, 110V plus propane (older but never used, pilot light model, I'll survive).

Lots of re-sealing still to do.

Now for the propane.

Working building houses, I learned that codes are sometimes well-intentioned, but enforced without any real thought. Or unenforced. Or enforced based on personal feelings. Or waived after a free fishing trip.

So the things that will probably kill you are not as important as the things that might possibly, under just the wrong circumstances, kill you in a fiery disaster, or kill you in a way that would cost some insurance company a bundle.

If I die in a wreck in my RV, it will probably be the fault of a distracted driver. I will die from blunt force trauma. It will not be from a flaming, exploding propane tank flying miraculously from my rear bumper through the wreckage of my vehicle and landing smack dab on me in the driver's seat. 

So I'm mounting 2 20-lb, DOT rated tanks on a cargo rack attached to my hitch receiver.  I installed and leak tested all the lines myself.  The tanks will be disconnected unless I'm parked and actively using a propane appliance.

 I'm comparing these two options for safety on the road:

A propane tank permanently installed, connected to rigid lines, behind a fiberglass and foam wall that I can punch through with a hammer, or

A propane tank securely mounted on a cargo rack outside the vehicle, not connected to anything.

If I put the original propane tank back where it was, seems it would be the first thing to go in a rear-end collision.

I'm breaking the law and violating codes. But I honestly believe my way is safer. Even though it's cheaper and easier. 

I  had two different auto paint stores create the 035 paint from the manufacturer's specification. The paint came out bone white, not light yellow/white. completely wrong. I then bought every whitish spray paint ( about 30)  I could find in several different auto/home/paint stores and found this miracle paint from Rustoleum. I cannot tell where I painted with the matte french creme and where the original paint. ah really great!! what a thrill to find a perfect match.

This is my payback for all the generous help other people have posted to the Toyota  motorhome discussion board.

https://a.co/d/7UpPrCt
 

It does take close to an hour to reach temp, but that’s the trade off for it being a little 425watt element. Nice that it only pulls 3.5A though, if you’ve got A/C running and/or other loads and getting close to service limit at a typical 30A site.
 

Because of the profile, I lifted up the roof with 1,5 inches, that was awesome - now I don't touch the roof with my head.🙂

I gutted the kitchen and all the rest of my camper...

The electrical and plumbing was a mess so I changed it. I completely removed and changed 12v and 110v wiring, replaced electrical outlets with GFCI. I changed the old plumbing with brand new PEX, installed a new water pump which starts on demand. I tested on leaking the hot water tank and isolated it, I think it's a must to keep warm inside the tank 😀.

 When I repaired the roof I took off the old AC, and replaced it by a two way fun. The old AC was functional but to heavy, noise and energy consuming - get rid of it. I bought a nice 10.000 BTU Midea, which consume only 700w, it's quite and very effective. The Best place for the new AC was for me under the couch.

Us you see all the space which is hidden under the couch or the kitchen it's covered by skin - to protect against water if by some how I will have a leakage (knock the wood to not to...). Yes I am a paranoid.🙂

For the frame of all that I before was wood I used 3 pieces of 1/4 plywood joined with a polyurethane glue. It's very strong structure and lightweight. I kept in my mind all the way that I need to carry about outcome weight - I will care it with me all the way.

I covered the plywood frame with the same 1/8 nice to work plywood. Weight, weight and another time weight...

After troubleshooting and trying different fixes, I determined that the sockets are the problem. There is a a rubber gasket material down inside the socket who job it is to press the little electrical contacts up against the bottom of the bulb. This spongy material has lost some of its "Sponginess" and doesn't press against the bulb to get a good electrical connection.

There were several Solutions available:

1) Fix the existing assembly, pull the contact assembly out, and put some more foam material in there to help the contact plate push against the bulb.

2) Replace the entire three bulb assembly with a new Bargman 84 assembly.. These can be had for about $26.00 each, $55.00 total.

3) Replace the bulbs in the existing assemblys with LEDs and simply solder the LEDs to the existing wiring, $9.99 each $40,00 total

4) Combine 2 and 3, solder the LEDs or just plug them in, $95.00 total.

5) Buy the Barman units with the LEDs already installed, $85.00 each, $170 total.

I opted for the Door #3, Solder the LEDs directly to the lights and bypass the intermittent sockets.

OK, Here's how to make the LED modification:

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I removed and cleaned the tail light assemblies and lenses. Keep in mind the outside lamp is the turn signal, and the inside (middle) lamp is the brake light.

I bought 4 each, 1157 tail light Red (100deg) 36 LED Panel cluster bulbs from Super Bright LEDs. These were $9.90 each. This is enough to do both sides. (Dual intensity, Color is Red, 100 deg field of view, 36 LEDs mounted on a circuit card, wired to a 1157 bulb base)

http://www.superbrig...amp.htm#photos.

1157 LED replacements

On some of the Super Brite LEDs, you can cut the base off and connect your wires directly to the LED circuit card. I couldn't remember if you could do this with the 1157 series, so I opted to play it safe and just solder wires directly on the bulb bases. I used different colors to keep me straight. My colors don't match the coach colors, so don't get confused.

Solder wires to the metal base and the solder tabs on the bottom of the bulb. Notice how the two guide tabs on the sides of the bulb are at different heights, Orient the bulb to make sure your soldering the wires to the correct solder tab.

BLACK = Bulb Base (ground)

YELLOW = Dim (Tail light)

RED= Bright (Brake or turn signal)

I removed (broke them off) the bulb sockets from the fixtures by bending them back and forth until they broke off, Cut the wires and push the wires through the hole to remove the bases.

On the coach side, the wire color correspond to::

WHITE = Ground

GREEN = Tail Lights (running lights)

YELLOW = Turn Signal

RED = Brake Lite

NOTE- Don't cut the white wire that runs to the three metal plates on the assembly. This wire is needed for the Backup light.

I ran the LED wires through the hole that the original bulb wires went through, and soldered the LED wires to the old Bulb Socket wires. The grounds all get tied together, as do the tail lights. but the outside LED is the turn signal, and the inside (middle) is the brake.

A quick check to make sure everything was wired correctly, then I ran a small bead of RTV around the top and sides, and screwed the fixture back in place.

Push the excess wire into the hole, then use urethane adhesive, squirted on the back side of the LED board. Press the board into the center of the fixture and use duct tape to hold it in places until the adhesive cures. Glue the socket and wires so they don't bounce around and break.. Tape everything in place until the glue cures.

After the glue is cured, pull the tape off, do one final check, then put the lenses back on.

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MODIFY YOUR STANDARD FLASHER SO IT'LL WORK WITH LEDs

OK - One of the problems with LED Bulbs, They use so little current, the Flasher thinks there is a bulb burnt out,so it flashes fast.

You can either purchase a LED compatible flashing unit, OR, if your handy with a soldering iron, modify your existing flasher to flash at a slower speed when it senses a burnt out bulb. ( The burnt out flash speed is almost identical to the normal flash speed., but you don't care, as long as it works.

This is your flasher, its located on the drivers kick panel. remove it and carefully take it apart.

The 90k ohm resistor shown in the photo is used to establish the flash timing for the Burnt out bulb portion of the flasher.

Your going to replace that 90kohm resistor with a 220k ohm resistor, this will make the flashing time longer, and almost identical to the regular flash rate.

The 90k ohm is very small and tucked up between the relay and two large capacitors.

Unsolder the resistor leads (shown in the photo), and solder the new resistor in place.

Visit Radio Shack and Use the smallest watt 220 k ohm you can find (Ohms isn't real critical, probably between 200k and 240k will work. you can mount it vertical, but may need to put a sleeve on the lead to keep it from shorting out against the relay cage. ( If you can't find a 220k ohm resistor, you can solder two (or more) resistors in series and add their values to come up with the 220k ohms.)

Before putting the relay back together, plug it in and make sure it works at the slower speed.

JOhn Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Thanks!