shandamac

John, That's a lovely story. I bet KY was beautiful. What I love about our little toys, is that they allow us to take our time and really enjoy the scenery. Thanks for sharing. shanda

Hi 2Wheels, She's a charmer!!!! What an amazing gift! Keep us posted on your travels! shanda

CU, How exciting! I can totally relate! Really looking forward to your pictures and posts! Welcome to the family. shanda

NO.....Probably Not. YUP.....That's better.

Stroker, Can we have an update soon. We like 'during project' pics too. shanda

Greg, 70's Groove.....You're so right!!!! Those are dew drops, not bubbles on the cab. That paint is good and stuck there. Yes...thanks for the tip on the fiberglass.....scrubby pad to start.....gel coat wax to finish....got it! I'll try to keep her clean and sealed, but I'm expecting the art to age gracefully over time. Like me. Have a great day! s

Hi Toy Family and new members!!!!!! A quick Sadie update since Jen the youngest is only alloting me 20 minutes. Snap! Whatever!!! So....too busy for many road trips this Summer, Sadie and I are looking forward to the music festivals and workshops coming up this Fall. We're gonna be ready!!!!!! For months, I'd been mulling over ideas for decorating the outside of my little motorhome. I also wanted to stay true to her 80's vibe. I drew a few pictures: brainstormed an idea or two, but nothing was "doing it" for me. Until a few weeks ago, on a relatively cool Saturday, my oldest daughter, Gileigh and I took Sadie out rock hunting. We drove past dusty patches of red, rust and gold wild flowers towards the Sasakwa gravel pit to hunt for the deep red and rust Boley agates, and I had a vision. I think Sadie did too. The following weeks, I sketched , went to the auto paint store, had few colors mixed up.....chili pepper red, tangerine, and sunburst yellow, and this last Saturday I started painting. I'm attaching a link to a quick video from Sunday morning.... Sunrader...the ultimate canvas for folk art. cut and paste this link in your url field. Wishing you all a safe and happy Summer!!!! shanda

First of all. Trish! Congratulations!!!! You have come to the right place to find answers to every and all question you might ever have regarding your new little toy. The guys and girls on this forum have been amazingly helpful to me and my little 81 Sunrader. You're also in for tons of fun!!!! Please don't get frustrated. These babies are worth the the time and work we put into them. Take one project at a time. First thing I did, when I bought Sadie last May was to seal her windows. I removed them, cleaned the tracks and weep holes and applied fresh butyl tape I bought from O'Reilly's. (The black stuff they use to hold in windshields in cars) (Paruse past posts. You'll find all answers there.) I'm not familiar enough with the Granville, but several owners on this site have rebuilt the cab over bunks....they even have pictures... Keep looking, you'll find them... Sadie's window's had leaked pretty badly for several years while in the "care" of her previous owners..... I had to rip out rotted paneling and backer cushions under her 3 main windows. I replaced the paneling, and painted it, and built new backer cushions . After the windows and skylites were cleaned and sealed and the inside dried out, I mainly did cosmetic stuff....(paint hides alot of sins).... Fabreezed the cushions. (they were halfway salvageable)....covered them with pretty fabric.....scented oil and potpourri in a basket on the counter top..... Your can have your own little santuary, and you don't even have to leave the driveway if you don't want to. Your positives.....good engine....good carpet...cold a/c...etc.... That's fantastic! You can do this. Remember....one step at a time!!!!!! Post some pictures and keep in touch!!!! Shandaleigh

A quick pop in to paruse the new entries and to say hello to new members and toy owners. Hello!!!! By now you know you're on the right path. Well, Sadie, (my little 81 Sundrader that I will have owned 1 year come next month....woo hoo!) know holds an even more special place in my heart since January 31st. Early that morning, my 18 year old daughter flipped her car after hitting a patch of ice, and had to be medi flighted to the OU trauma center in OKC (about an hour drive from home). Her pelvis had been shattered and her leg almost torn off during her partial ejection. The following hours of waiting while she underwent several surgeries to realign and stabilize her pelvis and reconnect soft tissue were spent in much prayer and positive preparation for the upcoming ICU and Recovery weeks ahead. Gil was going to live. There were no upper body, head, or spinal injuries. She was one blessed little girl, but she was also going to be in the hospital for a while. All I knew is that we would need our little motorhome. Garymac went home that night to pick up Sadie while I pulled an all nighter in the waiting room (a story in itself). For 4 weeks Sadie stayed in the parking lot next to the emergency room entrance... Winterized and a tad chilly in the evenings but still a place of sanctuary and solitude. Gary worked nights, so would come to the hospital in the morning, then used the motorhome to nap off and on during the day until I arrived after off work. Jen (our youngest) stayed at home with the animals and visited on weekends. Friends and family supplied plenty of food to stock Sadie's fridge and cupboards, and I slept in the motorhome at night until Gil was finally moved out of ICU and I was allowed to stay in her room in the evenings. During that time, friends and family who came to visit Gil were treated to coffee and sometimes meals in the motorhome. Several local friends requested that we use thier homes.... and "warm beds" during Gil's stay at OU, but we had Sadie. She was perfect... and even though I hadn't purchased a generator yet, and was no where near an electricity source, my little LED camp lights were adequate for lighting, and a quick run on the propane stove would warm the camper enough to get snuggled under my down and wool bedding. One night it got below freezing...middle 20F's.....a tip from a friend who used to live in his truck camper (which he'd learned from a homeless man)......heavy guage plastic!..... I layed a sheet of it on the mattress, under a wool blanket and my down sleeping bag on top of that, then wrapped the blanket over the sleeping bag, and the plastic over that......It got hot!....... Well, to make a long story short. 4 weeks later, Sadie made the treck back home, and after a month and half of physical therapy here at our local facility, Gil is now walking...yeah....and talking of becoming a physical therapist herself . Every day is precious! For Sadie's next tour of duty, I am joining our community rock hound club. Not only will she be taking me to upcoming fiddle gigs, but will also join me on the hunt for local agate and rose rocks.....or maybe just sand stone. DeWinterization Begins!!!!! Have the most wonderful and prosperous of Summers Toy Family. shanda

Kirby! Congratulations! She's beautiful!!! Toyotasalvage.com in Phoenix is where I found the one ton 6 lug rearend for Sadie, my little 18ft '81 Rader. Had a local axle guy do the swap. If you can, when you're pricing the 1 ton rearend, make sure you have them figure in the brake lines and sway bar. (At the time, I didn't know that the old sway bar would be too short for the new rearend) Even though I feel the 1 ton rearened w/o the sway bar is much, much sturdier than the lighter rearend with a sway bar was, I wish I'd thought about it at the time. I just opted to leave it off instead of having to pay another set of shipping charges... Still very happy....and in Oklahoma straightline winds too. A leaking skylite over the wet head softened Sadie's roof just enough that I wouldn't trust it to walk on either, however, I have seen some impressive carrier racks fabricated by other toy owners on this forum....just keep on the lookout. I'm looking forward to hearing your up and coming Toy Stories..... safe travels, shanda

Oh Wow! Robert and Mrs! Your toy looks beautiful! Perfect!!!! Thanks for keeping us posted. shanda

Hi Georgek, Welcome to the forum! I have an 81 sunrader too! I can empathize with you on the seats. Sadie's are a little mushy, but there are no springs poking through, so I just imagine I'm sitting on "cloud 9" while I'm driving her. I do like the idea of the memory foam cushion. Let's see some pictures!!! shanda

Adel, Please keep us posted!!!!! Would love to hear about your toy travels. Safe Journey. shanda

Hey Jots, I've kinda been out of the loop for a while too. Glad we're both back. I'm all for fun. I wouldn't worry one little bit about resale; not having to pitch a tent, no guy lines, or crouching, or leaky tarps...minimal loading and unloading.....your own toilet and shower....and you can set up anywhere.....!!!! Perfect!!! Reading through the past posts is helping me with my toy withdrawals. (Sadie's winterized and we can't go anywhere.) Once in a while, I'll just pop inside to encourage her....., "Spring's just around the corner. Keep yer chin up 'ol girl." <sigh> How was your drive in the snow!?!?! shanda

BF4, You're in the right place! Welcome!! Enjoy parusing the past posts. They're full of info and helps re: our little toys, and it's a good way to get through the winter...... shanda

I found butyl at O'Reilly's auto parts. It's the kind of black sticky putty on a roll that holds in windshields. It's pretty amazing stuff. I used it in several different applications: sealing windows, vents, skylites....oh...and holding up a mirror..... shanda

toyotasalvage.com John and Kris - (602) 438-888 3230 S. 40th St Phoenix AZ That's where I got Sadie's 6 lug dually. They were wonderful to work with. Hope this helps! shanda

Love your dedication!!!! Here's to livin' the dream!!!! Can't wait to see the results.

I love stories with snuggly endings!!! I bet The Little Puppy loves his new rearend!!!

Hi Johnny, I found myself in same situation in May when I bought Sadie. I've not really seen any manuals for our little toys per se', but each appliance has it's own manual, and these can be found on the yahoo forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-campers/ . (You'll need to join...it's free....and then the links will be on the left....FILES) The 3 way propane fridge is fairly simple. Make sure you have electricity (battery power or shore power), and the propane tank is fairly full. The fridge also needs to be level. (Actually I just learned how to work my fridge about a week ago.) To use the propane feature, fully open the valve on your propane tank, turn the knob on the fridge to "gas", and set the temperature guage to 7 or so.....My fridge has a little flame indicator with red and green markings.....you should hear clicking as the electric ignitor tries to light the propane....give it 30 seconds....if you don't hear a whoosh, and the flame indicator does not move, turn the fridge gas knob to "off"......(you may still have air in your propane lines.....try lighting your stove top and draining air out of lines)....try the fridge again, by turning the fridge knob to "gas"......If after a couple of tries, it still doesn't work, you may have spider webs or a mouse something or other blocking the gas jet....I think if you have a copy of the manual, you'll be able to figure it out. The above link is a good resource for almost all the manuals you'll need. Oh....and FYI. If your hot water heater is not lighting, it may just need a new thermocouple. Contact your local heating and a/c supply place....I found a universal thermocouple for $5, and replaced it myself. (An hour before, the motorhome store repairman told me he didn't think they made "that kind anymore" since it was an old model, he maybe could try to order something.....but he couldn't guarantee it'd work, and that he'd make me a good deal on the new hotwater heater he had in stock marked down just for me to $350.) Anyway, you're going to have a ball...Figuring out everything about these little homes is more than half the fun!!!!! Wishing you the best. shanda

I was so pumped after my trip to TX a week ago. Sadie handled the 50+ mph straightline winds across the Okie/North TX plains and the wind tunnels through the Arbuckles without a sway bar just beautifully. Anyhoo, since she'll be taking a nap for a month or two, Garymac won't be on the rush, and might have her beefed up bar ready to install by Spring. I'm looking forward to taking her through the Ozarks, Appalacians, and eventually the Rockies. Actually, I have this fantasy of loading my little motorhome, grabbing my fiddle and going where the road leads me. sigh.....maybe when the kids leave home......