COYota

Hi, I've really enjoyed your blog and the Sunrader is looking great. I'm doing some of the same updates to mine. Can you tell me how the carpet around the coach door is attached? I can see in one of your photos that you have the door latch parts removed. Did you have to remove any other door hardware to get it out? Thanks, Brad 84 Sunrader 180RD FtC Co

Hi Gray, Congratulations on your new Sunrader. Post some pictures when you can. The wheels are usually 14"x5". Not sure what you mean about the front and back being a different size. They're usually all the same. Being an '83 it would have come with the problematic 5-lug rear axle. Has your's been upgraded? If not, you should plan to do so. The standard tire size for almost all Toyota campers is 185R14C. They should be 8-ply rated load range D tires. The C at the end may or may not appear. It stands for Commercial, not the load range. Also note that there is no aspect ratio like /75 or /70 specified. Tires that size are not commonly stocked most places but are available. A few you might look for are the Yokohama Y356, Hankook RA08, or Nexen SV820. My local Discount Tire store said they could get me the Yokohama for about $100 each mounted and the Hankook for a little less. If you want to order on line, tirerack.com has the Yokohama. Tires-easy.com has a bunch of different brands in that size. Brad 84 Sunrader 180RD FtC CO

Welcome WD, That rig looks pretty clean in the picture. Does it have a full-floating 1T rear axle? I don't think those were standard yet in '85. If you're not sure, pull one of those rear hubcaps and make sure that it has a protruding hub surrounded by little bolts. If it doesn't, that should be your first priority project. I think the Livingston book is pretty good for general RV repair and maintenance info: http://www.amazon.co...69870231&sr=8-1 There's a new edition due out in May, so you may not want to buy it just yet. You can probably find it at your library. As far as Toyota specific information, I doubt that you'll find much in books. This site and the yahoo site: http://autos.groups....toyota-campers/ are the best places to look for that. Have fun! Brad '84 Sunrader 180RD FtC CO

I believe that I've heard of people removing the bathroom assembly through the rear window opening.

DIN = Deutsches Institut für Normung or (roughly) German Standards Institute. See: http://en.wikipedia....%C3%BCr_Normung and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_7736 In reference to car stereos, its a mounting system with a specific size mounting sleeve that's installed in the dash that the component slides into. Most decks are one DIN unit high and are called single DIN (or 1 DIN). A few are twice as high and are called double DIN. I tied a little cord to my remote and have it hanging from the rail above the back window. Always handy when sitting at the dinette and keeps it from getting lost (at least for a while). Brad '84 Sunrader 180RD FtC CO

Hi PDQ, You might want to check out crutchfield.com. Their prices are about the same as you'll find at your local big box store, but they offer excellent support and include mounting brackets and a wiring harness in their price. Even if you don't end up buying from them, their web site has lots of good information. You can specify what features you want and it'll show you all the matches. You'll definitely want to get a wiring harness that's specifically made for your Toy. You connect it to the harness that comes with the new deck and it plugs directly into the stock connectors on your rig. I tried several different mounting brackets and had a hard time finding one that fit well and didn't interfere with the stock dash pocket on my '84. I ended up doing what's called an "ISO install" using the stock brackets instead of using the DIN sleeve. That worked much better for me and made for a very clean install. Take a look at: http://www.installdr.com/TechDocs/999015.pdf I second getting a deck with a remote. It's great to be able to control your music while sitting in the back of the coach. I'll also put in a vote for a front panel USB connector. The JVC deck I installed will work as an iPod controller, but better yet, it will play music files directly from a USB flash drive. I can plug in a drive with many hours of music and never need to mess around with CDs. It even displays the title of the song that's playing. Brad '84 Sunrader 180RD FtC CO

Hi Greg, I'm planning to do the same swap on my Sunrader once it gets to the top of the priority list. You are correct about needing a different oil pressure sending unit. The one for the idiot light is pretty much just an open/closed switch. The one for the guage sends a variable voltage. Unfortunately, from what I've heard, connecting the analog gauge to the idiot light sender will fry the gauge. I've seen several sets of instructions for this swap floating around the web. There's a pretty good one here: http://yotatech.com/f116/sr5-gauge-cluster-swap-how-pics-179106/ Brad '84 Sunrader 180RD FtC CO

It has been done. Pictures here: http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=1426 and here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-campers/photos/album/1936995128/pic/418924535/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc Doesn't look like it'd be easy, but its clearly not impossible. Brad '84 Sunrader 180RD FtC CO

Hi all, Thought I'd follow up on my furnace issue. Looks like DesertRat had it about right. I decided to pull the furnace out to give it a look. Found that it wasn't fastened down at all and that the support under it had come un-stapled from the outside wall and collapsed. I rebuilt the support shelf and blew a ton of dust out of the furnace. I also replaced the old brittle wires between the thermostat and the furnace with a chunk of lamp cord. After putting it all back together, everything works fine. No banging or other suspicious noises. Thanks to all for your suggestions. Brad '84 Sunrader 180D FtC CO

Those look great. I want some! Looked like a bolt was missing in the driver's side shot. Did you need to drill a hole in the floor or in the seat base?

What year is your Toy? Will the mid-90's 4Runner seats fit an '84 without much modification?

Hi, Wheels: 14 x 5" 6 on 7.25" Bolt pattern. Junk yard, eBay, Toyota dealer, or http://www.wheels-an...?p_prodid=18312 Tires: 185R14C (load range D) Yokohama Y356, Hankook RA08, Continental Vanco, Nexen SV-820 - America's Tire, Discount Tire, Tire Rack Hope this helps!

Hi T-Wolf, Thanks for the reply. It has electronic ignition, no pilot. I don't see a brand on it, but the exterior vent cover says Suburban, so I suspect that its a Suburban furnace. As far as I know, the muffled whump is the normal sound of the gas igniting. The bang is nothing like a bomb going off, just want to make sure that its not heading in that direction. I am not using the furnace until this is figured out. I have observed the ignition process, but I'm not sure what distance is safe at this point. -Brad

Hi All, The forced air gas furnace in my '84 Sunrader has been making a noise lately that has me a little concerned. When it starts up, first the fan runs for a little while, then there's a muffled "whoomp" sound when the gas ignites, then sometimes there's a metallic bang. Sounds like it could be loose sheet metal hitting something. I've been avoiding using the furnace 'til I get that figured out. Could it be taking too long to ignite, causing a small explosion as it lights, or is there just something loose? Is it dangerous? Any recommendations? I'd rather avoid paying the RV place to diagnose it if its something simple. -Brad

Hi Ben, I'd be interested in seeing how you did that. I already have a Yakima rack setup on my Subaru, so it'd be great to be able to swap parts. I'd like to carry my canoe on the roof of my '84 Sunrader, but I'm hesitant to drill holes through the roof to do it. -Brad

Hi yoyo, I replaced one of the Reflect-O-Lite model 4100 (no longer available) triple tailights on my '84 Sunrader with a Bargman #84 series long tail light. The #84 long requires a 16 1/8" X 3 5/8" opening. The height is the same as the original light, but its about two inches shorter. I plan to fill in the open space with a fiberglass patch, but so far, its just covered with duct tape. The #84 series lights are also available with LCD lamps, but I couldn't justify the additional expense. Take a look here.

Hi, The correct tire size for most Toyota RVs is 185R14C with a load range D or 8-ply rating. The size does not specify a sidewall height to tread width ratio such as 75 series. (75 series means that the sidewall height is 75% of the tread width). In actuality its about 82 for these tires. Note that the C does not refer to the load rating. It stands for "commercial" much as some tires are rated "P" for passenger car or "LT" for light truck. They are often used on commercial delivery vehicles. They're also used on VW camper buses. This is NOT the same size as a P185/75R14. The P205/75R14 tires you are using will be close to the same diameter as a 185R14 (about 26"), but will be wider. That may be a problem with the rear duals (they may touch each other - no good). They also do not have reinforced sidewalls (bad for handling) and are seriously inadequate in load rating. They're likely rated 1500# or less per tire as opposed to 1800 or more for load range D tires. That makes for a total of 1200 pounds less capacity for your rear axle. Some tires that are available in the 185R14C size are the Cooper SRM2, Continental Vanco, Yokohama Y356, Hankook RA08, Maxxis UE-168, and the Nexxen SV810. My local Discount Tire store has the Yokohama for about $100 each installed and the Hankook for a little less.

Hi Kirby, That's a sweet looking rig. I think you were wise to hold out for a clean well maintained unit. I'm finding plenty of things to fix on the '84 I just bought. It'll be soaking up all available funds for quite a while to come. Its not exactly leaky, saggy, and stinky, but it was pretty grubby. Lots of mouse nests. It was also full of goathead thorns! I found the first ones while reaching under the cab seats to see what kind of junk lived there. Those things are sharp! Ended up vacuuming up hundreds of them. Do mice gather them for the seeds or what? Check out http://www.goatheads.com/home/gh1/page_41 if you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm going to be doing an axle swap too. Good luck with yours. From what I've read here, good shocks, a rear sway bar, and 8-ply (reinforce sidewall) truck tires all help lots with stability.

Hi all, I've been watching here for several months and I finally took the plunge and bought a 1984 18' Sunrader on eBay. I'm afraid I may have overpaid a bit considering the work it needs, but I'm still happy to have it. I expected it to need some work, but it looks like it'll need a little more than I hoped. The stove, fridge, furnace, water pump and water heater all seem to work fine, so that's a plus. Rooftop AC is almost new. The floor and all the body work is solid. There's been a little leakage around the front cabover windows, so I expect I'll be pulling them out soon. There's a little water staining and mildew on the fabric around them, but the structure seems to be solid, so once its sealed up, I hope I can get away with just a good cleaning. The waterlines going to the shower were cracked, so I'm in the process of replacing them with new Pex tubing. Haven't been able to test the toilet yet. The upolstery and carpet were worn and dirty, but for now they'll just get cleaned. The dinette tabletop is missing, so I'll need to fabricate a new one. The first big project is going to be upgrading the suspension. It still has the 5-lug axle, so that's gotta go. It also needs shocks and tires. I have a line on a 1T full floater axle from a 1990 U-Haul truck. I understand that later axles like that need to have the spring perches moved inward. Is that a good swap otherwise? I'll have a local shop do the work. I'm afraid that it'll be a little beyond my capabilities. Would it be a good idea to get the springs along with the axle? The donor truck can also provide a 6-lug front. My understanding from a post here is that I'll need the hubs, rotors, calipers, dust shield, and wheels wheels from the other truck. Anything else? The engine runs good and cruises comfortably at 65, but has some timing chain noise and a little rod knock. It also leaks oil. Not too surprising given its high miles. I'll probably live with it as is for now, and swap in a rebuilt long block down the road a ways. Thanks to all for the great information I've found here already. I'm looking forward to this project and enjoying my Sunrader for years to come.