bajadulce

Recently discovered that my rig was only rated at 5.5K #'s even tho the paperwork states 7K. My rig prob does weigh less than 5.5K #'s empty, but fully loaded and off on an extended trip, it will go over that. And so am curious as to what others have to chime in. Fake duallies and the stress they put on the bearings are obviously a big concern on these rigs and comes up time and time again as well as tire date concerns, but what about the overloaded rig on the full floaters? The MAX GVWR for any toyota before 1995 appears to be 6K and many are less. It has been documented that many rigs straight off the manufacturers' floor come in close to this number, and so surely most if nearly all are over the legal limit when loaded and trip ready? Staying within the limit is fine if you're just going for a Sunday drive with provisions to last the weekend, but what about those that go on extended trips? Most of us want to fill our rigs with all kinds of goodies! And I've seen ppl toting around Scooters, battery banks, TVs, microwaves, generators, bikes, books... etc, etc. No way are they under the 6K limit. Greg's former 18' Sunrader weighed in around 7K #'s. Being the electronic enthusiast he is, he might have had a few extra gadgets to be sure, but doubt his rig had THAT much more stuff compared to the rest of us? ... finally what are your thoughts?

Well Crap! The truck's paperwork states 7K GVWR, but the door stamp 5.5K. This was one of the first things I asked about. The seller read me the paperwork over the phone and I too just glanced @ it when I bought the car. I had also done a quick google search for "GVWR 1995 Toyota" prior to looking into the car and it too came up as 7K. Turns out, only the 4x2 Xtra cab is rated at 7K. The 4x4 is a mere 5.5K. So I've lost 1.5K worth of payload with this oversight/mismatched paperwork which is pretty devestating for what I had planned. The smaller 94 truck had a GVWR of 6K and so I didn't question the 7K paperwork of the "bigger" 95. I'm a little bummed about this. I put a lot of effort into making this shelter as light as possible, but the truck end of the project has been the weak link. First it was the crappy 3VZE, now it's a GVWR 500#'s less than the smaller truck! Ya, the truck rides great, is stable, quiet, relatively peppy, and roomy as heck, but I probably can only legally haul a few surfboards, a pair of shorts, pillow, and a blanket. The point of owning a motorhome, is the luxury to be able to bring along a lot of goodies! Even at 7K, this kind of long term adventure is probably cutting it close, but seemed doable. A 5.5K limit is as stated above, is pretty deflating at this point. Anywho... I'm going to start a 2nd thread to continue this discussion and will link back to it here: What's your rig's weight FULLY LOADED, and do you care if it's over the legal limit?

Agree w/ Karin on interior not designed for heavy use like this. Myself, glassed lots of brackets to the walls that the cabinets are then attatched to w/ nuts, bolts, and lock washers in some instances. Washboard: Nothing can be a bigger pain than washboard that's for sure. Especially when you have miles and miles that need to be traveled. 20mph vs. 5mph over the course of 20 miles is a big difference in time... relative of course to what time means to you in this situation. I've had lots and lots of things break on my vehicles due to washboard. It and salt are a definite killer. And those guys doing 50 mph are doing as much damage to their car as you are. They're in a more dangerous situation with less contact w/ the road for handling as well. Agree w/ Steve and John that driving a little faster definitely helps. There are probably several thresholds of resonance. Slowest might not be the best, but neither outrageosly fast as well. I'd say the 10-25 mph range would be where I usually drive if had to come up w/ number. Anyways good luck and arriving in one piece a bit later is better than being stuck halfway there w/ a broken rig for sure. ... and could you please post more pictures of that back rack you've fabricated? Am very curious as to the rest of it not seen in that pic. Nice looking rig btw.

Hey Tim, sounds like it's working for you and glad to see I was wrong about the whole thing. I think was envisioning a hardsided overhead camper shell on a truck where the bed of the truck (on bushings) moves independent of the cab. I'm sure you've seen those things on uneven ground with a lot of inflection. In the case of a toymotorhome, the shell and truck cab are mounted as a single unit and prob act more like a van than a truck-camper. I found some time to check out your blog. Interesting read and pretty brave of you to camp out of the RV for a winter. You could use a heavier duty payload capacity of a full size truck for all your gear tho! Keep charging.

Nice product. Always amazing to see the evolution, minaturization, and use of alternative materials in design.

Looks great John! I like your scaffolding too! Holy crap man, why go on vacation, when your backyard is already paradise! Nice property.

Those nettings are great. I owned something similar and seem to recall it was sold in different UV protections similar to sunscreen? A friend suggested doubling up and using both the screen and rollout reed/bamboo. @15 minute setup: Wife didn't like the idea of the smaller awnings being permanent so had to spend another 10 bucks on PVC pipe/fitting and come up w/ a new design. Now, all the crossmembers slide onto pipe that then slides into the "hinges". Pic of all the dissassembled pieces to come another date.

You guys did a pro job fabricating that bracket. The craftsmanship looks great and that old timer looks like he knows a few things for sure. I'm not familiar w/ the underlying structure of that overhead cab and what has failed to cause your roof to sag to the point you can't open the doors. Whatever the case, I'm not crazy about this support in this area of the rig (especially one that is "fastened"). There's a lot of movement in that area of the rig (especially offroad) and if you must use some kind of strut/support in that area, it might not want to be fixed? Best might be a shock absorber of some kind? I see alot of forces working on that plate and transferred to the plywood bed as well as the truck firewall/cab. Of course road testing is the ultimate proving grounds and it will be the final judge! Hopefully I'm totally wrong and not seeing the whole picture.

hey thnx John. What's nice about the Flickr site, is you don't have to read all the blabbering! Terry: 26' must feel like driving a car for you compared to the 40' bus. Ya 15 minute setup sounds about right. The 2 awnings over the back windows are very simple, but the main awning is a little more involved and could easily take 15 minutes on its own. The awnings didn't quite turn out as aesthetically pleasing as I had envisioned, but they work. They're relatively light and cheap that's for sure. Definitely one-of-a-kind and not bought, which is always fun.

funny topic title that stands out among the other forum titles! just sayin

Looks great Mike! I love seeing homemade stuff. I don't understand the stigma with things appearing "homemade" when it comes to RVs. Everyone seems to want to spend a lot of $ to achieve some sort of factory showroom look.

I haven't inspected nor looked at many toyota motorhomes outside my own. And so I'm not as experienced as the other guru's found here and on yahoo group. My knowledge of the Sunrader is simply based on what was presented to me. I'm not a boat builder nor much of a car builder. I build homes. My camper is just a hobby. With that said, I can tell you of the shortcomings of both the floor and roof of my own rig and what I believe caused the failure. Both the roof and the floor of the sunrader are of composite construction with a rigid foam interior. The foam by itself would never be able to support a span like a roof or floor. Nor would the fiberglass. Bonded together however, they make for a strong composite. When the Sunrader rolled off the showroom, I'm sure the roofs and floors all felt very "solid". Over time, the bond that kept these composites together (plywood to foam in the case of the floor) lost it's bite and you are left with a stack of flimsy materials acting on their own rather than an engineered system. Heat may very well accelerate this delamination no doubt, but I'd think weight of something like an AC unit under the constant strain of dips and bumps of the road would have the most effect (heavy foot traffic effecting floor). Once you have delamination and/or a dip in your roof, it most certainly compounds itself especially if there is water involved. And if water should find its way into the composite structure, the foam will act as a sponge as it did around my AC unit for several feet in all directions. And wet sponges aren't light adding further to the dilema soaking up more water! The floor is the same scenario with older composites having to struggle to hold their integrity because of the expansive spans they must endure. The fix is simple in the form of support as Sunrader added some ceiling joists/beams to their interiors in later models. Unfortunately there was no simple solution for the floor other than adding additional under frame work.. which is easily another topic all together. The proposed joists glassed to the top of the fiberglass rig are definitely a good idea as they don't impede on the immediate headroom. Tho they will technically be "pulling" on the upper sandwich layer of the composite construction. And while they may fix the immediate sag in the roof, the ceiling might just continue to sag if the laminates are compromised. Supporting the composite roof from Inside the cab, such as what RHS did, would prob be more sound, but at the cost of headroom as well. Not everyone has the benefit/luxury of working with a gutted shell and limitations as to how much work can be done is dictated by cabinetry and basically not making a huge mess! Battling a sagging roof and/or floor without tearing things apart would be a tough challenge to be sure. Adding a piece of plywood atop the floor is an attractive "fix" without having to make a huge mess. Anyways good luck w/ your battle and always enjoy reading about others creative efforts/ideas in their solutions win or fail. Edit: Also moved this to general forums as it doesn't seem to quite fit Greg's intended "appliance" tech section.

Wet snow! Wow, that's a whole new equation. I think there was a conversation on this forum in which a member built a temp hardsided canopy for atop her/his rig to survive the winter's onslaught. Might have to go to the extreme to battle such extremes. @ adding support: You seem very handy and prob would be a relatively easy fix/upgrade for you. The newer Sunraders have some additional ceiling support to what prob is the same fiberglass "mold". Count your blessings your rader never had an AC unit for sure! My own redesigned roof is actually pretty flat atop (exact width of the solar panels) but still has a little positive curvature due to the small radius in the plywood/fiberglass "beams". My roof is pretty damn light construction tho, and don't know if it could handle anything substantial like the snow you're describing. Ya, I "stood" on it once very gingerly just to say I did, but I imagine 3' of snow weighs more than me? What about solar panels and snow? I don't see myself ever staying in a winter environment, but what do others do about snow accumulating on solar panels? How much can the glass support?

wow, Super Dad!

David: 4K miles in 2 weeks seems like a lot of driving! Sounds like a great time. What's in SoCal? Harley Convention/Rally? Do other Harley owners ever give you a hard time about towing your hog with a Toyota rather than a Ford? Would be fun to hear Hedgeman's thoughts on their camper's living arrangements/design now as opposed to before they left on this adventure. I'm sure they fell in love with a lot of things about their toy during their journey. And to be sure they are not so in love with others. Camping for 6 months out of a small rig like theirs, one begins to migrate to the more simpler life to be sure.

Sorry there's no easy fix to your problem, but for sure need to gain some sort of positive arch whatever you eventually do. Flat roofs are a poor design as they don't stay "flat" without substantial support. RV manufacturers want to be able to sell rigs w/ lots of goodies on top of roofs.. Guess it's easier to start w/ a flat one. Roofs instead should have some positive arch with rooftop accessories designed around this obstacle. Arches support themselves and shed water. Flat roofs eventually just sink and collect. @ roof not appearing to budge: Your floor might be giving in the other direction as you try to jack up the roof! Sunrader floors are notoriously flimsy and lack support. Might need to distribute the weight of the jack throughout the floor when you try this again next spring. Some sort of covered light A-frame (tarped or light plywood) above your roof might be a lifesaver to get you thru the winter (parked) for now.

Chuck: I saw a link to your blog in another thread and visited it. Looks like you're back home in the good ole USA now. Funny read about Semanna Santa and the beach! Ya that's always an interesting time to be a "camper" in Latin America. I remember many years ago one of my VW van's motor completely blew up and was forced to leave the vehicle at a roadside tire shop for a few months till I could return w/ a new motor. I just happen to pick Easter week to pull this stunt and soon found myself wrenching on other Mexican's cars! In the end prob made $75 bucks for the week I was a Mexican mehanic! (felt like $7K back then!) The world turns upside down during that week for sure! Read your detailed description of what it feels like crossing the border after being away for so long. Agree, that's usually the biggest shock when you've spent more than a few months away. All of a sudden you are on 5 lane highway and engulfed by "everything" that is the U.S. Definitely more of a shock coming "home" I think. I don't think there are too many places in the world that have that much "separation" between borders/countries. N/S Korea maybe. Fun stuff man! I imagine you have plenty NEW ideas on how you'd like to update/modify your camper for the next trip back! Curious as to what ever happened with that overhead stove/range hood?

You don't need 4wd as you can get to remote places without, but it definitely makes life easier. Clearance might be a bigger issue (especially for longer vehicles) if you plan to do much driving off the highway. Baja's coast is mostly only accessible by traveling off the highway (sometimes for many miles) on road conditions that can vary from day to day. Coastal mainland is a totally different story and is much more populated/traveled. Where things get messy offroad is when it rains. Veteran campers (even with powerful 4x4's) have to make decisions when it rains. Either pack up and hightail for the highway or sit put and plan to bunker down till the roads become negotiable again. Once the dirt roads turn to diaper mud, you're in trouble. From my experience, the biggest obstacle might be washboard and salt (at least to the arid regions (baja in particular & coast camping). Both will beat your car to shreds eventually. @ information on the internetz: The world sure seems a lot more accessible these days and a lot flatter/smaller with the internet and information sharing/blogging. There are so many ppl out there writing about every little detail of their travels down to the GPS locations of their favorite spots. If there's something to blog about some destination, it is guaranteed to be documented somewhere in the e-universe. Most of us old salt dogs were of the opposite school of thought, and struggled to keep our favorite surf spots from being overrun or even "discovered", but that is ancient dinosaur thinking now so it seems.

Good thinking w/ the corrective weep holes.

Holy crap those look like some tight seams on that subfloor! Impressive.

I would think chopped/shot fibergalss weighs more than aluminum. Aluminum needs a frame and that's prob where a lot of the weight begins to add up. The chop/shot fiberglass such as the Sunrader is pretty thick (has to support itself) and is pretty old school tech. Composite core construction allows for a much thinner fiberglass skin as opposed to mono glass. If/when we start seeing new mini motorhomes again in NAmerica, you can bet it will be some sort of composite construction.

Hi Karin (answering your email here in this topic.) These shells were built with a chopper gun that shreds fiberglass and shoots resin at the same time into a mold w/ a gelcoat . Maybe modern composite core constrution campers use Epoxy to be compatable w/ the foam cores, but these older shells undoubtably used the cheapest polyster resin they could find and bought in huge bulk to be sure. That being said, I have been using polyester throughout my projects (both this sunrader and an older V8 chinook for several years now). I have used a few different brands from different vendors, but mostly just the cheapo Home Depot gallons as it was the most convenient It's a tad thicker than "quality" resin which would seem to be counterintuitive? Most of my applications have involved a brush (bought those in large packs of cheapo throw away at Home Depot as well) and the thicker globby resin doesn't run down the walls or drip off the ceiling as easily. The few times when I had to use a roller to apply large mats of glass (underside of FRP ceiling, floor, and front windows), Yes, I had to thin the Home Depot resin with some acetone. Both the V8 chinook and Sunrader have held up for many years now. No signs of any failure due to mix-matched chemicals in any of these to report. Sounds like a good move. What material are you planning on using to cover the expansive holes? Myself, I used some of the readily available FRP shower panels. FRP panels are pretty flimsy, but added 3 layers of glass matte to the textured side (yes, had to spend a few minutes w/ disc sander roughing up texture) to make for a beefier panel. The beauty of the FRP, is the "backside" is non-textured and thus has a very "gelcoat-like" finish. Used it for the roof as well. Doubt these panels could stand up to the UV punishment of direct sun for very long, but painted, I'm sure they will be fine.I've seen a lot of ppl over the internet try to use layers of cloth alone for expansive voids rather than scabbing in a section of pre-made panel. The end result is them having to apply a crapload of bondo to try and achieve some sort of smooth surface.

Well the beauty of fiberglass is that you can do just about anything you want. Agree w/ John that some fiberglass "ribs" added to the topside of the coach would provide excellent strength and damn near permanent solution to your sagging roof. That is a really well laid out and thorough instruction/guide too! Good details in the process. And while a 2x2 contributes to the strength of the rib, it is the glass itself, more specifically the PROFILE glass of the rib, that provides all the integrity. So 4" of glass "profile" on a 1x4 would actually be stronger than a 2x2. Even some 3/4" plywood strips (stood upright) could be custom shaped to fit the contour of the roof. Think vertical not width with "joists". Heavy duty floor Ibeams that hold up houses are made of OSB plywood for instance!. With that said, I'd propose taking these ribs one step further and engineer a nice "roof rack" out of fiberglass tubing (possibly even ABS) that serves double time being "ribs" holding up the roof. Everyone wants a rack for their kayaks and other must have things. Tubing would mean you might even be able to store some gear inside (fishing poles, tarp poles etc) Fiberglass also likes to stick to other protroleum products better than wood.

That sounds like a really comfy rig. The extra cargo capacity, space, storage, and fresh water/holding capacity would seem ideal for touring. Maybe you can tow a small car for longer trips? I took my disc sander to the fiberglass again today ... had some extra PVC from some gardening work we did Buckets of water w/ string holding frame in place/level. 1/2" pipe passes thru 3/4" fittings forming nice rust free hinges! No turning back now. Some extra knobs for hanging things like towels, wetsuits, fishing rods.. blah blah view from inside. Look at all that shade on table! support block for legs. The reed can be rolled up and put in a carrying bag. Used this type of material for years for shade and works well (prob better than tarps) as it can hold up to wind really well, breathes, and doesn't make much noise flapping around on those windy nights. Cheap too. The main awning is a little more involved (and substantially beefier) Basically it flips over the camper and rides high so that it clears the door while allowing some decent pitch. So lots of "plumbing" in my camper now! Awnings, gutter, table, mirrors. Plan to rebuild the front hatch out of PVC pipe and FRP as not crazy with the current brass hinges and redwood frame. Think I can do lighter with PVC. Might even build a storage box for the rear out of PVC. If had the space, I'd build an entire camper framed of PVC, rigid insulation sandwiched between frp just to do it.

If you strip the paper to paint, there will probably be some additonal prep work needed to be done as no doubt the paper covers some imperfections and loose ends in the construction such as seams, corners etc. I'd try cementing the failing corner back into place followed by painting as John and Totem suggested if that doesn't work out for you. IF you plan to use your shower a lot, agree w/ David, that putting some FRP panels up would be a nice modification. I believe WME (Terry) did such a thing to his rig and he was very pleased with the results.