Eve "n" Stephen

We recently bought a 1986 4runner to go along with our 84 Sunrader. The 4runner sits very high and the driver's seats in these tend to get a lot of wear due to the high step and sliding under the steering wheel. So... I swapped these somewhat more adjustable cloth seats with the vinyl seats in the Sunrader. I figured with the easier entry, seat covers would work here, where they'd get dislodged quickly in the 4runner. The seats from the Sunrader are slippery and like new, so should work better in the 4runner. It would be a breeze to swap them, I thought! Well, the driver's seats were easy, all bolts lined up and it didn't take long. I removed the passenger seats and found that the mountings in back were much closer to the front bolt holes. Oddly, the 4runner had one covered hole in the right place, so I only had to drill and bolt with a big washer underneath. The Sunrader wasn't so handy, I had to drill 2 holes in the floor for it. But, it's a done deal! Steve

With new tires, a brake job and a fixed exhaust manifold leak, our 18' Sunrader is ready. We'll be heading out around 6 am tomorrow, heading for the southern Oregon coast. Living close to Crater Lake, we'll take the south entrance and follow the west side, then down to Roseburg and on to the coast. We used to live near Port Orford and will be visiting our son and many friends there, along with some beach walks. Lots of up and down on this trip, we'll be leaving from 4160' elevation, around 6000' at Crater Lake, then down to sea level. It should be a fun 5 day trip! Maybe we'll see some of you along the way! Eve and Stephen Thompson

I had the same basic job done recently. I have no place to do any major work on my 22r, so took it to a recommended shop in Klamath Falls, Lee's Automotive. They are very familiar with this engine, which was good. 3 studs broke getting the exhaust manifold off, but they did get them out without pulling the head. Once back together, it still leaked, so they had to pull it apart again, it was warped. Off to a machine shop, then back on and all was good. I felt that the $214 they charged was very reasonable. Things are much quieter now! I can even hear a bit of valve clatter. I adjust them about every 12,000-15,000 miles. They were really tight when I bought it 3 years ago, a wonder there were no burned valves. Steve

I too have that problem, although my charge and brake warning red lights seem to blink on/off rather rapidly. If I touch the brake pedal to just slightly set the brakes, the blinking stops. If I add brake fluid slightly above the full line in the reservoir, the blinking stops, so I'm suspicious of the sending unit on the brake fluid level. Further testing will happen this week. I haven't been able to find anything else that would be causing it. Steve

Spring Cleaning! Wow, emptied all the cubby holes and found loads of stuff that didn't need to go along for a ride! I suppose we only emptied 50 pounds or less, but there's a whole lot clutter that's now elsewhere. Washed the dash and all the inside of the cab, my what a lot of dust built up. Once the interior is really clean (not that it'll last) I'll start on the outside. She'll even get waxed in the next few days. Steve

We use a Melita single cup maker with cone filter, also have a small grinder and fresh grind French Roast. The grinder works fine on our small inverter. Steve

Note: they do need air circulation under them, the hotter they get, the less power they put out. On my Sunrader, I made a rack that mounts to the luggage rack rails, so no holes needed. Steve

"You & your wife have gave Tug a better life" More like Tug gave us a better life! He is really a character, I play blues harmonica and he sings along with me! He'll also sing/howl along with harmonica playing on the sound system, but not with any other instrument. Derek, Sugar looks like a light colored version of Tug! We're very into dogs also, generally like them better than most people. It's amazing how many people have tiny motor homes and BIG dogs! Steve

Another rescue dog with a couple twists. We've had "Tug" now for 4 years and he's a great! We found him, lost and starving to death with a front paw in a leg trap, between two actual Wilderness areas. We were out for a drive on a very cold (for the coast) sunny December day. We went up a side canyon dirt road between the Grassy Knob and Copper Salmon wilderness areas of southern Oregon and saw a black thing by the road. At first we thought "Bear", but as we got closer, we saw that it was an injured dog. Not only did he look like a survivor from a concentration camp, his right front paw was in a trap the size used for beaver. He'd apparently pulled the illegally set trap stake loose down in the canyon, but it tangled on a root and he was stuck. He must have been lost for weeks by his condition. We got him loose, his foot seemed ok, he was just too worn down to pull loose, I think he'd have died that night, without water and temperatures in the teens. He never made a sound in the 1st 24 hours we had him. After several days of feeding, running ads in all the local papers, we took him to the animal shelter and had him scanned for a chip. Nothing... but he weighed in at 63 pounds. He's now a healthy 110 pound beast, we think he's German Shepherd and Husky cross. Now, we were wanting a dog, but having had Rottweilers and Labradors, we were thinking that something a bit smaller was in order as we got older. So... We end up with the biggest dog we've ever had! He absolutely loves to ride in the Sunrader, in fact, it's hard to get him out, he'd happily live there. Tug, named for his pulling ability, is a solid member of our family and we can't imagine life without him, although in an 18' Sunrader, he does take about 1/2 the available open space! The photo with my wife, Eve, is the day after we found him. I mentioned twists... He has a lop ear and a very curly tail! this is two years later. Steve

Thanks, It's the full floating axle, I'd probably only be caught dead with the 5 lug! I have had good dealings with Les Schwab centers over the years, just wondered if there was anyone special in the area. This rig may be my favorite vehicle I've ever owned! We go to a lot of garage sales and the early bird gets the worm, so to speak. Being able to drink coffee and not search out a restroom in the midst of sales is WONDERFUL! We also do a lot of dry camping in the national forest. Steve

In the next month or six weeks I'm going to need to get my brakes done on my 18 foot, 1984 Sunrader. I have no place to do the work myself other than a very dusty driveway. I live about 30 miles north of Klamath Falls, Oregon, so would hope to get it done in the general area. Klamath Falls would be my 1st choice, Medford (80 miles away) #2, Bend (110 miles) #3. Any recommendations of shops/mechanics would be appreciated! What is a fair price to pay for a good, complete job? Thanks, Steve

The aspens around Chiloquin are spectacular right now! Steve

After moving over to a place by Agency Lake (near Chiloquin OR), we finally made it up to Crater Lake! What a beautiful drive! We entered from the south and drove counter-clockwise around the rim drive. This put us on the east side first, so the sun was shining on the far side, yes, we were thinking photography! The rim drive is mostly around 7000' elevation and we wondered how our 18' Sunrader with 22R would do. No problems were encountered and our last tune-up was done at sea level. The road is paved, 2 lane, a bit narrow and there are no guard rails. There are many places with no shoulder and steep drops for hundreds of feet, with many sharp turns. So, in spite of the awesome scenery, the driver has to watch the road! At one point on the trip, Cloud Cap Overlook, the side road climbs to 7960' elevation, the highest point on a road in the park. Here, there were many twisted and ancient white pines, so we did quite a bit of hiking around. We took about 5 or 6 hours to make the loop and will have to go back for a longer trip, possibly camping up there for a few days. Since we're only about 35 miles from the entrance, we can also just come home at night, but I'd like to do sunrise/sunset photos!

Yes, We are loving it here! Agency and Klamath lakes are truly beautiful and full of wildlife, especially birds. We live 3 blocks from Agency Lake in a very rural location and only a mile from the Wood River Wetlands refuge, so there's some great hiking and canoeing spots handy to us. Although getting re-settled has taken more time that hoped, we have done a lot of photography! Our trip up to Crater Lake in the Sunrader was really fun. We did the rim drive, taking about 7 hours to do the loop. Yes, we stopped often and did a lot of hiking. The high-point of the trip, both elevation and photography wise was Cloudcap Overlook at 7960 elevation. The little 18' Sunrader did great, with no problems other than a bit slow on some of the steeper roads. I'll try to get time to post a few images here soon. I'd sure like to get up there one more time before it's closed by snow, but... Steve

We're only 30 miles from Crater Lake, just moved here 3 months ago. Managed 1 day trip up there and had planned to go up again about now. Weather's perfect, but... Friends who own a resort just before the park entrance have had a pile of cancellations. Our poor country sure is messed up! Steve

Before buying the Sunrader, we had a small fiberglass trailer. I rigged the shore power to one end of a DPDT (double pole, double throw center off) toggle switch rated and 20 amps and the other end to my inverter. There are 6 terminals on the back, 3 groups of 2, so the switch connects either end to the center terminals. That way, all my plugs were either connected to shore power, off, or connected to my inverter. Seems like the same could be done here. I guess you'd have to wire the shore power 110V to the switch after it comes off the converter. I didn't need to set the Sunrader up this way, as I kept the systems totally separate and my 100 watt panel has never been too little, running just led lights, stereo, laptop an hour or so a day, charging camera batteries, water pump and very seldom, the heater. Steve

Go to Solar Blvd for a good selection and great prices. They have the Solar Cynergy 100 watt 12v panel for $125 (I have 2 of these, one's on my Sunrader) and 140W, 12V for $139. I've been dealing with them now for 4 or 5 years with never a problem. They've been quite helpful on the phone as well. Steve

Harmonicas are great, easy to carry (unless you plan to play with others, then you need a big pile of the things, like every key!) I have a problem playing now, my big black shepard/husky cross immediately runs over and starts singing/howling along! It's amazing how often he's in key and tempo, but so funny and loud I can't hear myself and usually start laughing too hard to play. Steve

It's an automatic, thank goodness! Why? We go on a lot of forest service roads and campgrounds where .5-1 mph is just about top speed in spots with deep potholes! Lot's of clutch slipping to do that with a 4 speed! Steve

We recently moved from the Oregon coast (50' elevation) across the Cascade mountains, just north of Crater Lake, over a 5900' pass. We've made 4 trips with the 18' Sunrader, one pretty heavily loaded, with no problems. It's a little slower on the steep spots, down to 40 mph for a couple miles and several miles at 35-40 that were steep and curvy. We wouldn't have gone faster if level! It never ran any hotter than normal. We now live at 4200' elevation and I suppose I should adjust the carb somewhat leaner up here. Steve

This was several years ago, but in Washington State, a vehicle licensed as a motorhome was legally a home and required a search warrant to enter it. I pointed this out to one of the very few cops I ever had a hassle with and he bitched, but eventually agreed and said it wasn't worth it and let me leave. Steve

Great that you're back on the road! Our only bumper sticker on the Sunrader is one that came with it. I sometimes think it was the deciding factor in buying it! "There's No Place Like Om!" Steve

I thought I wanted a manual tranny, but got a Sunrader with an automatic, thank goodness! I also have an 87 Toyota PU with a manual. Without slipping the clutch, idling, it goes 5 or 6 mph, reverse too. In many boondocking campgrounds there are loads of potholes and 1/2 mph is more like it if you don't want to rearrange your possessions! The auto is really an advantage in these spots, especially uphill, where idling is out! I think they changed to the single chain in 1984 on the 22R, unfortunately, as that's what my Sunrader is. Same with my Pickup and I had the "death rattle" when I bought it. I had it replaced right away and the new chain (not a cheapie) lasted about 4000 miles and broke! Defective, amazingly there was no damage to the valves are anything else! The repair shop redid everything at no charge. Steve

One of the worries I've seen expressed over a small trailer many times here is weight and braking ability of the Toy. Not once have I seen anything about anyone adding trailer brakes and a controller. It wouldn't help going up hills, but it sure would help in stopping on them! Are there kits to install drums and electric brakes on the small, lightweight trailers? Seems like it would be worth it if one is set on hauling more than 300-400 lbs. Steve

You might want to check out Port Orford, it actually has more sunny days than Brookings by 1 or 2 a year. We've been here for 7 years and have enjoyed living here. The downside is driving to either Brookings (56 miles) Coos Bay for more choices like Walmart, and other big boxes (56 miles also) or Roseburg if you want to shop at Costco (110 miles) There is a real disadvantage to gas in Oregon, you can't pump it yourself! It's no more expensive, so what's the disadvantage? Spend 2 years here, then go to another state where it's self service. You'll feel like an idiot cause the pump will be new and different, so you have to ask how to work it. So now you know, then the next time you need gas you get out, confident, "I can do this", and the damn pump is completey different! Off topic a bit, but we just got back from a trip across to south central Oregon and Klamath Lake. The Sunrader ran great, clear past Crater Lake (snowed in) at 6000'. It was a wonderful trip and we liked the area so well that we are seriously considering a move to a spot along Agency Lake, which is part of Klamath Lake. After many years on the coast, we are missing the high desert and 4 real seasons, well... maybe only 3 of them, the snow can get real old! Steve