runfromturtles

I guess i'm still too picky, I passed up on a nice sunrader for a good price (wrong layout) Looks like someone bought it for 4500 and is flipping it for 9k. Another really nice nissan hard body got bought real fast and was back on craigslist the next day at double the price. Lots of flipping going on. I ended up buying a sunrader for $500 last year and it was a total loss rust bucket. (Only because they miss spelled sunrader) I did learn some lessons that sunraders are NOT moisture proof The floor very much can rot and replacing a sunrader floor is near impossible due to the fiberglass sandwiched into it. (Unless you're experienced DYI) I feel if i'm going to pay over $6000, it better not have a blue tarp over it!!! I see lots of "moisture damage", "needs TLC", for over 6k....I mean really, it's going to cost mega bucks to repair that stuff. People think their crap is treasure. On and because your tires have good tread does not mean they are "like new"...grrrr Someday, i'll be going on my road trip vacation....

What is a fair price to pay for late 80's in decent condition? (no leaks, good tires, running, everything works) Anytime something pops up it is sold in less than a day. I have missed out on 3 motorhomes in the past month (under the 4k mark). I have been searching all through the winter but almost nothing decent came up for sale in my area. The decent ones sell like hot cakes. The range of prices are pretty crazy, starting around $3,000 going upwards of $10,000. I used to hold out for a sunrader, but now i'll settle for anything, however I feel the popularity is rising and they are becoming more rare. Wish I had purchased one last year when they were in abundance. 84 short Sunrader listed for 9k right now...insane. Anyone have some tips, like how to get e-mail notifications on craigslist? I check once or twice a day, but you really have to respond within an hour now days to get that hot deal.

Thanks linda. As for the floor yes...it is actually glassed in with fiberglass, so simply replacing the floor means one would have to cut a section of the fiberglass out and reglass it and hope that the structure stays lined up during the process....not exactly for the faint of heart. Shortly after posting this my friend wants to tinker around with it and sell it for me. But I told him no one is gonna pay more than $500, not gonna stop him from trying.

I know everyone is sad to see a project get abandoned and left for dead. However this is what happens when an idiot like me comes along... Basically I have a 78 sunrader with the rear awning section that opens up. The shell is completely gutted and I discovered that 1/4th of the rear floor has rotted. I would definitely be happy to continue the project if I hadn't have also discovered significant frame rot towards the front of the vehicle. It does run and can drive but brake lines rusted out on front brakes, so could only be driven onto a trailer. I was going to remove the camper and find a donor vehicle for it, but financially it just doesn't make sense. I am quite embarrassed to come back here with the news of abandoning my sunrader like this. Does something like this have any value or do I keep it around the yard for storage? hah...

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bfs/3968604160.html I almost cried a little bit.

nice deal if the frame is good. I'd be all over that if it were in Oregon.

I appreciate you putting up the photos. It might be tempting if it was closer to me. Cost in fuel to pick that up would not really be cost beneficial. As for the diesel conversation. I used to be a delivery driver with a diesel truck. There are some smaller towns that actually didn't sell diesel and you'd have to drive out of your way to find it. Other smaller towns would only have diesel available at one location per town. Most of these places would not be open 24/7 either. So yes I can understand going to remote areas and having a little more difficulty finding diesel. However if you are anywhere near main highways where trucks are there was never a problem. (something that you don't really do when camping)

It's going to take some time, although I am very underemployed so it could progress when i'm motivated enough. HAHA, give me a chance to screw this up first, then you can have my shell I am liking the ideas of diesel rams very much so, but they are NOT too cheap. I could tow a boat no problem behind my MH which is a great perk. However some of these older toyota 1 ton's I can find for 1500ish. I'm now learning to weld as well....this should be interesting. Thanks again for all the ideas.

Wow, it might give me hope for my current frame.

Of course the most logical thing to do if I found a good deal would be a 4x4. As if I were to ever sell it there would be a higher demand. More upfront cost for me though. Trying to keep this as $ low as possible in case something disastrous happens to the project, I wouldn't want to be out too much.

As you might already know i'm working on moving my 78 sunrader shell onto another truck. I am open to ideas. Finding a toyota pick-up that already has the 1 ton axle with duallys is pretty rare. However, Toyota did make a pick-up called Toyota 1 ton. It doesn't have the dual wheels but it looks like it's got a nice pay load. I'm not even sure why the early toyota's axles were recalled, I thought it was the later over loaded ones that were having the problems? Some have mentioned the T100, great but the stock axle is only half ton if I do recall. Plus the toyota's from the 90 are ridiculously overpriced. Once a truck is from 89 it apparently is automatically half the value...

I am surprised more people don't re build sunrader shells onto 4x4's and sell them for a premium.

Frame looks mighty rusty to me, not like it had been parked under cover at all.

Well I will at least be cutting out a few feet of it. Depending how far the rot goes.

Thanks again for the info. Heres some pics of my progress to give you an idea where i'm at here. I agree Karin that making things level will be the biggest challenge. But I have a great indicator for that on this shell. The rear hatch door will easily tell me if something is wrong or uneven as it won't be able to close unless it's just right. I am now working on removing the shell from the truck. The truck itself is in very sorry and rusty shape. The frame is beyond my abilities. So I will park the shell until I find a decent truck to build upon. I would really like to rebuild the floor before I get the truck because I don't know how long it will be, before I find the right one. This is my favorite part about the 1978 sunrader, the rear hatch...or whatever you want to call it. Sinking rotted floor I can see daylight through the skin. It appears it had fiberglass on the bottom section.

Your post is VERY much appreciated. I have already gutted the entire shell except for the flooring. It is bare bone down to the shell. It was quite fun I know that as a beginner as long as I take things 1 small step at a time it usually works out. Believe me i'd love to just put some epoxy down there, but the side is drooping. I'll provide a picture in a few minutes of whats happening. Thanks for your patience with me!!!

Would it be easier to remove the shell from the truck before I redo the floor? There is the possibility that only the back end is rotted. Having trouble understanding where my cutting point should be. Right before the curve of the wall? Or should I cut further inside nearer to where the fiberglass first meets the floor. I guess if i'm removing the entire floor I would have to cut closest to the wall. I just hope my epoxy skills will allow me to put this thing back together. When I bought a sunrader I was under the impression they were pretty much invincible to rot. I had no idea about the wood that is imbedded into the entire frame. What about the ceiling, it looks like I have some rot on the ceiling too, should I cut into that fiberglass too? YIKES. I know the results of this. It will soon be an ad on craigslist of a shell beyond repair

I discovered my floor is rotted horribly it's all going to have to be redone from scratch. Removing all this rotted wood is going to be challenging. It appears that the flooring is fiberglassed into the walls. So when removing the floor, theres no problems cutting through this fiberglass right? It's all going to have to be re attached to the newly built floor? I figured out why my outside "barn" door wasn't shutting correctly. The dry rot over the bathroom has caused the sides to droop slightly. I might just remove the shell right now. Haven't found the truck it's going to go on yet. Not looking forward to building a floor and glassing it. I am definitely in over my head and will likely get stuck at some point. One step at a time I guess. I have little to none building experience

More brainstorming. I am really toying with the thought of putting this little sunrader on a 1991 dodge cummins diesel. Gets decent gas mileage (high teens) and all the towing capacity I could ever want, can even convert to bio diesel.

Exactly I don't like working under cars without a floor jack. Pain in the rear. Also I only have a gravel drive way. I have actually had a car fall off the jack before because the jack started sinking into the ground... Any work I do involves at least 4 jack stands and a jack just to be sure

Are any of them an easy fix or do I have to take apart my transmission? I don't do that sort of work, so my little adventure fixing this truck comes to an end. At least I can move the thing around the yard if I have to. I'm not sure how long it would take for the bearing to have a catastrophic failure. My new adventure of removing the shell from the truck and finding a better truck begins I realize this could last years...

Any tips for removing the cabinets that the sink and oven are on? It feels almost as if they are screwed into the wall from the outside but I cannot find the screw holes. I guess I can saw my way through until I can see something. Made a little more progress on the engine side of this rig. Even if I won't be using it. It was my goal to get it at least driveable around the yard. The clutch slave cylinder was completely frozen with rust. Finally got it changed and the clutch appears to be operating. The only problem, it squeels when you engage the clutch. I'll be changing the gear oil before I attempt anything else, it could just be a bearing that hasn't got any lubrication over the years sitting.

Went to 3 different auto stores, and the GL4 was not carried. Everyone says GL5 would be fine, interesting that people just disregard what manufacturers recommend, isn't it?

Made a squeeling when clutch was engaged. uh oh

It seems to be a different transmission than what the manual says because it has 23mm screws for the drain and fill plugs. Where the manual lists I believe 17mm, and the picture looks different from mine. So do you think this came standard for the motorhome chassis? Or did someone swap transmissions at some point? It is a 5 speed on a 78. Any ideas what type of gear oil for this transmission? GL4 or GL5? thanks!