86rader

the weak link in toyhomes is the auto tranny. when you say 4 speed, I assume you mean 4 speed manual? If so, I guess you'll be OK towing 1000 lbs. Just don't expect to see alot of time in 4th gear. Also, realize that your braking distances are gonna be measured in miles, so drive accordingly and if possible, use a trailer with it's own brakes. I would also invest in an oil cooler as you will be working that little 4 cylinder pretty hard.

do you have a manual or auto? i have a 86 21 ft sunrader 22RE auto. I would like to tow my motorcycle, but, some seem to think that towing anything with this drive train is pretty much a bad idea.

what type of layout does your rogue have?

If you have a 4 cylinder auto, I wouldn't try pulling very much and you definitely need a tranny cooler and temp gauge. The v-6 auto has a lockup torque converter which is less prone to overheating, but, you still need to keep an eye on the temp. If you have a manual, you are OK. What kind of bike do you want to drag? I have an 86 sunrader with 22re and auto. I am thinking about getting rid of my fj1100 which is a bit of a pig and buying a lighter dual purpose, probably a drz400 and a very light trailer. Between the 2 I am looking at about 400 lbs. I think I can handle this. If I have any really nasty climbs, I can always have the OL drive and ride the bike. My fat behind weighs more than a light trailer, so I figure overall, the toy will actually work easier pulling an empty trailer than me! So, whatever you do, just remember that an overheating tranny is the kryptonite of toymotorhomes. This doesn't mean you can't tow, it just means you need to monitor things closely.

Just picked up a sirius radio for the sunrader. they recommend putting the antenna on the roof. Seeing as the sunrader roof is non metallic, I would think that I could get along fine with putting it inside. Thinking about just sticking it under the overcab mattress. Anybody out there got any suggestions? This thing will go in the car when the toy is parked, so I don't want to permanently mount it.

I found a recipe for a fiberglass cleaner on tahoo groups. It worked very well for me although I bumped up the baking soda amounts for the more stubborn parts. Best of all, it was dirt cheap. You probably already have the stuff in your cabinet. 1 cup ammonia 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup baking soda 1 gallon warm water I am reciting this from memory, so you might want to go to the yahoo groups and do a search on ammonia, vinegar, baking soda.

I would like to do something similar. The sunrader has a very stout roof and I might get by with lag bolts into it's fiberglass/plywood/fiberglass sandwich, but, I believe in ridiculous overkill when possible. My plan is to make what they call in the sailboat world, a chainplate. A chainplate is two plates, one inside, one outside of a boat's hull or deck. These chainplates are used to fasten rigging or cleats to the deck. In the case of sailboat rigging, the chainplates must withstand enormous forces, far in excess of a peterbuilt trying to suck your oldtowne off the roof. The sunrader is pretty much a fiberglass boat with a toyota pickup bolted to it's bottom, so I think this idea will work quite well. Another advantage is that the place I plan to mount them, just inboard of the rectangular hump on the sunrader just so happens to have interior cabinets which will hide the chainplates nicely. For your steel frame type construction, remember that this ain't steel I beams we're talking about. It is likely more like metal studs used in commercial interior walls.This stuff is plenty strong, but, it is basically just heavy sheet metal. I wouldn't trust it for much tensile strength. I think that is the proper term for ability to resist being pulled apart. What I think you need to do is build your rack as planned, then place your canoe up there and use your front and rear bumpers as anchoring points. You can buy nylon straps with a ratchet faster that will sinch things down nicely. Use a single strap front and rear. Go from one corner of the bumper, up, through something strong in the bow/stern, then back down to the other corner. It means you'll have a few lines framing your view forward, but, so what. I would also make some sort of guides spaced just wider than your canoe. This will keep the canoe from walking side to side. Once it is up there, the canoe will be holding your roof rack in place, more than your roof rack holding your canoe. I have one question. You say you are going over the A/C. Will the canoe be completely over it? Or will it straddle the A/C? I haven't dragged mine up there yet to see if it will fit. Hopefully it will. If not, when I go on a canoe trip, the A/C will have to stay home. Pete

how much will I gain with a K&N filter on my '86 22RE? Can the computer on this model be reprogrammed?

Couple of things. I will probably remove the luggage rack from my sunrader as well. Don't really see a purpose for it. As for A/Cs, I have the roof one. One thing I really like about the sunrader is the roof seems to be extremely solid. There is absolutely no flex when I walk around it with my 225 lbs. For those with less robust roofs, you might wanna consider a small house type unit mounted in a wall. I looked at one a few years ago. Forget what type it was. It was mounted in the driver's side wall and looked kinda ugly from outside. Personally, I'd prefer one mounted in the rear assuming your rear window wasn't too big. Anybody here ever see or have a wall mounted unit?

Good luck! You'll need it. Especially with that idea of yanking everything off the frame. What sort of mileage do you expect it to get?

I can take some pics and post them, but, I think you'll find some already posted somewhere here.

If you always camp where there are hookups, this wouldn't be a bad idea. Otherwise, it is a very bad idea. Propane is safe, quiet and much more efficient for heating, refrigerating and cooking. It isn't even close. I guess you could boondock with solar/battery power if you were very very frugal with your electrons. Most folks, however aren't that frugal. BTW, if decide to go with this idea and you have a functional hot water heater, can I have it?

I called rock auto. Looks like the part they have is different. Is there another solenoid on the tranny that controls downshifting due to throttle position? There is something electrical on the pax side. I assume this may be it.

I went to the rockauto site. That is not the right part, and there definitely is only one used on the tranny. I will try giving them a call. thnanks, pete

I called advance. They told me to try a dealer. I called the local dealer. 225 bucks. think I'll keep looking.

Anybody know where I can get an OD solenoid for my 86 22RE OD auto? besides giving an arm and a leg to a dealer.

you now have a considerably shorter less restrictive exhaust. Sometimes this is a bad thing. In particular, low end torque can be affected adversely by this on some vehicles.

Couple of questions. What exactly does "it's set up for towing" mean. Having a trailer hitch doesn't mean "it's set up for towing". The weak link here is the tranny. toys with the OD auto have over heating issues just towing themselves around. I would like also to tow a light trailer with my 21 ft sunrader, but, I doubt it will be more than five or six hundred pounds,trailer included. Some on this board or the yahoo group say NO WAY, don't do it. Others say maybe, something light. Atleast yours is a little shorter than mine, which helps some. If you do decide to tow, the first thing you need to do is install a tranny temp gauge. There is quite a bit of stuff on the board about how to do it. You will also need the biggest tranny cooler you can find. Another question is where are you? I would guess that you might fair OK in flat areas. You would have a much tougher time trying to climb the rockies. The bottom line here is if you should tow anything, it really isn't much. If you had an 18 footer with a manual tranny and weren't in any big hurry, 1500 lbs might be doable. But, with the auto, I think you are really pushing it. That 4 runner weighs quite a bit less than the toy house. 3500 lbs less? I don't know, but, I'd guess that was fairly close. Also, the 4 runner slips through the air just a bit more easily than the billboard like toyhouse. And, I would guess that the aforementioned 4runner with 3500 towing rating is a 5 speed. I could be wrong, but, I suspect not. So, whatever you do, try it gradually and watch that temp gauge really carefully. Good Luck pete

a few years back I looked at and test drove an '83 17 ft rear bath mini cruiser with the toy diesel and 5 speed. It was a very nice rig, but, just not big enough for a family of 4. It was painfully slow on the highway. Absolute top speed was probably around 60. On flat ground 55 was more like it. The owner said he got 18 driving it with his foot to the boards. He said it would do 24 if driven conservatively. Not sure how you could drive it anything other than conservative, though! It would be absolutely perfect for a single or couple, just so long as they weren't in any hurry. I wonder what that thing would have been like with a turbo? I'll bet with today's gas prices, it would bring pretty good money.

Wow!!! That is possibly the cleanest looking toyhouse I have seen. Is rader affiliated with sunrader? It's of a different construction type than any sunrader I have ever seen. While on the topic of shell piercing, I have a question. I would like to install a rear bumper stuff carrier. But, rather than having the entire load hang out there where it attempts to rip the bumper/frame extentions off, I was thinking of placing cables, 1 on either end of the shelf, about 2/3 of the way out from the bumper. Each of these cables would extend up to the roof of the camper to seperate anchoring points. For anchoring point, I was thinking of running a decent sized bolt through the roof. I would put 3/4 plywood pieces on both the inside and outside of the roof to spread the load out. The sunrader seems to have a very stout roof, so I don't think this would present much of a problem. Has anybody out there ever tried something like this?

Good question. I would also be interested in something that gives a bit more oomph at 2-3K. Who cares if you loose something at 5K. My only concerns would be increased tranny heat issues and mileage. One other question. Is the 22RE an interference engine? If not, would a diffferent cam make it one?

gotta ditto the rest of the responses. i just bought an 86 sunrader which from what I've read here, seems to be the preferred model. It has 75K, brand new dometic fridge, roof air and looks good on the outside, like new on the inside. I do admit I'd prefer the 4 speed manual to my auto, but, I'm in the minority there. I paid 5K, btw. you do have a few things that are nice such as the solar panels, but, if you are gonna be on the move regularly and have just modest electrical needs, the engines alternator will fill your needs nicely. A gennie is great if you boondock in hot places where you need AC, otherwise it's just 100 plus pounds on an already overtaxed drivetrain. keep looking.

thanks, rat, will do.

lp powered tvs? can't say as I've ever heard of one. Now the electric powered ones, I'm a bit more familiar with. Shouldn't be any trouble at all. I would think that the alternator would provide plenty of 12VDC to the inverter to supply 120AC for your TV, long as it ain't a big screen.

wheel well pic 1 this picture is just aft of the wheel. what is that on the frame? Looks like something was welded there, then ripped off. wheel well pic 2 wheel well pic 3 here are a few pics looking under the driver side rear wheel well. You can see the aluminum skin and the plywood behind it which has demaninated a bit in some spots. On the inside of the camper in this spot is the storage area under the bench seat. The power supply and heater are also in this area. roof cracks Here is one of of the roof cracks. Is there anything that I can work into these cracks? The previous owner just smeared a little clear silicon over them. Near the center of the roof is a similar crack that has a spider web pattern to it. It looks like there may possibly be some delamination in that spot as it appears to be slightly risen, but, not much. One other thing. The driver side rear wheel well fairing or shroud or skirt or whatever you call, it is gone. Does anybody make a replacement? I will get some other pics up showing the nice parts of everything later. thanks, pete