runfromturtles Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Does the fiberglass shell weigh less than the more common construction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 the more common construction tends to have larger dimensions... weight is subjective to what the rig is carrying; but from what I have read in this forum I would say yes, the stock weights were less on sunraders as opposed to their same length counterparts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runfromturtles Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Has anyone ever stopped at a weigh station and weighed your whole setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Has anyone ever stopped at a weigh station and weighed your whole setup? Mine are little and I have 2. I have weighed my Toyota and it was before I took the roof air off. Has a Kohler generator too and at the time had camping stuff and some gas and water.It weighd 5280lbs at the time. Haven't weighed it empty yet nor have I weighed the Nissan v6. Darn weigh station I went to closed and no other one near. 18ft Sunraders Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 My 20' Escaper weighs in at about 5800 empty. I have not weighed it in full camping mode. We try to pack light and carry about 5 gallons of water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runfromturtles Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 You can see daylight through the fiberglass shell of a Sunrader. It is not thick fiberglass construction. There are some areas of it that have thicker sections but overall it is not thick walled. To get thin aluminum to be strong you have to corrogate it and/or back it up with framing. Corrogation adds more square feet of material which means more weight than a flat sheet would have. The corrgations also add more drag. There is honeycomb fiberglass and aluminum panel construction but I don't know the Toy Homes well enough to know all the different configurations and variations. From what I have seen in the newsgroups the basic design style variations still end up being close to each other in mpg performance depending on 6 cylinder versus 4 cylinder. But then there is also some variation from carborators, air conditioning, type of transmission. This answer won't help much in making your decision on what to buy will it? . I'll go for anything thats in good shape. I was just curious. I would actually prefer a dolphin or seabreeze for more room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I think you should get one of the ones that has a slide out... been dying to see one with pics in the forum. derek posted an advertisement on it; was the only Toyota ever made that came with a slide out. I did see one on ebay once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Be prepared for a long search. I'd say only 1 or 2 show up on FleaBay or CL per year. Here's a good set of pictures of one:- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I missed that one by 1 week. It went for $6800 I think if memory serves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunneys Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 In full camping mode: full gas, water, propane, fridge two kids, wife and I plus all our stuff for the weekend. Black and grey tanks empty = 2,764 KG or 6093 LBS 89 Dolphin, had the Roof AC then too... I never had the chance to see what it was all empty... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajadulce Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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