SnowRader86 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Hello, Im new to the forum and new to Sunrader ownership. I figured I would introduce you to my new Sunrader along with some of my current upgrades, fixes and surprises. I picked up a Nissan Sunrader 18' with the 3.0 V6. 74,600 miles with a fresh timing belt, waterpump, cam seals, and other tune up items. All in all it is very clean, but after digging into it found where it is starting to show its age. My goal is to make it a mountain machine, and alot of my mountain time is in the snow. So I need to make this rig snow ready and be able to pack friends and gear safely up to the mountain. I have a pretty big todo list, right off the bat. Reseal all windows with butyl tape and polyurethane sealant. (There were small leaks in two obvious places) New Fantastic Fan with weather hood in main coach and new vent cover in bathroom both resealed with butyl and poly. Remove rack and vents then refasten with new sealant in screw holes and around brackets New LED clearance lights and New Bargman triple LED tail lights with custom plexi frame from TAP plastics. Upgrade suspension and snow tires And then there is the floor....... So, when checking it out, the floor seemed pretty solid, and I crawled under it to see if there was any rust or decay. But what I didnt do, is take apart the back seats and look inside. After getting it home and starting to dig around I found that the driver side was good and solid, but the passenger side had pretty significant water damage and wood rot under the water heater (Surprise)!. All of the plumbing and fittings had been redone with new fittings but it looks like the damage has been done. Everywhere else on the rig is so solid, it really was a surprise. Aside from a total rebuild (which I would love to do sometime down the road, in the summertime) I'm thinking that my best option is to use PC ROT Terminator. It is a structural epoxy for decaying wood. It supposedly absorbs into all of the cracks and crevices of the rotted wood and then cures stronger than wood. I think I'm going to turn the floor repair into a separate thread, if there isn't one already. Anyway, lots to talk about but I'll try to split up topics and find relating threads previously created. Thanks for reading about my new micro home. I am going back and forth with feeling okay about how much money I spent on it after finding out about the wood rot. What do you experts think after what I've told you? I paid $8700 and that was after a pretty solid haggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 If you plan on using that poor Toyota as a winter rig in areas where a lot of road-salt is used - it will self-destruct, beyond any reasonable repair, in a few years. Wouldn't last in the areas I've lived in central NY and northern MI. Maybe it's different where you want to use it in the winter? That salt will get into tight places and the truck will keep on rotting all year, even in the summer. The 80s and early 90s Toyota trucks were a bit more rust-resistant then the 70s trucks - but not by all that much. I just scrapped out a 1988 Toyota that had the frame break right in half from salt-rust. Hey, to "each his own." If I wanted to winter-camp in areas of high road-salt use - I'd have a beater-4WD pickup truck with a slide-on camper on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayakthecoast Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Go for it man! They are great rigs for winter camping!! Give it a good hose down with fresh water when you get home. I winter ski out of my Rader. Its 4x4 but I camp with many 2wd rvs at ski resorts. After a year my wheels started to rust. I just refinished them ready for this season. Also insulate well or at least buy a reflective roll, I use this in my upper over-cab area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 OK so I saw pics of your rig before you bought it. At sometime in the past it has had major water damage cause lots of interior panels have been replaced. Rear around big window, front overhead ceiling. What does your floor look like. Vinyl? or carpet. With the amount of restoring I saw I find it hard to believe the floor hasn't been resupported with some plywood. Your plan to fix sounds good though and these are great little campers. Have fun Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 You can also consider using a product called Rotfix available from System Three the boatbuilder epoxy company. It is made to be almost as thin as water before setup so it can soak in. www.systemthree.com, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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