ToyoGuy Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Hi all, I am a newbie to this forum (alas, I am "coachless"). Also, while I am very well versed in 83' to 86' Toyota truck stuff, with 20+ yrs. driving them, I have no idea what to look for/at in the way of potential problems in the Sunrader style RV setups. I am considering the 18' variety, unless someone here says to stay away from them, or if the first thing everybody does is yearn for another 2 feet. I figure you guys oughtta know.... Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoprat Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Howdy ToyoGuy.. Glad to see ya here. Sunraders Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picklebill Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Hi, Toyoguy - We have an 18 foot Sunrader and travel with my wife and myself and 2 dogs. The only thing I would like is a little more storage space, but other that, no problems. The rear axle issue is the main thing to consider - much info on this site regarding this. Also make sure that the floor has a good solid feel to it, especially in front of the shower door. Also the seals on the front curved windows are prone to leak. The appliances are all pretty standard and should be easy to check - although ours came with an Instamatic refrigerator which is no longer made. I guess that Sunrader used these in the early 80's. The extra room in the 21 Ft. model is good if you are going to stay in 1 place for awhile, but the 18' model is easier to maneuver in heavy traffic and has better ground clearance. I hope you find one soon! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyoGuy Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 Thanks Guys, Bill, I am a pretty spartan kinda guy and the ground clearance appeals to the part of me that grits my teeth in expectation when departing steep driveways. The window and floor things are well noted. Do you know if the 18' was made in later years when there was apparently some extra re-inforcement done to the roof preventing buckling near the roof AC box? The axel thing you alluded to seems to be the 6 bolt pattern, original 1 ton package rear end. Can you tell me how wide/tall your rig is at it's widest point ? (gotta deal with storage you know) To anybody,...when a guy gets one of these that ain't so well maintained, I am imagining he can dive in to the tune of $8-10 K in re-conditioning. Am I imagining right, or are retrofits/parts cheaper than I think? Thanks ToyoGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoprat Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 My Sunrader with a roof air unit measures 9 feet high. I would imagine the width would go around 8 feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 My 21 foot 4x2 Sunrader with Coleman Polar Cub air conditioner is 9 foot also. That was measured with a height stick for oversize loads so it is accurate. My best guess for width is about 7 foot. My new home-built rear bumper measurers 75" and it is a couple inches less each side than the width of the shell of the coach. Therefore my best guess on the width would be about 81 inches plus the mirrors. 8 foot (96") is the old normal legal width (including mirrors) of a tractor trailer in most states. My guess is that by the time you substract the width of the mirrors, 6 inches per side, you are down to about 84 inches on a average. Therefore my 81 inch guess should not be to far off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 To anybody,...when a guy gets one of these that ain't so well maintained, I am imagining he can dive in to the tune of $8-10 K in re-conditioning. Am I imagining right, or are retrofits/parts cheaper than I think? That depends on how far you want to re-condition. I would think, doing it yourself, you could do a extremely nice re-conditioning for $8-10 thousand. The most expensive item would be the frig unit. They can be right up there and could easly take you over the limit. You will likely need new tires also, at about $100 each. I would think those would be the two big items. Every thing else is like remodeling the house or maintaining the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picklebill Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Toyoguy - the height of our unit is 8'4" and the width including the mirrors is 87". The height of the rear bumper above the ground is 18.5" with 50 Lbs of air in the Riderite air bags. We also have a very steep driveway and the rear bumper clears at the bottom by about 1 inch. I understand that in the late 1980's Sunrader added some support in the roof to accomodate air conditioning. I would think that $8-10 thousand would allow for a major remodel even on a fairly trashed unit. If you had no floor problems or leaks or holding tank problems to deal with and did the work yourself, you could probably get by with around $4-5 thousand and have a real cherry rig. There was an 18 foot Sunrader on Ebay last week that had some problems and went for around $1400 dollars. Good luck in your search. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyoGuy Posted December 4, 2007 Author Share Posted December 4, 2007 Thanks guys, the measurements were extremely useful as was the rebuilding-cost advice. I'll be keeping my eyes open for a reasonable fixer. ToyoGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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