BobBeery Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I am going to look over an 85 Nissan Sunrader soon, I hope tomorrow. This is to help out somebody who is too far away to see it himself. Of course I will take photos. But I am mostly a Dolphin/Warrior guy and know little about Sunraders and almost nothing about Nissans. After searching Nissan on this board I found a thread comparing Toyota to Nissan, started by Stevo in 2012 and read what I could but my computer will not load the second page so I missed everything after the first 20 posts. I know pretty much what to look for on Toyota but Nissan??? So I am asking are there any particular things to watch for in the Nissan that would especially affect function, durability, or value? And the only thing specific to Sunrader that I know to look at is roof sag under the rooftop A/C. Is there anything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I've often read of Sunraders with soft floors. More than other brands? I don't know. I believe that by 1985, Nissan had already switched to FF rear axles. You might want to check if it comes with a spare to fit the FF rear. If you want to travel with a rear spare, they're very rare and are not the same as a Toyota rim, which are hard enough to find. Is it a V6 or I4? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 Ad on craigslist says 4 cyl 5 speed manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I guess a camper is a camper so as far as the coach they are pretty much the same leaks floor rot etc. leaky HW tanks, inoperative fridge bum furnace. I can tell you that vintage Nissan engine had weak chain guides and I have see a couple of cases where the ground up guides plugged up the oil pickup screen and trashed the engine so if the chain is noisy that's some thing that will need fixing pretty much right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Weak chain guides were on the newer KA not this one. Z24 had some manifold problems but was a very strong engine. If you look on the Nissan site people start complaining around 250,000 miles. I have no spare for the rear for either my Nissan or my Toyota. You guys are a bunch of wooses. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I'm always a bit surprised that Nissan never 'caught up (as Toyota did after 1 year) to make the change to 'same rims' front and rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 The Nissan full floater was only made until 1988. Just never caught on with the RV makers even though they had a V6 years earlier in 86. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 Thank you Derek, Maineah, and Linda. I leave in about an hour to go look (1pm) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 We'll never know, but perhaps one of the reason builders (both motorhomes and other builders) didn't use them more was because of the mismatched rims! An aside: Have you ever seen a box truck Nissan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 Have now seen the rig. Spare tire underneath fits front only. No spare for the rear. Has Yokohama LT195/75 R14 load range D mounted. Do Nissans usually have this size or was it a previous owner type thing? This is different than the usual Toyota tire of 185R14. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Those tires should be fine as long as not too old. Slightly wider, but should fit fine. Sorry, but I don't know if that's the Nissan OEM size. It would probably be marked on a sticker somewhere. Perhaps Linda can comment on the OEM size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Nissan duallys have a deeper dish than the Toyota's. 195/75/14 is the size on the door tag but when I picked mine up it had 205's on it and they were no where near touching Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Well, might as well replace them (when needed) with 185R14 LR D. Better selection, cheaper and higher load capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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