I always had this idea in the back of my mind of a small 4X4 RV. Now that I own a smaller sailboat I can actually tow long distances, the thought of being able to go down to the Chesapeake, go sailing, sleep in an RV, and then come home after a day or two is really tempting. My original thought was to get a Toyota powered Sunrader, an 18 foot long camper they plopped down on a Toyota hilux pickup back in the late 70s and early 80s. Once they fixed the rear axle issue, they seem quite reliable, if underpowered.
Secondary thoughts was to buy a trashed one and a Disco 1 (anything before 95 does not have emissions testing in NJ) and extend the frame to mount the body to a chopped dicso body. The Rover V8 could easily pull it around, but the new crate cummins engines are really tempting.
Then I found the 4x4 Toyota sunraders. I would probably dump the 22r for the cummins, but leave it toyota otherwise.. they just look great. Set one up for full on expeditionary work, and it would be impressive!
1uzfe fits nicely. I’m at a total of $1,250 for mine and I’m done.
Don't these things draw strong money? I don't know why I think that...but that's the impression I was under. I had a buddy in ventura that had one for a few years.
In the PNW they aren’t bad. A Toyota buddy got one for 2k. He’s swapping a 1uz in it.
I've seen a few Toyota-truck campers but I don't think I've ever seen one of these.
With the wheelbase mostly intact it must not be too hard to upgrade the 4WD version too.
grover said:
Don't these things draw strong money? I don't know why I think that...but that's the impression I was under. I had a buddy in ventura that had one for a few years.
I have seen from 2000 to 6000 with one outlier at 15,000
Look at the axles. You'llneed two spares.
well, I am not looking at that one exactly (It's in australia) . I have seen some 4x4 conversions that use single wheels in the back with the same bolt pattern front and back. I also one conversion where they mounted the camper to a more modern tacoma.
They came with 7.5 or 8” axles. It’s fine for what it’s hauling. Unless you plan on making 1/4 mile runs...
I wonder if the Sunrader would fit onto a more modern Tacoma, which is much, much better for towing in every way.
I seem to recall a guy on Expedition Portal moving one onto a cut down Land Cruiser.
irish44j said:
I wonder if the Sunrader would fit onto a more modern Tacoma, which is much, much better for towing in every way.
Other than the extreme lack of power, I'm pretty sure an old Toyota 1 ton dually chassis will handle that weight, etc. much better than a compact half ton will... And the dually is wider, so it'll be more stable in wind while driving too.
Thinking at it a different way. Wonder how difficult it would be to transplant a modern Tacoma engine/trans into one.
There are different Toyota campers. Chinook is another one. Always thought the Toyota campers were well thought out, better than a lot of other, bigger campers with the only issue being under powered. 20+ years ago I thought it would be almost perfect to transplant the Toyota camper to a Dakota V8 chassis. Dakota wheel base is real close to the Toyota camper wheel base. Hurdle would be mounting points. Dakota frame might be wider.
wlkelley3 said:
I thought it would be almost perfect to transplant the Toyota camper to a Dakota V8 chassis. Dakota wheel base is real close to the Toyota camper wheel base. Hurdle would be mounting points. Dakota frame might be wider.
Frame will not be an issue. These campers use welded on "stringers" that go across the frame to make a level surface for it to sit on. The only issue is the Dakota cab might be taller than the Toyota
I've thought about building something similar out of the gooseneck Scamp camper on a pickup of some sort.
Jaynen
SuperDork
2/2/18 6:44 a.m.
We are not talking the same level of GRM style budget here but the "expedition" RV area now would lean more towards a full size truck with a camper
AEV has a 3" lift for the ram that with flares let it fit 40" tires without having to increase the ride height a lot and add tippiness
Am I the only one who thinks the primary reason these things exist is because the beds on those trucks always rusted away in 5 years?
well, those trucks came from a factory that way, it was not something you bought and added to the truck. When you bought one, everything was new.
