Sunline's Are a Rare Breed

emam · 03-19-2007, 10:12 PM

So we've been on the road for almost two full months now, logged over 7000 miles, been through 10 states and all this time; We've only seen 3 other Sunline's on the road.

Two of them were in the same Camp Ground in Crystal River Florida and neither of their owners were around when I tried to talk with them. Then just the other day while driving from the Florida Pan Handle into Alabama, we saw a Sunline 5'er pass by going the oppisite direction. We both threw each other a friendly wave and that was it. Up to that point I had never seen a Sunline Fifth Wheel and had to wipe the drool off my chin. I did'nt even see any when we did the factory tour?

I cant believe all this time we've only seen 3!?!?!?

I will say that when ever we check into a camp ground and they ask what kind of camper we own; They raise their eyebrows when you say "Sunline" I'm not sure if they're thinking "Wow, does he know they went out of business?" or are they thinking "He thinks he's soo cool in that fancy Sunline?"

Where do all the Sunline's Hide? Will we see more when we get out West? Or do you think they're all on the East Coast closer to the old Factory? At this point I'd have to say the most common trailer we've seen is the Trail-Lite? I guess if you're only thinking about your wallet and not thinking about a few years down the road, then we'll be talking to you when you make that big decision and come over to our neck of the woods.

**Tweety** · 03-20-2007, 05:33 AM

We are loaded with Sunlines in the eastern PA area. We camp alot near Lancaster, PA and in that area there will always be a half dozen Sunlines in any given campground. We also camp in VA alot, and if we're lucky we'll see 1 other Sunny down there. Sunline stopped making fifth wheels a while ago. When they went out of business they were doing research on starting up again.

**Sunline Fan** · 03-20-2007, 08:00 AM

Pat and Pam,

Sunline did retire the 5th wheel line after the 2005 model year, with the '05's only being custom built models. Prior to that, the newest line of 5ths was started in 2002 (I think the '03 model year). Way back, they were started sometime in the early '70's (the earliest I've seen is a '71) and continued through 1995-1996.

I agree, Eastern PA is loaded with Sunline's. When down at the factory last June, we stayed at Lake in Wood (for the 2nd time!) and that place is filled with Sunline's. I think there were less than my last visit in 2000, but there were still a lot. Here in MI, there used to be quite a few, and they seem to be slowly diminishing. I don't know if that many are being sold or if people just aren't travelling like they used to. Granted my campground visits in a year are to only one place for the whole summer now (Not my choice, its the parents), I still don't see a lot of Sunline's on the road to and fro. Also, last summer I saw less RV's on the road all together between here in MI and on the trip to PA and CT than in past years. Hopefully now that gas prices aren't SOOOOO high, people will start taking more adventures.

I also spoke with Dale Zimmerman at Sunline recently and he mentioned, though production computers are down and he can get an exact #, Sunline built about 65000 units.

Pam, I did find out an exact number of Que's built. I'll post it later. It was something like 170, but I can't get my E-mail right now to look it up. I also found out how to figure out VIN's, so hopefully I can clarify that topic about the production numbers.

Jon

kanyonkitty · 03-20-2007, 08:10 AM

I travel I-81 daily in WV, and quite frequently in MD & VA so I see lots of brands. I see a few Sunlines headed north or south, but mostly I see the big pricey 5'er or MH's and then lots of the "lesser" quality brands (compared to our wonderful Sunlines) I guess we also have to consider that Sunlines were NOT mass produced like the "other" brands, so it is easy to outnumber what Sunlines we see on the road. Capt Skup in Md has a Sunline 5'er and he might be planning to sell it in the future as he has a new 42' (two bedroom) Teton in his yard and an F-450 on order. If I hear anything about that sale, I will surely post it here

Kitty

**Tweety** · 03-20-2007, 09:30 AM

Jon,
Ummm...isn't Dale Zimmerman one of the previous owners of Sunline? He must know what the real story is on them being resurected. I figured there weren't many QUEs around. I'll be interested in your findings as to what the VIN tells us about that. For some reason I think it would just be really really cool if QUEtSE was the last one made. Also, I found it interesting that Jim Ray - the RV technician on the QUE towing thread - owns a QUE. Made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy that someone who repairs RVs for a living chose to buy a QUE

DAVID COOPER · 03-20-2007, 11:23 AM

I saw a late model Sunline tt at Myrtle Beach last year and there is a older looking tan skin one I've seen at Talledega and Atlanta Motor Speedway on multiple occaisions. Not too many otherwise down here. Mine was originally purchased at Stoltzfus in PA and I bought it used. I'm glad it wandered south.

I hate to say it but I think the trend in business is to take a good name high quality company that got in a jam, rescue the business and make an average product relying on the good name to differentiate you in the maketplace. I have a Cub Cadet from the IH days the thing is HD bullet proof. The new MTD version is a lightweight average piece of equipment.
Did Dodge buck that trend, I'm not sure? Be glad you have the original concept.

mbart5fan · 03-20-2007, 06:42 PM

Although I only went camping twice last year due to health problems, I had a Sunline within 2 sites of me both times. Needless to say, I had a lengthy conversation with the owners as we were in the market for a new TT. There is also one parked in a driveway (waiting for camping season) about 2 miles from me. My new 289 is impatiently waiting a few more weeks for the weather to improve and the snow to melt.

Mike

pamwinn · 03-20-2007, 07:49 PM

I think I just saw a Sunline in a Coke commericial.

**JohnB** · 03-20-2007, 09:18 PM

There are not to many Sunlines in Ohio. I actually bought mine in MI.

I have only seen about 3 of them in 2 1/2 years camping in allmost every Ohio state park. Every time I see one and they see me, we both know we have something unique.

John

Shelly · 03-20-2007, 11:28 PM

We've just purchased a Sunline 2363 and are looking forward to driving it home to CA. We also have a light Ford F250, which was only made one or two years and a Suzuki Cavalcade touring motorcycle. The Cavalcade owners are a tightknit community - fun and very helpful to each other - just like the Sunline community appears to be. There's something to be said for being part of a rare and special group instead of being just one of thousands. You get to meet more folks when you show up with something unusual too.

264SRinPA · 03-21-2007, 05:11 PM

Up here in NE Pa we see other Sunlines almost every time we go camping.

rich2500 · 03-22-2007, 04:29 AM

I have also noticed that here in Pa. sunlines are very common but once we travel into other states we very rarely see another sunline

Macree · 03-22-2007, 10:21 AM

I moved my 1994 Sunline T2250 into a large RV/boat storage yard this last fall, In southeast Michigan. After driving up and down the long rows out of curiosity, looking at the few hundred RVs stored there, I was pretty surprised to count about 8-10 other Sunlines. Most looked like they were from the 90s, with one that looked like a newer model. It was nice to see my little Sunline had some copmany!

**Sunline Fan** · 03-22-2007, 08:58 PM

Hi Macree,

Welcome to the forum! It's great to hear of other Sunline owners in Michigan. I believe you are only the 4th on this forum from MI. That's funny, I had a '94 2251, which is the sister model to your 2250. Where in SE MI are you from?

Jon

Macree · 03-29-2007, 08:35 AM

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the welcome! I'm from Berkley. I used to store my Sunline at a relative's house, who is since deceased. I was glad to find an open storage spot on that lot last fall, since there was no way I wanted to figure out how to get the trailer up the incline on my driveway!

You had the 1994 2251, huh? A good year, 1994!

This Sunline is my first TT. A nice upgrade from tent camping. I researched quite a bit online before buying it, and I've been extremely happy with it over the last 3 or so years. I'm glad I lucked out and found a Sunline when I was shopping.

Macree

**Sunline Fan** · 03-29-2007, 11:03 AM

Hi Macree,

Wow, you are close! I'm in Northville. As you can see from my sig, '94 was a VERY good year for me- I've had two. They do hold up quite well, no matter how much I abuse it

. A Sunline is a huge step from a tent, but it will last a whole lot longer.

Jon

P.S. I did look through the memberlist and you are the 7th from MI. I didn't check before and I could only remember 4 from Michigan that had ever posted.

**Tweety** · 04-23-2007, 05:37 AM

We were at Hershey Highmeadow Campground this weekend and there were SOOOO many Sunlines - even a 5th wheel and another QUE! Someone stopped by our site to tell us that her sister owns a QUE and loves it. Unfortunately we drove past the factory on our way and saw a "for sale" sign in front of the building

sewfancy · 04-23-2007, 05:57 AM

My husband and I are always on the lookout for other Sunlines when we travel. Last week we were in southern Alabama and we only spotted one which happened to be in one of the campgrounds we visited. It was a T-2553 with the Sunline logo that has the tree. Does anyone know what year model that is?

Patricia

**Sunline Fan** · 04-23-2007, 07:56 AM

Patricia,

You're talking my department here! Well, it would have been somewhere between a 1995 and 1999. I'll try to list a description of each year below:

1995: Sunline logo with tree featured above front rock guard like previous years. This logo was smaller than the '96-'99 logo, and tends to not last. They were made by Avery Graphics and the color, especially the red, bled out quickly. I don't think I have ever seen a '95 with good logos. As for everything else, the striping was straight (didn't step up in center like previous years) and featured a new angled tree logo in the striping. The striping came to the front and a new piece of stripe finished it off on an angle, instead of a curve like the '97-'99's. Also, the striping for the '95 was the same as the '93-'94, not '96-'99. It featured a red stripe on top and a lower stripe in green/gray with reflective white and green over top.
Here is a sample pic:

1996: This was the first year for the logos not above the stone guard. They finally realized the sun takes it's toll on them, and moved it down to the guard. The logo was set off to the left, followed by striping to the right. The striping for '96 changed to 3 stripes, with red on top, gold in the middle, and green on the bottom. The middle stripe has smaller stripes over top of the same green and red. As I said before, the large logo featured a bar that said (In the case of what you saw) "Solaris", instead of "Coach Company" for 1995.
Here's a sample pic:

1997: Personally my favorite year, but the only difference between the '96 and '97 model years is the windows. The large windows on most '96 models were split horizontally and had a crank out on the bottom part. The '97 models were split vertically and had slider windows instead. Also, the rock guards seen to have less striping on them and the logos/striping were more centered.
See sample pic:

1998: The only major differences between '97 and '98 is the '98 trailers had white fender skirts instead of the black ones used in '96-'97. Also, the wheels were a different offset than previous years, so they appeared to have a "shallower dish" than the '97 and older trailers.
See Sample pic:

1999: This was the last year my favorite logo, and they put the large logo right in the center of the stone guard, with striping on either side. It basically looks like they put striping from side to side and put the logo right over top. No fancy cut designs. Also, the Solaris logo on the side was placed over top of the striping near where the "side suns" would be, which were dropped for 1999. The side Solaris logo was put on the sides near the front before. They also added a "swoosh" on the sides near the rear.
Here's a pic:

Let me know if you still have trouble narrowing down your decision,
Jon

emam · 04-23-2007, 01:49 PM

Now I'm starting to wonder if I'm blind or other Sunlines avoid us.

Between the 10 states we've been so far, we still havent seen any except for those two in FLorida, the 5er we saw sailing down the expressway and a random sighting while cruising down the road.

Is this country of ours that big that all us Sunline owners cant run into each other? I'd expect to see some of you here and there?!!?