Wanted: Solaris less than 29 Wild Goose Chases idea?

[Marco Polo]

Hi and good to meet Ya'll. I'm near Nashville Tennessee and am looking for a Solaris (not the Lite) that is 24-27 feet. I don't care about the year as much as the condition and who owned it and why they are selling it. Yes, I'd like to pay my side of a fair price too. I have cash and in the right situation, intuition and general trouble free straight shooting vibe I am willing to travel up to 1,000 miles to find the best Sunline camper for my purposes. I will be boondocking and propane frig in good working order is a necessity , ladder with load bearing roof a big plus. I will be traveling out West and be living in the "Sunny" I find for one year maybe more. I am willing to wait until a good unit at a fair for me price comes along and hope to keep long-distance searches to a minimum. Any ideas? Face Time or another live video conference so that the buyer can ask seller to point camera? Any ideas to save me from wild-goose-chases?
Thanks in advance
Marko Polo

[Sunline Fan]

Welcome Marco!

FYI, the Solaris Lite designation was just assigned to certain floorplans in model years 2000 to 2006. It's simply a designation for the 5500# or less GVWR non-slide trailers, so models T-1950 up through T-2475. There was not a Lite and non-Lite version of the same trailer in the same year. To the best of my knowledge, it was just a marketing thing, the 1999 Solaris T-1950 is not built any differently than the 2000 Solaris Lite T-1950.

That said, in your length range, the only applicable models that would be Lites would be the 2000-2006 T-2453, T-2470, and T-2475. Not all of those were available in all the years. The T-2499, introduced in 2003, was always a 7000# GVWR trailer, so it was never in the Lite classification.

[Marco Polo]

Hey thanks, yes I am looking for a #7000 gross version of the Solaris line and not the Lite That would begin with 2499 and run through 2900? I will include the 2499 in my pool of candidates then, thanks again. T-2499, T-2553, T-2570 and T-27 something? I'm towing with a half ton at the beginning of the trip and dont want anything heavier than the 27 series. I don't like slides

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by Marco Polo

Hey thanks, yes I am looking for a #7000 gross version of the Solaris line and not the Lite That would begin with 2499 and run through 2900? I will include the 2499 in my pool of candidates then, thanks again. T-2499, T-2553, T-2570 and T-27 something? I'm towing with a half ton at the beginning of the trip and dont want anything heavier than the 27 series. I don't like slides

Yes, 2499, 2553, 2570, 2653, 2753, 2975, and 2980 would all be Solaris non slides.

Depending on how old you want to look, there could be more floorplans to add to that list.

[enormiss]

ladder with load bearing roof a big plus

I think this is uncommon on sunlines, but you came to the right place to find out

[JohnB]

Hi Marco,

I'll add a few things to help you in your search.

If you are looking for a T2499, as Sunline Fan stated they are from model years 2003 to 2007. 5 years worth. I had a 2004 T2499 and we really liked it. The rear living layout and that nice big picture window is great!

However there are 2 things to work through on that floor plan.

1. The T2499 being a rear living room floor plan does not have much space to add cargo behind the rear axle. There is a lot of cargo that can be added over the axles and up front. You can for sure add cargo on that camper but it comes with a high loaded tongue weight due to the floor plan. Mine weighed 1,200# on the TW when we fully loaded it. Many others have from 1,000# to 1,200#. Not many had under 1,000# And this was not when towing with fresh water, that made it rise more. Our 1500 Tahoe was not up to that TW and we loved the camper so much we traded the Tahoe for a K2500 Suburban and then no issues.

Some folks have been able to tow a T2499 with a higher payload optioned 1500 pickup. They have to watch the truck bed weight and they have to watch the front cargo in the camper, but it can work if you pack lighter and work through making sure the truck is up to the task.

2. There was an A frame header issues on this floor plan that started in the 2005 models. The 2003 to 2004's did not have the problem. The 2005's up to the last ones in 2007, (they finally sorted it out on the last 2007's) had a redesigned frame header that would crack under the higher tongue weight loads using a WD hitch. If you find one of these, look at the header for cracks of bends where the A frame rails go through the header and the battery tray supports. If they are all nice and straight, the frame can be reinforced and the problem mitigated. The fix can be done at any good weld shop and really is not that big a fix in comparison to the great camper it is. I myself would have zero issues getting one of these affected frames if the frame is not real bad. But I am maybe a little more mechanical than most. Just a friendly heads up.

The next area deals with a water infection in the camper. This info goes for any used camper (more than 1 year old) you are looking at, brand does not matter. Since you asked before buying we can help give you the heads up before you bought it. There are several ways a camper can get a water infection and sometimes you will not see or smell anything inside. The owner themselves may have no idea whatsoever there is a problem. This does not mean, do not buy the camper, but it can help with getting a lower price for it. This post talks about a moisture meter for $40 or less that can scan the walls, floor, bottom of the camper, and ceiling for trapped moisture behind where you cannot see. Moisture Meters For Inspecting a Camper

We have many posts of water infection repair so you can see what really did not look that bad, can be once you open up the camper. Point being, try and educate yourself on how a camper can get a water infection, and armed with a moisture meter can help you make a better choice when buying a used camper. And understanding how they can get a leak will help keep the one you buy, new or used, to stay dry.

Hope this helps and good luck on your Sunny search. We are here to help on all questions.

John

[krazedave]

All great advise from everyone but I just caught something in your post about a loadbearing roof. Except for the Trans Sport toy hauler which has a partial walk on roof, the sunlines have a roof which is not loadbearing like other trailers.

[Sunline Fan]

Originally Posted by enormiss

I think this is uncommon on sunlines, but you came to the right place to find out

Originally Posted by krazedave

All great advise from everyone but I just caught something in your post about a loadbearing roof. Except for the Trans Sport toy hauler which has a partial walk on roof, the sunlines have a roof which is not loadbearing like other trailers.

The walk on, or partial walk on, roof was an option for years on just about any Sunline model, but it's very rare. It had to be special ordered that way, it was never ordered for dealer stock.

In the later years, the walk on roof option is often identified by a front or rear mounted ladder and short roof railing. If it's a partial walk on, the point at which you shouldn't walk past should be marked on the roof somehow, but either way, step carefully if it has it if you don't know.

Any Sunline roof can be walked on, as long as you put down a blanket and plywood between the rafters first.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Any Sunline roof can be walked on, as long as you put down a blanket and plywood between the rafters first.

As Sunline Fan stated, all Sunline roofs can be serviced with something to protect the roof from abrasion, carpet, tarp etc and then using manageable sized sheets of plywood to spread the load between the rafters.

This post while it deals with roof caulk inspection, shows one method of using small sheets of plywood with a tarp while working on the roof. This really is not that hard to do. I find 2ft x 4ft x 3/8 to 1/2" thick pieces work good if you are going to make something. Rubber Roof Caulk - Inspect and repair 101

Sunline created the non walk on roof we believe to help lower weight of the camper, increased cargo carrying capacity and lower material cost of a full roof deck will having a roof which can take the northeastern snow loads. The down side is, for the times you need to service the roof, you need to deal with the trap and plywood sheets. You gain the benefits all year long and deal with the cons a few times a year.

I agree, a full walk on roof is nice option. On larger campers, the loss of cargo capacity is not that large a percentage so it does not affect you that much. On a smaller camper, that cargo capacity loss is more significant.

After knowing the work around of the plywood trick, I would not let the lack of a non walk on roof deter me from buying a Sunline. The quality of build of the rest of the camper is way ahead of the other brands even if they have a walk on roof.

Hope this helps

John