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Old 11-26-2006, 05:22 PM   #1
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emam
Factory Tour and Great Product!

Chances are if you're reading this then you already own a Sunline, if you're in the market for a Sunline, dont let the fact that the company has gone out of business be a consideration in your purchase. It wasnt from anything to do with cutting corners when it came to their trailers. If anything, that might be what may have hurt them in the long run. Most people who buy a TT are weekenders or just testing their feet in the water. Those that have been doing it for years have usually moved up to 5'ers or Motor-coaches. This means that most dont want to spend the kind of money it takes to buy a quality piece of craftsmanship like a Sunline. While talking with Carl Kern from Sunline, he told me most people who are purchasing their 2nd or 3rd TT buy a Sunline.

We were working with Sunline and General RV in Michigan for a trip that my wife and I plan on starting this January. We plan on traveling around the United States for 2 years straight and after months of research, Sunline was one of the only manufactureres that steped up to the plate and said their trailer can take that kind of abuse and wont even blink. I was soo glad when I found this site I think I sat and grazed for a few hours reading every post and reply till I joined.

Carl Kern and I had talked many times back and forth on what makes a great trailer and he was the one who gave my wife and I our tour of the facility when we went to see our trailer roll of the line. I've been in many assembly line factories and have never seen a place so well put together or in order. From the time the bare trailer came into the building, till it rolled out a completed trailer on the other side of the horseshoe shaped line, it was handled with kid gloves and inspected time and again by many different people to insure nothing was missed.

If any of you are worrying about your warranties, I think you made a safe bet by purchasing a Sunline. Sure things might leak, a seal might go bad here and there, but the construction and materials used to put one of our trailers together were all top notch and hand picked. I couldnt believe it when I saw a woman staining the tables and cabinets - one woman did every one herself by hand. Some employees had started after graduating high school and still were working there just a few months ago. Thats 40 years with the same company!!! Shows the work conditions and type of people that took pride in building quality toys for us to enjoy. I was shocked the day Wade from General RV called with the awful news.

One of the reasons we had chosen to go to PA was the Hershey RV show was in town at the same time and we wanted to compare other TT's to ours and see if we had made the right decision. The Hershey show is the largest in the country and after 12 hours of walking around comparing every TT that was in our class, at the end of the day, the wife and I sat down in our truck with a huge smile knowing we had made the right choice. I wont give any names, but many I would be afraid to tow a few miles off the lot let alone for a few years straight. The only few that were comparable were much more expensive. It's real easy to do research on the web, you can read many forums and manufactureres sites, but to be able to get in and walk through every TT by every company in the industry is really the only way to know you've made the right decision.

If you own a Sunline, you know you have!
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Old 11-26-2006, 10:28 PM   #2
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Well said eman.

And I 100% agree.
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Old 11-27-2006, 05:23 PM   #3
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Very well said, I am proud and very happy to own a Sunline.
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Old 11-27-2006, 05:45 PM   #4
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Hi Emam,
Good to have you here with us. I especially enjoyed your explaination of the activities at the factory during your tour. I'll always regret not having the opportunity to take the tour myself. Do you recall how long it took to build your 2499? It's something I've been curious about since we just bought one ourselves. If you get a chance to take a photo for this site, I'd be interested how much that four inch lift changed the overall appearance of your trailer. I presume that was because your boondocking will put you into some less road clearance friendly situations. I also opted for the torsion bar suspension in hopes of enhanced towing qualities, and it's good to read your comments about that as well. Enjoy that 2499, I know we will.

Bob
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Old 11-28-2006, 01:09 PM   #5
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emam
Sorry you missed the chance to take the tour. It really made you glad you spent the extra money on a Sunline. There should be a few pictures coming up soon, I've sent them in to the Site and just waiting on them to be posted.

If I remember correctly, I believe Carl said the average trailer takes about a week to go down the line. They really spend some time on each unit and then they need to have a seperate person come over and inspect their work to make sure they didnt miss anything.

You're exactly right about the 4" lift. We plan on being on some rough roads and didnt want to have anything hanging below the frame. Carl made sure that everything was routed over or moved so nothing hung below the frame lines which could get hung up. I have already thanked myself when I had to make a u-turn on some double track in Northern Michigan last week and didnt catch anything on the under belly.

I sent Sarah all of my pictures of our facility tour and she plans on making a seperate gallery of just the tour. The pictures really show the build quality and I tried to be as descriptive as possible.

Thanks for the inspriational words and I'm so glad I found this site!!
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Old 11-28-2006, 06:25 PM   #6
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Great idea of taking the camera when you did the tour. When I took the tour at the end of September, I never thought about taking may camera. Now I wished I had taken my camera. I am at least one of the fortunate ones that was able to take the tour and have been very glad I did.
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