Hello from PA!

redfirebird · 10-24-2012, 09:44 AM

We have had several campers come and go thru the years. (Tow behinds, Truck Campers, Motorhomes, Pop Up) All older, love the older campers, newest one we ever had is the truck camper we have now 1994.

We love the 8.5 ft. Truck Camper, but we wanted a small tow trailer too for times we just want to hitch up and go spur of the moment. Well, we found one and brought it home this past weekend.

It is a 1983 Sunline T1550. Small but love the layout and my 2 kids (7 & 14) and 3 dogs (13, 4, 1) love it too. Even tho it is small it is still bigger than the truck camper. We decided for us bigger is not always better and really all we do in the camper is sleep, store food and clothing, we spend all our time outside enjoying the outdoors and we cook over the fire or on gas grill, even when it is raining (we have a big canopy that we setup perfect hangout during rain). The smaller camper is easy to maneuver into the woods/mountains where we like to go.

When we bought it the wheels and tires were missing but we put a set of 14 tires/rims we had on and towed it home. Think we need to find 13's not much clearance with the 14's.

The mice had made it their home for several years. I spent all day Sunday cleaning and vacuuming the nests out. It had sat for several years but as I cleaned I found no soft spots in the floors. In fact the only thing that really needs fixed is the door. It is falling apart.

The interior is in really great shape. The mice didn’t bother any of the cushions and curtains. They had a blast with the napkins, paper towels, box of tissues and newspapers that were left in the camper.

I haven't tried out anything in the camper, plan on doing that tonight after work. My husband said that we can't try any of the gas items yet till he replaces the gas line, but I can try out the electric (lights, fridge).

I will take pictures tonight and post them.
I’m sure as we keep cleaning and exploring the camper un-foreseen repairs will pop up and I will need to read all the great info on here to help. So thanks in advance to all the people who have taken their time to post helpful hints and instructions on fixing things.

JTurner · 10-24-2012, 12:11 PM

Hi and Welcome!

We have a 1985 T-1550 and absolutely love it. It is the perfect size for the two of us and we didn't need to buy some huge truck to tow it with. I am also partial to the older campers. I agree with you that we don't spend a lot of time in there, I would rather be outside. The camper is just for sleeping and storing items, we have never used the stovetop and ours has no oven, so we do all our cooking outside also.

As for the mice, we had them in our pop-up, which is why he have no pop-up anymore. They ate everything that was fabric except the cushions, including the side canvas and curtains. I was told to put Bounce dryer sheets spread out all over the camper when you winterize. We did this last year and had no mice, and the camper smelled really good too.

Please do post pictures, we love them. And if you run across any problems, you will probably get them answered here.

Jenny

underdog · 10-25-2012, 06:06 AM

Welcome. Look forward to the photos. Sounds like you have experiance with RVs. But if you get stuck there are some very knowledgeable people here. Best of luck with it.

redfirebird · 10-25-2012, 07:45 AM

I didn't get to plug the camper in last night. Mom's taxi had to run kids here and there and will be doing that again tonight. But I did manage to snap some quick pictures.

And thanks for the warm welcome from JTurner and underdog.

I have learned alot about campers thru the years with my husband. When I was growing up my family would spend alot of time at our camp in the Kinzua Area. We never had campers, did tent a few times, but mainly we had the camp. Loved every minute of it. We still go there, but we also like going back into the woods to camp. Might try a few campgrounds next year.

JTurner · 10-25-2012, 08:56 AM

Cute little camper - I love all your cabinets. I'm kinda jealous - would rather have the cabinets than my two useless fold down bunks. Is that a rock guard you have on your rear window? Please post a picture, I've never seen one on the back. Mine only has one on the front.

EMD_Driver · 10-25-2012, 02:56 PM

redfirebird · 10-25-2012, 03:19 PM

Jenny, yes it has a rock guard on the front and back windows. I took a picture of the back one and put it in my album. The trailer is still dirty it was sitting in the woods.

**Sunline Fan** · 10-25-2012, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTurner

I've never seen one on the back. Mine only has one on the front.

It was a quiet option for many years, which is probably why many people didn't choose it. But I do see them every now and then. Not really sure what purpose the back one serves other than as a window shade.