Our "New" 1985 T-1550

JTurner · 01-04-2012, 09:15 PM

We bought our 1985 T-1550 last July on Craigslist, and I just got around to downloading pictures. We have had several pop-ups over the years but this is our first "real" camper. It is the perfect size for us now that the kids are grown (we are lucky to get one of them to go with us now). We wanted a small camper, as we pull it with our 2003 Chevy Astro Van.

The previous owners kept all the records from the beginning - from what I can tell we are the fourth owners. The couple we bought it from only had it a year and had to sell it for financial reasons. We even have the original orange plastic binder with all of the brochures, including brochures for items that were replaced like the fridge and A/C unit. The camper was in very good condition. We had to re-wire the running lights and there was a crack halfway up the fresh water tank, but other than that everything was in perfect condition. All the windows work perfectly, although I had my mom sew up some new curtains as a lot of them were dry rotted. It looks like a previous owner replaced the ceilings along with the A/C unit, the A/C unit is super-cold. There is still old ceiling material in the bathroom and inside the kitchen cabinets.

The camper must have sat in the sun a long time, as the striping on the front, back, and door side was very faded. After reading these forums, I realized you cannot buy replacement striping or logos, so I repainted a lot of the striping until the weather stopped cooperating. I also repainted the logo on the front and the striping on the plastic awning window. So glad I found this website as it has been a great source of information, like winterization. We had no clue how to do this.

We used the camper in August for a week and had a great time with it, and are looking forward to more camping next year. I posted more pictures under my profile.

**Sunline Fan** · 01-04-2012, 09:51 PM

Congrats on the coach and excellent job on the striping! It doesn't look like it was too bad starting off though. There's much worse out there. These decals just weren't made for the long term and show age after about 5-10 years if not stored inside. Especially the decal above the rock guard in front for this generation. They took more sun abuse than the others.

The trailers that took a lot of sun abuse also had the paint on the aluminum get really chalky and faded. It'll look more off white than tan then.

Jon

Poppy & Nana · 01-05-2012, 05:36 AM

Hi JTurner! Welcome to the friendliest forum on the net......you will find that most everyone here will help in anyway they can! Please feel free to post any questions or concerns you may have and by all means chime in with any answers or findings you have!

The striping job looks professional as well as the logo.....you may find that you will have many people asking you to do work for them LOL!!!!!

Enjoy many years of memory making in your new to you Sunline!

sanstini · 01-05-2012, 06:08 AM

Looks nice. I have a '92 T-1550 and it has some sun damage to the decals also. I'll have to try the paint trick this year. Did you spray or bruch? Nice job.

JTurner · 01-05-2012, 07:24 PM

Jon - You are right about the striping, I have seen a lot worse also. It seems that the orange/red color faded the worst, some of it was almost white in places. The burgundy color looked pink in places. The blue fared the best and a lot of it doesn't need to be repainted at all. Our trailer does have fading on the top of the front and especially the rear, with that chalky white look. We may try to repaint these areas. In the spring we plan on building a carport attached to our garage to store the camper so it out of the sun. Now we have it parked under trees with a tarp.

sanstini - for the logo I hand painted it with a brush and outdoor waterproof craft paint. It looks like it is holding up well so far. The striping I painted with spray paint I got from an auto supply store - you can match any color almost exactly. I used blue painters tape and lots of newspaper and taped off each color and sprayed three coats. Very time consuming.

Jenny

mamarazzi · 03-25-2012, 03:40 PM

I am the new owner of of a 1986 1-1550.
The starter of the thread uses a minivan to pull his?
I have a 2005 Chevy uplander (minivan crossover type).
It does not have a tow hitch.
Soooo, what a I looking at as far as getting it ready for my van to pull....parts ect...and how much $ roughly.

Thanks!

EMD_Driver · 03-25-2012, 04:49 PM

Welcome to the Club Andy & Jenny!

Your Sunline is looking great too!

We do have meet and Greets in a few different places each year. The Buttonwood M&G might be the closest one to you.. Please consider attending! You can find M&G info in the M&G forum...

kanyonkitty · 03-25-2012, 05:04 PM

Jenny & Andy,

WOW, you made your Sunline look wonderful. Congrats on your purchase and welcome to "SOC". This is such a wonderful group of people, please check out the "Meet n Greet" schedule, and see if you can make it to any of them. "IF" you can, be prepared to be asked for "tours" of your Sunline, our group just loves seeing other Sunlines.

Kitty

JTurner · 03-25-2012, 07:14 PM

mamarazzi - we use our 2003 Chevy Astro Minivan to pull this camper. The Astro is rear-wheel drive, and came with the tow package and hitch already installed when we bought it. Sorry I can't help you as to cost of installing. My husband says the Astro pulls the camper just fine. This is the third camper we have had, the other two being pop-ups. We have also towed a car with the Astro.

I am trying talk my husband into going to one of the meet and greets but between his work schedule and mine its hard to find a free long weekend. I was considering the Western Maryland one but may be too late to get a spot. Would love to meet everyone and also take "tours" of other Sunlines.

Jenny

EMD_Driver · 03-25-2012, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTurner

I was considering the Western Maryland one but may be too late to get a spot. Would love to meet everyone and also take "tours" of other Sunlines.

Jenny

Hey Jenny,

If you don't mind boondocking, the next loop over still has sites available. I don't know if it would be acceptable, but I have a 5,000w generator I could bring. You would at least be able to keep your battery charged up. Either that, or I could bring another battery.

Birch loop site #31 is available and it is directly across the street from Ash loop.

Gary

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