Towing a nice little camper trailer - Sun Lite 18RD

[bluesteel]

From all I've observed, Aliner is as high-end as it gets.

Sponsored

 

[ddhill]

Are there any higher end A/Frames besides what Aliner builds ?

If you want something higher than an Aliner (and I did look at them....)

The Safari Condo retractable roofs are really interesting (and I visted the showroom last summer and the rigs are really neat - but too small for me). I looked hard at them when I originally ordered a hybrid - but changed to the non-hybrid for the 4k towing.

I have an F2114 (fixed roof) on order.

 

[Nw_adventure]

If you want something higher than an Aliner (and I did look at them....)

The Safari Condo retractable roofs are really interesting (and I visted the showroom last summer and the rigs are really neat - but too small for me). I looked hard at them when I originally ordered a hybrid - but changed to the non-hybrid for the 4k towing.

I have an F2114 (fixed roof) on order.

Thx- I did look at those but fainted when I saw pricing

 

[Nw_adventure]

If you want something higher than an Aliner (and I did look at them....)

The Safari Condo retractable roofs are really interesting (and I visted the showroom last summer and the rigs are really neat - but too small for me). I looked hard at them when I originally ordered a hybrid - but changed to the non-hybrid for the 4k towing.

I have an F2114 (fixed roof) on order.

What was your take away on the current Aliner build quality ? Thx

 

[vinnymac]

I just purchased a nice little camper trailer - a Sun Lite 18RD
This is 19 foot tip to tail.

I do have the 4k towing package, in fact I switched my buy from the hybrid because we wanted a trailer and nothing I wanted really fit well (with towing headroom) in 2k.

Lately I have been hitting around 29 mpg without the trailer - keep that number in mind....

The "dry" weight of this trailer is 2900 lb (dealer est), and GVW (which I doubt I could hit) is 4k. The difference for those that don't know is that dry is "empty" - no propane (2x20lb), water (25 gal * 8lb ~= 200lb), kettles, camp chairs, beer in the fridge...
I did have propane but the rest was empty.
Tongue weight is said to be 270lb.

I did have a load balancing, sway control hitch for the initial haul. Turned on Trailer mode as well.

With the trailer and mostly highway for a 2 hour drive home, looks like about 14 mpg which is close to what I was hoping for. With the trailer brake gain dialed in (7.0) , I had a pretty decent ride. Never felt like the trailer was pushing me when stopping. A touch of porpoising but no more than I expected when you have 3k waggling your hitch ball Overall - I was pleased with the towing performance. In particular - just for fun I hit the gas a few times just to see how much acceleration I had left, and felt it was plenty. Note: the words of wisdom is that 65 mph is a good cap when towing - so that is what I did on the highway.

This Sun Lite is aerodynamic than the sweet trailer I have on order.... (due March of 2024... a Safari Condo Alto F2114) so it will be interesting to see what if any gain I get when that arrives. And I would really be interested if someone gets the retractable roof version the R1723 - which we really think is amazing, but we wanted more storage and fridge.

So - why this Sun Lite trailer ?

• I did not want an east/west bed as that means someone is always crawling over someone to get in/out of bed. This has a camper queen with space on either side to get out.
• Big fridge/freezer
• enough space for 2 adults and a dog to move around
  
• separate dinette (many smaller campers your dinette may be part of your bed.)
• good price, nice build quality - for my short term camper.
• huge amount of storage - though that can lead to you overloading.....
• weight. My goal was to leave head room in the towing, and a dry of 2900 means I have a chance to keep my towing weight to ~3600.

Hopefully I will get it out for a weekend trip in a few weeks

Here it is behind the Maverick

Send camper interior pics plz looks interesting. Vp

 

[bluesteel]

I have an F2114 (fixed roof) on order.

Ahh obviously I never really dug into the Alto, because I didn't even know there was a fixed roof version! Nice.

 

[ddhill]

Ahh obviously I never really dug into the Alto, because I didn't even know there was a fixed roof version! Nice.

Nice but aprox 2 year waiting list for a build. Mine is slated for spring of 2024. Hence the sunlite 18rd as my intermediate trailer.

 

[bluesteel]

@ddhill Have you ever come across a forum that has a good presence of Sun Lite / Sunray (Sunset Park RV company) owners? There doesn't seem to be a forum dedicated to the brands, and that is the oddest thing to me. I even thought about starting one myself. There have been lots of little questions along the way that I've wanted to ask owners of my specific model. Hopefully I am missing something!

 

[ddhill]

@ddhill Have you ever come across a forum that has a good presence of Sun Lite / Sunray (Sunset Park RV company) owners? There doesn't seem to be a forum dedicated to the brands, and that is the oddest thing to me. I even thought about starting one myself. There have been lots of little questions along the way that I've wanted to ask owners of my specific model. Hopefully I am missing something!
[/Q

@ddhill Have you ever come across a forum that has a good presence of Sun Lite / Sunray (Sunset Park RV company) owners? There doesn't seem to be a forum dedicated to the brands, and that is the oddest thing to me. I even thought about starting one myself. There have been lots of little questions along the way that I've wanted to ask owners of my specific model. Hopefully I am missing something!

My wife follows a group on Facebook dedicated to the Sunset park trailers. Overall, seems most people are pretty happy. It is an inexpensive (relatively) camper and some of what is shared is the upgrades/tweaks/corrections people do. She is also a member of a small camper group that talks about a broader range of them
Sun-Lite Campers by Sunset Park RV

Looks like https://www.reddit.com/r/GoRVing/ might be a place to look at as well.

 

[bluesteel]

Thanks!

 

[hvfaith]

@ddhill Have you ever come across a forum that has a good presence of Sun Lite / Sunray (Sunset Park RV company) owners? There doesn't seem to be a forum dedicated to the brands, and that is the oddest thing to me. I even thought about starting one myself. There have been lots of little questions along the way that I've wanted to ask owners of my specific model. Hopefully I am missing something!

I too have been looking for a "Sunray 149" site. I just purchased a 149 classic and have a couple of questions that might be answered. I chose the classic over the sport because of the 6" difference in height. I picked up my 23 Maverick in January, 2.0 eco awd 4k tow pkg. Camper should be here by June 1. A 6" drop hitch seems to be too much. Will find out when I pick it up. I am going from a 2021 F250 diesel pulling a 30 foot camper to the Mav and Sunray. I was worried that going from the 250 to the Mav might be an issue but so far am very happy with my decision. I have researched several small campers and for the price, the Sunray 149 fit my bill.

 

[bluesteel]

I too have been looking for a "Sunray 149" site. I just purchased a 149 classic and have a couple of questions that might be answered. I chose the classic over the sport because of the 6" difference in height. I picked up my 23 Maverick in January, 2.0 eco awd 4k tow pkg. Camper should be here by June 1. A 6" drop hitch seems to be too much. Will find out when I pick it up. I am going from a 2021 F250 diesel pulling a 30 foot camper to the Mav and Sunray. I was worried that going from the 250 to the Mav might be an issue but so far am very happy with my decision. I have researched several small campers and for the price, the Sunray 149 fit my bill.

I'm now on the Sunray Trailer Owners group on Facebook. It's not as comprehensive and easily searchable as a real forum, but it's good for getting questions answered. And it doesn't have the clique-iness and streak of negativity that a forum can sometimes develop

I have a Classic (picked up about two weeks ago), and with a 2-inch drop ball mount, the trailer is as level as it's going to get. So I'm not sure why anyone is using a 6-inch drop.

Really enjoying the trailer so far, other than minor build issues that are to be expected, but my issue is that on either the Mav or the trailer, the trailer brakes are not working properly (separate thread about that).

I was/am also planning to install a friction sway control, as I could see sway being an issue with a strong crosswind, but the standard tongue ball plate is wide enough (in the vertical dimension) that I am not comfortable drilling into the frame for it. These plates all seem to be the same size regardless of the brand. So I'm trying to decide what to do about that.

Good luck with it!

 

[ddhill]

I too have been looking for a "Sunray 149" site. I just purchased a 149 classic and have a couple of questions that might be answered. I chose the classic over the sport because of the 6" difference in height. I picked up my 23 Maverick in January, 2.0 eco awd 4k tow pkg. Camper should be here by June 1. A 6" drop hitch seems to be too much. Will find out when I pick it up. I am going from a 2021 F250 diesel pulling a 30 foot camper to the Mav and Sunray. I was worried that going from the 250 to the Mav might be an issue but so far am very happy with my decision. I have researched several small campers and for the price, the Sunray 149 fit my bill.

I just purchased the
Weigh Safe Aero Hitch - Adjustable Trailer Hitch Ball Mount - 6" Drop
and when it arrived I realized I could have gone with the 4" drop..... I am using about a 2 inch drop. Without water the 18RD is showing about 280lb hitch weight.

 

[JimParker256]

I just purchased the
Weigh Safe Aero Hitch - Adjustable Trailer Hitch Ball Mount - 6" Drop
and when it arrived I realized I could have gone with the 4" drop..... I am using about a 2 inch drop. Without water the 18RD is showing about 280lb hitch weight.

It's so strange that they supply ONE locking pin and one "straight" (non-locking) pin. Let's say you lock the "hitch" to the receiver, and use the "straight" pin to secure the "ball" portion of the hitch (which contains the weighing mechanism). Someone could easily remove the straight pin and steal the "ball" portion of the hitch. And if you do it the other way around (lock the ball portion, and use the straight pin for the hitch-to-receiver connection, they could steal the whole thing by just removing the straight pin from the receiver...

Guess you could pony up for a 2nd locking pin - except now you've got two different keys to sort out each time you wan to do anything... If you want a pair with matching keys, you're gonna have to buy two - and throw away the locking pin they give you. Crazy!

 

[ddhill]

It's so strange that they supply ONE locking pin and one "straight" (non-locking) pin. Let's say you lock the "hitch" to the receiver, and use the "straight" pin to secure the "ball" portion of the hitch (which contains the weighing mechanism). Someone could easily remove the straight pin and steal the "ball" portion of the hitch. And if you do it the other way around (lock the ball portion, and use the straight pin for the hitch-to-receiver connection, they could steal the whole thing by just removing the straight pin from the receiver...

Guess you could pony up for a 2nd locking pin - except now you've got two different keys to sort out each time you wan to do anything... If you want a pair with matching keys, you're gonna have to buy two - and throw away the locking pin they give you. Crazy!

I know..
If you buy direct from them, they offer two matching.

There is a load of bad press about the hitch locking pins - mostly that they are only good for keeping honest people out. As the lockpickinglawyer shows - not much really stands up to even novices pickers, a pry bar.

On the weather - I read reviews where the owner pried the lock off after he could not get the lock to come off after being exposed to the weather for a number of months.

So while I now have two (I got the other from homedepot) I plan to just pull the hitch when not in use. That also saves my shins

I do like the hitch so far. the gauge is just extra confirmation of what I suspected. 280lb out of 400 max.

Sponsored