1990 Toyota Sunrader 4X4 a.k.a. Sunroamer4x4 Overland Camper RV Complete
Vehicle Description
Used to be a 1990 2WD Sunrader RV Motorhome but converted to 4x4 and remodeled. I have all of the receipts, over 150 photos and dozens of videos. This is a great camping and winter machine.
ALL NEW or refurbished since 2018 on original 79k motor and chassis.
4x4 – Single axle swap conversion – SAS – All Toyota parts.
New 3.4 L engine installed byTOYZ with Supercharger.
Rebuilt A340H Automatic transmission.
21 feet long, 144” wheel base. Park anywhere you can park a full size truck.
#7220 approx. #2660 front, #4560 rear (weighs less than my 2023 F350 at #7500)
All electronics, batteries and water inside coach.
Sleeps 4 – Queen above cab & room for 2 kids or adult on fold out couch.
PASS THROUGH so important
Switchable custom wheels. The fronts fit the back, fit the spare etc. Fronts flip to the rears. Access to valve stem in either configuration. Does not have two different wheel sizes.
Full floating 1 ton rear axle. The benefit, if you break an axle, the rig will not list or tilt and still can be towed or pulled without wheels coming off.
Almost everything is either stainless steel, aluminum, Raptor painted or powder coated.
This camper spent approx. 50K miles as a stock 2WD white Toyota Sunrader Motorhome with its 15” duelies, visiting campgrounds in the PNW.
Owned by two separate preachers before I became the third owner. I live in Idaho and more and more fire roads were being accessed and my obsession to quiet all the squeaks and rattles was maddening for the original Sunrader with mostly heavy wooden cabinets screwed to the floor and walls. First bigger tires, single wheel conversion, suspension upgrades and other combinations until I converted to 4x4 and subsequently remodeled it. Gutted to the fiberglass shell and reassembled carefully to eliminate all squeaks and rattles.
Maintained the same floor pattern as the 1990 except eliminating the oven and the shower. The shower pan is still there and drains into the grey water tank. Removed the black water tank entirely and installed a compost toilet instead. The shower area was converted to his and hers shelving storage area, garbage below and an open area for chairs or whatever else that may be wet. The shower was diverted to the exterior.
Chassis, Engine and Drive train
Single Axle Swap. SAS 4x4 conversion. All Toyota parts.
3.4 Liter 5VZ-FE 190hp by ToyZ, Creswell, Oregon. Wiring and ECU from 1998 T100, long block 5VZ from 1994 Tacoma.
Magnusson Supercharger with 7th injector being installed gets me to approx. 300 hp. Helps for freeway speeds up to 80mph and for climbing long high speed grades. Installed by ToySport Automotive, Dillon in Boise.
New/rebuilt A340H Automatic Transmission, by AAMCO, Boise in 2024,
Setrab oil cooler with separate fan installed by ToySport Automotive.
1 Ton Full Floating Rear Axle. Rebuilt by Perfection Drivetrain, Boise 2024.
Oil and Water temp gauges on the drivers pillar.
4.88 gearing front and rear, rear have a Yukon gears with air Locker with on board air compressor (not for tires, too small). Rear differential rebuilt new as of 2024. I didn’t break in the first one properly with Marlin gears.
245/75/16 B F Goodrich All Terrains KO2, Load E, spare included 30.5” tall. Speedo will be accurate with 36" tires, just saying......
Bilstein shocks plus added rear leafs
1” front custom sway bar by ADDCO.
Brakes are stock drum rear; fronts are from Toyota Land Cruiser.
Rebuilt Power steering.
New alternator Sept 2025
New electric fan with fitted shroud Sept 2025
Exterior
Lightweight, all fiberglass no leak shell
Raptor Bed liner Custom colored to Toyota 2018 Cement
Bushwacker fender front flares, Black Raptor coating
ARB front bumper, Black Raptor Coating
8000# Warn winch, synthetic rope with Factor 55 ProLink
Single wheel conversion, were 15” duellies. Custom 16” wheels by Marsh. All 5 wheels interchangeable with spare underneath.
2X 5 gallon extra gas can holder – can carry an extra 10 gallons. Trap door storage box. Gas cans included. Rock box. Custom rear bumper with bottle opener and storage. Outdoor shower.
3 skylights; Oversized escape hatch above bed providing access to roof. Great for popping your head out while sleeping to see intruders / bears. 12” opening vent in middle of coach. 12” MAX Air at rear. Rear back up camera viewed with Kenwood deck. TV and great speakers.
KWIKEE electric steps. Exterior LED lighting. LED bar front lighting. There is a switch and wiring for front lights (I removed to improve air flow in the front).
Interior
Kilzmat was used throughout front cab, doors and entire coach.
9 MM thick insulation throughout in addition to the original insulation.
ALL NEW INTERIOR. Professionally installed automotive fabric used throughout. Bed, couch, door panels all matching.
Custom insulated Cordura window coverings.
Custom Cordura cabinet closures
Matching driver and passenger Captain’s Chairs with armrests plus they completely fold down out of the way. Pleather.
80/20 1.5” aluminum extrusion open frame construction. All assembled with stainless steel custom brackets that bolts to the floor through the rubber flooring.
3/8” Rubber Flooring throughout.
Authentic Topographic map paneling (1/8”) featuring maps from the 1890’s. they are original maps.
Custom Baltic birch countertop, shelving, drawers. All drawers easily secure with stainless steel hardware. 6 Baltic birch drawers.
White geometric ceiling paneling.
Room to hang clothes and lots of storage space throughout.
Shower pan in play for storing anything that might leak, drains to grey tank.
Bathroom has stainless steel sink and storage. Toilet. Closet for hanging clothes, kept all towels, sheets, 2 big shelves for his and her clothes, all bath things, garbage above shower pan, swivels out for easy access.
Natures Head Company Compost Toilet, good for many poops in peat moss before change out req. – better than cassette or black tank. Has a switchable fan for ventilation if needed.
Privacy bathroom curtain
Dometic propane / 110V refrigerator
Dometic propane heater.
Marine propane Cook top – Dickinson All Stainless, 2 burners
L.E.D. reading lights. 2 at head and 2 at feet – 4 total.
25 gallon water tank under the couch
Cook top range fan hood and led light.
Oversized Stainless Steel Sink in kitchen.
QUEEN sized bed over cab. EastWest.
Full size fold out bed from couch
Cloth walls, automotive fabric over original wall panels plus additional insulation.
Removable Baltic birch garbage box that swivels into bath area and swivels out for kitchen use.
Custom pleather covered table with drawer.
Custom pleather covered front center console.
Left over, not used, Firestone air bag gauges.
Electronics
New Kenwood entertainment system, includes 4X Pioneer speakers, Sirius XM, Navigation, Android, DVD and backup camera
110V LED TV. Use inverter to watch movies. Swivels for outside viewing through open window.
2X 100ah BattleBorn LifePo4 = 200ah in the interior.
2000 W Victron Inverter
MPPT Solar Charger Victron Bluetooth
DC to DC Charger Victron Bluetooth, charges while driving.
Battery Monitor Victron Bluetooth – Know what state of charge you are always in.
65W solar mat on roof – lays flat, room for more if needed. I didn’t.
Instant Hot Water heater – Girard GSWH-2
Custom hot water circulation system, for conserving H20 while boon docking. Approx. 50 feet of coiled hot red pex line runs adjacent to all cold blue pex lines. An old style 6-12 gallon water heater would pretty much do the same thing but I took a different route. This is achieved with and extra water pump, timer, check valve and additional tubing.
Fluid level monitoring SEE LEVEL II
ON Board Air Compressor Viair for rear air locker. (Too small for tires.)
ALL LED lighting.
Miscellaneous rambling
All stainless steel fasteners throughout.
Black out for privacy can be achieved. Nobody can tell you are inside with lights on.
Fresnel lens on rear window gives car like rear viewing experience. See what’s behind you easily. Also has rear camera that can be used while driving.
Neutral handling – minimal over steer/under steer. Great on twisty turns.
Can do 85+ on freeway but feels best at 65. Pushing allot of wind for a relatively lightweight vehicle.
Mileage is approx.13 mpg. Worse at higher freeway speeds. Comfort happy cruising zone is 45-65 mph. 13-15 mpg when 65 mph flat no up hills. Supercharger will enhance the uphill experience by reducing the downshifts from 4th gear to 3rd gear.
Drivability is smooth and amazing. Tracks great. High speed stability, no shimmies, and no vibrations.
Currently own a 2023 F350 with a slide in camper. We will miss the extra space of the SunRoamer and will also miss out on the cab pass thru access. It’s a major safety concern to know that you can jump out of bed into the driver’s seat and take off for whatever reason.
We also owned a Winnebago Revel 4x4 Mercedes Van but really enjoy SunRoamer more than the MB. We like it more because it off roads better, has tons more space, has a better kitchen, and it’s not a Mercedes $$$$. The Mercedes is better for longer distances because it gets good mileage and has a bigger gas tank and pass thru. We used the Toyota for shorter Idaho mountain fire road cruising while using the MB and Ford for longer distances requiring more freeway and longer gas intervals.
Current known issues are as follows; full disclosure.I think the new owner should be a Toyota enthusiast as in not afraid to tune and tweak. This can go anywhere there is a fire road, I have not and would not rock crawl this. It has the smaller gas tank which limits gas stops to about 150 to 180 miles. You can carry an additional 10 gallons in my trap door exterior storage box. Sunrader did come with a larger tank option. I’ve looked for one but have not found one yet.
See Level gauge not working for grey tank or H20. I just never wired it correctly. The propane is wired and is accurate. Sensors are in place if you can figure out which wires to activate. You can see the water tank level easily so that doesn't matter so much.
Leaky top nut for air line at rear differential. Upon startup, the air compressor will start and run until pressure achieved (approx 1 min).
May overheat if over 100° outside AND climbing a very long grade at highway speeds. That is because the supercharger is basically a heat pump and when climbing long grades, the SC is running the whole time. Rest assured, I have never overheated SunRoamer. Okay at lower temps for sure and I think that is solved now with the addition of the new electric fan. Haven't tested as it is now in the 80's. Even before new electric fan I was able to drive around at 100+ just like any other car, just not up a big grade.
Longer explanation: Replacement aluminum radiator that was added when new engine installed was slightly smaller volume than the stock radiator for the original 3.0. The SAS conversion took away some space from the radiator at the bottom. I tried to make this radiator more efficient by adding an oil cooler. It helped, but didn’t solve it entirely. I improved the air flow by removing the big driving lights in front of the radiator. Recently (Sept 25) added an electric fan with fitted shroud. Haven’t fully tested but did notice lower temperatures.
I have broken two speedometer cables. Each time improving the routing to prevent stress and ultimate breakage. Pretty sure that is solved now.
Victron battery monitor not calibrated. Need to call and debug with Victron. Pretty much says 100% all the time.
Drivers side Birffield joint drips a little. The professional opinion was that it is not worth the cost to repair.$$$, so I haven't.
Since build, escape hatch leaked once. I removed and reinstalled. OK now.
Since build, H20 heater developed freeze leaks twice. Two separate years after parking in sub freezing temps without heat. I usually don’t winterize any of my vehicles because we use them in the winter as well. I store with heater and temp sensor that heats at 45°-55°, but was caught off guard.
I had an exterior fold down shower curtain bar that I removed leaving 4 stainless steel screws screwed into the exterior near shower. A roll up shower enclosure attached to the outside would be fantastic.
Should be legal to drive in all states as it has a catalytic converter. Legal in Idaho. Sunroamer4x4 is on instagram under the same name. Whoever purchases Sunroamer4x4 can have that account with my 8K followers.
You can fly to Boise and drive this home anywhere in the USA. It's ready to go. Wife and I will also camp with you the first night so that you can accustomize yourselves. We have another camper to follow you with.
Contact me at 208-867-9108 Greg for setting up a test drive or just buy it now and fly here and drive it home. Perhaps, ship it overseas???
