New to site: '93 Sunrise Itasca 23'

SunriseMtl · 10-03-2021, 05:43 PM

Just a short note to say Hi! Heike and I just bought our first Winnebago, as listed an Itasca 1993 Sunrise 23' footer. We looked for the right motorhome for us for a very long time and were Very fortunate to find this one. We are the 4th owners of Sunrise and she has been well taken care of over the years and came to us sparkling.
Lots to learn with a coach this size for us, our first motorhome was a beautiful Volkswagen Westfalia which we used and enjoyed for many years in Vancouver BC. But when we moved to Montreal, careers and our house just took too much of our time so we sold her with much sadness.
Now we are at an age where "indoor plumbing" amongst other comforts are very appealing. We also wanted a chance to try out motorhome life next summer with thoughts of perhaps doing extended travelling when retirement comes along.
So all of this to say, I am thrilled to have found and joined this group and look forward to reading all the wonderful posts over the coming winter months.
We put Sunrise in a temp storage today to get her ready for winter and will bring her to a winter storage yard in November.
Cheers all!
Brian

**Eagle5** · 10-04-2021, 02:20 PM

Hi Brian,
The Sunrise 23RC is the perfect coach for you. Plenty of room for two, and you can still park the thing in many regular parking spots (backing-over lawn area, etc.). At 22'-7", it is just 1½ feet longer than my Crew-cab F-350 truck, and I can park that just about anywhere. I believe you will be very happy with this, and it is great that it was so well maintained.
As it is an 18 year old vehicle, I would confirm that all batteries and tires are still in good shape.
Welcome to the forum.
Eagle5

SunriseMtl · 10-04-2021, 02:53 PM

Eagle5,
We are without a doubt very happy with the size of Sunrise. My wife was not interested in anything larger than 24 feet though if it had been a C class she may have gone for a 26.
We viewed many dozens of both A and C class motorhomes since the end of May, which we found in the end to be a great education and prep for buying an rv, and so many of them were from terrible to barely bearable. And quickly learned that the first checks were the fundamentals, roof, tires, batteries, brakes, engine etc.
I put brakes before engine, because you can usually always get an engine to run but if you can't get a motorhome to stop.... you are in trouble.
So thanks for "keeping an eye on the rookies" but our tires, all 6 are Spring 2020 with a short 2021 season on them due to covid. The deep cycle batteries are group 27 and by the previous owners account have another year in them if properly stored this winter and his recommendation is to go for a pair of group 31s when I change them. I will keep them in my basement this winter and cycle them though charging along with my trolling motor battery using my Noco charger.
The previous owner who with his wife have become friends are looking to buy a 26 to 28 unit in the next year as he is retiring. He has promised to be a "help line" should I need it and he is more than capable have made some amazing mods to the chassis of the Sunrise. Sylvain is retiring but for all of his working life he is/was a heavy equipment mechanic. A specialist in his field working with big machines. So the custom stainless steel headers and exhaust, the higher geared differential and adapted rear tire size along with dozens of mods make the Winnebago fuel efficient and safe and fun to drive.
We are so lucky!

Morich · 10-04-2021, 04:36 PM

One of the first biggest headaches that new folks have to adapt to is the simple ones! The batteries of RV get used in far different ways than the normal car and they do all kinds of weird tricks to new folks until you get the hang of what they do and when and why!

Keeping them from overcharging and keeping the water up is obvious but then keep in mind that the coach battery stem doesn't keep the start battery charged! Also the normal battery cutoffs DO COT cut off all the items that draw power, so they can drain in really sneaky ways.

Radio presets and ignition or any automatic functions will drain the start batteries and the coach goes dead because the cutoff leaves safety items like CO2 and propane detectors still running all winter!
It requires a lot of thinking to avoid trouble but keeping them under your pillow may get it done! Little things like the light under the step may sneak up on us if we let our guard down!
Best of luck and it gets easier over time. Just keep alert and ask lots of questions!

**Eagle5** · 10-04-2021, 04:39 PM

Hi again Brian,
Glad you are checking-out any potential safety issues, and it sounds like your unit is just fine.
My wife and I rented all four sizes from Cruise America before we settled upon what we wanted, which was a Class C that would be about 24' long. Certainly, the Cruise America truck camper was a disaster for us, as when our dog at the time Gabriel would lay-down on the floor, the floor space was gone! Now, Cruise America has five different sizes, so it certainly is a good way to find-out what works well for you. My instinct is that many people pick-out the floorplan, and everything else becomes secondary. I like being able to use the Eagle5 for select day trips, such as bringing your mother-in-law to the doctor. You guys are going to have fun, and that is a good thing.
Thanks, Eagle5