Sunliner Northshore 29

WE LIKED:
>> Comfy front lounge
>> LED lighting
>> Twin slide-outs

NOT SO MUCH:
>> Square edges inside
>> Overhang beds on different levels
>> Door catches

There are certainly some disadvantages in doing an RV review in the rain – wet photographers and grey looking photographs, to name just two. But one of the pros is that the reviewer tends to spend more time inside the RV, sitting back and taking more time to check things out.

That was the case with the Sunliner fifth wheeler which Melbourne’s Sunliner has recently added to its stable of motorhomes and caravans.

This particular model, a Northshore 29, was one of the new 8.71m (29ft) units and was fresh from the show circuit. In fact, I intercepted it between shows, courtesy of Australian Motor Homes at Newcastle, NSW. 

The team at Australian Motor Homes will tell you all the Sunliner range of fifth wheelers, including this one, has been pitched squarely at ute-sized tow vehicles. Indeed, this 29-footer can be purchased as a package with a Ford Ranger dual-cab ute. 

While the Ranger is available with a smaller 2.2-litre turbodiesel, there’s no doubt the larger 147kW/470Nm 3.2-litre engine is the way to go with this fifth wheeler. As I coasted around the hills and dales of the Newcastle area, the Ranger rumbled along easily, making life very pleasant for the driver.

In many ways, the Sunliner fifth wheelers are built just like Sunliner caravans. This one comes with a galvanised chassis (Durotorque, in Sunliner speak) with punched hole cross members and riding on Al-Ko IRS suspension.

The Al-Ko torsion style suspension is not commonly used by Australian manufacturers but bothis used extensively in Europe and America.

The electric stabilising jacks, which are not found on caravans, are more popular in fifth wheelers.

Above the chassis, the body has composite fibreglass (Thermotough) walls and a moulded front and rear.

There’s no shortage of external storage in this fifth wheeler – in addition to a front bin under the overhang (which also has access from a nearside door), there are three along each side.

On the offside, the two under the slide-out are a bit awkward to get at and the nearside one built into the overhang is quite high, but is still fairly accessible. Like the two slide-outs, the awning is power-operated.

There are two specification levels available in the Sunliner fifth wheelers. Our review unit was the higher level Spec 2, so it came with a few extra goodies such as a 135W solar panel, two 100Ah batteries, Truma gas air heater, 1000W inverter, electric awning, external shower and external speakers.

BREAKING THE MOULD

Inside the 29-footer, Sunliner has broken with fifth wheeler convention by putting the main bed towards the rear instead of the overhang. It’s just one of two in the nine model range that has that feature, though.

There’s still a bedroom upfront, though, albeit with two single beds. That leaves room for a lounge area at the front and a kitchen in the middle.  The front offside slide-out houses the dinette while the rear nearside slide-out acts as a bedhead.

The internal décor is typically Sunliner – a contemporary looking interior that makes the best use of natural light with its pastel shades. All the windows have integrated screens and blinds and, except for the bathroom, full curtains as well.

I must admit, I’m not a fan of the square-edged look to the bench tops – it looks a bit retro to me but perhaps I’m out of date.

There’s nothing retro about the lighting system, though. It’s all LED and putting the main electrical panel, along with the radio/CD player somewhere central, like above the entry door, is always a plus in my book.

Starting at the front, the two single beds in the overhang have foam mattresses and measure 1.88 x 0.76m (6ft 2in x 2ft 6in).

They’re not at the same height – the nearside one is raised to accommodate the external storage bin. Given the storage capacity elsewhere, I did wonder about that feature.

Both beds have reading lights, a drawer at the foot of each bed and a central bedside cabinet. Only the offside bed has a window, but the ceiling fan hatch offers a bit more ventilation.

One of the benefits of the slide-out in the lounge/dining area is that it creates plenty of room to stretch out.

Both the nearside sideways-facing lounge and the dinette seats opposite are leather upholstered and the flatscreen TV mounted above the rear facing dinette seat is best seen from the lounge.

Lockers are fitted above the lounge and the seat can be lifted to access the storage area underneath, although part of that space is taken by the Truma space heater.

To create more space in the lounge and the rear bedroom, Sunliner has opted for an L-shaped kitchen bench. The three burner cooktop/grill/oven is built into the side bench and the stainless steel sink/drainer is at right angles to that, leaving some benchtop space in between.

It also allows four drawers to be included, as well as a very wide wire basket slide-out pantry under the sink. On the opposite side, is a full-height cupboard, along with a 190 litre three-way fridge with a microwave above.

Measuring 1.85x 1.55m (6x5ft), the innerspring mattress bed takes up most of the rear slide-out. And with the slide-out open, there’s plenty of walk around space but, with it closed up, there’s none at all.

Above and below the offside window are lockers and wall cupboards. I suspect that if you wanted a longer bed, the wall cupboards would have to go!

There’s no shortage of space in the rear bathroom with its nearside shower, offside Thetford cassette toilet, wash basin and centrally-fitted top loading washing machine.

There are also a few cupboards and lockers, as well as a large (for a bathroom) rear wall window.

WEIGHING IT UP

Doing a bit of mathematics here, the Sunliner 29ft has an ATM of 3495kg and a pin weight of 550kg. Our tow vehicle, a Ford Ranger dual cab 4X4, came with a 3.2-litre turbodiesel engine.

I mention all that because there are alternatives with a single cab and/or smaller engine and the towing capacities are less. In our case, the Ranger has a Gross Combined Mass (GCM) of 6000kg, a Gross Vehicle Mass of 3200kg, a Tare weight of 1938kg and a maximum load capacity of 1262kg.

Adding the Ranger’s 3200kg GVM to the Sunliner’s 3495kg ATM gives a figure of 6695kg which might suggest that it well exceeds the GCM. However, adding the two tare weights together (1938kg for the Ranger and 2900kg for the Sunliner) results in 4838kg and subtracting that from the 6000kg GCM gives 1162kg of load capacity to be shared between the vehicles.

That’s quite reasonable, I would think, with careful loading.

Additionally the 550 pin weight (Tare) of the fifth wheeler is well within the 1262kg load capacity of the Ranger so it’s not too restrictive about what might be loaded.

As always, with this sort of combination, I’d be recommending checking a loaded combination on a weighbridge.

VERDICT

When I drove out of Australian Motor Homes’, I was a bit wary about the Ford Ranger and 29ft fifth wheeler combination but I changed my mind along the road. 

It motored along very nicely, indeed, proving that a comfortably-sized fifth wheeler can be towed satisfactorily by a ute.

There are a number of layouts and lengths available in the Sunliner fifth wheeler range, so even if you’d like a rig without a slide-out and/or a bed in the overhang, they can all be ute towed!

SUNLINER NORTHSHORE 29 FIFTH WHEELER

Overall length: 8.71m (29ft)
External body width: 2.4m (7ft 10in)
Travel height: 3.2m (10ft 6in)
Interior height (cabin): 1.95m (6ft 5in)
Interior height (bedroom): 1.12m (3ft 8in)
Nameplate ATM: 3495kg
Nameplate Tare Weight: 2900kg
Pin weight: 550kg
Frame: n/a – composite Poplar cross ply/Duplo foam core walls
Cladding: Composite fibreglass
Chassis: Hot dipped galvanized
Suspension: Al-Ko IRS suspension
Brakes: 10in electric
Wheels : Alloy 15in
Fresh water: 160 litres
Grey water: 80 litres
Battery: 2 x 100Ah
Solar: 1 x 135W
Air-conditioner: AirCommand Ibis
Gas: 2 x 9kg
Cooking: Thetford triple burner
Fridge: Dometic RM 8551 190 litre
Microwave: LG
Toilet: Thetford cassette
Shower: Separate cubicle
Lighting: 12V LED
Hot water: Truma 14 litre gas/electric
Options fitted: None
Price: $134,389 (on road NSW)
Supplied by: Australian Motor Homes, Bennetts Green, NSW
More info: Sunliner RV