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What is Best Way to Remove and Replace Dometic fridge from 18 ft 1986 Sunrader Shorty?

 

Hello Everyone?

The original Sunrader Dometic RM 2400 (23" wide, 32" H, 16.5" deep) compressor died and I need to remove it to install Dometic RM 2354 (21"W, 27"H, 14"D only 3.0 CF) I bought used on Craigslist for $350.??

What is the best way to take out the old fridge and bring in the new one on the 18 ft Sunrader Shorty 1986 that has the really large rear window?? They surely cannot make it through the usual door to the house, right?.??

Do you have to take out the rear window and the dining table to get the fridges swapped??

Or can you do a swap by removing the passenger seat and the middle part of the cab bed, and can the old and new fridges be passed through the passenger door after the passenger seat is removed?

Can anyone refer "someone" who could do the labor for the swap and hook up the new used fridge so it works right, in Phoenix area?? Or do I have to pay RV repair place $175 - $195/hr?

Julia - Scottsdale, AZ
 

The usual way ToyHome owners get the fridge in and out of the coach is to remove the front passenger seat (4 bolts + one or two if the seatbelt needs to move) and
jockey the fridge out the passenger door opening.

If you have an oversized rear window, you can also remove the window and get the fridge out that opening.? That's more awkward because you have
to lift it several feet in the air and you don't have a proximate floor to rest it on as you maneuver it. The window is basically a "sandwich" of the
inner and outer frames with the cab wall in between. Remove all the screws holding the inner frame to the outer frame and they just come apart
(Note: be sure to support the glass if/when you separate the window frames).

I don't know of a competent/reliable/inexpensive RV mechanic (I usually did all my own work). One possible compromise solution if you're somewhat
handy is to do the physical removal and installation yourself, then hire an RV expert to hook up the gas and electrical systems.

Good luck.

Buzz L.
Phoenix, AZ
Former '86 Dolphin 500 owner
 

Hi, they make suction cup devices to hold onto glass windows when removing and installing them. Pete
 


The fridge goes out the passenger door once you have removed the seat.
 

That is what I was told too, remove passenger seat and out that door.? But the handyman I hired to remove the fridge that way, was cursing me, cos fridge didn't have the clearance to go out that way.? He had to cut off the cooling unit pipes in the back, and all the ammonia came out, and his face was all streaked with tears.? - Julia

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Julia - Scottsdale, AZ
 

i think the prob was getting it out of it's place and into the "hallway". i had to remove the fridg door and the knob cover
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rz
 

Sounds like a nightmare for the both of you Julia. My fridge fit out that passenger door, but just barely. Remember next time someone tells you it won’t go out that door to ask them how they think it got in there in the first place.

Sounds like maybe your guy was do0ing it alone. There’s a good chance that if he had a helper, and tried turning it sideways maybe, it would have fit.

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