AIME 2008b Problem 4

There exist $r$ unique nonnegative integers $n_1 > n_2 > \cdots > n_r$ and $r$ unique integers $a_k$ ($1\le k\le r$) with each $a_k$ either $1$ or $- 1$ such that $$a_13^{n_1} + a_23^{n_2} + \cdots + a_r3^{n_r} = 2008.$$ Find $n_1 + n_2 + \cdots + n_r$.