1998 Coleman/Fleetwood popup tent trailer for the Destiny/Grand Tour Series (all models) owners manual. This is the actual trailer manual from Coleman/Fleetwood from 1998 scanned into PDF. The models covered in the Destiny/Grand Tour Series are:

• Niagra
• Bayside
• Grandview SP
• Grandview
• Sun Ridge
• Westlake
• Rio
• Mesa
• Cheyenne
• Sea Pine
• Taos
• Redwood
• Santa Fe

Enter your email address below to instantly download the 1998 Coleman/Fleetwood All Models Owners Manual:

Enter your email address to download 1998 Coleman/Fleetwood All Models Owners Manual

RVHobby also has the Coleman Lift system repair manual available for download.

The Coleman lift system is a very interesting animal. Hard to find information and manuals for, hard to find parts. Since I had such a hard time, I decided to scan and post the manuals that I found when I was fixing my 84 Coleman and post those repair documents here on RVHobby.com for you. Enjoy!

Enter your email address below to instantly download the Coleman and Fleetwood Lift Systems Repair Manual:

Parts list: http://www.fft-inc.com/korkwerks/1968_1995/tableoc.htm

If the parts list link above doesn’t work try a google cached copy: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.fft-inc.com/korkwerks/1968_1995/tableoc.htm

De-winterizing your Motorhome Water System usually comes around as a task in the spring time. This simple process of de-winterization is basically the removing all traces of the RV antifreeze that (you hopefully) used to protect your water system (so you didn’t crack your pipes or water heater!).

Here are the quick simple steps:

1. Put several gallons of water into the fresh water tank.
2. Turn on the on-board water pump, and open a cold water tap.
3. Allow the water to flow for several minutes.
4. Connect the water hose to your city water supply inlet. Turn on the supply.
5. Open all taps one by one and allow the water to flow for several minutes.
6. Flush the toilet several times.
7. Now open the water heater bypass and fill the water heater with fresh water.
(You may want to allow a few gallons to flow through the water heater, then let it drain completely before re-installing the water heater drain plug)
8. Run water through all the hot water faucets.

That’s it! Pretty simple and painless, and you saved your RV Water System from damage and costly repairs.

Many folks and a few manufacturers are coming around to the practicality of hard surface flooring throughout their RVs. Inevitably, the carpeting in most trailers end up soiled, stained, or matted to the point that no amount of vacuuming or shampooing will bring it back to its original condition. The best you can do in this circumstance is have it professionally cleaned, but that can be expensive, if you can find someone to deal with the smaller confines of an RV. Hard surface flooring can be the answer for active RVers, or those who feel carpet is just not practical in the woods. While there are many solid woods, laminates and stick down tiles out there, I have found a product sold by Home Depot that is relatively inexpensive (about $1.70 a sq. ft) easy to work with, looks good, and wears very well. The product is called “Allure” by TrafficMaster and is now available in over 20 styles, from barnwood to bamboo, oak to cork, and many, many others. When I installed mine, there were only 3 choices, Oak, Hickory and Dark Cherry. The success of the product is evident by the wide varieties now available. I’ve had the product down in our 5th wheel living room now for about two years and find it is easy to maintain, and has survived temperatures from 18f to 98f with no ill effects. Another benefit is that it is virtually waterproof. And we all know that plumbing issues can be a part of RVing!

The product itself comes in 6″x36″ “strips” that have a glue strip along the long edge. One on top of the strip and another on the bottom. You lay your first course by cutting off the bottom glue strip and putting the remaining piece against the wall. Then, stagger the next course by laying the bottom of the glue strip over top of the glue strip on the first course. This process sounds complicated until you open a box of the material and see how it is manufactured.  Cutting the material requires a sharp utility knife. To cut , just score it, and snap it. Cuts along the length of a strip are a little more time consuming, but there are few of those type cuts.

The benefits of this product are, easy clean up, easy installation, and it is a “floating” floor. As the pieces are glued to each other, there is no need for adhesives and spreaders. The product itself is about an eighth of an inch thick, so it is very forgiving with regard to the subfloor. On my install, I had to remove a small section of oak parkay in the kitchen area. As I pulled it up, I inadvertently pulled up some of the subfloor. I patched it with Fix-It-All and after 2 years, there is no sign of the subfloor repair bleeding through.

I was concerned about my furniture sliding around, so we bought some area rugs to place under the chairs and our kitchen table, but everything else seems to ride fine. One of the best investments I made was a “VacPan” (http://builtinvacuum.com/inlets/vacpan.html) that is basically a little trap door that you install on a kickplate that sucks floor sweepings into your central vac system. If you don’t have a central vac system, you can make a “poormans system” like I did for about $60. That’s a column for the future!

Some hints for a good installation:

• Floor Prep:
  • Allure is remarkably forgiving unlike traditional sheet vinyl that reguires ardous floor prep. In fact if you can’t remove the pad staples, just beat them down flush and the strips will hide it. No subfloor joint patching is necessary.
• Acclimating the product:
  • Make sure you have the product open and in the RV for at least 48 hours prior to installing it.
• Installation temperature:
  • Try not to install it in excessively cold or hot room temperatures. I did mine at about 65 degrees and have found no expansion problems. I have heard from others that installed it in very hot and cold temps and had the seams separate.
• Roll the seams:
  • Once you put the glued edges together, they really stick!! So get it right and get it tight the first time. But do yourself a favor and rent a linoleum roller for the job. It won’t cost much and the seams will stay put!
• Room for expansion:
  • Leave at least an eighth to a quarter of an inch around the perimeter to allow for expansion. Quarter round on the perimeter will hide the gaps.
• In heavy wet areas:
  • Run a bead of silicone around the perimeter to prevent excessive moisture from getting under the strips.

I’ve had several guests mistake Allure for Pergo or real wood and have found that it has an advantage over these products in that it is lighter (less weight to haul around) and will not swell if exposed to moisture. If your carpet is getting grungy and it’s time to upgrade, consider vinyl planking. We did and have not regretted it!

I purchased this 84 Coleman Columbia popup tent trailer and started rebuilding it a year ago . I have taken a lot of inspiration and ideas from other people’s rebuild projects that I found on the web.

I started this project a year ago and took pictures along the way (See slideshow below). I was a weekend warrior on this project. It was more like 1-2 weekends a month (and usually just Saturdays). I would have to say a rough guess would put total time at 25 full 16 hour days. The time and cost has spanned over 11 months so far.

I’ll lay out the costs here:

• $30 – new paint (it is oil based, farm tractor paint in white from Neumann Paint and Supply 928-472-9054)
• $17 – HVLP paint sprayer (Harbor Freight)
• $16 – floor tiles
• $23 – Cover material for foam (think vinyl from Wal-Mart)
• $129 – New 3″ Foam (H & R Sales in Phoenix – great place, great price – I HIGHLY recommend them.)
• $25 – 2×2′s & 2×4′s for framing of cabinets.
• $60 – New wood cabinet facials. It is an oak veneer over 1/8″ plywood. (Habitat for Humanity store)
• $15 – New plumbing supplies (hose filter washers, hoses, clamps)
• $70 – New Porta Potti 135 RV (Camping World)
• $30 – New pump (Harbor Freight)
• $75 – Electrical supplies (wire, fuse block, DC outlets, battery box
  - I already had the deep cycle battery from my boat, otherwise that is an additional $65 at least.)
• $70 – odds and ends (screws, nails, light bulbs, etc)

Everything else I had collected as donations from friends garages (like the counter top for the galley, the slide rails for the pull out shelf) and from the trailer itself (galley sink, faucet, hinges, etc.)

And Finally…
Total out the door so far $660. And I have yet to do all the neat Modifications, like hanging shelves etc.

I am in the process of writing a series of step by step articles (with pictures!) about my restoration process.  The first article will be about painting the popup.  If you would like to be notified about that series, please click here.

Here is the slideshow: