Small Pop-up camper

[stumpXJ]

I have a buddy of mine with the offroad version of the Starcraft. Its a pretty sweet popup, I just got finished fabbing up a rear bumper for him so he can use his bike carrier.....

I have a 2003 Coleman/Fleetwood Grand Tour "Carmel". It has a 10' inside box length. When its opened up,m the overall length is almost 22'. The close overall length is almost 16'. It rated to sleep 7 people, but I have had 5 adults in there and it was tight.

King size bed on one end, Full bed on the other end, and the table/sitting area converts to a Full as well. I like my floor plan because of the wrap around sofa.

Here is the brochure for mine, and it shows plenty of floor plans to give you some ideas...

http://www.popupclub.nl/images/folders/COL2003.pdf

I highly recommend www.popupportal.com Tons of info there, and they even have owners manuals and brochures for different brands and year models (including yours I think...)

Get it useable first, then we can talk about mods around the campfire when you use it a few times. It helps to use it a few times to see what you need to change to suite your needs better. We had a blast this past weekend... camper worked like a champ!

 

[Lowrange2]

Sweet, I sent ya a few pictures.

These pictures actually...

I knew this thing was going to need some TLC. It's actually not as bad as I expected.

Plans:
Repair bad spot in canvas
Recover the ceiling. It doesn't leak but it looks like crap.
Replace missing matress
Add fridge
OCD Clean
touch up paint a few spots
and add a bit of ground clearance. Nothing major at first...

I was suprised when I looked underneath... I thought these things rode on a typical straight axle with leaf springs. Wrong. I don't know what you call this suspension... Torsion bars?

I only want about 3 more inches of clearance.

Before pictures:
(After pictures probably won't look much different for right now... lol)

(How many XJs do you spy? lol)

Not bad for 25 years and 300 bucks... :dunno:

Now, the major eye sore...

Just don't look up.

How would you suggest I fix it? I'm thinking trim new paneling to size and glue it up there...? The remaining isn't rotted (The pictures make it look like it). The PO started pulling it down because the paneling was "pealing" and never replaced it...

What ya think?

 

[boostamante]

Not bad! Good find for 300.

 

[XJCasper]

Couldn't remember the name of the site.
Check out pop up portal for the pros and cons of lifting a Pop-up

 

[stumpXJ]

That looks great for the price man, you couldnt go wrong really.

I flipped the axle on mine and gained 4.5". It was perfect for what I wanted, and the only down side I have with doing it is I have to bring 4 wooden blocks with me so the jacks arent maxed out touching the ground.

~ Stump

 

[Lowrange2]

yeah, I going to have to figure something out with the jacks. One on the back is mangled from a dragging it over something and the other one is pretty rusty. I figure I can replace the jacks. The front doesn't even have jacks.

I'm not sure how to go about recovering the ceiling. It'll drive me crazy to lay in the bed and look at that all night...

Oh yeah, the A/C is Ice cold.

 

[boostamante]

yeah, I going to have to figure something out with the jacks. One on the back is mangled from a dragging it over something and the other one is pretty rusty. I figure I can replace the jacks. The front doesn't even have jacks.

I'm not sure how to go about recovering the ceiling. It'll drive me crazy to lay in the bed and look at that all night...

Oh yeah, the A/C is Ice cold.

I would use some fabric and maybe some spray adhesive and call it good. Maybe even staple it here and there if you are worried that the spray adhesive wont last.

A bunch of stickers work too

As far as lifting it, i think adding a lift block may help but i wouldn't add more than 2 inches. I like the low profile of mine and really, it would only see dirt roads and paved roads. Nothing really gnar gnar

 

[Lowrange2]

Well, this trailer doesn't have a leaf spring set up. It's more along the lines of a torsion bar and trailing arms. I'd either have to relocate the whole set up or cut it off and replace it with a leaf spring set-up. If I relocate I'm stuck with the same wheels and tires... If I replace it with a leaf sprung axle I'm having to spend money. It'll stay like it is for a couple trips and we'll go from there.

And Jesus!... Popupportal has a seperate forum for EVERYTHING!

 

[souske]

Is there any adjustment on the torsion bars?

 

[Lowrange2]

Ya know, I was just thinking that a few minutes ago... I wonder if it works like an old swing axle VW suspension. I wonder if I can remove the trailing arms and rotate them on the splines...

I guess I'll have to take it apart to figure it out.

 

[Lowrange2]

(I'm still assuming it's a torsion system.) I'll climb under it when I get home tonight and snap some pictures.

 

[OverlandZJ]

Dude... nice buy! That'll clean up nice. $300 and AC... looks to be a nice size also.

Queen and a full mattress?

You could probably pull the lid, disassemble all the aluminum and replace the wood sheet. IIRC thats exactly what that one guy did at IH8MUD on his OffroadPopup.

Congrats man.. best of luck with it.

 

[Lowrange2]

Real info on these things are seriously lacking. I've called everywhere looking for manuals for it.

So, I'm getting way ahead of myself here but I can't help but day dream... If I lift it up in the future should I use the longer softer spring set that I have off of an MJ or could I get away with the simplicity of a trailer axle kit with the trailer leaf springs? and shocks...

 

[Lowrange2]

Can you paint the exterior of a pop-up and have it look decent? Will paint adhere to that stuff?


What paint do you use?

 

[stumpXJ]

Trailer leaf springs suck!

Sure you can paint them...Its painted now. I would use any of your favorite automotive paints

 

[Lowrange2]

So the MJ springs that I have would be the way to go... I can do that.

Yours came with trailer leaf springs?

 

[stumpXJ]

If youre gonna re-do the supsension, it be just as cheap to do a trailing arm/panhard airbag set-up, that way you could dump the bags when you set-up camp and lower the trailer. Its what I did on my old trailer. Little more fab work, but its easy enough. The ride is great, and you can adjust air pressure/ride height based on your load.

 

[stumpXJ]

Yes, mine has short stiff trailer leafs. I hate them. I will change it eventually.

 

[Lowrange2]

I'd have to see it I guess. It's just fixed arms on the axle with a pivot at the frame, panhard and air bags?

Stump, I just want an inch or 4... lol

 

[stumpXJ]

Yep, check out my build thread on my trailer.... its dead simple. Im sure it could be done it for around $200 - $250.