Screen Door All Weather Window
Someone, whose identity I forgot, introduced in an online forum discussion the idea of using a clear plastic sheet over the door screen to make a storm window for the door. GeotexZ71 suggested using Lexan (polycarbonate) rather than plexiglass; they both scratch about as easily but the lexan is much stronger (and costs about 30% more). On the Coleman Cheyenne door the frame in which the screen is attached (which itself sits inside another frame in the door) measures ~19w X ~33h. I had a piece of 1/8" thick lexan cut to the exact dimension and notched the lower left corner to provide finger clearance around the door handle. Using a new, sharp artist's Exacto knife (pointy) and a metal ruler, I carefully cut lengths of 3/4" wide white velcro in half to 3/8" and affixed the loop to the door and the hook (soft) to the window. I made a flannel 'pillowcase' to slip the window in during variable weather and I stow the protected window under the rear bunk. I slightly filed/rounded all 5 exposed corners.

This mod provides great bang for the $33 it cost, adding on the Cheyenne 31% more transparent outdoor viewing area on the door side of the trailer during times when the door's storm panel would otherwise be run up. This greatly enhances the interior quality of life during cold mornings, evenings, during inclement weather, or anytime when using a furnace or air conditioner. And, it provides the only non-distorting outside view when all the vinyl is zipped up tight.

Pix 1 shows the window in place.

Pix 2 details the cutout required on my door so I'd have clearance for grabbing the door handle; it measures 1x3". Your mileage may vary. To make the cutout drill a hole at the innermost junction, then jigsaw to it. In other words, you want a rounded interior corner. Using a razor or file scrape the sharp edges off.

You want to do a very fine job cutting the velcro down since it's visible at all times whether the window is in place or not.

Pix 3 shows the window stowed in its flannel pillowcase which is then stowed under the rear bunk. The window may also be stowed in place on the door. It's not real heavy but does add noticeable weight when stowing the door.

Door Panel Knobs
The camper comes with spring-loaded aluminum slides with depressions for fingertips; you pull/push them toward each other from each side of the door to unlock the storm panel height adjustment. I've bent and done in fingernails on this from time to time, so drilled and tapped some holes and inserted knobs.

The knobs are made of allen-headed bolts with caps pressed over them (some obscure but standard items in my local mega hardware-cum-general store's fastener aisle). You want to be very careful not to over drill the slides and into or through the panel frame, so it's imperative to tighten down a drill bit depth collar before drilling. The tapping went nicely; I was concerned the slides might not have be deep enough to allow the tap to fully thread them but it did. The bolts are locked down to the tabs with star lock washers and nuts (you'll need a very thin little open-ended wrench to do this; the presscaps are put on at the hardware store with a press of some sort).

You can see the indentation to theside of each knob. I opted to install these knobs on the end of the main body of each slide rather than on their small tabs.

BunkEnd Water Deflector (neutral position)
Water can enter your camper due either to mechanical failure of the roof seal or operator error (failing to clamp one or more latches, driving off, and encountering rain). The results can be catastrophic, with soaked mattresses and camper living area. This mod won't necessarily protect the mattresses (only plastic coverings will do that, which I recommend for rainy weather anyway — just stow these by shoving them down into the space between the tenting and mattress), but it will prevent most if not all water from entering into the main cabin while traveling in the event of a roof seal problem.

Coleman uses a run of rubber skirting to seal the interior gap between the bunk and the camper body when the bunks are deployed. The skirting is installed on the inside end of each bunk and totally visible inside the camper; take a look. This keeps drafts and dirt out of the camper along a roughly 80"x0.5"+ gap—the very gap potentially exposed to rainwater when popped down and driving on the highway. The skirt easily slides into a C-shaped channel on the underside of the aluminum extrusion which is the perimeter of each bunk. I obtained several rolls of this skirting ($5.00/~80" roll at the dealer).

Pix #1 shows the skirt I installed on an exterior bunk end with the bunk end extended. I trimmed off the excess and rounded the corners (Coleman intentionally leaves several inches of excess overhanging on each interior bunk end to seal the corners). On pre-2003.5 models the tenting is not attached to the bunk end and will be pulled over all this frame and skirt. No harm to the skirt; it just lays up under the bunk.

You'll need to use a flat screwdriver to open the slightly crimped ends on each end of the C-channel (probably crimped as a result of bending the extruded aluminum 90*). You'll probably want to gently file off any burrs that may result from doing this. The skirt slides in very easily—40 2" hand motions and it's in (although you'll have to learn how to finesse the motion). The 90* corner bends capture the skirt so it's installed securely. There'll be ~1' excess length to cut away.

BunkEnd Water Deflector (front effective position)
Here's the deflector at work, so to speak, with the front bunk pushed all the way in. (The 'extra' white on the left is the back part of this camper's built-in storage trunk lid.) Notice the gaps where the skirt rides atop the two nylon bunk end slides (the metal rails under the wooden bunk bottoms slide on these) and the screws holding the aluminum plate on top of the ABS cladding.

Shortly after taking this picture (after doing the installation in the field) I remedied the two larger gaps by slitting the skirt on either side of each rectangular nylon slide (see the two pairs of red arrows). Now the skirt lays flat, meeting the slides on either side and also laying flat atop each slide.

This ought to deflect water, keeping it out of the camper body in the event a gap opens between the camper body and the roof due to either of the aforementioned reasons. Note that this deflector would not protect the mattresses, so I've covered them with inexpensive plastic covers -- which I initially installed to help protect them in the event of having to pop up or down in the rain. The attached tenting on the 2003.5 models could eliminate the need to cover the mattresses, but not the advisability for the deflector, in my opinion. (note: I've been told the deflectors are now built-in on 2003.5 Coleman models.)

BunkEnd Water Deflector (rear effective position)
Here's how the deflector looks on the rear bunk when it's pushed in (again, prior to slitting on either side of the nylon bunk slide — in this case, a single slide on a shorter Double size bunk). The other, smaller gaps occur in the vicinity of screw heads.

Other Water seal Assists:
Shepherd Pole Extension

There are several methods of reducing the tension exerted against the roof seal when popped up. This one (thanks _again_, Oz & Us!) is to extend the pole downward. In this example I've added two copper plumbing fittings which all nest inside one another, held on with self-tapping screws. These are almost a perfect fit, albeit a bit on the heavy side, but I couldn't find a fit with plastic parts.

I include this here since it's purpose is to help the roof seal gasket retain its shape and hence its effectiveness (against which failure the above deflector is designed to protect).

Vinyl Siding J Channel

Oz & Us pioneered the use of home vinyl siding J channel which slips over the older ABS roof seals (use 5/8" for the pre-2004 'finger' style seal and 7/8" for 02/03 'bulb' style seal). It's about $5 per stick and available at Home Depot or similar stores in parts of the continent where siding is commonly used, otherwise find an Alcoa wholesaler to sell you a stick. You can see pix of this material as part of this site's part 1 discussion of Solar Bunk End Covers on the HeatingCooling page.

The channel spreads the pressure of the shepherd pole along its length, lessening the risk of bulb seal deformation. Since I always deploy the SBECs, which keep the bunk ends insulated and tenting clean, the channels go on by default.

Hieroglyphics 1
Crank-time Reminders
It's not unheard of (perhaps not uncommon) for even veteran campers to begin cranking down their roof without remembering to either crank up the stabilizers or fold up the door! Fortunately, when each of these things occurred to me due to forgetfulness, no damage ensued. I decided to add some reminders right at the crank zone (waist-high on my model). These are parts of black and reflective silver boat lettering. The 4 Vees represent the stabilizers; the single L represents the door. This picture, taken at dusk with a flash, makes the stickers appear more prominent than they typically are.

Hieroglyphics 2:
Fill-time Reminders
One trip to a dry, close destination I filled up my 20 gallon water tank and my hot water heater tank. Trouble was, I left several petcocks open from previous trip home (a very efficient way to drain water -- let the road do the work) and lost some (but not all) water en route. So, I added these reminders at the fill tube. The W represents the hot/cold inline valves and the Vee represents the 20 gallon tank drain (see the White Water Tank Drain enhancement). These (if I actually see them instead of past them) remind me to check the petcocks to ensure they're all closed before I take on water.

Hieroglyphics 3:
Latch-time Reminders
The last thing I do before leaving the campground is to dump the porta potti which lives in the doorside cabinet. I unlatch the forward passenger-side roof latch and drop the stepper door to access the camper. More than once I've driven off having forgotten to relatch the roof clamp…not necessarily a problem unless it were to rain! These Ws represent the 4 roof latches, a clearly visible reminder as I lock the door.

Secure Rubber Mat
Coleman's rubber mat has a grid surface which nicely catches pebbles. Trouble is it always shimmies sideways and bunches underfoot on my wall to wall carpeting. I cut a 3' length of 1.5" x 1/8" aluminum bar to the length of the existing threshold, drilled countersunk holes in it, and made a sandwich: threshold, mat, bar. You'll need longer screws, perhaps a touch wider. If the screw holes loosen in composite flooring, drill through the floor and use bolts with seating heads and nyloc nuts under the floor (you'll want a secure connection since the threshold bears lots of weight from foot traffic). Dumping any accumulated matter occurs by lifting/rolling the mat toward the outside and sweeping off the stepper door.

Mini PortaPotti
This is a hard one to categorize, so I'll put it under OutsideOut since the most import aspect of its use it to keep stuff where it belongs but not under "stowage", and it does so by keeping something straight.
My Thetford 585 electric flush potti is feels great under the butt but becomes a pain in the rear to empty and clean. When there are decent facilities, wether outhouse or bathhouse, why bother? But you still don't want to schlep out into the cold night either.

There are two keys to a reliable urinal: security and security. Security major is a screw cap like on this Little John model. Security general is don't drop it while you're using it. I could fashion a reliable stand but that's a bit much.

Just run it over to the facility in the morning to empty and rinse.

Comes with a Lady J adapter. Cabelas.

Bart's Popup Buildouts Homepage


Screen Door All Weather Window Someone, whose identity I forgot, introduced in an online forum discussion the idea of using a clear plastic sheet over the door screen to make a storm window for the door. GeotexZ71 suggested using Lexan (polycarbonate) rather than plexiglass; they both scratch about as easily but the lexan is much stronger (and costs about 30% more). On the Coleman Cheyenne door the frame in which the screen is attached (which itself sits inside another frame in the door) measures ~19w X ~33h. I had a piece of 1/8" thick lexan cut to the exact dimension and notched the lower left corner to provide finger clearance around the door handle. Using a new, sharp artist's Exacto knife (pointy) and a metal ruler, I carefully cut lengths of 3/4" wide white velcro in half to 3/8" and affixed the loop to the door and the hook (soft) to the window. I made a flannel 'pillowcase' to slip the window in during variable weather and I stow the protected window under the rear bunk. I slightly filed/rounded all 5 exposed corners. This mod provides great bang for the $33 it cost, adding on the Cheyenne 31% more transparent outdoor viewing area on the door side of the trailer during times when the door's storm panel would otherwise be run up. This greatly enhances the interior quality of life during cold mornings, evenings, during inclement weather, or anytime when using a furnace or air conditioner. And, it provides the only non-distorting outside view when all the vinyl is zipped up tight. Pix 1 shows the window in place. Pix 2 details the cutout required on my door so I'd have clearance for grabbing the door handle; it measures 1x3". Your mileage may vary. To make the cutout drill a hole at the innermost junction, then jigsaw to it. In other words, you want a rounded interior corner. Using a razor or file scrape the sharp edges off. You want to do a very fine job cutting the velcro down since it's visible at all times whether the window is in place or not. Pix 3 shows the window stowed in its flannel pillowcase which is then stowed under the rear bunk. The window may also be stowed in place on the door. It's not real heavy but does add noticeable weight when stowing the door.
Door Panel Knobs The camper comes with spring-loaded aluminum slides with depressions for fingertips; you pull/push them toward each other from each side of the door to unlock the storm panel height adjustment. I've bent and done in fingernails on this from time to time, so drilled and tapped some holes and inserted knobs. The knobs are made of allen-headed bolts with caps pressed over them (some obscure but standard items in my local mega hardware-cum-general store's fastener aisle). You want to be very careful not to over drill the slides and into or through the panel frame, so it's imperative to tighten down a drill bit depth collar before drilling. The tapping went nicely; I was concerned the slides might not have be deep enough to allow the tap to fully thread them but it did. The bolts are locked down to the tabs with star lock washers and nuts (you'll need a very thin little open-ended wrench to do this; the presscaps are put on at the hardware store with a press of some sort). You can see the indentation to theside of each knob. I opted to install these knobs on the end of the main body of each slide rather than on their small tabs.

BunkEnd Water Deflector (neutral position) Water can enter your camper due either to mechanical failure of the roof seal or operator error (failing to clamp one or more latches, driving off, and encountering rain). The results can be catastrophic, with soaked mattresses and camper living area. This mod won't necessarily protect the mattresses (only plastic coverings will do that, which I recommend for rainy weather anyway — just stow these by shoving them down into the space between the tenting and mattress), but it will prevent most if not all water from entering into the main cabin while traveling in the event of a roof seal problem. Coleman uses a run of rubber skirting to seal the interior gap between the bunk and the camper body when the bunks are deployed. The skirting is installed on the inside end of each bunk and totally visible inside the camper; take a look. This keeps drafts and dirt out of the camper along a roughly 80"x0.5"+ gap—the very gap potentially exposed to rainwater when popped down and driving on the highway. The skirt easily slides into a C-shaped channel on the underside of the aluminum extrusion which is the perimeter of each bunk. I obtained several rolls of this skirting ($5.00/~80" roll at the dealer). Pix #1 shows the skirt I installed on an exterior bunk end with the bunk end extended. I trimmed off the excess and rounded the corners (Coleman intentionally leaves several inches of excess overhanging on each interior bunk end to seal the corners). On pre-2003.5 models the tenting is not attached to the bunk end and will be pulled over all this frame and skirt. No harm to the skirt; it just lays up under the bunk. You'll need to use a flat screwdriver to open the slightly crimped ends on each end of the C-channel (probably crimped as a result of bending the extruded aluminum 90). You'll probably want to gently file off any burrs that may result from doing this. The skirt slides in very easily—40 2" hand motions and it's in (although you'll have to learn how to finesse the motion). The 90 corner bends capture the skirt so it's installed securely. There'll be ~1' excess length to cut away.
BunkEnd Water Deflector (front effective position) Here's the deflector at work, so to speak, with the front bunk pushed all the way in. (The 'extra' white on the left is the back part of this camper's built-in storage trunk lid.) Notice the gaps where the skirt rides atop the two nylon bunk end slides (the metal rails under the wooden bunk bottoms slide on these) and the screws holding the aluminum plate on top of the ABS cladding. Shortly after taking this picture (after doing the installation in the field) I remedied the two larger gaps by slitting the skirt on either side of each rectangular nylon slide (see the two pairs of red arrows). Now the skirt lays flat, meeting the slides on either side and also laying flat atop each slide. This ought to deflect water, keeping it out of the camper body in the event a gap opens between the camper body and the roof due to either of the aforementioned reasons. Note that this deflector would not protect the mattresses, so I've covered them with inexpensive plastic covers -- which I initially installed to help protect them in the event of having to pop up or down in the rain. The attached tenting on the 2003.5 models could eliminate the need to cover the mattresses, but not the advisability for the deflector, in my opinion. (note: I've been told the deflectors are now built-in on 2003.5 Coleman models.)
BunkEnd Water Deflector (rear effective position) Here's how the deflector looks on the rear bunk when it's pushed in (again, prior to slitting on either side of the nylon bunk slide — in this case, a single slide on a shorter Double size bunk). The other, smaller gaps occur in the vicinity of screw heads.
Other Water seal Assists: Shepherd Pole Extension There are several methods of reducing the tension exerted against the roof seal when popped up. This one (thanks _again_, Oz & Us!) is to extend the pole downward. In this example I've added two copper plumbing fittings which all nest inside one another, held on with self-tapping screws. These are almost a perfect fit, albeit a bit on the heavy side, but I couldn't find a fit with plastic parts. I include this here since it's purpose is to help the roof seal gasket retain its shape and hence its effectiveness (against which failure the above deflector is designed to protect). Vinyl Siding J Channel Oz & Us pioneered the use of home vinyl siding J channel which slips over the older ABS roof seals (use 5/8" for the pre-2004 'finger' style seal and 7/8" for 02/03 'bulb' style seal). It's about $5 per stick and available at Home Depot or similar stores in parts of the continent where siding is commonly used, otherwise find an Alcoa wholesaler to sell you a stick. You can see pix of this material as part of this site's part 1 discussion of Solar Bunk End Covers on the HeatingCooling page. The channel spreads the pressure of the shepherd pole along its length, lessening the risk of bulb seal deformation. Since I always deploy the SBECs, which keep the bunk ends insulated and tenting clean, the channels go on by default.
Hieroglyphics 1 Crank-time Reminders It's not unheard of (perhaps not uncommon) for even veteran campers to begin cranking down their roof without remembering to either crank up the stabilizers or fold up the door! Fortunately, when each of these things occurred to me due to forgetfulness, no damage ensued. I decided to add some reminders right at the crank zone (waist-high on my model). These are parts of black and reflective silver boat lettering. The 4 Vees represent the stabilizers; the single L represents the door. This picture, taken at dusk with a flash, makes the stickers appear more prominent than they typically are.
Hieroglyphics 2: Fill-time Reminders One trip to a dry, close destination I filled up my 20 gallon water tank and my hot water heater tank. Trouble was, I left several petcocks open from previous trip home (a very efficient way to drain water -- let the road do the work) and lost some (but not all) water en route. So, I added these reminders at the fill tube. The W represents the hot/cold inline valves and the Vee represents the 20 gallon tank drain (see the White Water Tank Drain enhancement). These (if I actually see them instead of past them) remind me to check the petcocks to ensure they're all closed before I take on water.
Hieroglyphics 3: Latch-time Reminders The last thing I do before leaving the campground is to dump the porta potti which lives in the doorside cabinet. I unlatch the forward passenger-side roof latch and drop the stepper door to access the camper. More than once I've driven off having forgotten to relatch the roof clamp…not necessarily a problem unless it were to rain! These Ws represent the 4 roof latches, a clearly visible reminder as I lock the door.
Secure Rubber Mat Coleman's rubber mat has a grid surface which nicely catches pebbles. Trouble is it always shimmies sideways and bunches underfoot on my wall to wall carpeting. I cut a 3' length of 1.5" x 1/8" aluminum bar to the length of the existing threshold, drilled countersunk holes in it, and made a sandwich: threshold, mat, bar. You'll need longer screws, perhaps a touch wider. If the screw holes loosen in composite flooring, drill through the floor and use bolts with seating heads and nyloc nuts under the floor (you'll want a secure connection since the threshold bears lots of weight from foot traffic). Dumping any accumulated matter occurs by lifting/rolling the mat toward the outside and sweeping off the stepper door.
Mini PortaPotti This is a hard one to categorize, so I'll put it under OutsideOut since the most import aspect of its use it to keep stuff where it belongs but not under "stowage", and it does so by keeping something straight. My Thetford 585 electric flush potti is feels great under the butt but becomes a pain in the rear to empty and clean. When there are decent facilities, wether outhouse or bathhouse, why bother? But you still don't want to schlep out into the cold night either. There are two keys to a reliable urinal: security and security. Security major is a screw cap like on this Little John model. Security general is don't drop it while you're using it. I could fashion a reliable stand but that's a bit much. Just run it over to the facility in the morning to empty and rinse. Comes with a Lady J adapter. Cabelas.