As usual, I had big plans for the winter in terms of maintenance and improvements for The Dutchman. As usual, I sank into the Minnesota fetal position when the temperature dropped below 30 degrees. You know how it is, right?
Now that the cardinals are singing and the ice is melting, I'm quickly catching up.
As previously noted, the big project this year was the removal of the rear roof wood, which was rotted and leaking. That wasn't fun and all but before winter set in, that was completed. Today, I'm going to do a little more waterproofing of that section. Water and moisture is death to pop-up campers so, yeah, I probably have gone overboard on the waterproofing.
The big task this week has been putting up the new tent (the camper's windows and siding) which arrived from Canvas Replacements in Loyal, Wisconsin late last year, but which have sat in the box because I wasn't sure whether icy cold weather was a good time to be handling vinyl, which usually gets brittle in the cold. This product, I've since learned, is resistant to that sort of thing.
I couldn't be more impressed with the workmanship from this company and the replacement (so far, I've still got two sides to go) has fit perfectly. And, it's clean and gorgeous.
The other thing I wanted to do this winter was get underneath the camper and replace the steel cable that raises and lowers the camper roof. Maybe it could surive another year, but at 21 years old, do I want to take that chance? To me, it seemed like the cable was on borrowed time and I hate the thought that it could snap while a nice family was trying to have a fabulous weekend.
Yesterday, I decided that I'll let a pro handle it so I've made an appointment for next Wednesday for the nice people at Hilltop Camper and RV take care of it.
That leaves the only other thing on the list: Flooring and painting the interior. I'm going to wait on the painting and next week I'll see what the big deal is with peel and stick flooring (some pop-up camper owners seen to like it). That seems preferable to gutting the camper just to put down new flooring. We'll see. The only linoleum looks too much like, well, old linoleum.
I'm still on the fence about replacing the awning and am considering just removing it. Few people seem to use it.
We've already got our first rental request of the year and with things suddenly progressing faster than I thought, I may open up rentals to May 1 instead of June 1.
After a renter this summer ripped the side canvas, I decided now would be a good time to have all new canvas and vinyl sides made. So once Labor Day ended, it was an easy decision to stop the rental season, take down the old canvas, and bring it over to Wisconsin, where a company will make all new custom sides.
And that's just the start of the off-season improvements. Over the last few months, I notice stained water had begun running down the rear corners of the camper onto the canvas, a sign that water was getting into the wood. In addition, the rear board of the roof, where the canvas roof over the rear bed attaches, felt soft. Rot. A common problem in popups.
So I removed some vinyl covering and had a look. Not good.
It took a little bit of time to remove the trim and get to the problem. At first, I thought water was splashing on the top of the bed's roof and getting up under a rubber gasket. But once I got a look at things, I realized it must be coming through a seam that runs down the length of the roof.
Fortunately, all of the other boards that compose the sides of the roof are just fine. Getting the rotted wood off was a bear, however. Eventually I sanded down the final layer of wood, still bonded to the aluminum of the rear side of the roof, and reinforced it with some .020 aluminum scrap I had hanging around from one of my airplane construction projects.
The trick now will be to get everything back together and bonded. Once that's done. I'll seal up that seam, then use a roof sealant to reskin the entire roof. It should be great!
That's only one of the off-season maintenance projects. I still want to strip the interior out and replace the old linoleum, paint the interior from the faux wood look (what color should I use?), replace the awning, and replace the roof lift system and cables. That's in addition to the usual off-season maintenance like wheel bearings etc.
The canvas production should take about four months, which brings us to January. It'll be too cold then to put the sides back up (you risk cracking the vinyl windows when it's cold) so I'll probably wait until March.
That should give me plenty of time to get all the improvements done in time for the 2021 camping season. Reserve your week now!
Since no two people are alike, it's difficult to provide a one-size-fits-all camper checklist for things you'll need to bring to enjoy your camping trip with the Dutchman.
But in the theory that too much is better than too little, let's start with the list below, compiled by the Campers Inn RV blog.
Remember, the tow weight of your vehicle includes whatever you pack in your vehicle in addition to the weight of the Dutchman (Gross weight of the Dutchman is about 1900 pounds)
Keep in mind, too, that if you're loading the camper for your trip, distribute the weight evenly, with the bulk of it to the front. Otherwise, you risk swaying problems. I recommend all items go in a plastic tub.
Kitchen:
Water bottles
Cutting board
Utensils/cutting knives
Can opener
Tongs and skewers
Dish soap
Bowls, plates and cups
Paper towels and napkins
Garbage bags
Plastic wrap
Zip close bags
Potholders
Dish towels
Skillets and pots
Disinfecting wipes
Matches and lighter
Food storage container
Extra Cooler
Food staples:
Vegetables and fruits
Butter or margarine
Cereal
Condiments, including mayo, ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.
Grill meats, like hot dogs, burgers, brats, etc.
Drink mix packets
Eggs
S’more ingredients
Freeze dried meals
Salt, pepper, herbs and spices
Bread
Canned foods
Peanut butter and jelly
Snacks, including crackers, chips, pretzels, etc.
Cooking spray or oil
Soups
Clothing and bedroom items:
Hat
Rain gear
Shoes, including sneakers, hiking boots, sandals, etc.
Bathing suit
Sweatshirts and jackets
Socks
Underwear
Pants and shorts
Short and long sleeve t-shirts
Alarm clock (or smartphone)
Sewing kit
Towels
AdditionalSheets and blankets and/or sleeping bags
Pillows
Personal items and toiletries:
Phone chargers
Cash and credit cards
Campground reservation confirmations
Sunscreen
Bug spray
Batteries
Medications and prescriptions
Glasses or contact lenses
Sunglasses
Soap
Shampoo and conditioner
Brush and comb
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Deodorant
Hair ties
Lotion
Makeup
Razor
Shaving gel
Scissors
Camping and outdoor fun gear:
Camera
Wood (best to purchase it at the campground. Don't bring any home)
Camping chairs
Hammock
Frisbee
Fishing gear, including rods, tackle, license, etc.
Sports equipment, including football, basketball, baseball, mitt, etc.
Yard games, including corn hole, horseshoes, hula-hoops, etc.
Although most of my posts here are aimed at people who are renting my Dutchmen camper, this one is for the hundreds of other popup camper owners who have experienced the problem of bent bed rails, mostly because someone didn't put support braces up before hopping in the bed (sure, blame the kids; that works).
That's what happened to the Dutchmen the other day (see previous post and pictures). I knew getting replacement parts would be difficult; it turns out it's impossible. Dutchmen doesn't sell the parts anymore and most RV dealerships -- even those who claim to sell and service popups -- really, don't. The big money is in motorized RVs, not tents on wheels. You simply cannot find the parts.
Those who bothered to answer my inquiries suggested PopUpParts.com but they don't have it and a check of dealers in Minnesota and Wisconsin turned up nothing from those who reponded. Most didn't bother.
That limits the possible fix to one: plan on doing a lot of work if this happens to you.
First, let's review how bed rollouts work on a popup camper.
There are two C-channels. One, usually brass colored but made of steel (or least very strong aluminum) is attached to the bed frame. This C-channel slides between two UHMW blocks, one a washer, which sits inside a C-channel slot, and one a spacer, that sits between the C-Channel and the bed frame. Each slot (there are four of them) is about 7 inches or so long and this is the length of travel a bed rollout travels in this C-channel. Not very much; just the last seven inches of travel when you pull a bed out.
This C-channel, affixed to the bed frame, sits inside a C-channel on each side of the pop-up camper. There is a roller at each end of the C-channel and the fixed bed-frame C-channel rolls through this camper C-channel.
When the bed is badly treated, two things are happening. First, the bed's C-channel cannot roll inside the camper's c-channel because, well, it's bent. Second, the bed's C-channel can't move because the slots are now a pinch point on the bolts because, you guessed it, they're bent.
If the camper user just jammed everything back inside the camper to get it home, you've got work ahead of you just to get things apart to fix the problem.
So, step one: Take all the canvas off on three sides so you can have access. This is fairly easy: unscrew the attach points along the roof inside the camper. Then slide the bottom out of the slotted groove. By the way, if you're thinking of replacing canvas and vinyl, this is as good a time as any.
Ideally, you could just unscrew the screws inside the camper holding the camper's C-frame to the camper, then -- with a friend -- lift the whole shebang out onto some saw horses to work on it more comfortably.
There's a problem, however, for many pop ups. There's a sink that folds over that blocks access to the C-channel on that side of the camper. You can't flip the sink up for access because there's a broken bed in the way.
So the only way to get things off is to try to separate the bed frame from its C-channel. And that presents another problem. Access to the bolts is blocked by the camper's C-channel.
The only solution is to remove the nuts inside the bed frame. That can be problematic because the bolts are going to want to turn. You have to lift the bed frame to apply sheer tension to the bolts as you take a 3/16" wrench remove the nuts, which probably aren't threaded on very tightly. Once that's done, you and a friend should be able to lift the bed frame and get it well out of the way. It plays very little role in getting this problem fixed.
With the bed gone, you might be able to flip that sink over and remove the C-channels from the camper to complete these steps on a workbench. Otherwise, you'll just have to work around the camper.
There are two Allen bolts on the end of the camper's C-channel which keeps the bed's C-channel from being pulled completely out of the camper. They need to be removed and there's probably little access to it except unscrewing the nut (which faces the outside of the camper) while, again, putting tension on the channel to keep the Allen bolt from turning inside. Then push the allen bolt out. Pick it up later.
Here's a tip: Grab a bunch of baggies and catalog EVERYTHING that you're taking off the camper: the screws to the camper C-channels, the UHMW washers and bolts and nuts, the retaining screws and various things from taking the vinyl/canvas off. Put every category in separate bags and mark it. Do this as you go so you don't lose anything. ALSO: mark the C-channel orientation as you remove each one: forward, inside, outside, left, right. Whatever.
Once you have the stop screws (Allen bolts) out. You'll have to take a block of wood, put it against the end of the bed's C-channel and use a 5 or 10 pound sledgehammer to force the bed's C-channel out of the camper's C-channel. Try to minimize damage to the end caps.
Once they are both free, it's time to fix them.
Now, you're going to have to resist the urge to just start beating on things with the sledgehammer. You have to take a minute to recognize how the whole thing works. Just straightening (you're never going to get it straight) isn't going to solve your problem. Because you actually have four problems. There are "pinch points" in the camper C-channel and a pinch point where the UHMW washers move within the bed's C-channel. The latter aren't going to budge. This fact has more to do with your stuck bed than anything else.
Why? Because when metal is distorted in one direction, it's being distorted somewhere else, too. A bend "flutes" a piece of metal, shrinking one side, and stretching the other.You can't "unstretch" metal.
So when you beat on a bend, all you're doing is moving the bend somewhere else.
This is a two-step fix.
The first goal is to get the bed's C-channel, to move effectively within the camper's C-channel.
This process actually does involve whacking it good. How can it not? So you want to use a piece of solid flat steel or wood, placed along the flange where the bend is and convince it to behave. When you do this, the odds are the "web" side (where the slots are located) are going to begin to bow. A little tapping here, a little tapping there. Repeat endlessly.
What we're going to do here is swap the two sides so the left C-channel will now be the right C-channel and the front of the C-channel is going to be the rear. Just remember that the open side of the C-channel faces out.
My theory here is that by reversing the locations, the weight of the bed later will help ease what's left of the bend (the bend is now in the opposite direction of its original orientation.
Place the bed C-channel inside the camper C-channel and push. It'll stop when it gets to a pinch point. Mark that point with a Sharpie and return to tapping it with a block of steel (wood) and hammer. Repeat this. If there's a twist, use two pipe wrenches to slightly untwist.
Continue doing this until the C-channel rolls effortlessly inside the camper C-channel. Be patient. Do it right. Don't accept "it's kind of good enough" because you have several pinch points and if you adopt that attitude, you're still going to have a bed that's hard to push and pull with an accumulation of pinch points that were sort of good enough individually but too difficult in total.
Once this is accomplished. It's time to solve the second problem: getting the bed's C-channel web to move between the UHMW washer and spacer. This is actually the harder of the two.
Take one of the 3/8" bolts you removed and place it in the slot nearest the bend. You'll notice it doesn't move. This is another example of how metal that's distorted affects many locations.
The first step is to open those slots up. If you take a string from one end of the C-channel to the next, and align it with the bottom of slots, you'll see how far off the slot nearest the bend is. That all had to be opened up. Continue trying to make the C-channel as straight as possible, testing constantly to be sure it still slides comfortably in and out of the camper C-channel.
Start filing the slot to open it up. It takes a LOT of filing. A Dremmel tool can work here but remember, a bolt is going to be sliding along that slot and if it's not smooth, it's going to be difficult to move it.
The goal here is to get the slots to align in a straight line.
This could take hours, but you really have no choice. Keep filing until the bolt sides all the way from one end of the slot to the other.
In this case, I also took a bucking bar (blocks of steel with different shapes) to help widen the slot, then flip the C-channel over and tap down the resulting distortion along the slot.
Once you have the bolt moving within the slot, it's time to test it on the bed frame.
Before you do that, doublecheck again that the bed C-channel still moves within the camper C-frame.
Stand the bed frame (it's heavy!) on its ends, put the thin UHMW washer inside the C-channel, insert a bolt, through the washer, the C-channel, the wider spacer and into the bed frame. Put the nut on finger tight. Do this on the slot closest to the bend.
Move the C-channel up and down. It probably moves fine and you think you're done.
You're not.
What will likely happen is when you put the second bolt and washers in, you'll see there's a still a pinch point because the slots are out of alignment. Take it off, and open up the slots even more -- more filing, more tapping with the bucking bar, more checking to make sure it still rolls within the camper C-frame.
Retest.
This, again, is one of those times when you want to be patient and do it right and not be satisfied until you are completely satisfied.
When you tighten the nut and bolt, don't have more than one thread showing on the nut. You don't want the washers to "pinch" the slot and make it difficult to move.
When you're satisfied and both C-channels are attached, have a friend help you move the unit to the end of the camper and place it on a couple of sawhorses.
Be sure the T-bars or other supports are in place, then lift the enter unit into the camper C-frame and test. You may be happy. You may want to make more adjustments. Your call.
Total time invested to this point: 10 hours, including several trips to the hardware store.
Don't forget to reinstall the Allen bolt "stops" in their position. You just pull the bed out and line up the access hole on the inside of the channel. Use a hex key (preferably one without the ball) to hold the bolt while you insert it. Then tighten down the nut.
Then reinstall the canvas and vinyl sides and vow never to allow this to happen again.
By the way, if you're an experimenter, you might want to try improving the design here by making that UHMW washer inside the C-channel a roller instead. So rather than having metal sliding between a washer and a spacer, it's actually rolling on the bottom of the C-channel. Less friction. Smoother ride.
I haven't done it yet but here's how I think it would work. Measure the distance between the center of the slot on the C-channel and the bottom of C-channel. Then buy a hole saw that fits in your drill equal to that size (or close to it). And use a 1/4" drill bit as a pilot.
By a hunk of UHMW. It's cheap. And use your band saw to slice off about a 1/2 to 1/4" slice. Anchor the resulting piece down, then use your hole saw to cut through it. Remove the piece inside the hole saw. There's your roller.
To be really spiffy, grab some soft 1/4 tubing, drill it out with a #12 drill bit, and cut off a piece equal to the width of the roller and then insert it into the roller hole. Now you have the bushing rotating on the bolt instead of the bolt rotating on the UHMW, making for an even smoother ride. Use 1/2" long 3/16" inch bolts in place of the existing bolts.
You'd have to remove the end cap to get the roller inside the C-channel. Those are riveted on but you can drill out the rivets and replace them later.
The Dutchmen was having a really good summer. People were having fun and it was popular, and was booked every weekend through most of the summer.
Unfortunately, that ended today when a renter returned the camper in an unusable condition.
I'd had a feeling about this particular renter because he didn't seem to know the pickup procedure and location, which is odd since prior to pickup day, people get at least three messages with the information and a copy of the camper guide, an incredibly helpful step-by-step guide.
If he didn't even read the pickup information, I thought, what are the odds he'll read the setup instructions properly?
So before he left on Friday, I said, "have one person read each step out loud, then you do it, and everything will be fine."
He chose not to.
The bed pullout was pulled out, and then the kids jumped on it. He didn't put the support posts in and without support, the rollout assembly bent on both sides. It would be near impossible to put back in and fold up for home.
But he did, jamming it back in, causing more damage, and ripping the canvas and vinyl sides of the camper.
The camper, for now, is essentially totalled unless I can get parts. And that's the problem with a 1999 camper; getting parts is near impossible.
Knowing this would be a lot of downtime, I set about contacting all of the people who had booked the camper to tell them I would have to cancel.
The work ahead is no fun; but ruining people's plans is the worst. Should I be able to get the camper going again, they'll all get free use of the camper next summer.
And maybe it'll work out. I've wanted to rip out the linoleum flooring and put in something better. Maybe this is the time to do it.
All of that, of course, depends on being able to find parts.
In more than a year of renting the camper, I haven't had to deduct anything out of a security deposit. It's not that I couldn't, it's just that sometimes things happen.
Take the table, for example. It also doubles as the frame for one of the extra beds. It came back from the first rental of the 2020 season like this.
Well, OK, it's a 20-year old table that wasn't in such great shape to begin with and I wasn't a big fan of the laminated look anyway. Plus, I like to build stuff. So I didn't even ask what happened. My guess is someone stood on the table as a step when it was in the "bed" position. Whatever.
Off to the store to buy a 4 x 8 foot sheet of plywood, which was no picnic getting it on top of the car, what with me being old and all. But I got it done.
Then, I cut out the new table top...
And sanded it down, stained it, and applied three coats of polyurethane. Much better.
In fact, it came out so nice that I may do remake the rear post table. We'll see.
The renters told me in advance that the table "didn't make it" and I appreciated that.
What they didn't reveal was a small hole in the roof, a serious injury on pop-ups because if water should get in there, it's the beginning of the end. But I found it, repaired it and painted it. It probably came from raising the camper into a tree branch.
So before cranking up the camper when setting up, look up! Even if it doesn't hit the branch, a gust of wind can do as much damage.
I didn't file a security deposit request with Outdoorsy on that, either.
This isn't to say don't worry about trashing the camper. Sometimes things can't be improved while being fixed. But the goal after each rental, is look for areas to make things better.
So if you have any ideas for doing so, don't hesitate to make note of them in the camper journal.
I wrote earlier about some of the maintenance I'm doing on the Dutchmen during the winter -- new wheel bearings and an electric water pump -- and I'm on track to complete most of the wish-list items I had during the off season.
This week, I installed the new LED lighting, replacing the last remaining incandescent and low-light fixture. I had installed one last summer, asking campers which they liked better, and the response was unanimous and overwhelming. So now the inside is like Target Field on a summer night!
I tried to find the same model I installed last year, but, unfortunately, it is no longer available. I liked the dimmable feature. This one has an option to use one or two lamps to adjust lights.
Of course, the best feature is it uses less electricity, which will come in handy for those on extended trips operating off battery. I'm looking forward to testing it out at Oshkosh this summer, although my planned week there has been cut short by the Twins' booking of a Guns and Roses concert on Friday July 24th. Ushers are required to work concerts.
One other improvement. When setting up the camper, it's important to get it pretty level, using the bubble gauges on the camper. Leveling it front to back is pretty simple. Just crank the jack at the front of the camper. But side to side can be time consuming. Some people use wood under the wheels for example, which can be problematic, and requires you to haul a hunk of wood on your trip.
And putting jacks under the corners doesn't work because it puts a twist in the camper frame, which makes the door hard to close.
I found this solution which should allow you to level the camper lickity split. It goes around the wheel on the low side like a tire chock. And a racheting wrench is used to raise the tire. Fast and simple. I'll update the set-up instructions to make the change.
Yes, I realize none of this is particularly sexy news. But I hope it shows the amount of care I put into making your camping experience as enjoyable as possible, and how your rental fee is being put immediately back into that effort.
