It's how we like to camp!

Here is our original Owners Manual in .pdf format. It will take a bit to open, be patient.

Other than maintenance the first few years we owned the Dutchmen, not much was done by us. If you read the story about the first few years with the camper you already know. What we did do was find the easiest ways for us to tote our stuff. Suitcases took up way too much room ao we found duffel bags worked best. They are soft and easy to stow almost anywhere. For food we found the plastic file bins worked great. Easy to stack in the tow vehicle and they fit right under our dining seat space. On the counter by the sink we use a couple of folding metal shelves that stack up. These hold the plates, cups, coffee, bread, etc. We used to carry all our "stuff" in a large tote box, but in 2015 it's been replaced with a stackable drawer unit. It sits on the counter by the door to hold flashlights, bug spray, kids toys and fire starters. While we're camping it also holds keys and wallets. Our 19" HDTV sits on top of the shelf unit, which has been beefed up with a 3/8" piece of plywood to minimize bowing.

The first real repair we ever tackled on the camper was the roof repair. It stayed stored due to the roof leak not knowing how to fix it. As much as the roof was covered by a 10 year warranty, which would have been up to 2004, the factory continued to deny our claim. In 2006 we began to browse the internet searching for a way to repair our pop up. Finding a camper site dedicated to pop ups offered many ideas, so we dug in. The sidewall just above the door was all rotten wood for about two feet. The rotted wood was scraped off from the inside to the exterior skin. Then a piece of plywood was cut to fit the gap and glued in with waterproof construction glue. That got a coat of white paint to match the rest of the sidewalls, but it's covered by the valance anyway. Next the caulking on the exterior roof got scraped off along the edges and cleaned off with acetone. A strip of EternaBond Tape was then laid along the edges on both sides, sealing any leak. My theory on the roof leak is that the metal piece that connects the top roof to the sidewalls is too narrow. Expansion and contraction breaks the caulk seal, and water comes in. Anyway it hasn't leaked since 2007 when we finished this job, and we camp in it more now than ever. Here's a couple of pictures of the outside right after the repair.

The first mod was the refrigerator. The camper came with a cooler fridge, and it was not very efficient. Near the end of the 2008 season I had just said it needed upgrading and took measurements. The next weekend Donna saw this little dorm fridge on sale. It runs on electric, but no freon. It works OK, not real cold but good enough for veggies and cheeses. It fit in the opening perfectly, and got secured with two custom made brackets on the back of the fridge. I was able to tap into a 120V AC line running behind the cabinet. Then an opening was made to the outside for a vent, a simple plastic home one that opens and closes.

After it had been stored for some time the A/C didn't seem to get very cold. Removed the outside cover to find a bee's nest started, along with lots of dirt and leaves clogging the drain hole. Cleaned things out, replaced the inside filter and it gets cold enough to give you goose-bumps on a hot day. These pictures are after cleaning, the nest was on top of the motor.

On the subject of A/C's, many people ask about roof support. We had our A/C installed at the dealers when purchased, and they installed the roof support bars pictured here. I'm sure this is the biggest reason our roof has stayed in good shape with no sagging. For anyone considering adding a roof top A/C to an older camper finding the roof supports will be your challenge. Since there are so many variations in pop up roofs they were almost custom made for the current stock. With any metal tooling knowledge they could be duplicated. Also consider the lift system on older pop ups. The extra weight of an A/C (50+ pounds) can stress the lift system.

The support bars run side to side

On a trip once we had parked the camper on a blacktop pad with no way to anchor the awning. It had been hot and windless all week. We left on a day trip to a park north of there when a nasty storm comes up. Returning to the camper later the awning is up over the roof. All the poles are scattered but nothing is broken, so we know. Two days later we close down to find the awning had punched a hole in the roof. It was dry again so a repair was going to have to wait till we got home. Well until the next night when we stopped in a hotel. Late that night just before bed time it started raining. I ran out to the car and camper wondering what to do to seal that hole up. There sat some mint gum so I chewed a couple of pieces and stuffed the hole with them. It held until I could fix it. The fix was fiberglass filler and then covered with a strip of EternaBond Tape.

My oops one day was backing the camper into the garage. It was raining, we just got home from a weekend of camping packing up wet, and I was tired. Donna was actually on her way back to guide me, but in a rush I just kept backing up until thump and red plastic was flying. So the left tail light got smashed. Well, the license holder had broke the year before so it was time for a change. The lights were easy to change out, pop the cover off and unscrew the 4 screws. There was butyl tape underneath so it took a good pull to get them off the camper. After that it was cut and strip wires, re-attach them then clean up the surface. A bead of polyurethane caulk and screwed the new lights on. They are much brighter than the originals, then it's always good to be seen.

the smashed tail light

wiring up the new one

new and bright

One of my latest mods was finally adding a stereo. It's a cheap thing but it has the ability to play from a SD card or flash drive. When you're out camping where there are no radio stations you like, that's a nice feature. Figuring out where to put it was the issue since none of the wiring was convenient. For that I figured within easy reach from where I like to sit and the wires can run to it. So I had to run the 12 volt power down through the floor from the converter, across the underside of the camper to the cabinet by the door. The speaker wires run that way too, all tacked down with wire tacks. The speakers are 10 inch round dual cone marine ones. They have a built in grill making them easy to mount. This year my plan is to add outside speakers on the second channel. They'll be on long lengths of wire so they can get pulled close to the sitting area and we can play music and hear it without the neighbors hearing it.

Installed and playing from flash drive

hole cut for speakers

wires running under the camper

For years there has been water on the cabinet after closing down and flipping the sink over. We always thought it was a slow drain or leaky gasket. Then one day the puddle was huge and a crack was noticed in the bottom of the faucet, spreading down from the side. Looks like the crack started in a spot where the faucet is mounted through the counter top, making it unnoticable. That caused the counter top to rot a bit, so I had to get creative to fix this. Screws were no longer holding due to the rot, so holes were drilled through the counter and long bolts used. I placed two large washers and a plumbers tape on the under side of the new faucet. On top I cut a square of white masonite to cover up where some rot showed, and mounted the new faucet through that. It works, and way less water on the counter now so there is still some drain issue I believe. That's going to require a cabinet tear down, ugh.

The old faucet- no leaks noted

Our awning poles kept slipping off the roof so I tightened up the spring. A couple years later they started slipping off again, but there was no more spring adjustment left. Tearing the poles apart I found the sping that was supposed to be ten inches long was now seven and a half inches. Unable to find replacement springs at any cost I extended the poles. I used a piece of copper pipe just the size to fit in the pole then soldered it in place. There's also a nail pinned through the pole and copper pipe for added security. Covered the ends with caps and now the awning spring has more room for adjustment.

inner awning spring should be 10" long

copper pipe extension with nail pinned

When you camp you have campfires. Starting the campfire can sometimes be a real pain. Bought something like these one time, they worked so good I make my own now. They are just shredded paper in a dixie cup with melted wax poured over. One of these will start almost any wood, wet or dry.

Door handles on pop ups are nortorious for breaking, and there are only 3 key sets for them so lots of pop ups have the same door key. When ours broke I found this at the local hardware store and adapted it to fit. It's a regular screen door handle fit with a keyed lock.

One other project was re-webbing our lawn chairs. One was old and simply crumbling apart, two were newer but the webbing faded from red to pink in two years. Found some webbing online pretty cheap, and it's not a hard job.

We replaced our master bunk mattress several years ago when we were given a brand new Serta mattress from a travel trailer. It was OK, but hard as it was designed to sit on a box spring, not a board. We just bought a 2" memory foam topper to add over it, and that has been wonderful. We both slept great on our last trip. The only issue is the topper has to be stored off the bed to close up.

I hear lots of people talk about pop ups that are hard to crank up, popping noises while cranking up, and broken cables. The best preventative for this is yearly maintenance greasing the cables and lift posts.Now some pop-ups do not require this, only those with a Goshen Lift System. That's about 70% of all pop-ups made.
The four lift posts at each corner should be lubed yearly with a type of lube that dries. Lubes that remain wet & oily will allow dirt to cling and can jam the posts. These oils can also get on your hands while setting up, leaving dirty fingerprints on the canvas. Use a large piece of cardboard and slide it behind the lift post, protecting the canvas as you spray. Wipe off any excess with a clean rag.
Under the camper you'll see a long rectangular box that the cables run through. On that box are two grease zerks, one on top (hard to find) and one on the bottom of the box. Using a grease gun with some good grease fill each zerk until the grease begins to ooze out of the zerk.
Right from the factory we had that "popping" noise cranking up. Never knew about greasing the zerks until a few years ago. Now with three years of greasing there is no more popping noise and it cranks up much easier.

We bought new awning lights this year, two strings of small round multi-colored LEDs. Kind of like a Christmas light. They are bright and do not produce any heat. Bought some pacifier clips and small zip ties, attached a clip with a zip tie on the string where I wanted them. Now I can pull out the strings and attach as I go, clips already in place. So much faster!

Cable Replacement - Other than being a real greasy dirty job, replacing the cable wasn't too hard. We really just followed the directions Goshen Stamping Inc. sent with the cable. I studied what was on this blog post beforehand to get a sense of what the job entailed. This guy does a great job showing (with pictures) how to do the job with the exception of the winch or how to get to the winch.
A post on the Facebook Group Pop Up Camper Owners got my answer from someone who had done the job. Found out there is a panel inside the rear storage hatch that removes to give access to the winch. That's about all the pictures I was able to take because once into this job your hands are too dirty to touch anything else.
Right away we found out that where the cable broke was too frayed to go through the pulley. Gloves were handy here as the cable was like a thorn bush, but no pulling could get it through. No tool in my workshop would cut through it, a hacksaw only cleaned off the rust. We ended up doing a hardware dash to buy a 24" bolt cutter which snipped the cable with ease.
To start we got the door side tire up on 3 high Lynx Blocks, and put the BAL on the other tire. That gave a bit more room to work underneath, but a mechanic's creeper would have been real handy here. Another thing that helped were disposable gloves to protect hands from the grease, especially knowing it has graphite in it. We went through maybe 20 pair!
At this point I have to mention another product, Awesome Cleaner from the Dollar Store. I've read a lot of good reviews on many camper sites about this stuff. Last time shopping at the Dollar Store happened to see it and picked up a bottle. Used it for the first time after this job and it was like a magic eraser taking off all the greasy hand prints we left behind. Good stuff!
Sliding under the camper you have to first unbolt the spring tubes from the mainbox. There are 4 bolts at each end, 2 hold the tubes together with a small plate and 2 hold the tubes to the main box. All are a 3/8" socket size. Then there are 2 bolts/nuts at the end of each tube at the corners securing them to the frame under each lift post, unbolt those. Mine were 7/16" socket size, and needed a wrench on the inside as these are lock nuts. The last four bolts hold the clamps to secure each lift tube to the frame. Unbolt those and the spring tubes can be pulled down, pulling the spring out of the lift post. We did the back tubes first, then front two. It really helped to have son Tyler there because the springs out of the main box are pretty long. (Another plug for a good product- PB Blaster. Kind of like a WD-40 but more penetrating. One shot and 10 minutes later the rustiest bolts remove easily)
Once both front and back spring tubes are out, the old cable can be removed. The new cable just slides back in, push the bare winch end through first. Run the cable through the adjustment pulley, then each set of springs has a place at the end where the cable push bar fits. With the push bar on the spring it will slide back into the main box. This is another part of the job where a second person helps because you have to watch the cable so it doesn't get tangled while sliding the spring tubes back in place. If you order the cable from Goshen, these push bars and clamps are already installed on the cable at the proper place. 
With the new cable routed, and the spring tubes bolted back in place, attaching the end to the winch is the last task. There is a bolt and nut with a hold down strap on the outside winch wheel. It's a real pain to get to it, and to loosen it you'll need to hold the winch from moving using the crank. Run the cable up through the floor, around the winch wheel, and bend it out the side hole towards this nut/bolt/strap. Bolt the cable end under the strap and tighten the nut. Last thing I did was add grease to the main box via the 2 grease zerks. 
When we had all that done we slowly cranked up until all the slack was taken up, and the cable bent down around the winch wheel. Cranking up the roof we had that familiar "pop" again. The dry cable snapping over itself on the winch wheel. After a few crank ups and downs that should stop as the cable runs through the grease in the main box.
Follow Up- yes, after 2 times cranking the roof up and down the "pop" went away. I also slid underneath and spread some grease along the starting part of the cable from the winch to the grease box.

I'm always open to comments or questions- Email me