we were lucky to find a Coleman Colorado in fair condition. We had one years ago. I replaced the back lights, tires, and am working on the floor in one corner where due to road cover shringage water got in. The previous owner had waterproofed the outside floor years ago but of course this was from "the inside out". Sitting in a sunny field for many years the road cover was toast and disintegrating. Fortunately we got it out of the weather fast. We found a specialist who made us and installed the perfect fitting road cover (installed with snaps). He used a heaveir gauge material. We are in central NY and the hitch is he needs it in his posession to do the job. He wont just make one and mail it to you. You wont believe his amazing shop. He does boat covers, snow mobile covers, etc. It was our second outing this past week. 2 hours at high way speeds and all was secure. He even put the internal loops for the poles and reinforced the corners that are stressed, and more See the pics, . His bussiness is R&R Canvas in Waverly NY. His first name is Rob. I secured his permission to mention his bussiness.
Coleman Colorado Road Cover
- Thread starter Osgood
- Start date
yes, good quality snaps. The rail clips of course are still there for securing the canvas sides when you open and set the unit up. As the old failing cover had shrunk and it had no more elasticity , securing it with the clips was getting difficult. Rob did a great job with this. As i mentioned ealier he's done a ton of boat covers, and other costum fitting covers for machines on road and off. Taking it out again this weekend.
Overland
Active Member
Nice modification! Those original clips are a pita, especially with cold fingers.
Kellita Camper
Member
This new road cover looks fantastic especially with the snaps. The cover on my 1988 has shrunk and is damaged. Would you mind sharing the price for the cover? I've started looking at after market. My biggest fear is the cover flying off on the highway. Currently using ratchet straps to keep it secure. Tarped now that I'm back home.
Attachments
You realize he has to have your unit in his posession to fabricate, fit and install the cover.?
Kellita Camper
Member
Yes, thanks, I understood the unit would have to be in his possession. Like many here I'm a road tripper, and can or would travel for the quality and right price. Right now I've not called around locally for custom prices to compare. I may also take a chance and order an after-market.
Kellita Camper
Member
Yes, thanks, I understood the unit would have to be in his possession. Like many here I'm a road tripper, and can or would travel for the quality and right price. Right now I've not called around locally for custom prices to compare. I may also take a chance and order an after-market.
bondebond
Super Active Member
- Aug 14, 2008
- 2,330
I can completely understand why he would need it in his possession, doing a little bit of upholstery work myself. You can't simply use the old cover as a pattern, as I have done for many things, because it has shrunk. If a person needs possession of your item like this, it's because they literally custom tailor to your unit and chances are, you're going to be very pleased with it.
Nice work @Osgood. The PUP looks great and on the road to full functionality.
Nice work @Osgood. The PUP looks great and on the road to full functionality.
Kellita Camper
Member
The covers definitely shrink, and shift -- I guess like most of us over time, LOL!
well im not speaking for him but he charged $500
Kellita Camper
Member
Thanks for this, appreciate it. Some off-the shelf are $300+ with the toggle attachments UNDER the trailer. Found one on a good sale but re-thinking crawling on the ground after a rain and/or the gravel of our last site. Or... late at night with mosquiteeers.
Lug_Nut
Active Member
Do the poles under the road cover help limit the ballooning effect? I can see over mine when stationary, but the low pressure region created by the tow car lifts the cover enough that I've installed a rear view camera.
I don't currently have the cover poles, had tried some home-made ones that weren't effective to prevent lift while towing nor did they limit rain pooling when the trailer was not set-up.
I don't currently have the cover poles, had tried some home-made ones that weren't effective to prevent lift while towing nor did they limit rain pooling when the trailer was not set-up.
If i can remember next time we have it out i will take pictures of the ends of each pole. It does prevent the puffing up of the fabric because the poles pass through the loops that are on the inside portion of the road cover. One of the reason we liked the unit years ago is with the poles in, we could see out the back using the rear view mirror in our normal non sport sedans. Cameras are quite cheap these days. I still think the end and the length of the poles are important. I also will measure the angle of the back ends of those pieces. I still think a pvc angle joiner with an angle approximate equal to the angle on the coleman poles is available say at one of the big hardware/outdoor stores. I would first confirm this, and assuming you can improvise for the end tip pieces, use several length of pvc for the long length of the poles. Start with the long lengths over sized and keep removing a small amt at a time till you get the right length to keep tension on. As with other hacks you are doing this at your own risk. Partly ive wondered in tthe event of a road cover partial failure while on the road, that A Frame portion where the door is would rise up in the air if the wind caught enough of it before you could pull over.
Kellita Camper
Member
I'm very interested in this as well and will watch for your photos and ongoing discussion. Meantime I'll recheck the booklets as I have no clue where the pole or poles go for the cover and I believe I have one pole. The guy I bought it from just threw it into the camper and said to call him anytime. Asking about and explaining poles via text or phone isn't the same. The ratchet straps prevented ballooning it seems but they aren't ideal. The water pooling is a concern, which I thought would be alleviated with replacing the bed mattress.
Lug_Nut
Active Member
I hadn't thought of that maybe a ratchet strap isn't a bad idea. Rubber shock cords isn't enough to stop ballooning, I had tried that too.
I had used fiberglass driveway marker poles, first with two parallel as Coleman poles go, but I still had pooling between the pole supports and the round profile meant the compression arc of each pole could, and did, shift within the limits of the loop size to be bent to the side. I then tried in an "X" (more poles, because they're longer on the diagonal) with the two poles attached at their intersection. I was able to hold the arc, but installation through the loops wasn't possible and so ballooning still occurred, plus inserting each of the four pole ends with a junction in the middle wasn't easy.
