Tent Campers from Late 1990's to Mid 2006's'ish

SoundGuy wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:
The ABS roofs that went south were only on a couple specific years out of those.

While FFT was able to reduce ABS Strata roof failures, over the course of the 8 years it was in production the failure rate was still excessive and was the reason the company finally dropped this roof entirely, replacing it with the also ill fated AlumiTite roof for the 2003.5 model year. Not long after this roof was introduced with the 1996 model year all too many samples were showing signs of suffering lateral sag so FFT quickly introduced the steel ceiling brace, installing it as a standard feature on all newly produced models and offering it to existing original owners as a retrofit, free of charge. Unfortunately that proved to only be a partial solution, with many owners still reporting sag, so much so that the ends of the roof would not seal with the ends of the body. As these roofs aged other issues arose - blistering, bubbling, cracking, and delamination of the outer skin, along with partial or total loss of the perimeter seal. As the roof aged hairline cracking also became an issue for many owners. Originally FFT produced this roof themselves, later farmed it out to a third party manufacturer which eventually went bankrupt when so many of these roofs had to be replaced under terms of the lifetime warranty, and FFT once again produced the roof themselves. Certainly the latest versions of this roof produced for 2002 and 2003 model year trailers were arguably the most reliable produced but failure rates were still excessive so the company dropped the roof entirely with the introduction of the 2003.5 model year. My own 2000 roof was one such example - stored indoors in my heated workshop it's entire life except when out camping yet 3 yrs into ownership it suddenly began to delaminate along the curbside sidewall. In my case this delamination was relatively minor, hidden by the bag awning, and didn't affect the ability of the roof to seal properly to the body rail. My dealer got authorization to replace the roof BUT only if I paid a $750 freight charge ... I declined, which in retrospect was a great decision since the replacement roof I would have received would have been the then newly introduced AlumiTite a.k.a. AlumiLeak roof. :(

Having seen plenty that disintegrated, I have also seen quite a few that still look like the day they rolled out of the Somerset PA plant.

SoundGuy wrote:
JMO but if you're considering Coleman / Fleetwood you're missing the most important issue - the roof. Could be conventional aluminum skin with a centre seam, could be ABS, could be AlumiTite (a.k.a. AlumiLeak), could be seamless Filon, could be seamless aluminum skin. This by far should be your most important consideration - choose the wrong roof and you could be in for a world of hurt with a used camper.

Thanks for your insights SoundGuy. I'm learning more and more about these types of units and yes, the roof issues cause me great concern as a hefty repair bill, post purchase, would not be good.

Based on the roof issues, it sounds like I should be avoiding all Fleetwood & Coleman campers from the era I'm searching for/able to afford? That narrows the field considerably as the majority of used units I see for sale are Fleetwoods or Colemans.

Ralph Cramden wrote:
The ABS roofs that went south were only on a couple specific years out of those.

While FFT was able to reduce ABS Strata roof failures, over the course of the 8 years it was in production the failure rate was still excessive and was the reason the company finally dropped this roof entirely, replacing it with the also ill fated AlumiTite roof for the 2003.5 model year. Not long after this roof was introduced with the 1996 model year all too many samples were showing signs of suffering lateral sag so FFT quickly introduced the steel ceiling brace, installing it as a standard feature on all newly produced models and offering it to existing original owners as a retrofit, free of charge. Unfortunately that proved to only be a partial solution, with many owners still reporting sag, so much so that the ends of the roof would not seal with the ends of the body. As these roofs aged other issues arose - blistering, bubbling, cracking, and delamination of the outer skin, along with partial or total loss of the perimeter seal. As the roof aged hairline cracking also became an issue for many owners. Originally FFT produced this roof themselves, later farmed it out to a third party manufacturer which eventually went bankrupt when so many of these roofs had to be replaced under terms of the lifetime warranty, and FFT once again produced the roof themselves. Certainly the latest versions of this roof produced for 2002 and 2003 model year trailers were arguably the most reliable produced but failure rates were still excessive so the company dropped the roof entirely with the introduction of the 2003.5 model year. My own 2000 roof was one such example - stored indoors in my heated workshop it's entire life except when out camping yet 3 yrs into ownership it suddenly began to delaminate along the curbside sidewall. In my case this delamination was relatively minor, hidden by the bag awning, and didn't affect the ability of the roof to seal properly to the body rail. My dealer got authorization to replace the roof BUT only if I paid a $750 freight charge ... I declined, which in retrospect was a great decision since the replacement roof I would have received would have been the then newly introduced AlumiTite a.k.a. AlumiLeak roof. :(

SoundGuy wrote:

PAThwacker wrote:
93 t0 04 fleetwood/coleman had the abs roof issues.

Fleetwood's ABS Strata roof was introduced with the 1996 model year and used for 8 model years up to and including the 2003 model year, was replaced with the AlumiTite a.k.a. AlumiLeak roof with the 2003.5 model year.

The ABS roofs that went south were only on a couple specific years out of those. I forget the exact year/years but their were many threads at popupportal about them. I have seen ABS roofs that look almost new. I would think that if you find one now that is not cracked and in still in good condition, it will remain that way.

Now for sleeping 7 in a popop? Good luck. Doable yes I guess....gonna be a little tough getting up and going out for a leak in The middle of the night.

PAThwacker wrote:
93 t0 04 fleetwood/coleman had the abs roof issues.

Fleetwood's ABS Strata roof was introduced with the 1996 model year and used for 8 model years up to and including the 2003 model year, was replaced with the AlumiTite a.k.a. AlumiLeak roof with the 2003.5 model year.

93 t0 04 fleetwood/coleman had the abs roof issues. Avoid at all cost. Look all over for a used jayco. I got my 2007 jayco 1206 for $2k roughly 9 hours away in some desolate area of New York. It was worth 6500 at the time 2 years ago.

IdaD wrote:
We had an '07 Fleetwood Bayside and it was okay. I remember reading about problems with some of the various types of Fleetwood roofs but we never had any issues or concerns with ours. It's been enough years that I can't remember much detail but I did do some research at the time and I don't think ours had one of the more problematic roof styles. I think it might have been filon?

An '07 Bayside would have a seamless Filon roof.

We had an '07 Fleetwood Bayside and it was okay. I remember reading about problems with some of the various types of Fleetwood roofs but we never had any issues or concerns with ours. It's been enough years that I can't remember much detail but I did do some research at the time and I don't think ours had one of the more problematic roof styles. I think it might have been filon?

Roof aside our pop up was fine and didn't give us any major trouble. The manual slide worked fine but you did have to be careful with the tenting so as not to tear it. Our tenting held up great and had no leaks in it but we are in a dry climate and both we and the original owner always stored it under cover.

Price wise it was purchased new for around $14,000 (give or take), we paid $6500 about 4 years later, and then we sold it for $5500 about another 5 years after that. So financially the cost of ownership was pretty cheap for our time with it.

JMO but if you're considering Coleman / Fleetwood you're missing the most important issue - the roof. Could be conventional aluminum skin with a centre seam, could be ABS, could be AlumiTite (a.k.a. AlumiLeak), could be seamless Filon, could be seamless aluminum skin. This by far should be your most important consideration - choose the wrong roof and you could be in for a world of hurt with a used camper.