RE: What s with the Coleman roof?

The Robinsons · Sep 28, 2003, 07:05 PM

I ve been hearing snippets here and there about problems with the Coleman ABS roof. What s the story?

Red neff Barchetta · Mar 07, 2003, 02:46 PM

The RobinsonsI ve got to run, but wanted to let you know that your 2002 " probably" is fine since you ve got the brace running across your ceiling. Most of the problems were with the 96 to 00 models. If you are the original owner don t worry though, your roof has a lifetime warranty. Nice peace of mind. If you are not, then expect to pay about $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 for replacement if it should bubble, warp, &/or expand. Also watch the ABS " decking" in the front of the PU. Since you don t have a front storage trunk you shouldn t have any problems with the " decking" though. Others should post soon about the dreaded ABS problems in particular.

PI · Mar 07, 2003, 02:52 PM

The RobinsonsYep,
we had problems with the ABS roof. Ours was about a 1/4" gap in the middle of the front and back when the roof was down. It allowed rain to come in while driving and soaked the floor and cushion that were on the floor. There were apparently several different problems that Coleman had with the roofs. Others could tell you about those but we did get a new roof and we are very pleased so far but we haven t taken it out yet since. We ll have to wait and see.
PI

Red neff Barchetta · Mar 07, 2003, 02:54 PM

The RobinsonsNow I really do have to go, lol. Thought you might like to see what Oz has done to his 2000 Santa Fe. Although you would need to quit your job to do all of these modifications.

http://community.webshots.com/user/ozandus

Red neff Barchetta · Mar 07, 2003, 02:56 PM

The RobinsonsPI,
Did they replace it with another ABS roof or one of the new roof s?
Hope all is well now!

champ521 · Mar 07, 2003, 03:16 PM

The RobinsonsMy 99 Bayside s roof got the sag in the middle which caused a gap in the front and rear ends where the roof seal meets the body. I took it in to the dealer and they replaced it and moved everything from the old roof to the " new" roof. The replacement roof is still the ABS but if anything goes wrong with it the dealer will take care of it.

Gatsmommy · Mar 07, 2003, 03:52 PM

The RobinsonsAfter reading all about the roof problems DH and I are still considering buying a Santa Fe if the last 02 closeout is still at the dealer when we get there tomarrow. I m not sure I d want to buy a used one, but as long as we have the warrenty I m not concerned about it, but I will keep an eye out for problems.....If we get it LOL

Tim5055 · Mar 07, 2003, 07:01 PM

The RobinsonsColeman introduced the ABS (plastic) roof in the 1996 model year. During the early years of introduction the ABS roof was included on almost all Coleman Pop ps, including some in the Destiny series. If you are looking at a 1996/97 Destiny series, check the roof for type.

Coleman manufactured the ABS roofs themselves in their Pennsylvania assembly facility. It was soon found that some roofs began to ?sag? for unknown reasons. The first thought was that the A/C unit caused it and they had dealers retrofit A/C installed units with a metal bar inside the camper to provide additional support. This bar was added as a regular item to ALL pop ups manufactured sometime in 1998 and a retrofit kit was made available for all older units. The absence or presence of a bar in a pop up does not denote a " new" roof.

They continued having problems and other factors were investigated, such as exposure to heat. It appeared that pop ups in warmer climates experienced a greater number of ?sag? cases than cooler climates. Coleman tried different formulations of ABS plastic but roofs continued to sag. Additionally, the problem appeared more in 12 foot box pop ups than in 10 foot boxes.

The final cause (as well as anyone can like us can figure out) is that roofs manufactured under certain climatic conditions (temperature and humidity) did not allow the ABS plastic to cure properly. It was these roofs that eventually sagged. The number I hear thrown about is that 10% of the ABS roofs manufactured were bad. I think this number is a little high, but who is to know other than Coleman.

Sometine around 1999 ? 2000 Coleman finally stopped making the roofs themselves and began buying ABS roofs from an outside vendor. At his point the the sagging problem seems to have lessened to a degree or disappeared. Now those roofs being supplied by the outside vendor began to exhibit other problems, which have been chronicled on the PUT forums.

They include:

Delamination: Part of the ABS plastic delaminates from the core of the roof and a blister forms on the surface.

Bowing of front & back seal: The seal area of the front and back portion of the roof, where it contacts the box in the down (or travel position) bows up sufficiently to allow water penetration during driving in rain. This condition appears to go away after 24 ? 48 hours sitting in the down position. Some believe that the ?shepherds hook? used to push out the bed end canvas pushes up into the seal during use and bends it out of shape. At least 2 differnet styles of seals/gaskets were introduced in an attmpt to correct this problem.

Both of these problems appear to be limited to a small number of roofs.

If you are the original owner of a Coleman pop up defective ABS roof you have nothing to worry about. The ABS roof has a lifetime warranty. Second and subsequent owners do not have the protection of a warranty, but as has been reported by some people Coleman seems to be working with these owners to find a solution. The most common solution that has posted here is that Coleman will supply a new roof to a Coleman dealer if the owner will pay shipping and labor for the installation. They will not ship one to an owner for self installation. Parts prices for the roof itself have been posted at between $1,200 and $2,000 with shipping and labor running between $700 and $900.

Starting the 2003 1/2 model year, Coleman is phasing the ABS roof out and replacing it with the new AlumiTite Krystal Kote Composite Roofs for the GT and GTEs. When the supply of ABS roofs is depelted warranty replacement roofs will only be the new style. I have heard reports form owners that a replacement roof was ABS and others have reported getting a new AlumiTite Krystal Kote Composite Roof in place of an ABS roof. Obviously, there are different roof configurations for different models, so it may take a while until all ABS roofs of all configurations are depleted.

Red neff Barchetta · Mar 07, 2003, 07:09 PM

The Robinsons...and that is why Tim is the PU guru!

tlhdoc · Mar 07, 2003, 08:09 PM

Gatsmommy

QuoteORIGINAL: Gatsmommy

After reading all about the roof problems DH and I are still considering buying a Santa Fe if the last 02 closeout is still at the dealer when we get there tomarrow. I m not sure I d want to buy a used one, but as long as we have the warrenty I m not concerned about it, but I will keep an eye out for problems.....If we get it LOL

Most of the problems are with the 12 foot roofs, not the 10 like the Santa Fe has.

Tim5055 · Mar 09, 2003, 06:27 PM

tlhdoc

QuoteORIGINAL: tlhdoc

Most of the problems are with the 12 foot roofs, not the 10 like the Santa Fe has.

Tracy,

This is correct for the problem of sag, but the delamination and bowing of front & back seal occurs at about the same rate in the 10 foot roofs. As a matter of fact, I am on my second roof on my Santa Fe due to delamination.

The Robinsons · Mar 09, 2003, 08:32 PM

The RobinsonsThanks everyone for the great information! Tim.... " We re not worthy! We re not worthy!" The amount of information in your head is simply astounding![

]

Since we are not the original owners, we will be keeping our fingers crossed that our roof won t have any problems! I want to buy neat gadgets and things - not a new roof!

Tim5055 · Mar 09, 2003, 08:38 PM

The Robinsons

QuoteORIGINAL: The Robinsons

Thanks everyone for the great information! Tim.... " We re not worthy! We re not worthy!" The amount of information in your head is simply astounding![]

Since we are not the original owners, we will be keeping our fingers crossed that our roof won t have any problems! I want to buy neat gadgets and things - not a new roof!

To be quite honest, the number of problems seemed to be reduced year after year, so a 2002 is probably fairly safe.

I hope you have many years happy camping with it.

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