Coleman Lantern

No slides, full bath, oven, queen bed - perfect for a retired single guy.

2016-Coleman/Dutchman-274 BHS-27'

Exterior: Fluorescent white and yellow racing stripes were added to the street side when I misjudged clearance two separate times at gas pump islands.

The usable awning length was reduced 2' when I misjudged clearance to a parked semi trailer.

Added backup camera to rear bumper with RF cable running the entire length to a wifi antenna under the propane cover. Still troubleshooting installation, but works great when the rig is parked.

Added security cameras 2 per side hardwired to a DVR controller in laundry room which connects to a 20" flatscreen in living area. Whole system is capable of 12v operation and hard drive stores 1 month of images.

Interior: Removed bunk beds to create Laundry room with plenty of full sized hanger space. Washer (LG combo wash/dry) is located on other side of wall from tub/shower, so hot/cold/drain connections were simple. Installing 110v outlet, not so simple. Living within 30A limit is challenging, but only blew the main breaker once so far.

Installed shelves in the bedroom "closets" and removed clothes rods.

Customizations: Sound system: 1000 watt Crown Amplifier under dining table seat, bedroom and living area speakers plus subwoofer under couch. 30 channel graphic equalizer plus 2 channel compressor/limiter for those pesky movies which are either too soft or too loud. Preamp, speaker selector w/ constant impedance and bluetooth converter round things out. (I used to do professional sound reinforcement which is why I blew a small fortune on a system that can never be fully utilized in a typical trailer park. Looking for a used generator for boondocking...)

The laundry room also has a hydroponic gardening setup for growing hot peppers. This is "in progress" but I have some Carolina Reaper seeds ready to go.

Renovations and Repairs: While installing washer/dryer discovered a leaking PEX connection on cold water side of water heater. Heater is under the foot end of bunk beds only accessible through a panel at the end of the under bed storage. This would have eventually be discovered when the floor rotted through, since I don't winterize the unit (full timer based in Florida).

Installed fan in exhaust tower of fridge since at ambient temps over 90 (half the year in Florida) efficiency was so low that ice cubes had problems freezing. Interior fan really helps temp distribution and recovery - highly recommended. Replaced controller board, as the original wouldn't switch to AC... (neither would the second until I found out how to do a reset. DUH! Now I have a spare, lol.)

The propane reg wouldn't switch over right, nor would its replacement or the other replacement in a different brand. Actually, don't like the auto switchover idea, since when the gas runs out, you are stuck. A couple of nipples, a tee and a simple regulator later, when the gas runs out I close that tank off, open the other and put the empty in the pickup truck. Never run out of gas that way.

Tow Vehicle: The Chevy Colorado is the "small" pickup in the line. It dwarfed my S10 (previous "small" pickup). No bells and whistles to speak of, just the trailer package and a Leer cap on the back. Since the 27' Coleman is rated at 7000 lbs max, the 7000 lb towing capacity seemed to fit. At 300 h, the 6 cyl engine spends a lot of time in the higher RPM range, so I limit the speed to 45-55 mph. Going from Florida to Kentucky last year: 1.) It made it there and back (thankfully I did spend $$$ for a good 10,000 lb rated anti-sway, load leveling hitch!) 2.) Overall MPG was 9.8, and 3.) I only passed one vehicle the whole way, and it was sporting 4 way flashers...

Favorite Camping Destinations: Only been on one trip. Heartland campgrounds in Campbellsville, KY. Since Amazon paid for the FU, I suppose it was OK, though WiFi never worked, phone signal was horrible and OTA TV was limited to but one station. PBS has a way of turning major news into a boring affair.

I like my home base in Florida, Dukes Landing in Fruitland Park. I am surrounded by Lake Griffin on three sides, have a 12' momma alligator living 5 feet off the back bumper that says hello when I come and go, Mrrrf, mrrrrf. A family of bunny rabbits lives next to the alligator nest. I guess the alligator stays well fed from the numerous bass in the lake. Plus I am less than 100 miles from either the ocean or the gulf, or Disney etc.