Message Forums

Hi,

Just bought a Coleman Gettysburg camper and although it's really old it's weathered really well, in the middle of fixing it up for our first expedition but would really like an awning - not sure how the freestanding ones work or if another type i.e a caravan awning would work, any help would be appreciated.  BTW the folding camper has a hard flat top roof.

Thanks

If your camper has an awning rail on the hardtop like our Conway Tardis had,we found that a decent size lightweight porch awning fitted perfectly.Hope this helps.Cheers John.

Hi Carrieanne,

We had a Coleman Cape Cod - hard top - and at some point in it's life somebody had attached an awning rail to the side of the hard top, so I can vouch that that works on a Coleman.The trailer came with a sun awning that slotted into the awning rail. 

If you need to attach a rail, it might be better to attach it lower down the hard top (ours was right at the top) Colemans are just that bit taller!.

A lightweight porch awning would be fine. I wouldn't put a bigger awning on it because of the struts supporting the roof of the camper - they'd be taking the weight of the awning all on one side too and some of those caravan awnings are heavy.

I think the other option you mention is a good one - the free-standing motorhome awnings that link up to an awning rail. No weight issues to worry about then, and you are less restricted on size. I think some of them come a bit taller too.

Good luck!

Hi Carrieanne.

Only just viewed your post.  The coleman stands at least 8' high, but if it has a standard US coleman awning rail the diameter of the slot is larger than the UK one.  A motorhome awning will do the job as it is self supporting but you probably need to stitch a new rail tape to this awning.  Be sure to measure first from floor to rail as some awnings do vary.  The coleman sun awning is great for short stop overs but our weather and storage needs probably dictates the use of an awning.

Good luck with the popup & hapy camping.