Our Camper
Our 2007 Fleetwood/Coleman Sun Valley Camper
Camper Photos
Fleetwood Sun Valley Model
Floor Plan
Note: The Refrigerator is installed opposite from the door, to the right of the sink, in the area marked "Storage" in the diagram above.
Biggest Advantages of the Fleetwood/Coleman Sun Valley Floor Plan
1. "Top Down Refrigerator Access" means you can access the refrigerator and fill it up or empty it with the top (roof) down. This is a very big benefit over other floor plans. The doorway leads right to the refrigerator which is within view of the doorway when you open the door. With other models, the Kitchen Galley is folded over or moved with a chain mechanism in front of the refrigerator door, so you can not open the refrigerator door until you pop up the whole camper. That is so time consuming some people don't bother using their refrigerator and instead use a portable cooler for their food with other floor layouts. The refrigerator is a great appliance so you really want to use it. We usually bring a portable cooler in addition to the refrigerator because we have so much food for a family of 6. The cooler stays in the minivan. The refrigerator is right there in the camper ready for use.
2. Large sleeping capacity - Officially you can sleep 9 in this floorplan. 3 on each bed, 2 kids on the kitchen table area, and 1 on the couch. Practically, it is easy to sleep 7 in this floorplan: 3 on each bed is easy (heads at the far ends of the camper and feet near the box of the camper) and 1 on the couch. The 2 extra on the kitchen table area is not as easy because you have to keep the table clean. We often store our soft sided suitcases on the Kitchen table area for the night of sleeping and then move them back to the beds during the day.
3. Only 17' 2" long - This means you can store it in the 3rd stall of a 3 stall garage. Other floor plans with the same sleeping capacity are 19 or 20+ feet long, which makes it difficult or impossible to store in a garage.
4. Only 2100 lbs dry (dry = without all your stuff in it) weight. This makes it easy to tow with a minivan. Heavier units require an SUV.
5. Enough room for a Hot Water Heater - this appliance is very helpful. Otherwise you have to heat up all your water for washing dishes.
6. Outside shower - this comes in handy many times to rinse off or take a quick wash of your head to clean up or cool down.
Biggest Dis-advantages of the Fleetwood/Coleman Sun Valley Floor Plan
1. Eating table seating capacity is only 4. We added 2 compact folding camping stools (See the photo above of our 2 compact folding camping stools) to raise that capacity to 6. The extra 2 people sit in the hallway by the Pop-Out Kitchen Galley. It works just fine, a little bit cramped but still fine, and actually cozy. A "Slide out" that seats more is better for a larger family. Unfortunately all the floor plans with slide outs weigh a lot more.
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Biggest Advantages of the Fleetwood/Coleman Brand
The Fleetwood company put the "Coleman" Brand label on their campers for years. Fleetwood and Coleman were synonymous terms while Fleetwood was in business.
1. High quality engineering on many details, in my humble opinion. Owning a camper is like owning a car. People become attached to their brands and they are not objective anymore, like when people become loyal to Chevys, Fords, Toyotas, or Hondas. Everyone has to shop and compare what they consider better quality engineering.
2. High quality "Sunbrella" brand canvas that breathes, rather than creating stuffy humid conditions. Other brands use low quality canvas so they need to use tinted windows to keep the heat down inside. Coleman has clear windows to see the beautiful outdoors because there is no need for tinting the windows.
3. One piece door that does not let in Mosquitoes. Other brands have a one-piece door too but some brands have a 2-piece door that lets in the mosquitoes and is hard to close.
4. Backsaver Bed Supports are easy to set up.
5. Stepper Door is nice and solid
6. Quality Engineered Lift System
Classic Fleetwood Wiffle Tree concept, which pulls all cables from a central point. Other campers put the lift crank on the side, the front, or other odd places, rather than right in the center where it has a simpler design. Other campers have special cheap cables to stop you from cranking too high. The Fleetwood/Coleman lift system knows when to stop cranking, rather than relying on a cable to tell you when to stop. I've seen those cheap cables break, that are supposed to tell you when to stop cranking.
Very solid built lift posts. Lift posts are thick, wide, non-rusting, and solid. Some of the lift posts I've seen on other campers are so thin I'd be concerned if they would hold the roof. Also some roofs require an emergency bracket to be added, just in case the lift posts fail. Why not just make a solid lift post to begin with. Other campers require you to cover the lift posts with canvas tenting to prevent rust. Fleetwood/Colemans have stainless steel material that won't rust. More evidence of quality engineering by design, not by a workaround fix system.
7. More to come...
Biggest Disadvantages of the Fleetwood/Coleman Brand
1. Fleetwood is now a piece of history and "Out of Business".
See this link on the history of Fleetwood/Coleman Popup Campers
2. Roofs on older (used) models
In years 1996 to 2003, they used ABS Plastic roofs and a small but important percent of the ABS plastic roofs would crack, blister, and look ugly, sag, and/or leak. Then in 2003.5 (halfway through the year), they switched to Alumatite aluminum roofs which had a different minor defect where they simply didn't put silicon under the screws holding the bike rack on, again, for a small % of the campers manufactured.
It looks like they tried to cut costs and made mistakes on the roofs for a few years. In 2007, they went to a standard fiberglass Filon brand roof, which is a standard in the industry, for even big RVs. We have the Filon roof and have had no problems with it.
The ABS Plastic and Aluminum roofs were considered better innovations than traditional fiberglass at the time, but now they are seen as worse. The ABS Plastic roofs seemed to fail more often in states with high heat in the summer. You can study this more by searching on PopupExplorer.com. We have only had good roofs on the 2 Fleetwood/Coleman campers we had - a 2004 and a 2007. We were part of the large majority of people who never had any roof problems.
3. Price
The price of Fleetwood/Colemans is higher than most other brands. To us it was worth the additional price to pay for what we saw as higher quality engineering that won't break down as often and will function more easily. To others, it's a waste of money. Each person has to examine the functionality carefully and consider and evaluate if it's worth it for them.
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Estimated Weight of our Trailer
We weighed the rear axle once at a weigh station, fully loaded with bikes, 2 propane tanks, 2 batteries, and stuffed full of gear and luggage inside. It had the following weight.
Unloaded Vehicle Weight 2,175 lbs
Estimated Gear, Luggage, 3 Bikes, Dual Propane Tanks, Dual 12V Batteries, etc 1,000 lbs
Actual Weight:
Rear Axle 2860 lbs (measured at a CAT weigh station)
Estimated tongue weight 320 lbs (measured with a Sherline tongue weight scale)
Estimated total weight 3180 lbs
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating 3,500 lbs
There is much more info on the weight of my camper at a photo album at this link
2007 Fleetwood / Coleman Sun Valley Popup Camper
Factory Capacities & Dimensions
Box Size Classification 12ft
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating 3,500 lbs
Unloaded Vehicle Weight 2,175 lbs
Unloaded Hitch Weight 195 lbs
Maximum Carrying Capacity 1,325 lbs
Front Storage Trunk Capacity Not Available
Total Storage Capacity 41 cu. ft.
Bed Capacity 1,100 lbs
Tire Size ST185/80D13
Dimensions Open (Length x Width) 25' x 9' 5"
Dimensions Closed (Length x Width) 17' 2" x 7' 5"
Dimensions Open (Height) 8' 3"
Dimensions Closed (Height) 4' 5"
Dimensions Interior (Height) 6' 8"
Front Bed Size 6' 5" x 5' 10"
Rear Bed Size 6' 5" x 5' 10"
Convertible Bench/Bed Size 2' 8" x 6' 8"
Convertible Dinette/Bed Size 5' 6" x 3' 5"
Sleeping Capacity 9
Water Storage Capacity 20 gal
Water Storage Capacity with Water Heater 26 gal
Grey Water Storage Capacity Not Available
Black Water Storage Capacity Not Available
Water Tank Location Under Floor
Converter/Charger Amperage 25A
Construction & Appearance
Posi-Lock Lift System standard
Tubular Steel Frame with Bumper standard
Heavy Duty Tubular Steel Chassis standard
Slipper Leaf Spring Suspension standard
Front & Rear Body Panels Impact Resistant Thermoformed
Sidewall Body Panels Durable Krystal Kote
Full Perimeter Aluminum Body & Bed Rails standard
EZ Lube Axle standard
Breathable Sunbrella 302 Tenting standard
Clear Windows with Fine Mesh Screening standard
One-Piece Weyerhaeuser Structurewood Floor standard
Roof Filon Fiberglass
Entry Step StepperDoor with lockable tool compartment
Wide One-Piece Screen Door standard
Crank Location Waist level
Seamless rotomolded storage box not available
Propane Tank(s) & Vinyl Cover(s) 1 - 20 lbs
Wheels Aluminum
Spare Tire with Vinyl Spare Tire Cover standard
Comfort & Convenience
Casual Seating Area standard
Worry-Free Shut off for interior lights standard
Combo Fan/Light for slide-out or tip-out available * 3 Included on our camper
AM/FM/CD stereo with iPod connections Not Available
Stereo Speakers not available
Cable TV connection not available
Electrical & Mechanical
12 Volt Interior Lighting standard
12 Volt Water Pump standard
12 Volt Exterior Patio Light standard
110 Volt Interior & Exterior Outlets standard
Electric Brakes Standard
Kitchen & Dinette
Galley Type swing-level tip-out
Countertops seamless edged
Refrigerator 1.9 cu.ft.
Indoor Stove 2 burner
Oven not available
Microwave not available
Sink deep bowl
Cutlery Tray standard
Dinette Type Fixed
Dinette Table seamless-edged carry-out
Dinette Seats metal framed
Outdoor Cooking carry-out low pressure stove
Bed & Bath
Mattresses Upholstered
Window Curtains and Bed Privacy Curtains standard
Changing Room Curtain not available
Bed Support System Backsaver Support Legs
Wall Step not available
Bathroom Type not available
Bathroom Structure not available
Outside Shower available * Included
Safety
Fire Extinguisher standard
Carbon Monoxide Dectector / Alarm standard
Propane Detector / Alarm standard
Positive Locking Safety Chains standard
Accessories & Options
Self Storing Canopy Available * Included on our camper
Deluxe Add-A-Room Available
Screen Room Available
Air Conditioning Available
12V Power Lift System Available
Roof Vent With Fan Available
Double Cross Bar Kit Available * Included on our camper
Bike Mount Available * Included
Boat Mounting Kit Available
Cargo Basket Available
Basket Retaining Net Available
Cargo Straps (1 Pair) Available
Handy Portable Fan/Light Combination Available * 3 Included on our camper
Camper Caddie Available * Included
Mirrored Vanity Mate Available * Included on our camper
Bed Shelf Available
Wardrobe Hanger Available * Included on our camper
Sink Cover Available * Included
Battery Box & Straps Available * Included on our camper
Sand Pads Available * Included
25 FT. 12V Auto Extension Cord Available
Dual Propane Tank System Available * Included on our camper
Molded Spare Tire Cover Available
Vinyl Gas Bottle Cover Available * Included on our camper
Current NADA Blue Book Value - last upadate May 4, 2012
Suggested List — The value listed reflects the approximate price of the unit when it is brand new. The prices listed are furnished by the manufacturer and are assumed to be correct. The list price does not include freight charges.
Low Retail Value — A low retail unit may have extensive wear and tear. Body parts may have dents and blemishes. The buyer can expect to invest in cosmetic and/or mechanical work. This vehicle should be in safe running order. Low retail vehicles usually are not found on dealer lots. Low retail is not a trade-in value.
Average Retail Value — An average retail vehicle should be clean and without glaring defects. Tires and glass should be in good condition. The paint should match and have a good finish. The interior should have wear in relation to the age of the vehicle. Carpet and seat upholstery should be clean, and all power options should work. The mileage should be within the acceptable range for the model year.
2007 Fleetwood Popup Camper Owners Manual and Sales Brochure are attached under the section "Owners and User Manuals"
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