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My review: 2017 Coleman 262BH
We bought a new Coleman Lantern 262BH and took it for a trip a couple of weeks ago. I'm pulling it with a Chevrolet Suburban 1500, 4x4 with a 5.3 V8 and I added Sumo Supersprings to the rear suspension. The guy at Camping World (CW) said that I would be wanting an electric tongue jack. But, after jacking it up and down a few times I think it will be a long time before that actually becomes an issue for me. It's not asking that much.
I have noticed that the battery on this thing goes dead pretty quick. I think it get's drawn down by the sensors and such on the camper. So, if it's going to be stored I pull the battery, charge it and put it back in the box but, I don't connect it. I plan to put a switch on it in the long run.
The door holder that holds the open is mounted too low. I don't think I will take it back to CW and let them mess with it. I can fix it in ten minutes. It's aggravating to see such really obvious manufacturing mistakes. The issue is that when the wind blows it pushes the holder up and out of it's saddle and the door blows around. If the thing were mounted 4 inches higher it wouldn't do that. The only other issue that I have found with the camper is that there are curtains between the bedroom and the living room. One of the slider clips was broken right from the start and the Velcro straps that hold the curtains back are mounted with a small screw. On the first use the strap will pull over the screw head. I simply put a washer behind it and fixed that issue. I need to contact Dutchman and see if they will send me a new curtain. Those clips can't be replaced very easy.
We let the guy at CW set up our WD hitch. So the trailer tows really well. No real sway issues so far. We did some interstate and rolling mountain driving. The Suburban has a 5.3 V8. It does fine as long as you're not in a hurry. If you're in a hurry you'll be needing much more than a 5.3. As far as handling and braking it does fine, really well. We will keep the burb for a couple of years before even considering a new tow vehicle. We mostly do beach trips and for that kind of driving it will do great.
We sold our old motorhome. For driving a bunch of weight there is no perfect. The old 454 was a hoss though. I digress..
Once we got to the dog show (with full hookups) I had the camper set up pretty quick. A cordless drill on those stabilizer jacks is the only way to go. Takes two seconds or less to get one down. Love it. The slideout really adds a lot of room to the living space. We have been RV-ing for three decades and never had a slide. Really a wonderful invention.
The power awning is another story. Yea, it's quick and easy. But, the guy at CW said that wind would kill it quick. I have actually witnessed this in a KOA. A guy rolled out the awning on his brand new trailer and a decent strong breeze wrapped it over the top of the camper. So, this awning just makes me nervous. I had a manual awning on the motorhome and it could, and did, take a lot of storms and decent winds. I rolled it up if it was getting crazy but, for the average day at the beach back off of the actual beach I left it out. Also, the guy at CW said that I couldn't use straps to keep it from blowing away. However, I have been told that straps with poles is OK. I'll be getting some of those. Hey, the power awning came with the trailer so..
We just use the bunks for storage. The mattresses are pretty thin in there. The mattress in the bedroom is a queen (RV queen). It isn't a good mattress. I slept OK but, it's not good and my wife says we're getting some egg-crate foam to go on it. Compared to the bed in the motorhome, as far as layout, I like it better. It's functional.
The bathroom is.. Ok let me back up. We came from an older class A and a 15 foot trailer before that. The bathroom is a pretty good design. It's a bit crowded but, the shower is big enough with an RV tub. It's more functional than what we had.. My wife likes the foot pedal toilet. I don't care either way.
The fridge works well but, it's shallow, smaller than what we had. No biggie. I like the kitchen layout very much. It works really well. That plus the slideout is great. The guy at CW said that when we tow we should take the glass tray out of the microwave. We do but, I towed that trailer for a lot of miles up and down mountains, small mountains but, mountains nonetheless. I left a fire extinguisher sitting up in the RV and it was exactly where I left it when I got the camper home. So, things weren't too bad in there.
At the dog show there was no cable TV. So we used the roof antenna and pushed the little button on the cable box. We got nearly 70 channels on the DTV. I thought that was pretty cool. Of course we supplied our own TV.
The AC works great on this camper. It was 90 degrees and we were in direct sunlight on pavement. The camper stayed nice and cool inside and the roof unit wasn't maxed out trying to keep it that way. I did discover that when it's really hot it's best to open the main exhaust vent and just let it dump cold air into the RV. The central air works fine but, it will cool fast with the big main vent open.
We tried the heat at the dealership and it did as expected. The water heater works great. It heats water the fastest of any camper we have ever owned. I turned it on, brushed my teeth, shaved and I had enough hot water to take a shower.
The roof is rubber. It's not EPDM or TPO. I can't say much more than that. We shall see how it does in the coming years.
The doors on the outside storage seem to be pretty water tight. The main door seats well even after a good tow.
All things considered I think we're pretty pleased, so far.
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Had to do it myself. Probably just install a battery switch then so you can disconnect the load without tools. Best of luck and have fun.
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