Palazzo review
I just got back from my shakedown trip with my new Palazzo 33.3 and since I have seen several questions/comments about this model here I thought that I would share what I have learned so far. First off, I want to say that I am moving up from a slide-in camper and don't pretend to be a class A expert but since this seems to be marketed as an entry level pusher from Thor I expect that most people inquiring are novices too. The experts can skip this or take it for what it is worth.
First Item: The floor plan.
This is what sold me on the Palazzo. I love the mid-door and the sleeping accomodations. I still work for a living so I don't expect to spend months at a time in it with the wife. I expect to make one to three week trips with the children and possibly grandchildren and maybe even my mother so I need quite a few berths. I loved the mobility of the truck camper and did not want to give up any more of that than I had to.
Second Item: Customer Service.
The service from Thor and Freightliner has been the best that I have ever experienced with the exception of one issue I will discuss in a separate topic. I am doing my own service since I live a long way from the nearest dealer but they have been very helpful over the phone and in sending what few parts I needed. When I inquired about taking it to a non-Thor dealer that was more convenient they said that they would work with who-ever was best for me.
Third Item: Fuel economy.
I purchased this coach 700 mile from home and towed a car on a U-Haul trailer that weighed 2100lbs on that trip. Total towed weight was around 5500lbs. The trip computer showed 10.5 mpg and hand calculated was 10.1mpg with most driving at 63mph. My shakedown cruise involved going over Monteagle in I24, over the Smokies on the Cherohala Skyway, into Robbinsville and quite a bit of time on back roads like Joyce Kilmer. With no trailer I was showing about 10mpg from the time I left home to the time I got back on I75 headed home. I reset the trip computer and got home with it reading 11.8mpg after going through Chattanooga during rush hour and back over Monteagle. That was quite a bit better than my old truck camper would do so I was very pleased. Power was never an issue and I was able to go up all of the hills as fast as I cared to. I think Monteage has a 6% grade and a speed limit of 55mph. I passed several trucks on that grade.
Forth Item: Handling
Driving home from the dealer was a white knuckle experience. It was a combination of my lack of experience with a class A, too much tongue weight on the U-Haul trailer, too much air in the tires and 30mph cross winds in addition to whatever issues are inherent in the rig. Removing the trailer and letting the tire pressure down to 95PSI from 120PSI has helped a lot. I am optimistic that a better balanced trailer will not be such an issue. I am finding that as my experience increases driving it is getting more pleasant. Little things like the pedals being several inchers to the right of the steering column and the brakes are hinged at the bottom instead of at the fire-wall just took some getting used to. Some of the switches are just out of reach and can be awkward to use in heavy traffic.
Fifth Item: Engine exhaust brake
My first experience with this and it was great. Probably reduced the use of the mechanical brakes 80%. I did not have to use anything else coming off of Monteagle and only rarely on the Cherohala Skyway.
Sixth Item: Turning Circle
For something this long it is very good. That is a good thing since i tood it some places that would have been tough in my truck camper.
Seventh Item: Build Quality
As I commented earlier this seems to be an entry level motorhome for Thor and they sell a coach of the same size for about $100k more so you can expect to find better, even from Thor. Having said that my expectations were met and I am satisfied with the purchase. The main issue is that construction seems to have been hurried and I found construction debris under the slides, the driver's seat, the dash and other out of the way places. I had a leak in the kitchen sink drain, kitchen drawers were a little low in back(this keeps the catches from working correctly) and some fasteners seem to have missed their mark but most of the important things appear to be fine. I have been able to fix most items that I have found. The chassis and all of the purchased compenents seem to be very good.
Eighth Item: Bed over the drivers station
I really like this feature and so do my kids but they quicly vetod the supplied air mattress so I ordered a 4.5" thick mattress for a hide-a-bed and it seems to be quite comfortable. This did create a problem in that now the bed will not go all of the way up and I cannot use the factory pins to hold it. Without the pins it can work down while driving and will probably do so more on one side than the other and jam up the mechanism. On one demo unit I saw the bed was inoperable for this reason(they just left the pins out while showing it). My temporary solution is to use a cargo restraint bar on each side to help support the bed. I am still working on what my permanent solution will be. The other issue is that the control panel is in the back of a cabinet and makes the cabinet useless. Both problems could be easily addressed at the factory.
Ninth Item: Entertainment Electronics
This seems to have been thrown together by someone trying to give a checklist of features but who really did not know what they are doing. The speakers for the dash radio are in the dining area and back bedroom, making it hard for the driver to enjoy while simultaneously annoying trying to talk or use the entertainment systems. The DVD player is on the opposite side of the coach from the TV and uses a different remote control from both the TV and soundbar. There is no convenient place to park any of these remote controls. The soundbar gets its input from the TV speakers so they have to be on for the soundbar to work but there is a slight delay so there is an echo. Video signals are carried through the coach over antenna wires instead of HDMI so you have to get a converter to play something from a memory device. There is no radio outside or in the bedroom. I would not mind using my smart phone playing Pandora though the TV speakers but have not figured out how to do that yet and I have tried. The TV in the hallway is not secure and fell off during my trip. I have a lot of work to do here.
Tenth Item: Lighting
The Palazzo has lot of lights and they are very attactive. The only shortcoming is that there is only one high-effiency light in the entire coach and the rest can use a lot of power. I spent about $350 replacing bulbs with LEDs and am very happy with the result.
11th Item: Refridgerator
I love the size and cooling capacity of the household type refridgerator. The main drawback is that it does not come with an easy to use catch, you have to put in a thumbscrew to hold it closed. I expect that to be a continually annoying problem for the life of the coach if I don't find a better solution.
12 Item: Driver electronics
While have 3 outside cameras is nice I actually find the mirrors more useful for everything except seeing straight behind me. The is partly because the cameras are displayed pretty far off to the side on the radio screen. I have been trying to figure out how to route the cameras to a series of dedicated screens more in my line of vision. Also, I have not found a realy good place to mount a GPS and have just stuck it beside the radio for now. I installed an electric brake controller and that was more of a pain than it should have been. Freightliner chose not to use a plug already in use on any of the pickup trucks and developed their own. Their adapter is $141 and hard to get so I just cut the thing off and joined the wires.
13th Item: Towing Capacity
Thor's literature makes several references to the 10K hitch and their website even says "10,000lb towing capacity" in one place. I weighed my coach at 23,880lbs with a full tank of fuel, full fresh water, 650lbs of passengers and a light load of gear and food. If I were carrying the whole family on a two week trip I would expect to increase that by 1000lbs easily. Freightliner tells me that my transmission warrentee will be void if the coach weight plus trailer weight exceeds 30,000lbs. You do the math and see what you get on that one. I really wish that they had gone up a size on the transmission so I could pull a toad that will carry as many people as the coach will sleep.
I could go on but I have probably already bored a lot of people so I will stop here. I hope this helps some people that are looking at a Palazzo. I also suggest that you check out the Youtube videos, I found one really good video and one fair video.
First Item: The floor plan.
This is what sold me on the Palazzo. I love the mid-door and the sleeping accomodations. I still work for a living so I don't expect to spend months at a time in it with the wife. I expect to make one to three week trips with the children and possibly grandchildren and maybe even my mother so I need quite a few berths. I loved the mobility of the truck camper and did not want to give up any more of that than I had to.
Second Item: Customer Service.
The service from Thor and Freightliner has been the best that I have ever experienced with the exception of one issue I will discuss in a separate topic. I am doing my own service since I live a long way from the nearest dealer but they have been very helpful over the phone and in sending what few parts I needed. When I inquired about taking it to a non-Thor dealer that was more convenient they said that they would work with who-ever was best for me.
Third Item: Fuel economy.
I purchased this coach 700 mile from home and towed a car on a U-Haul trailer that weighed 2100lbs on that trip. Total towed weight was around 5500lbs. The trip computer showed 10.5 mpg and hand calculated was 10.1mpg with most driving at 63mph. My shakedown cruise involved going over Monteagle in I24, over the Smokies on the Cherohala Skyway, into Robbinsville and quite a bit of time on back roads like Joyce Kilmer. With no trailer I was showing about 10mpg from the time I left home to the time I got back on I75 headed home. I reset the trip computer and got home with it reading 11.8mpg after going through Chattanooga during rush hour and back over Monteagle. That was quite a bit better than my old truck camper would do so I was very pleased. Power was never an issue and I was able to go up all of the hills as fast as I cared to. I think Monteage has a 6% grade and a speed limit of 55mph. I passed several trucks on that grade.
Forth Item: Handling
Driving home from the dealer was a white knuckle experience. It was a combination of my lack of experience with a class A, too much tongue weight on the U-Haul trailer, too much air in the tires and 30mph cross winds in addition to whatever issues are inherent in the rig. Removing the trailer and letting the tire pressure down to 95PSI from 120PSI has helped a lot. I am optimistic that a better balanced trailer will not be such an issue. I am finding that as my experience increases driving it is getting more pleasant. Little things like the pedals being several inchers to the right of the steering column and the brakes are hinged at the bottom instead of at the fire-wall just took some getting used to. Some of the switches are just out of reach and can be awkward to use in heavy traffic.
Fifth Item: Engine exhaust brake
My first experience with this and it was great. Probably reduced the use of the mechanical brakes 80%. I did not have to use anything else coming off of Monteagle and only rarely on the Cherohala Skyway.
Sixth Item: Turning Circle
For something this long it is very good. That is a good thing since i tood it some places that would have been tough in my truck camper.
Seventh Item: Build Quality
As I commented earlier this seems to be an entry level motorhome for Thor and they sell a coach of the same size for about $100k more so you can expect to find better, even from Thor. Having said that my expectations were met and I am satisfied with the purchase. The main issue is that construction seems to have been hurried and I found construction debris under the slides, the driver's seat, the dash and other out of the way places. I had a leak in the kitchen sink drain, kitchen drawers were a little low in back(this keeps the catches from working correctly) and some fasteners seem to have missed their mark but most of the important things appear to be fine. I have been able to fix most items that I have found. The chassis and all of the purchased compenents seem to be very good.
Eighth Item: Bed over the drivers station
I really like this feature and so do my kids but they quicly vetod the supplied air mattress so I ordered a 4.5" thick mattress for a hide-a-bed and it seems to be quite comfortable. This did create a problem in that now the bed will not go all of the way up and I cannot use the factory pins to hold it. Without the pins it can work down while driving and will probably do so more on one side than the other and jam up the mechanism. On one demo unit I saw the bed was inoperable for this reason(they just left the pins out while showing it). My temporary solution is to use a cargo restraint bar on each side to help support the bed. I am still working on what my permanent solution will be. The other issue is that the control panel is in the back of a cabinet and makes the cabinet useless. Both problems could be easily addressed at the factory.
Ninth Item: Entertainment Electronics
This seems to have been thrown together by someone trying to give a checklist of features but who really did not know what they are doing. The speakers for the dash radio are in the dining area and back bedroom, making it hard for the driver to enjoy while simultaneously annoying trying to talk or use the entertainment systems. The DVD player is on the opposite side of the coach from the TV and uses a different remote control from both the TV and soundbar. There is no convenient place to park any of these remote controls. The soundbar gets its input from the TV speakers so they have to be on for the soundbar to work but there is a slight delay so there is an echo. Video signals are carried through the coach over antenna wires instead of HDMI so you have to get a converter to play something from a memory device. There is no radio outside or in the bedroom. I would not mind using my smart phone playing Pandora though the TV speakers but have not figured out how to do that yet and I have tried. The TV in the hallway is not secure and fell off during my trip. I have a lot of work to do here.
Tenth Item: Lighting
The Palazzo has lot of lights and they are very attactive. The only shortcoming is that there is only one high-effiency light in the entire coach and the rest can use a lot of power. I spent about $350 replacing bulbs with LEDs and am very happy with the result.
11th Item: Refridgerator
I love the size and cooling capacity of the household type refridgerator. The main drawback is that it does not come with an easy to use catch, you have to put in a thumbscrew to hold it closed. I expect that to be a continually annoying problem for the life of the coach if I don't find a better solution.
12 Item: Driver electronics
While have 3 outside cameras is nice I actually find the mirrors more useful for everything except seeing straight behind me. The is partly because the cameras are displayed pretty far off to the side on the radio screen. I have been trying to figure out how to route the cameras to a series of dedicated screens more in my line of vision. Also, I have not found a realy good place to mount a GPS and have just stuck it beside the radio for now. I installed an electric brake controller and that was more of a pain than it should have been. Freightliner chose not to use a plug already in use on any of the pickup trucks and developed their own. Their adapter is $141 and hard to get so I just cut the thing off and joined the wires.
13th Item: Towing Capacity
Thor's literature makes several references to the 10K hitch and their website even says "10,000lb towing capacity" in one place. I weighed my coach at 23,880lbs with a full tank of fuel, full fresh water, 650lbs of passengers and a light load of gear and food. If I were carrying the whole family on a two week trip I would expect to increase that by 1000lbs easily. Freightliner tells me that my transmission warrentee will be void if the coach weight plus trailer weight exceeds 30,000lbs. You do the math and see what you get on that one. I really wish that they had gone up a size on the transmission so I could pull a toad that will carry as many people as the coach will sleep.
I could go on but I have probably already bored a lot of people so I will stop here. I hope this helps some people that are looking at a Palazzo. I also suggest that you check out the Youtube videos, I found one really good video and one fair video.
