Newbie trying to match a TC to my 1500 HD
Well I'm a newbie here looking to purchase my first TC. I have been doing a lot of research, but finding many conflicting answers/opinions regarding matching campers to trucks. First, here are the sp...
Forum Discussion
Well I finally pulled the trigger and went with the '07 Palomino 1251 SB. I purchased Torklift frame mounts, XL tiedowns, and Stableloads.
I am overall pleased with the purchase. I do believe it is one of the "cheaper" made TC's, but for the price I can't complain. It has all of the amenities that we were looking for, and a decent camper to start with. I am definitely glad that I went with the pop-up style with my truck. These things are larger than expected in person! The only bad spots than I found on the camper was the 4" wide OSB board that runs the width across the frond and rear of the camper where the roof curves down to meet the canvas. There are a couple of soft spots near the lights at the corners. I took some butyl caulk and covered the seams around all 4 corners and the corresponding lights, so hopefully that will take care of it. I took it to the CAT scales immediately after the purchase, and the results are in the attached pic. When comparing these numbers to my first trip to the scales the camper weighs in at 1960 lbs. Yea, a little more of a spread from the 1553 lb sticker weight! So once I am loaded I will definitely be over GVWR, but should remain under my rear axle ratings. FYI the weights were before I installed stableloads, so I'm not sure if that would shift any weight forward or not? The only negative aspect I see is the loading/unloading of the camper. I literally have less than one inch of play on both sides between the fender wells of my truck! I can foresee electric jacks and derringers for my XL tiedowns in the future.
I took it out this week for its maiden voyage with the G3 for some bowhunting. We really enjoyed our first time in the camper. It's like staying in the Hilton compared to my camper van! Now for the bad news. I will start a new thread for this topic, but I learned than my extended hitch, was not extended enough....:o
I am overall pleased with the purchase. I do believe it is one of the "cheaper" made TC's, but for the price I can't complain. It has all of the amenities that we were looking for, and a decent camper to start with. I am definitely glad that I went with the pop-up style with my truck. These things are larger than expected in person! The only bad spots than I found on the camper was the 4" wide OSB board that runs the width across the frond and rear of the camper where the roof curves down to meet the canvas. There are a couple of soft spots near the lights at the corners. I took some butyl caulk and covered the seams around all 4 corners and the corresponding lights, so hopefully that will take care of it. I took it to the CAT scales immediately after the purchase, and the results are in the attached pic. When comparing these numbers to my first trip to the scales the camper weighs in at 1960 lbs. Yea, a little more of a spread from the 1553 lb sticker weight! So once I am loaded I will definitely be over GVWR, but should remain under my rear axle ratings. FYI the weights were before I installed stableloads, so I'm not sure if that would shift any weight forward or not? The only negative aspect I see is the loading/unloading of the camper. I literally have less than one inch of play on both sides between the fender wells of my truck! I can foresee electric jacks and derringers for my XL tiedowns in the future.
I took it out this week for its maiden voyage with the G3 for some bowhunting. We really enjoyed our first time in the camper. It's like staying in the Hilton compared to my camper van! Now for the bad news. I will start a new thread for this topic, but I learned than my extended hitch, was not extended enough....:o
