Haven't weighed the truck yet, on the agenda for today. However, we did take it for a "test drive" for a 600-mile trip this week, just to make sure we weren't overreacting to this. The vehicle was barely acceptable on the highway, it jerked and wobbled even when driving over the smallest seams on the concrete highway like the engine was lurching, and going over speed bumps was really rough. I was holding my breath the whole trip. Off-road was completely non-viable on even the mildest of dirt roads - we could barely manage to creep 5mph on an extremely tame dirt road that we could normally drive 30+ with our usual camping gear and a shell (many drive it even faster than that), when the dealer told us we should be able to drive it off-road with "no problems."
But my problems with the dealer go way beyond the camper itself. First, the ad that we saw in the paper the day we went to see it the first time said that they "only have one at this price." That was six weeks ago. I have looked back, and they have re-run the same ad with the same claim at least FOUR times since we bought the camper, including relisting this ad just yesterday. Lie #1 (see http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=30111313&cat=&lpid=&search=palomino%20bronco&ad_cid=2).
Second, when we went to look at the camper, we were told by the salesperson that the new Backpacker models that were coming out this year would actually be heavier than this one. That is also not true (see http://www.palominorv.com/ProductInfo.aspx?model=backpack&page=specifications). The dry weight for the backpacker version of our B-600 is listed at exactly the same weight. Lie #2.
Third, the installation was a joke. The installer was obviously brand-new to the job, and not trained well. He told us things that were in exact contradiction to what Palomino's loading instructions say, and when we drove it off the lot, the camper was sliding around in our bed so badly that it almost took out our bed quarter-panels. We just didn't realize how much it had slid until we got it home, but by that time, the dealership was closed for the day. Also, when we opened the camper up, we discovered that in lowering the top, they managed to bend the faucet with one of the upper cabinets. We solved the sliding problem on our own through online investigation for a solution by installing a rubber mat (at our cost - they didn't have any in stock), and then we took the camper back to the dealer the next day to show them the damaged faucet. The service people said they would take care of it, but to date, they've never called back.
As for the overloading statement, there's a HUGE difference between being overloaded by 100 lbs and 500+ lbs. I know there's some slop in any manufacturer's recommended numbers, and our road test proves beyond these objective measures that this camper is not the right one for our vehicle. The manufacturer's label on the back of the camper states the weight with standard equipment is exactly the same as the advertised weight to the pound. There's very little chance that could be true, every unit varies in weight even a small amount, so I seriously doubt they actually weigh every unit before it leaves the plant floor and state the actual accurate weight on each camper.
At the very least, I'm going to submit a complaint about the dealer to the BBB, and post a poor review for them on their Google listing. Where I go from there will depend on their next response.
