Any Hallmark Ute Pop-up camper owners

[Mtn_lion]

I would like to hear from any Hallmark Ute pop-up Camper owners. Good and bad and would you get one again? Also if you were to build one again any recommendations. Just trying to decide between two campers.
Thanks,
Brian

[OutdoorAddict]

I just completed a two month trip in a Hallmark Ute out west. The wife is retiring next spring and we are going to travel for extended trips so we are moving up to a small 5th wheel. I am the second owner of my UTE, and did extensive upgrades to the camper last year. We had a great time and took this camper everywhere.

[Mtn_lion]

Thanks Mike for the info. I finally found someone in my area that had a new Hallmark camper. They are very nice. It is just what I am looking for. Thanks to everyone for all their input.
Brian

[Dura_Mike]

Hi Brian,
Sorry for the late post; I have been busier than the proverbial one armed paper hanger.

I am a new Hallmark Ute owner. I picked mine up in Sept 2014. I am very pleased with the unit thus far. I have mostly taken short trips. I did spend a week in it bringing it home. And another week in Southern Utah over Thanksgiving week. We woke up to 19 degrees in Bryce. Cold for a desert rat, but the heater worked well!

I opted for the compressor fridge. I live in Phoenix and it gets hot here and I have not had good luck with the absorption units. Along with the fridge came a large solar panel. I also opted for LEDs inside and out. So far, the solar panel along with driving from spot to spot has meant we have never been without power. During the cold nights in Utah, the heater would cycle on periodically at night. And even though we only had about 10 hours of sun on the panel, it was able to charge the batteries sufficiently.

Along with the outside LED lights, I also opted for LED Tractor lights in the rear. They are bright!! It makes backing up at night in the middle of nowhere a breeze.

Not wanting to open the toilet debate again, but I did select the cassette toilet with fresh water fill (the other option is "creek" water fill).

I also wanted the rear boxes, so Hallmark added those as well. Virtually all of my camping is dry with no hook ups. Because of the heat in Phoenix in the summer, Wahzoo recommended the AC unit for trip prep and clean up; so I took Dave's advice and got the AC unit. I did use in my drive way last September & October.

My significant other wanted a microwave, so it has one of those; although it has not been used. I also opted for an oven; which has been used to prepare Thanksgiving dinner as well as a pretty amazing feast for some friends a few weeks back.

My truck is diesel and naturally, the camper has propane. I did not want to carry a third fuel source for a generator. So Hallmark ran a propane line to the rear of the camper for the generator. The generator is a Yamaha with a tri-fuel carburetor (gasoline, propane and natural gas). The only time I have used the generator thus far was at Hallmark when picking up the camper. We ran the AC unit for about 45 minutes on the generator.

I also asked Hallmark to put some 12V power sockets in the bed area so that we can charge cell phones and tablets while sleeping. And I opted for the extended cabover which provides the north south bed.

My truck also has a back up camera. Not an option I would have selected, but the rest of the truck had the exact options I was looking for, so I accepted it with the back up camera. But since the truck had one, I bought a second and Hallmark fabricated a bracket to hold the camera. I works pretty well to see directly behind the camper when backing.

I took about 3 years to narrow my decision to a truck camper and the specific manufacturers (Chevy & Hallmark) that I chose. I would definitely check out Hallmark and Outfitter. I also looked at Four Wheel and thought they make a nice unit as well. I have seen more of theirs in the places I go. I was looking for more amenities than they offer, though.

I like to kayak and put yakima bars on the roof. I also installed the Yakima rolling boat loader. With it I can load two kayaks, by myself. I would also like to have a cargo box on the roof, but there is not really any more room with solar panel, AC, two kayaks and boat loading system.

I hope this helps you with your many decisions. This forum and the people on it were of tremendous help to me in sorting out all of the options and decisions.
Mike

[Mtn_lion]

Thanks for the info. I thought there were more owners out there. I will take your advise and go talk to Hallmark and Outfitter this year.

[Vic_R]

Good build list. I hadn't really considered A/C as out here in the arid west its not as critical, but I'm sure post retirement (a few years out) we'll take some trips back east. Going to add A/C prewire to the build list. Thanks!

[a4edriver]

Brian,

Sherri and I looked around for about two years to decide on a new TC. We looked at both hard side and pop up campers. Last fall we finally decided on a Hallmark Ute, which we are picking up in April. Our current TC, a Four Wheel Grandby, has been very good and very reliable. We traveled with it about 60 to 90 days a year with virtually no problems for eight years. However, we wanted a TC with a few more amenities. After looking at many truck campers, the Hallmark Ute hit the sweet spot for us. We wanted roof top air conditioning for our travels in the eastern (humid) half of the country. We know from experience that we never needed three burners on the cook top, so we ordered a two burner recessed cook top and no oven, but did order a microwave that goes into one of the overhead compartments. We stayed with the standard double sink and standard east-west bed. We added a couple extra 12v and 110v outlets. We wanted to be able to plug things in when in the cab over bed. We got the cassette toilet in the wet bath. We spent the extra money and got the 4.3 cu. ft. compressor frig, which requires 200 watts of roof top solar. Our roof will have a lot on it with the two 100 watt soft solar panels, a/c, two powered roof fans, sky lite over the shower, and Yakima tracks. Hallmark offers a two way water heater, electric/gas, that we ordered. I thought that would save us on propane whenever we were plugged into shore power. On the exterior, we got the 10 ft side awning, porch lights, rear floods, roof ladder, a detachable shore power cord on driver's side, and one Roto Pax storage can on the back wall to carry generator gas (if and when we get a generator).

I know this Hallmark Ute will probably weigh 400-500 lbs more than my 2007 FWC Grandby (1320 lbs dry), but my 3/4T Dodge should do okay with it. It has an 8 ft bed, which means it cannot have the extra storage space for things like a generator. The Hallmark Ute/Everest campers designed for 6.5 ft beds have space for extra storage boxes in the back.

Good luck,
Buzz, Sherri and Spridgy the camper cat

[rottidawg]

Here is link that might help:
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/6859-new-hallmark-ute/

[Vic_R]

Going through the same analysis myself, but I am probably going to go with an Everest to pick up those outside storage boxes. Visited the factory a few weeks ago and was very impressed. What options are you considering?