First hand Palomino/Forest River TC opinions?

[Mike008]

I've got some specific criteria I'm looking for in a TC, the Palomino Backpack 6601 seems like a good fit for my needs. There really aren't a lot of reviews of Palomino out there, but the sheer number of poor reviews of Forest River quality and customer service is scary. I'm aware Palomino is a company owned by Forest River. I would like to hear from someone who actually owns one of the newer 2010+ Forest River Palomino TC's. I know it's not a Cadillac and not the priciest TC, but I don't want something that will leak and fall apart in 2 years.

Mike.

[lonegunman]

Now is a good time to be looking. Prices drop as it gets colder, you might find an awesome deal. The downside is that you waste a lot of warranty time with your TC sitting in the driveway all winter.

The heat damaged plastic (door face on fridge warped and other small bits distorted from summer 90's heat) and electrical problems cooled me off quickly.

I actually thought the Adventurer was going to be my camper. The workmanship was top of the line. It was equal to Arctic Fox in quality. The Arctic Fox is 4 inches taller over the bed with their new rounded nose so I can sit up without hitting my head and I am just over 6'2", that was a nice bonus.

What separated the choices was the dealer. The local Adventurer dealer was shady and when they started piling on options and fees the price of the camper skyrocketed, then they tried to hard sell me. I bought the AF865 with a gen set and a/c for less than the 86FB without them. More camper for a lot less money and I pulled the trigger.

As far as I can tell, weights on almost any camper are not particularly honest. The sizing and set-up on your truck are also important and most dealers will gladly overload you. Something to consider.

Good luck.

[Mike008]

lonegunman wrote:
I went looking for a TC this summer.......

I'm glad I'm not looking at Palomino at this point. Your post would have been a real bummer! What would concern me, if there is poor workmanship blatantly out in the open, what's hidden that can't be seen?????

[Vinsil]

Hey I get it! We went new due to not a large used inventory and the used prices insanely high...but this wasn't our first TC and we knew what we wanted as well. Even if you take a "bath" with a few grand....not a bad loss for an rv..

[lonegunman]

I went looking for a TC this summer. I decided to pull the trigger after a few years of delay. My first choice was a Palomino 6601, price and availability were two solid considerations. It would have gotten me into a TC with almost no payment.

Problems I noted right of the bat; The blinds were cut to short to actually cover the windows, the bathroom door was so out of alignment it would not latch, heat had damaged the fridge and any plastic surface in the camper and generally cheap construction with generally shoddy workmanship throughout.

While walking the dealer lot, I saw a guy off loading a new looking Palomino camper and stopped him. He had chronic electrical problems and was trading his 7 month old camper for a new camper, same make and model. His kept blowing the entire electrical panel when he used the jacks, refer or lights for any reason.

I liked the layout, bed and weight for my truck. An HS-8801 was the other choice I was really interested in. I went thru every brand available locally that fit the bill. The Lance dealer would not conjure a price if you held a torch on him, the Adventurer was great, but the dealer a total scumbag, the Eagle Cap looked nice but was heavy. I ended up with an Arctic Fox for 50% more money and 50% more weight on my rear axle. I happily drove two hours to a dealer in the middle of the state who had the camper I wanted for the price I wanted to pay. Driving to the dealer who makes the price is a great idea.

I just got back from seven days in the woods, living in my camper and hunting mule deer. It was awesome, comfortable and warm on cold nights in the hills. I got up a few miles of washboard road and down with my deer and all my gear in good working order and the best part about a TC, I do not have to let it dry out for a month before packing it up for the season.

[Mike008]

Vinsil wrote:
Just saying, I know your not exactly in TC country so maybe your dealers are farther away....however, 11k for a few year old model doesn't sound too bad..jump!

Admittedly, I have a tendency to over think things too much. This may sound silly, but here is why I'm hesitant: The same year 80GS sold recently on Ebay locally for $8.6K. I missed it. It had been on Craigslist for $9K the entire summer and didn't sell. Ive seen others listed over $10K and they just sit and sit. Low retail NADA is around $11K FWIW.

Several people have told me I really won't know what I want in a TC until I own one. If I buy it for $11K which the market seems to indicate is high and decide I want a bigger unit, I'm either going to list it for $10K and sit on it for a long time or I'm going to list it low enough to sell it and take a bath on it.

But, it's in very nice clean condition and it's not like this model pops up for sale locally every couple of days. And I really need it before April...... So I'm probably going to give the buyer the $11K he wants. He initially was asking $13K.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Your points regarding the new Palomino camper point out an old adage: "They don't make 'em like they used to". My '95 is remarkably "OCD-annoyance free"....LOL! Because the cooktop being 3/4" off "squared" would drive me batty, too.....

[Vinsil]

I had dealers from the entire state involved. I was willing to drive 16 hours round trip if it saved me $2000 or more. Just saying, I know your not exactly in TC country so maybe your dealers are farther away....however, 11k for a few year old model doesn't sound too bad..jump!

[billtex]

Mike008 wrote:

Vinsil wrote:
Go with mutliple dealers...I had four giving me quotes when the most local "couldn't do any better", then price matched the lowest bidder when it came down to it. Ended up at about 5k off msrp.

Unfortunately there are only 2 "local" dealers. And I just wasn't 100% sold on it.

Old Days wrote:
You should look at the Lance 825, it is a great TC for 2 people. We really love ours.:B

I looked at the 825, I liked it. It sells for a little more then I want to spend on a TC I plan to only use a few times a year. And the ceiling height is a little low for me.

I found a clean 2011 Adventurer 80GS. The seller came down to $11K. I think I'd be happier at $10K, but I may pull the trigger.

Do it...our Adventurer was great. We had it for 10 yrs..no troubles. DW still misses that camper...

[Mike008]

Vinsil wrote:
Go with mutliple dealers...I had four giving me quotes when the most local "couldn't do any better", then price matched the lowest bidder when it came down to it. Ended up at about 5k off msrp.

Unfortunately there are only 2 "local" dealers. And I just wasn't 100% sold on it.

Old Days wrote:
You should look at the Lance 825, it is a great TC for 2 people. We really love ours.:B

I looked at the 825, I liked it. It sells for a little more then I want to spend on a TC I plan to only use a few times a year. And the ceiling height is a little low for me.

I found a clean 2011 Adventurer 80GS. The seller came down to $11K. I think I'd be happier at $10K, but I may pull the trigger.

[Old_Days]

You should look at the Lance 825, it is a great TC for 2 people. We really love ours.:B

[Vinsil]

Mike008 wrote:
I wanted to follow up on this, I went and drove the 160 miles to look at this camper over the weekend. I spent considerable time looking over the camper and it's construction. I would say overall it's decent. The roof was a big concern for me, it actually looked very well put together.

There were some things I would have to address due to my OCD if I bought this particular camper. The stove top was blatantly crooked in the counter top. I brought a tape measure with me, it was 3/4 of an inch crooked to be exact.

One side of the face of the furnace which is supposed to sit flush on the cabinet front was sticking out a 1/4" exposing the gray furnace side.

Looking from the inside out, the door had something funny going on on the bottom left. It's hard to explain, but the wood under the finished surface was showing and the bottom of the door seemed crooked.

Finally, the door to access the toilet cassette was really off. Off to the point the access door required force to close completely.

This minor stuff would drive me crazy, but I imagine it wouldn't be to difficult or time consuming to straighten out. Which makes me wonder why it doesn't get straightened out before it leaves the factory?

For other reasons I decided it's not my first choice. One being I don't think the cassette toilet is for me. Another being I just like the Adventurer 80GS better. The dealer showing me a sale price that was actually higher then the MSRP didn't help either. :?

Go with mutliple dealers...I had four giving me quotes when the most local "couldn't do any better", then price matched the lowest bidder when it came down to it. Ended up at about 5k off msrp.

[Mike008]

I wanted to follow up on this, I went and drove the 160 miles to look at this camper over the weekend. I spent considerable time looking over the camper and it's construction. I would say overall it's decent. The roof was a big concern for me, it actually looked very well put together.

There were some things I would have to address due to my OCD if I bought this particular camper. The stove top was blatantly crooked in the counter top. I brought a tape measure with me, it was 3/4 of an inch crooked to be exact.

One side of the face of the furnace which is supposed to sit flush on the cabinet front was sticking out a 1/4" exposing the gray furnace side.

Looking from the inside out, the door had something funny going on on the bottom left. It's hard to explain, but the wood under the finished surface was showing and the bottom of the door seemed crooked.

Finally, the door to access the toilet cassette was really off. Off to the point the access door required force to close completely.

This minor stuff would drive me crazy, but I imagine it wouldn't be to difficult or time consuming to straighten out. Which makes me wonder why it doesn't get straightened out before it leaves the factory?

For other reasons I decided it's not my first choice. One being I don't think the cassette toilet is for me. Another being I just like the Adventurer 80GS better. The dealer showing me a sale price that was actually higher then the MSRP didn't help either. :?

[Mike008]

Looks like my used options are opened back up. I spoke with someone at Palomino. He told me it shouldn't be too difficult to remove the cabinet in the cab over area. I could then throw an 80" queen mattress up there. I'd probably want a new mattress anyway with a used camper. The deal would have to be right to make it worth my effort, but at least I have other options.

[Mike008]

mkirsch wrote:
That doesn't sound right. It's an east-west bed so they would've had to widen the ENTIRE camper to accommodate an 80" mattress, if it were limited to 74" previously.

Odds are you probably won't find a used 6601 for sale, in acceptable condition, at a price you can agree with, within a distance you're willing to drive, but I bet that if it doesn't have a full queen size mattress, it can accommodate one.

They haven't actually changed the camper. It's 7' / 84" wide. They had some kind of cabinet in the bed area that only allowed a 74" bed. It's gone for 2016. It can be seen here: