palomino stampede owners let me hear from you.

taco-stampeder wrote:
I camped twice and it got into the 50s and 40s overnight. I noticed sweat under the mattresses. Is this normal. I have heard that reflectix under the mattresses can cure this. Any recommendations?

this is common for mattresses with fabric bottoms.
all reflectix did was cause the condensation between it and the mattress, instead of the door and the mattress.
what you need is to allow for some air movement underneath, like with a wool blanket.

I camped twice and it got into the 50s and 40s overnight. I noticed sweat under the mattresses. Is this normal. I have heard that reflectix under the mattresses can cure this. Any recommendations?

I have the Dutchmen Cub equivalent: a 1006 23-BH. Very close to the Stampede 23-BH. :)

We have the 23-BH for past 3 seasons. Bought new, issues were minor (to me).
Edging on some rounded counters pulled away, wooden skin on fridge fell out (lucky did not damage floor or break a toe!), dvd did not work (rec'd new stereo unit), one wall near pantry came loose (weak stapling).
All good now. Pulled it out west last year, 10,700 kms (6,600 miles) no problem. Camped in 90 deg F to 15 deg F. Bunk ends condensation bit of an issue in real cold. Electric mattresses are magic. Overall probably camped 70 or so nights.
Tow with Avalanche 5.3, do not know it is there. Have weight distribution and Tekonsha brake control.
Good luck and enjoy.

Changed from a 2009 Flagstaff 625D popup to the Palomino Stampede S238. We love the extra room and the microwave and the windows. I have had to repair the drawer bottoms. I put an extra bar next to the door for ez entry. I love it except the mattresses aren't as good as the PUP. Going camping tomorrow. I can't wait!

Changed from a 2009 Flagstaff 625D popup to the Palomino Stampede S238. We love the extra room and the microwave and the windows. I have had to repair the drawer bottoms. I put an extra bar next to the door for ez entry. I love it except the mattresses aren't as good as the PUP. Going camping tomorrow. I can't wait!

taco-stampeder wrote:
We recently purchased a 2010 Stampede s238. We had a Flagstaff 625D popup. We love all the extra room and looking out the windows. The first time we camped in September the temperature dropped to 42 overnight the first night. It was not a plug in site and the furnace really killed the battery. I bought a second battery for the second night, (cold 40, windy, rainy) and killed the both batteries. We will always have a plug in site from now on.
The con is that the mattresses in the 625D were heated and more comfortable than the Stampede. We bought mattress pads to remedy that. Two more nights camping this weekend at a plug in site.

I had a 625D and those mattresses were innerspring heated and foldable. Our current starcraft had 4" foam and I added 3" memory foam with gel. It took two memory foam and pugs to keep my dw happy. She missed the pups beds

We recently purchased a 2010 Stampede s238. We had a Flagstaff 625D popup. We love all the extra room and looking out the windows. The first time we camped in September the temperature dropped to 42 overnight the first night. It was not a plug in site and the furnace really killed the battery. I bought a second battery for the second night, (cold 40, windy, rainy) and killed the both batteries. We will always have a plug in site from now on.
The con is that the mattresses in the 625D were heated and more comfortable than the Stampede. We bought mattress pads to remedy that. Two more nights camping this weekend at a plug in site.

Also, forgot to mention, I broke the dinette table on the first trip out, while putting weight on it to climb into front bunk (dinette was setup for a lower bunk at the time) After the trip, I went to Lowe's and purchased a piece of solid wood, cut it the same shape, varnished it, and then transferred the table legs to the new one. MUCH stronger and lighter than the original table

I have a 2002 S17 that I purchased in 2008 and have loved it. I have had to fix a few things that weren't up to my standards, and upgraded things too. Here's my list:

Repairs:
- 12volt electrical system was a disaster: poor grounds, too small wiring, and crimp-on connectors meant lights flickered like a disco hall when water pump operated, and voltage drop was unacceptable. I purchased #8 wire and some neutral buss bars from hardware store, and pulled new + and - feeds to battery
-capacitor blew in AC unit, purchased replacement from local appliance shop
- cabinet door underneath stove fell apart. repaired with wood glue
- dinette bench seat near front door came loose. Repaired with a small piece of 1x2 lumber, and some framing screws
- vinyl covering to bathroom door peeling off. Have yet to repair
- oven door broke on stove earlier this season ( I was using oven to store dishes in while in transit, dishes fell out and damaged door). Have yet to repair
- small crack has developed in shower tub. I purchased some West System epoxy to fix it, but have yet to get to actually repair it.
- shower faucet would leak when on shower mode. Replaced with new one from Camping World
-replaced tires at beginning of the season with new Maxxis tires (wore tread off old ones!)
-propane tank cover fell apart, never replaced it.

This seems like a lot of stuff, but bear in mind, my camper has had extensive use, and I have high quality standards. Overall, I think RV manufacturers have a long way to go when it comes to fit & finish quality, I think my Stampede is one of the better ones. Here's some of the mods and upgrades I have done to mine:

-Replaced 12-volt deep cycle with 2 6-volt golf car batteries
- Installed a TriMetric 2020 battery / charging monitor on panel above radio
- Replaced the cheap CD player with a Pioneer CD car stereo (with remote)I found a deal on this radio at Target for $69
- replaced the cheap paper speakers with some nice polypropylene 2-2way HiFi speakers ( speakers were incorrectly wired at old stereo, so I had to re-wire connections)
- Installed removable shelves in narrow wardrobe closet beside galley
- Installed LED nite lights that run off of 12 volt battery on inside, and beside entry door outside
- replaced incandescent lights with Thin-Lite florescent lamps I bought on E-bay
- added both lighter plug sockets, and Anderson PowerPole 12-volt sockets.
- added exterior Anderson PowerPole connection above holding tank dump pipe for running macerator pump.
-purchased reflectix and cut to fit in bunk windows. Purchased "popupgizmos" covers for bunk tops

As you can see, most of the mods I've done have been to make boondocking in this camper more comfortable. I frequently use this camper at places that don't have hookups. One of these places is at the yacht club I crew at. They allow camping, but don't have plug-in connections. I am down there for about 4 weekends in the fall, and 4 weekends in the spring for regattas. The wife and I also like taking it up into the Shenandoah national forest where many of the campgrounds don't have electrical hookups. One of the things I really like about this camper is the 30 gallon holding tanks...you can go a good while before filling them up.

I tow my S17 with a Chevy Astro van, and it yanks it down the road like it's not even back there! The independent rear torsion axle makes it handle really nicely