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2017 Hallmark Guanella Review
I could not locate an existing thread on pop up camper reviews, please let me know if I've overlooked a more suitable post location. I purchased a Hallmark Guanella truck camper in the spring of 2017. The following are my thoughts having used the camper thru the fall of 2020. Per year usually use it on one extended trip (4wks) and roughly half a dozen 3-4 day trips. The Good: Excellent layout: Very comfortable and versatile. Usually we cook breakfast inside and once it's dark/getting cold spend part of the evening inside and don’t feel cramped or uncomfortable. Lots of storage space (did not get an inside toilet or shower which would have reduced the storage space). Design: Good, no significant issues. Bundle Price: Liked the Hallmark bundle price price which allowed small tweaks to the order. The Bad: Had several build quality issues, both annoying and safety related. Working with Bill Ward can be difficult and at times nonsensical, however the sons and wife were very helpful. List of some of the more significant issues: The refrigerator had three safety issues – large airflow opening between the refrigerator combustion area/outside and inside living area which could allow carbon monoxide to enter (this did occur on my last camper), outside camper lining is "pink foam" which is combustible, and inadequate outside venting to prevent propane leaks from pooling. All these run counter to the installation instructions and are very difficult to even partially address post build. Some other refrigerator install issues, there was no insulation on the refrigerator sides/top/bottom, no cooling fan, and there was a large clearance between the exterior coils and camper wall facing the coils (should be almost zero clearance to get a good draft). Again these run counter to the installation instructions. (Note: I had asked how much it'd cost to insulate the refrigerator and was told it was included.) I've with some difficulty added DC cooling fans, baffle plate and insulation; refrigerator performance is somewhat adequate so long as doesn’t get too hot outside (95F+ can be problematic). The first time I drained the hot water heater (per the instruction manual directions for long term storage) I ended up with water on the floor of the camper and in the sidewalls. Turns out the water heater shell wasn't caulked as required per the installation manual. Again, difficult to seal post build. The front camper bumper installation was too short, ended up damaging the battery door which hit the truck bed. Had to pad up the bumper stop by a couple inches to get clearance. The camper top back RH corner hits well before the others which resulted in accelerated wear, added a 1/2 inch spacer to the lift pad. Easy Step blocked door due to inadequate clearance to bottom of door (with everyone inside), had to crawl out emergency exit. Fix was to trim bottom of door to get adequate clearance. The camper sink (it's the molded in composite design) has thru cracks around the sink drain, I assume the counter-top was dropped or?? Repaired with glass and epoxy applied underneath. Things I would have changed on the order or suggestions: Larger propane bottle option particularly if order the hot water heater. Eliminate outside decals and the inside cloth trim used in high traffic areas (already showing wear. Example, cloth trim on sides of bench seats, near entry door and on trim in front of bed). Add hard points for future usage such as bike racks, storage boxes, extra propane bottle. Make sure to leave the tailgate at home, Hallmark didn’t remind me of that before I drove 2500 miles for delivery. Fortunately I thought of it; could easily have not since on my old 8 foot camper with a short bed truck you need the tailgate for support. Remove the overhead storage storage cabinet above the dinette; it makes the space cramped and blocks the large “vinyl” window above the table. Definitely order the Easy Step and outside grip handle. Not enthralled with Dometic 3 way refrigerator, the company doesn’t provide parts list/other documentation, and caution to not use propane above 5500 feet (and the camper is sold in Colorado?). And Dometic apparently does not offer a high altitude jet (I called). Maybe there’s another brand that is better suited? I have also noticed the hot water heater doesn’t like high altitude as well. Also note that the truck to camper battery charging installation was very poor, the wire run was very long 10 gauge such that the battery charges slowly. I replaced with 6 gauge wire run directly from the truck alternator to the camper battery (with an isolation relay) and can get substantial battery charging amperage. Personal mods: Added a strap and spacers to lash down the Easy Step below the large storage cabinet on rear RH side as entering the camper. This keeps it lashed down on rough roads and out of the way. Used an old Ni Cad driver drill and tapped into storage battery to raise and lower top (versus using my shop driver drill and worrying about how to recharge it). Added bulb seals around the camper top to reduce dust and eliminate risk of rain on front end of camper. The Torque Lift camper hold downs seem to allow the camper to move around in the bed on rough roads, I made spacer blocks for the front and back to limit movement.1.6KViews0likes1CommentRe: Firestone Ride-Rite Airspring Defective Design Bent Brackets
I don't believe the truck was overloaded, with no suspension mods, fully loaded w/ camper there's still a lot of clearance from the frame to the axle and the back still rides 1" higher than the front. However I do believe the Firestone design is not appropriate at least for this specific F150 2016 application; the brackets end up being the axle stop unless high pressures are used. To get a reasonable bracket clearance requires at least 50 psi which ends up with a compromised ride and a very high back end. Fully loaded with the Timbren SES severe duty kit there is still some clearance between the rubber spring and the axle "pad" so there's no load riding on them.1KViews0likes0CommentsFirestone Ride-Rite Airspring Defective Design Bent Brackets
Hopefully this topic hasn’t already been covered, my search of the forums did not find a similar entry. I’m providing the following to help anyone with similar issues as I couldn’t find much information on the internet from my searching. I've concluded that the Ride-Rite airsprings for a 2016 Ford F150 have a major design flaw. The truck is a long bed 4x4 that is used to carry a Hallmark Camper (advertised base weight about 1300 lbs dry). I had the dealer install Ride-Rite airsprings given I sometimes go on rough roads. Initially per their recommendation I ran them at 50 psi. I found this led to lurching side to side on rough roads, a rough ride and the rear end jacked way up. Given the truck load capacity (per the specs about 2400 lbs), I started running 25 psi which seemed all the truck needed. However, when under the truck this year I noted severe bending of the Ride-Rite frame brackets and axle brackets (both sides). Turns out at 25 psi there is only 3/4 travel before the Ride-Rite frame stops contact. Since this can easily occur when on rough roads, the metal to metal contact ends up bending the brackets. To get reasonable clearance requires 50+psi. Then manual does not address that you need enough airpressure to avoid bottoming the brackets when hitting bumps. I believe my understanding is correct based on: - etrailer.com forum with Firestone response was that brackets will be bent if not enough airpressure is used for the load - the large number of replacement brackets available at multiple sites - inspection of my damaged installation at various pressures In my case, using 50 psi results in undesirable characteristics as noted above. In my opinion the there are several defects in the 2016 F150 design (kit 2582): - the axle jounce bumper function should be retained (it’s removed in the installation) so that metal to metal contact cannot occur; this is ends up bending the airspring brackets and I assume is not good for the truck suspension - more travel should be provided at reasonable lower pressures - the manual should explicitly provide an inflation requirement under load (i.e., maintain x inches (3 inch?) clearance) My conclusion is limited to this one installation, it may be that other kits don’t have this issue. Given the cost of ordering new brackets and that I don’t like the ride at higher pressures, I removed them ($500+ down the drain) and installed the Timbren SES severe duty kit. The ride is very much improved. I will note that the Ride-Rite bent brackets ended up locally distorting the truck frame at the attach point. This so happens to be the same as the Timbren SES so the rubber springs were out of alignment (cocked at a concerning angle). I solved this mostly by installing some 3x3 inch quarter inch housing frame washers from Home Depot to bridge the deformed portion of the truck frame.5.4KViews0likes14Comments
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