Dura_Mike
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Re: Any Hallmark Ute Pop-up camper owners
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. Mike586Views0likes0CommentsFlat Tire Repair
An open question to the great Wahzoo, aka Flat Tire Master: This question has likely been asked before, but I did not find an answer with my search. What do you use to jack the truck when replacing the flat tire? Do you use the stock vehicle jack? Or do you carry an after market jack, e.g. a bottle jack? Do you use the camper jacks to take the weight off of the truck? Have you tried the tire plug kits, at least to get back into town?5KViews0likes15Comments
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