Anyone purchase a new unit lately?

[kylekai]

Something else to look at is customer support after the sale. I purchased a Hallmark in 2011, and they tend to reply to my email in about 3-6 days. Used to be faster, and now I call more often than email. But I noticed Stan from FWC is on this forum a lot, and that is something to consider.

 

[GlennZ]

My 2cents, was in the same boat as you, I ended up with a late model FWC Grandby (used & was tough to find!!). If I had a bigger truck & taller garage door I would have gone with a Hallmark, more comfort features & weight, then the FWC. I am happy with the Grandby, the wife would have loved the Hallmark, big thing with me was the amount of $ I was spending I want to make sure I could park inside & I all ready had a truck that was paid for.
I spent 8 months before I found what I have now. Good luck with your search. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the following, Hallmark, Northstar, FWC, Outfitter, Phoenix or ATC.

 

[jopatco]

Thanks kylekai and GlennZ - those are the makes I'm considering. Right now, the front runners are Hallmark and Outfitter, but like I said, I haven't even seen a pop-up in action yet. Lots of help on this forum - I appreciate it.

 

[Ripit]

I just bought a 2007 Outfitter Apex8 the last week in August. I read all the info I could find and settled in on a Hallmark or Outfitter. After much thought to Outfitter won out. This Apex8 was a show room model in '07 and is loaded. It maybe 6 years old but you can't tell it by looking at it. I call Bob at Outfitter about once a week and he always answers the phone and is very helpful with any questions I have. I certainly don't think you could go wrong with Outfitter if there rigs work for you. I am very pleased with mine. I was camped on a Texas beach last weekend and a buddy called me at 6:30 am and woke me up and said they were heading to the launch location. I got up, dressed, lowered to roof, buckled down and was rolling at 6:39. Very easy setup and down. By the way I found that the Outfitter roof lift is custom made heavier duty than most others. This was important to me because I shark fish and plan to install a shark platform on the roof. If any of you are near the North Texas area I'll be glad to show you mine. Good luck with your shopping.

 

[Maninga]

Just last month I bought a camper after about a year or so looking here in Australia. I was originally just going to get a roof top tent, but wife wanted to have a more comfortable bed and bathroom if we were to camp away from caravan parks. We looked at somewhere around 30 campers or varieties available here. It soon came down to a couple of criteria.

Little to no canvas. We didn't want to have a giant tent over the top of us that'd pick up the wind.
Needs good insulation in the walls. Wife gets cold very easily, didn't want the heat escaping too easily.
Well constructed. Some of the campers looked like nothing more than a couple of pieces of board screwed together, looked like it'd fall apart at first sign of rough roads.
Comfortable bed. Absolute must for her, we know these things can be replaced later but why do so when don't have to.
Not too high, I looked at some of the hardsided versions and the height and centre of gravity I felt could cause issues, particularly on heavily treed roads.
Good windows around. Need to be able to see out, and if you're stuck inside don't want to feel claustrophobic.
Flatbed camper. Patrols, landcruisers, hiluxes, all readily available with flatbeds, there's so much space taken up by the tubs that's better used for storing stuff.
Weight that wouldn't overload whichever vehicle we got once stocked up with water and food. Keep it under the 1 tonne mark.
After sales support. Marc from XPCamper has always been good at answering questions, Stan from FWC is very active here, places here in Aus I've had both good and bad interactions with.

After looking at all the options here, based on experiences on people here and readings on various websites, I wanted an XPCamper V1 or the new flatbed FWC Grandby. Something I would have loves is the new Global Warrior from All Terrain Warriors, but a little too much for my first time budget. At the time of deciding, I figured the FWC is a good compromise between space, features, options at a pretty decent price that's a great way to start out on. My fully loaded Grandby flatbed with a lot of options would have come out around 30k US. I was only a couple of weeks from ordering a new one when I was offered a used XPCamper 1/2 hr drive away from me at a price I couldn't say no to. Did break one of my rules though, the weight's too much and camper too large for the majority of 4x4 trays here, having to go up to a much larger class of vehicle to fit it comfortably. Just glad I'm doing things ******** about, buying the camper first, then vehicle to suit.

 

[Saline]

We recently went to the Hallmark factory north of Denver to check out their product. We were very impressed with the materials, construction, design and options available. Perhaps on the upper end of the price range for pop up campers (excluding XP) but it seems the price is worth it. At this point we will be ordering a Milner soon.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Just Did

Just ordered a FWC Granby... Waiting for delivery.

 

[rrliljedahl]

We recently made our camper selection. It has been a long journey for us to come to the decision.

Original priorities were
Pop-up
Flatbed
Passenger side entry
Rear dinette seating
North South sleeping
At least 30 gallons of freshwater
Ability to have canoe and solar on the roof.
Ability to be lived in off the truck

We were in Colorado planning on visiting the Outfitter Camper factory until we were informed that they had no campers in production. Upon further enquiry with others in the camping industry, I heard that Outfitter was having financial issues. We chose to pass on an Outfitter camper.

While in Colorado, we visited the Hallmark Camper factory and were very impressed with the quality and available options of their pop-ups. The roof lift is electric and can take up to 400 pounds. They did quote us a price for a custom camper (they only occasionally build a flatbed side entry) but is was over twice what they normally charge for their standard slide in camper.

We then drove up to the Four Wheel Camper dealer in Jackson Hole Wyoming and who loaned us his new Four Wheel Fleet Ute which is a flatbed side entry for the weekend. Quite spacious and innovative floor plan. Unfortunately, the pop-up roof is manual and my wife had great difficulty lifting it. It has to have a platform support if taken off the truck and lived in.

We visited the Alaskan Camper factory which has an electric roof lift that could handle the solar and canoe. We left having concerns about the flip up sides on the pop-up roof. It would appear that insects and moisture could enter easily.

XP camper presently can not be used when off of the truck. Mark did discuss with me trying to modify the support system so that it can be lived in off of the truck. We decided to pass because of the cost and no North South sleeping arrangement.

My wife also visited the Northstar factory and liked the quality. However the pop-up roof has a hand crank lifting system with a weight limitation of only 100 lbs in the roof. Rex at Northstar also showed my wife their hard side campers which she liked.

After much more soul searching and revisiting our priorities, we have put a hearty deposit down on a

Northstar Escape Pod 900SD
Hard side
Flatbed
Passenger side entry
North South sleeping
9 x 7 Ft floor plan
Rear dinette
2000 dry weight
Northstar builds side entry campers in hardside and pop-up for the overseas market and this camper is used off road in Australia



http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdu2xb...e_gdata_player




We will have 40 gallons of freshwater
300 watts of solar on the roof
Roof rack for the canoe
Dual AGM batteries
Camper will be built in March.

Thank you to all who responded.

I now am in search of a 1 ton, diesel, long bed truck as well as a flatbed.

 

[j2dd]

That's like askin' if you should buy a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge.

FWIW, here's what I just went thru:

Made a list of exactly what I wanted out of the camper. Then prioritized it. Then studied all the manufacturer websites, forums, u-tube videos, reviews, etc and seen which ones met my needs the best. Then visited the fact'ries for a tour and hands-on experience with the units. Then talked about the price and deli'vry schedule. Then wrote out a check ... and now tryin' my best to patiently wait.

I pick up my new made-to-order Hallmark Milner in 32 more days.

Kowboy, I have ordered a Milner recently as well. What truck do you own? Any mods? I am doing my analysis on a new truck that can handle the Milner with all my gear.....thx

 

[Kowboy]

Kowboy, I have ordered a Milner recently as well. What truck do you own? Any mods? I am doing my analysis on a new truck that can handle the Milner with all my gear.....thx

'02 SuperDuty. Modified engine and transmission. Replaced transfer case, axles, suspension, bumpers, etc.

I personally wouldn't put one on anythang less than a 3/4 ton ... but that's just my opinion. Mine is geared towards rougher terrain.

For mild terrain, you mite go with a 1/2 ton but I would certainly at least put air bags on it.

After 7 1/2 months in the shop gettin' modified, I fetch my truck this Saturday. Fetch my camper on 10 December.

They been buildin' the camper for a good while. :ylsmoke:

 

[redthies]

'02 SuperDuty. Modified engine and transmission. Replaced transfer case, axles, suspension, bumpers, etc.

I personally wouldn't put one on anythang less than a 3/4 ton ... but that's just my opinion. Mine is geared towards rougher terrain.

For mild terrain, you mite go with a 1/2 ton but I would certainly at least put air bags on it.

After 7 1/2 months in the shop gettin' modified, I fetch my truck this Saturday. Fetch my camper on 10 December.

They been buildin' the camper for a good while. :ylsmoke:

View attachment 197156View attachment 197157View attachment 197158View attachment 197159View attachment 197160

Make sure you post up some pics of both truck and camper when you have them. Awesome combination!

 

[Captm]

We just ordered a FWC Fleet Shell and are looking at an early January delivery.
Cheer