Alaskan Camper Build Up

[Carlyle]

Fully loaded weight with a full tank of fuel, water, etc two adults and a dog is very close to 13,000 lbs per scale. The local Ford dealer couldn't lift the truck off the ground with it's lift... No, it's not a light weight, but that was never my goal. What do you do, leave some toys at home? No way! Incidentally, it is still much lighter than most of the truck campers driving down the road that do not have suspension or tire mods and they are simply dangerous. I'm not actually sure how the truck camper manufactures get away with making a product that is inherently unsafe for the vehicle they are being put on. Check the weight of some of the big Lances or Okanogans and you'll see what I mean, they are an accident weighting to happen. Tire blow outs, like yours wild1, and other failures should be expected with the huge campers they build. Incidentally, I've had people calling about my old Hallmark and wanting to put it on an F150 and it is over 2000 lbs empty.

More pictures soon, the 12 volt TV lift is complete!

 

[Carlyle]

I had to have my exhaust rerouted yesterday so that the spare to match the rest of the tires would fit. It was just a little too tight to run the exhaust past the tire.

 

[Carlyle]

The linear actuator to lift and lower the flat screen is finally installed and working. The biggest pain was getting the limiters in place and wired correctly. Every expedition camper should have one of these! Check out the link for a video of the flat screen in action.


Sorry about the video quality, oh well.

I need to fix that scratch still

 

[boblynch]

Carl, the new shoes and TV lift look great. Congratulations.

 

[Carlyle]

Thanks!

 

[haven]

Carlyle,

Now that you've driven the finished camper, are you still looking for an F550 chassis? Or is the F350 proving to be adequate?

Are there any aspects of the build you would do differently next time?

Chip Haven

 

[Carlyle]

Sorry about the slow response time Haven, but it's been a busy week selling my old camper.

At this point, with the suspension upgrades I have made, I feel my truck is adequate for the load we are carrying. when I go to replace this truck down the road I feel that I will probably get an F350 again. There is no conversion to SRW and you have many more options available. I would have springs made for the load and install airbags on all four corners and do a shock upgrade.

I can't think of any major issues I would change on the build other than to have a 12 volt ac installed from the start. The Pet Kool is nice, but I am now in the process of venting and putting in a drain for evaporation to increase efficiency.
I'm still looking for a replacement 12 volt motor for it as well, any ideas? The LED lights are really nice, but I would install at least three more in the cabin to make up for the low lumen. That will be another summer project for me.

I have upgraded springs, but may go get custom ones made some day to see if they are better. The Bilstein 7100's I have are great, but a little overkill for
camper truck. The new 19.5" wheels with Goodyear G-124 tires are my newest add on. They ride stiff and are tall at 35", but feel much firmer and stable under the truck. Biggest difference in ride since the airbags went on. Too bad they don't make airbags for the front on this year Ford.

Everything else is real minor and not worth mentioning. The whole thing came together better than expected and a big thanks again to all the members of the forum here who gave me information and constructive criticism during the build.

 

[Carlyle]

TCM Article

Here is the link to an article I wrote for Truck Camper Magazine about the Alaskan:
http://www.truckcampermagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=532&Itemid=34

 

[Carlyle]

AC Work

The under the seat AC was really not doing the job so I did a little investigating (called the factory), and lo and behold it needed to be vented and drained like any other AC.
Here is what I did this week:

Vent cut and placed in side of camper with metal screen. Had to cut the camper...

Extra fan to aid in exhaust of hot air. Bathroom fan from Ace with a bracket fab'd.

Base of insulation to elevated AC to allow fab'd drain line to work.

AC sitting in place.

AC fully sealed and cold air exhaust in place.

Other projects this week:

Towels racks and TP holder, no room for magazine rack...

"Beverage" opener on side of flat bed

 

[hallmarkrv]

There are times when a customer uses a product so hard and is treated so well by a company that a reponse to a thread like this is a must. If we had wronged Carl and or built an inferior product we would hide our heads in the sand, take our lumps, and go on.

NO WAY

I ask my self why Carl's new camper is not being abused like the old one. Where's the sea Kayak mount on the roof, the roof mounted AC, the 25" inch roof mounted TV, roof mounted bike, roof mountd rack, and more? Lesson learned?, listen to MFG.

This is very sad and we are sorry to lose Carl as a customer, BUT:

At some point when is the consumer responsible for their actions. Carl used his camper hard and exceeded our advise, advertising, and just plain good judgment on how he used his campers roof.

Lets start a list of what Carl put on his roof.
Our rubber roof, which is what Carl had, can hold 1000lbs. evenly distributed in the up or down position, but can only lift 400lbs. due to the welds in the lift bars.

1. Dometic roof top AC
2. 25" Inch TV and steel mounting plate drilled through the roof. (Causing structural fatigue and leak point.)
3. Full rack system with basket using Yakima / Thule track. New Carbon roof designed for track system, rubber roof designed for utility rack system. More holes through roof due to rack system casing leak points and fatigue.
4. One sea kayak custom rack mounts
5. One tandem recumbent bike with custom mount
6. Customers ax and shovel
7. Customers belongings in basket rack

"Meticulous Maintenance"
Roof was abused and customer was advised, we took care of him VERY WELL. Our service manager even took Carl to lunch.
I use this comparison. An off roader uses his jeep axles to there limits. At some point the axles break and a new axle is required. Carl's abuse of his roof finally caught up with him and he was advised that he needed a new roof. Carl decide not to heed our warnings and his result is visible.

Our answer for the hard core abusers of the of the world. A new one piece Carbon Fiber Roof. Bring ON the abuse. We will put our pop-ups up against anything built today and we will guaranteed come out on top with design, service, and performance.

Carl's camper received a new rubber roof and the new owners are enjoying and very excited to have this great hallmark camper and the other 8,000 hallmark camper owners are very happy as well.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Matt Ward
hallmark mfg.

 

[capterik]

There are times when a customer uses a product so hard and is treated so well by a company that a reponse to a thread like this is a must. If we had wronged Carl and or built an inferior product we would hide our heads in the sand, take our lumps, and go on.

NO WAY

I ask my self why Carl's new camper is not being abused like the old one. Where's the sea Kayak mount on the roof, the roof mounted AC, the 25" inch roof mounted TV, roof mounted bike, roof mountd rack, and more? Lesson learned?, listen to MFG.

This is very sad and we are sorry to lose Carl as a customer, BUT:

At some point when is the consumer responsible for their actions. Carl used his camper hard and exceeded our advise, advertising, and just plain good judgment on how he used his campers roof.

Lets start a list of what Carl put on his roof.
Our rubber roof, which is what Carl had, can hold 1000lbs. evenly distributed in the up or down position, but can only lift 400lbs. due to the welds in the lift bars.

1. Dometic roof top AC
2. 25" Inch TV and steel mounting plate drilled through the roof. (Causing structural fatigue and leak point.)
3. Full rack system with basket using Yakima / Thule track. New Carbon roof designed for track system, rubber roof designed for utility rack system. More holes through roof due to rack system casing leak points and fatigue.
4. One sea kayak custom rack mounts
5. One tandem recumbent bike with custom mount
6. Customers ax and shovel
7. Customers belongings in basket rack

"Meticulous Maintenance"
Roof was abused and customer was advised, we took care of him VERY WELL. Our service manager even took Carl to lunch.
I use this comparison. An off roader uses his jeep axles to there limits. At some point the axles break and a new axle is required. Carl's abuse of his roof finally caught up with him and he was advised that he needed a new roof. Carl decide not to heed our warnings and his result is visible.

Our answer for the hard core abusers of the of the world. A new one piece Carbon Fiber Roof. Bring ON the abuse. We will put our pop-ups up against anything built today and we will guaranteed come out on top with design, service, and performance.

Carl's camper received a new rubber roof and the new owners are enjoying and very excited to have this great hallmark camper and the other 8,000 hallmark camper owners are very happy as well.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.
Thanks,
Matt Ward
hallmark mfg.

Didn't see any one ask you a question. Thanks for the advertisement years after this thread was started and for letting us know that the starter of this thread was a liar when he said that he did meticulous maintenance, but actually did the opposite. A post like yours is exactly what I use to pick a manufacturer to do business with..................NOT.

 

[jamo]

Wow, Hallmark RV has had their feelings hurt by a customer's opinion. Go figure. I'd have to read back through the thread again, but i think Carl was fair to your company in all of his posts, unlike yours. You have no prayer of getting my business, stop while you are behind....please.

edit: after further reading of the post, I can see where you would take offense, but I don't read it that way. His opinion just differs form yours, that would be why he went somewhere else. Either way, high jacking the thread is not the way to deal with it. Your objections are noted and as always, the people on this site will give you your due as Viking Vince does below. Spend some time on the site, it may give you ideas for more products that would fit this segment of customer.... build it and they will come.

 

[VikingVince]

Hallmark RV,

I really enjoyed reading your post. It's certainly understandable and admirable that you want to defend your product. But you don't have to worry about Carl's comments hurting your business. Most of us with modified rigs "abuse" them to one degree or another...most common being pushing or exceeding GVWR, or having too much weight in one spot or another, drilling holes that cause leaks, offroad terrain stress, etc (but then we upgrade suspensions, reinforce frames, etc) ...so when something fails, it's often due to our mods and not manufacturers design. Another thing...most folk on this site probably aren't in the market for a truck camper...those that are know the differences and the limitations. Thanks for posting...liked checking out your website.

 

[haven]

Too bad about the defensive tone to Hallmark's post.
What I read is a manufacturer who received feedback
about their product, and made a change to improve
performance. We should hope all manufacturers would
be so responsive!

Chip Haven

 

[boblynch]

Hallmark makes a solid product and appears to be a leader with regards to new material options. Their use of composites, carbon fiber, and other new technology is a good thing that I hope others will follow.

However, joining the forum 9 months after the build thread to post a defensive response / blatant advertisement is not the way to build credibility with this forum. Check out the Trailers Section of this portal and the positive and frequent posts by the owners of Adventure Trailers as an example of a better way to do business.

Carl bought a product that didn’t meet his expectations. He elected to build something that fit his needs better, rather than spending $4K to fix the roof. Along the way he learned a bunch and had fun.

Would Hallmark have been willing or able to build Carl a new camper using the components (e.g., cassette toilet) and flatbed floor plan? Is the fact that Hallmark bought him lunch important? Would Hallmark have felt so compelled to respond if Carl had not written about his build and his Alaskan Camper experience for Truck Camper Magazine? The answers are probably no, no, and no.