Any pop-up truck campers that aren't obscenely wide? Trying to find the ideal one

[Larry]

Here's one I'm looking at: http://dallas.craigslist.org/******/for/4201239690.html

Don’t mean to bash anybody’s product but a piece of advice is to run from a Palomino, even at a tempting price of $3500. There are reasons they can be purchased so cheap. My neighbor and fishing buddy has a 2005 Palomino Bronco that he bought new. The thing started falling part the first year. Not just little things, but major structural issues due to the design of the back door. There isn’t anything to keep it the body in square other than the roof when it is down and even at that it doesn’t hold the body tightly together. The roof has leaked from day one which now the right rear corner wall is totally rotted out, the door has a habit of popping open while driving and on his last fishing trip of this season the aluminum on the roof pealed back and ripped off while driving down the highway exposing the top side of the interior ceiling material.….the thing is a mess. A local camper store quoted over $5,000 to fix everything on the camper which is considerably more than what he paid for it when it was new. My poor neighbor is just sick as he is retired and on a fixed income where he can’t easily go get another camper. He was hoping this would be his forever camper…..NOT. The problems he has had with his Palomino seem to be consistent to what others report around the forums. Did I mention how heavy it is? The wood frame makes for one heavy little poorly built camper.

If you’re okay with a Harbor Freight type quality of a camper to throw away in a couple years, a Palomino would be fine but I would keep looking for a clean used camper of any other brand other than Palomino.

 

[Sentinelist]

Is that a Palomino brand or model name? I didn't realize- I have heard worse things about them than others. Terrible to hear about his, that's a tough spot. I'm looking for a pretty mid-grade model. It won't need to be overkill amazing as I won't be doing any cross-continent overlanding. Just family camping and light Jeep trail stuff, but built well enough that I can leave it out in my climate with minimal maintenance.

 

[1stDeuce]

Thanks for the details Larry! I really like your camper, but I think it'd be tight for me. That shower setup is AWESOME!!! I will have to work on my shower setup some more. I keep thinking about stuffing a 5 gallon water heater in it and putting an outside shower on just for ease of use, but I'm sure I'll miss the storage, so I haven't...

OP, Palamino campers are the most inexpensive for a reason, but if you find a good enough deal, and it's been stored inside, it might not be a bad camper. Unless you go Larry's route and get one made for you, there WILL be projects. And I wasn't saying you should necessarily keep YOUR camper inside, but that if you're buying one, look for one that hasn't been sitting in weather it's whole life to avoid the issues that Larry was talking about above with his neighbor's camper. Even my pretty well built hallmark had quite a bit of rot in the front from it's time outside in the weather, and it's been in Colorado its whole life, which is a pretty dang climate too.

I had a '96 GMC 2500 6.5L with a 5-speed manual and it was a really awesome truck. It got rusty (Michigan) and I sold it about 5 years ago with 298k on it. (I did rebuild the motor and trans in the low 200's , but it had a really hard life before me...) Keep reading, and check out as many campers as you can, even if they're not quite what you're looking for!
C

 

[1stDeuce]

Oh crap, I just looked at the ad and all I can say is RUN AWAY!! My camper has the "full" rear door, which I thought was awesome when I bought it. I was wong. First, if likes to come unlatched from the lower door and I smash my head into it when getting into the camper. It never seals well, and lets tons of cold air in/warm air out in the winter. Then there's the issue of forgetting to lower it when putting the roof down, which can't be good for things. (Hey, I'm not looking back when I crank down the camper, OK? Then there's the problem of having to tuck in the sides of the camper as you lower the roof... With full canvas, you just turn on the roof vent and suck the walls in as you lower. SO much easier!!

And unless you REALLY plan to hang out in the camper a lot, I'd not look too hard for roof A/C. They are pretty hard on the roof if the road gets rough. (100lbs in the middle of a flat roof bouncing up and down...)
I've seen lots of people put them in the back corner of the camper, next to the door, and that seems like a better idea, but then you need a generator, or you have to camp in an "rv park". (Yuck!) The fantastic fan will move a LOT of air, and creates a nice breeze if you open the right windows. Been fine with me even in Moab in the summer. (100F or so during the day, but admittedly cooler at night...)
C

 

[Larry]

Is that a Palomino brand or model name? I didn't realize- I have heard worse things about them than others. Terrible to hear about his, that's a tough spot. I'm looking for a pretty mid-grade model. It won't need to be overkill amazing as I won't be doing any cross-continent overlanding. Just family camping and light Jeep trail stuff, but built well enough that I can leave it out in my climate with minimal maintenance.

Palomino is the brand, Bronco is the model while the parent company is Forest River. The model in the CL add you posted is a Pine Mountain. I wouldn't touch any Palomino with a 10 foot pole. I am surprised they don't sell them at Harbor Freight. I forgot to mention the fancy roof mounted cabinets were the first thing to fall off on my neighbors Palomino Bronco while we were on a very modest off-road trail headed to Northfork Reservoir here in CO. You can tell by looking at the his truck it is just a bone stock Silverado that is not much of an off-roadster so it is safe to say, he is not traveling on very rough roads but the camper has not done well on the dirt roads he does travel. You should hear it when he is on the trail, it sounds like a box of toothpicks with a few marbles rolling around inside.

I will say this, their new campers look really nice but I doubt they are built any better than previous campers. Even their towable campers are known to be entry level with sketchy build quality.

 

[Larry]

Thanks for the details Larry! I really like your camper, but I think it'd be tight for me. That shower setup is AWESOME!!! I will have to work on my shower setup some more. I keep thinking about stuffing a 5 gallon water heater in it and putting an outside shower on just for ease of use, but I'm sure I'll miss the storage, so I haven't...

Thanks, we played with a few different outside shower options and the inflatable one works best. The tent type showers are a lot nicer but they tent to blow apart even when staked to the ground plus the tent type shower stalls take up a lot of room when they are packed up for travel. The inflatable shower folds up into a little tiny thing that doesn’t take up any room when stored. With it staked to the ground and suspended overhead by the square stock that slides out of the roof rack it holds up well in wind, and it seems like it is always windy in the desert where we go explore around. The only problem with this shower it is really grrooowwws in direct sunlight.

This was a nicer shower stall but it was huge to store and had a habit of blowing apart when a gust came up. This day at Toroweap a wind gust came up and actually broke one of the poles.

 

[Sentinelist]

Duly noted, I will stay away and am certainly taking my time to find a good one. Thanks, folks!

While I'm at it, is 'FWC' a reference to this kind of setup, or for Four Wheel Campers? Trying to learn the lingo and keep up.

Bonus everyday use I realized today during cold and flu season... maybe if you run the heater... quarantine germ space from the family. Plus 25 points on the wife upsell.

 

[warejn]

I was on the same path, I ended up buying a Palomino. The width is not much of a problem as my rigs limitations come into play before the camper size. I purchased mine for 350.00. I was aware of the build quality ( or lack of), I figured it may be the gateway drug. I have never owned a truck camper before.

Is it a piece of crap? Yep, the door doesn't line up, I have fixed a few things and I am heading to TX with it on Sunday. I am sold on truck campers and now I want a ATC or FWC.

My advice is to really look at what you want to do with it and then look at size. If you can find a camper that is cheap and in moderate shape, buy it and give it a go. I will have almost thirty nights in my junky palomino this year. I figure it has paid for itself and helped me refine my needs so in a few years I will actually buy a nice one.

Larry, your rig is one of my favorites.

 

[redthies]

FWC is an abbreviation for Fourwheel Campers. They area solid brand with 7/8 of a bazillion years in the business. Hallmark, Phoenix, and Northstar are a few other quality brands. There are more, but I can't recall all of them at this point. Check out the pop-up camper section here for more insight!

And don't worry, I didn't think your words were too harsh, just wanted to show off my junk...

 

[Sentinelist]

Thanks, redthies- I'll check out that section now that I've been steered in the right direction.

 

[tctom]

You might look at a Capri. There not pop ups but they are not excessively high. mine is 80 inch wide and 77 inches high.

Good luck, Tom

 

[Sentinelist]

Ok thanks, Tom- welcome to ExPo

 

[zoomad75]

Just a little note on Larry's camper. I've had the pleasure of taking a couple of overnighter's out with Larry and the truck. As far as a limit on size/capacity with the narrow size it's not that bad. It's not overly "tight" with the two of us in there but it's ok to deal with. I'm not a small guy at 6ft and 300lbs and I fit on the lower bunk without a problem. I'm not sure how the Phoenix guys did it but knowing that Larry wanted the camper to fit with the gate shut on a 6ft box I wasn't cramped or needed to curl up to fit. I needed to keep my head at the end nearest the cab since the other end of the dinette bench has a corner cut off for ease of access through the door.

Still, it's a comfy space to catch some zzzz's in for sure.

 

[Jed74]

I have a Winnebago/Sun Lite slide in the front legs are off set about an inch on each side and when I back under the camper they only clear the widest part of the truck by about 3" on each side. The angle of this picture macs it seem wider but it's really not. I haven't actually measured the width but it's pretty much the same as most of the slide in we looked at before buying this one. Obviously slide ins built for use on a dully may be somewhat wider. Another thought the legs crank up high out of the way but if you were still worried about the added width they could be unbolted for more clearance. Our slide in includes a standard rv flush toilet, fridge, 3 burner stove, queen bed (cab over) and a small fold down dinette

 

[cliniford]

Check these out.
http://www.panthercampers.com
They are very light weight and I know they used to make a camper with tapered sides that matched the side profile of the truck cab. No idea if they still do or not but their build quality and options list is impressive and it's hard to beat the price for a new camper! Someday I will have one!