Back to a truck Camper!

[docdave]

I originally posted this on Irv2, brought the saga over here…..here’s a synopsis of what we’ve has so far……

It's been years since traveling and camping in my family’s 9.5' Mitchell camper, but I'm back to a truck camper. In early April, I purchased, sight unseen, via Craig's List, a ‘’93 Hallmark Cuchera pop up truck camper from a older gentleman in southern Colorado. Sunday I take a 10 hour round trip to pick it up and see what I got. Yeah, pretty trusting to buy sight unseen, but I had a good feeling about this guy. I'm pretty excited about the move from a Trailmanor 3124KB, to something I can take off road. I may not be up to true overlanding just yet, but looking forward to getting off the beaten path. We'll see how the family adapts to the idea. ……

Wow, 600 miles round trip in one day. "Met" our '93 Hallmark, got it loaded on the ol' Dodge, got the quick tour and instructions from the previous owner and headed home. The camper looks pretty good; some wear and tear, especially around the back door. This older model has the split door, the top portion folds down prior to dropping the top. The design is a bit problematic, no doubt why they aren't made this way anymore. The top is fiberglass and in great shape, but very heavy. It's going to be a chore to put up and down, no wonder the new ones are mostly electric. The fabric is in remarkable shape for its age, no tears, mold or damage, that's a nice surprise. Some of the screws here and there are stripped out, I'd be curious if anyone has advice other than oversized screws or packing the holes with toothpicks. Next step is to get a wiring harness made up and get a new battery. It'll probably be a few weeks before our first outing. Not much feedback from the family, I didn't get home with it until after dark.......we'll see. ………..

I facebooked hallmark about the heavy top, and got a prompt and helpful response regarding possibly getting a bit more life out of the old torsion system. Thanks guys. Oh, at this point my wife told me "it isn't as ugly as I thought it would be", that's a positive sign. Found out that the Fiberglass top was a Hallmark Cuchera option in '93, a bit of a bonus, less maintenance. My soon to be 7 year old gave her stamp of approval to the camper. Now I just have to get a wiring harness installed and take our first outing. I went through the owner's manual today too, not very informative, but the Hallmark guys have been really good about answering my questions.
Oh by the way.....I discovered despite the fact that the bathroom has a hand held shower hose and a shower curtain over the door......there is no drain! What's up with that? The good news is that this camper doesn't have a tank directly underneath the toilet, but a space instead that allows for the P-trap. My solution... I got a laundry sink drain, a 90 degree elbow and connected it to a flexible washing machine drain hose that will be stored in the compartment under the bathroom, which is accessible from the outside, and can drain the shower into a bucket. Not perfect, but a save none the less. Also found out the wiring harness is no longer being manufactured, so Hallmark is sending a receptacle to change out, and an appropriate plug to connect to the truck's wiring. Nothing is ever easy.
The wiring harness arrived finally from Hallmark last week, began the installation over the weekend, with some help from the future son in law. We got the camper all wired, some issues with the stop ,tail, turn and backup lights to work out though. The truck is a bit more complex. There is a relay to install between the truck system and the camper. This allows the alternator to charge the camper battery, but disconnects the systems when the truck is shut off to prevent drawing down the truck battery and stranding you somewhere. Had to call the guys at Hallmark to find out how to hook that up, but they were very helpful, and all is well. Turns out there is a battery connection, ground and a connection to a switched circuit in the truck fuse box. We used the wiper circuit. Also found a neat connector to slip in to replace a fuse, and add a wire. You end up with 2 fuses in one spot, pretty sweet. Also began installing the floor drain for the shower. That's going to work fine.
It's been a while since my last update.....our oldest daughter got married, so we've been busy. I had some triangular plates fabricated to use for front tiedowns. They attach to the front of the box, bolted through where there are two layers of sheet metal spot welded together. Not exactly happijac, but they seem to work fine.



The shower install is complete as well. A hose is pulled out from an access door at the rear of the camper, so that the water can be collected in a bucket. It's pretty tidy; as long as no one forgets to pull it out before showering.....probably use a sink plug in the drain as insurance



Well FINALLY we got the Cuchara out for an overnight, but had to go on a rainy weekend. Everything checks out except the battery isn't much good. That's going to need to be replaced ASAP. A 7 foot wide popup is quite a bit cozier than one that's 8 or more feet wide, but it's sure easier to see around. The overhead bunk is a little cramped for sit up room too, another compromise for offroadability. I also noticed how heavy the old girl gets when loaded....I'm thinking the next pickup will be a tonner. Not that easy to find a SRW tonner though. My 7 year old daughter had a great time, caught a trout too! Pretty good weekend.

 

[docdave]

Hope to take the camper out again this weekend, this time with my wife an daughter both......we might even manage 2 nights.....we'll see. I did borrow a better battery until the new one I ordered gets here. That will help make things go more smoothly. More to come....

 

[SLO_F-250]

Welcome to the "older wooden" pop-up camper world! haha :sombrero: I think you will find it a lot of fun, not only to camp in, but to tinker on and fix up. Good luck and looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Yours is very similar to mine.
Cheers!

 

[docdave]

Wife's first overnight in the camper.

Had a successful camping trip to Lake Ogallala this weekend. The nights and evenings were a bit stormy, but the camper is really pretty sturdy and secure in the wind, despite having soft pop up sides.



We saw some interesting wildlife, including an otter, bull snake and the trout we caught. My 7 year old daughter and I went for a hike, tuckered her out pretty good. I found that there was not fire pit or ring nearby, so we improvised by getting a steel hog feed pan at the local farm supply store, and used it as a portable campfire ring.



The camper is kinda cramped, so we learned a bit about prioritizing our stuff, especially for our 7 year old. The shower got it's first use, and althought pretty small, worked fine. One snag....our daughter went to wash her hands in the bathroom, found that the pump wasn't on, so went out to turn it on. She then washed her hands in the kitchen sink and left the camper......ooops the water was on in the bathroom. SO......the supply tank is empty, the holding tank full, an the sink ran over and flooded the back of the camper. Fortunately only a couple of quarts overflowed on to the floor, and it was only a dozen miles back to town to dump and refill......better to learn that lesson close to home.



We're all looking forward to our next outing. My wife has a positive outlook on the whole camper thing now, after our experience. Maybe we can swap off that travel trailer after all........

 

[docdave]

Noticed that the back door was sagging a bit, so I removed it and used some toothpicks to allow the screws holding the hinges to tighten up. Now the door fits a bit better and slam-lactches, but I also noticed dry rot in the door frame. It's still reasonably solid, but bummer. On another note.....I e-mailed Hallmark to see if I could visit the factory while I'm in Colorado later this month, but it turns out they are closed on Mondays. Maybe brand X and Y (Outfitter and Phoenix) will be open and willing to show me around. Fortunately, all three factories are within spittin' distance of eachother. Another outting planned for a couple of weeks.....

 

[Desert Rancher]

Stripped screw holes...Try filling the hole real good with JB weld. Drill a small pilot hole and use a new screw.

 

[docdave]

Thanks man, I'll give that a try. Does anyone have any experience running 'fantastic fans' on a battery, how long can you run a couple on a 1000 amp battery?

 

[Pest]

Thanks man, I'll give that a try. Does anyone have any experience running 'fantastic fans' on a battery, how long can you run a couple on a 1000 amp battery?

Well, in theory, if the only draw is the fan, or two, it's easy math. Our fantastic fan is just a 3 speed, non-thermostat. On low, it draws 1.86A, lets just round that to 2 for simplicity.

So if we run that fan on low, and we have an 80 amp hour battery, in theory, it will run for: 80AH / 2A = 40hours.

So half that for 2 fans, and more with a bigger battery, etc.

 

[docdave]

Well, it's going to be 100 degrees this weekend, and who knows how late it will be before it cools off, sounds like I can run the fan all night on the battery if I have to ....... on another note. Last time out, we tried out the shower, and found that the hand held shower head was broken. We used the hose to clean up in a pinch, but need to fix it. I thought 'Hey, how about a kitchen spray nozzell?" so I bought one to use instead....of course the connection is different. The local hardware store provided a reducer and pipe nipple that allowed me to attatch it to the faucet. Seems to work ok and should help to conserve water by being able to turn is on and off easlily. We'll report after the weekend.......

 

[docdave]

Ok, I admit it, I cheated.....borrowed a generator from a friend so as to have plenty of power to run fans and such. Took the old Tralmanor along too, so that our kids could stay in it, and yes it did get to nearly 100 degrees on Saturday afternoon. Our oldest daughter caught a cat fish, and we managed to have a pretty good outing. I found a leak in the holding tank....drip drip drip, so hopefully the guys at Hallmark can advise the best way to fix it. And those Fantiastic-fans work pretty good to keep you cool while you sleep. We made a dutch oven sloppy joe bake, and an apple cobbler for supper, both were a big hit. Our youngest is Ciliac, so everything for her needs to be gluten free, making camp cooking a bit more challenging, but it all worked out ok. Thank goodness for gluten free Bisquick and cake mixes. I do have an electrical problem though.....the backup lights on the truck glow periodically while parked. It may be when the pump is on, but I'm not yet sure. They go off and on and are dim sometimes. Everything works, both parked and while traveling....some kind of a short or something...anyone have this experience?

 

[docdave]

Had an interesting visit with Rob and Cari Rowe at Coyote RV-Phoenix campers on Monday morning. My wife and I were in Denver for the day and arranged a factory visit. Phoenix is a small operation, Rob and Cari, and a guy or two helping to build campers. They were delivering a cool 8 footer on a Dodge truck that day....painted jet black. These are aluminum framed campers with fiberglass exterior and an aluminum top. They tend a bit toward what Rob calls 'minimalist' as evidenced by his roots with Four Wheel campers, but his campers can be equiped pretty much however you want. Not only can you option them however you want, but they will build to suit, pretty much anything you want. We shared some of our ideas and asked a ton of questions, and Rob offered solutions and offered interesting options. We are considering a custom build from Coyote RV (Phoenix campers) in lew of a newer Hallmark or Outfitter. I really like those campers, especially the new Cuchera, but I don't think either company will build some of the quirky things we are interested in. For one thing, we'd like the rear overhang to be 8 inches or so lower than the rest of the camper allowing for a step inside, a lower shower floor and lower entry height. We also want a toilet/shower configured as large as possible, Rob says he's built that before. We also want a higher pop up height, because I'm tall, and we want more room in the cabover. All do-able with Coyote RV. We had hoped to visit Hallmark and Outfitter, also in the Denver area, but they are closed on Mondays. Bummer. I know those two makes are vaguely similar in some ways, other than the obvious Outfitter basement design (soon to be offered by Hallmark), after all the owners are brothers who used to build campers together, and are pretty cool, and well built, so we'll take a look at them too. I have to admit though, the idea of drawing up our own camper and having it custom made is a cool idea.

 

[docdave]

Fall Camping

Camping the first weekend in October in Nebraska....What a deal! A great weekend with my 7 year old daughter. Mom was off on a cruise, so we spent some quality time at the local lake. It was cool enough overnight to use the furnace a bit, especially first thing in the morning. Cooked meals in dutch ovens using our "feedpan fire pit" Gluten Free Bisquick Rocks.....(daughter is ciliac) We made sloppy joe bake and apple cobbler for supper, yum. The camper was comfortable, and with practice is easier to pack and set up. Still eyeing a new one, maybe a flatbed set up, but this is fine for now.

 

[docdave]

BTW could anyone give me some input on porta potties? This older Cuchara only has one holding tank, so......I guess you could call it "DARK GREY WATER". This disqualifies us from several waste water handling proceedures. I'd kind of like a cassette toilet, but don't know it it's worth it to convert this older camper. A high capacity porta potty runs about $165. How are they to empty, do they leak?

 

[bob91yj]

We've made do with a Thetford Porta Potti for years with no issues.

 

[docdave]

Factory visits to Hallmark and Outfitter

Took an interesting trip to Colorado today. I had made an appointment with Hallmark to tweak a few things on the old camper....an electrical glitch, worn out drain plug and replacing straps for the holding tank. Andy, the head service guy, found the electrical problem right away...it turns out that green is not always ground. The other tasks were completed in good time, and we had a discussion about eliminating the two piece rear door with a more modern unit that includes a screen door, which turns out to be a reasonably modest project. The current full height, two piece door is awkward , especially during raising and lowering the top, and allows insects and drafts in, not to mention the weakening of the rear structure of the camper (see discussion by "offroadcamperguy"). I may also replace and update the soft wall. Much discussion centered around the fiberglass top, which is very rare in these earlier campers. Turns out, some guy known as "Starbuck" used to make a few of these for Hallmark. Not as highly engineered as the new tops used by Hallmark and Outfitter, but pretty good just the same. The solidness of this top is a big reason that my '93 Cuchara is in good enough condition to warrant updating. I had worried about the top, as it has developed a "dished" appearance, and pools water in the middle. The guys at Hallmark told me that if the top is gradually blocked up, during warm weather, that a little at a time, the convex roof profile can be reachieved. I was pretty pumped. I had looked as a used unit with the idea of upgrading to a newer unit, but it wasn't substantially better than the one I have. The cost of these improvements, added to what I have in the camper already, is less than the potential trade ups that I have found. All and all, I had a good experience with Andy, and the guys at Hallmark.

I also went about 10 miles down the road and checked out Outfitter mfg. I met Bob Ward, and looked at one of his campers. Outfitters appear to be a good solid design, similar in layout to Hallmark, but with aluminum structure, and fiberglass siding. The basement design offers some real advantages in storage and cold weather use, but does raise the profile of the camper. Although perhaps not as sophisticated as the molded sidewalls of the Hallmark, the Outfitter appears sturdy, smooth and well packaged. It also looks like they are about 12% or so less expensive. Certainly worth a look for new camper shoppers. I didn't get to spent as much time with Bob, as there were other customers, but he was helpful and answered all of my questions.

I've now visited 3 area manufacturers, Hallmark, Outfitter and Coyote RV. Which is better? It all depends on what you want.....Custom built and lighter weight?.....Coyote rv, Slick design with all the bells and whistles?.....Hallmark, Solid, roomy and well equipped?....Outfitter. For now, I'm going to update my old camper, but down the road..........................