Hallmark Flatbed Pop-up Camper

[Buckstopper]

Our truck was hit by a hit and run driver on our way home from OEXPO 17 last May. They hit the right rear corner of the camper traveling from the front and basically tore the jack and bumper assembly off the back of the camper. In the process it damaged both side panels as well as the rear of the camper. The impact knocked the camper frame out of square enough that the roof was not landing on the box correctly and shattered some of the interior door latches, etc. The photo shows rear of the truck. The steps were directly behind the door before before it was hit. Note the fender flair left behind by the culprit.

We were able to patch things together on the road and camp in the camper to get home in Oregon and then we drove it to the Hallmark shop in Colorado to see if they could fix it. We met with Hallmark and our insurance adjuster and we all agreed that it was a total loss. We got a fair settlement on the camper but it took almost three months to get it resolved.

Once it was resolved, I met with Matt at Hallmark to discuss ordering a new camper and mentioned that I wish they would make a flatbed model and to my surprise he said that they had recently decided to do just that. They had just started development on a 8.5' based on the Ute model (same as my old one). After my previous experience I had decided that whatever I replaced my old one with had to fit entirely on the flatbed with no overhang...its a heck of a lot cheaper to replace a flatbed then to replace the camper. They agreed to build an 8' model based on a K2/Guanella for me but warned me that it would take a while to build because they would need to build new molds for the side panels. I placed the order near the end of August and it is nearing completion now. I hope to pick it up soon.

The upside of the flatbed model is you get full use of the floor. This allows a taller refrigerator so we will have a 6 CF compressor type 2 door fridge/freezer. It also allows a full floor in the bathroom. We are going with a creek fill type cassette toilet. This will allow us to recycle grey water into the toilet tank so we have more water capacity than before. The cassette access door is on the side of the camper.

Gray water tanks have proven to be a bit of a dilemma. Our previous camper used the rear overhang to locate the gray water tank under the floor. We initially thought that we would be able to lift the shower stall up enough to get some tank space underneath it. That would result in less headroom in the bathroom so we decided to forgo gray water for the shower and simply route the drain to the side with a hose fitting located in the access door for the toilet cassette. I was able to build a gray water tank into the flatbed subframe out of 4" plastic pipe so the hose can either discharge on the ground if we are boondocking or into the tank if we are in a campground. The kitchen sink has its own gray water tank so the two will be separate.

The other benefit is the floor is flat in the dinette. We opted for a Lagun pivot for the table and an L shaped dinette rather than standard U shape so the floor is very open. We can still convert the dinette into a bed and even with the 8' floor it long enough for an adult to sleep on since the bathroom is turned to the side. Bill commented that they have had three guys in the camper working at once and that was not possible with a standard pickup camper.

I have been working on the truck over the winter to get it ready for the new camper. I took the old flatbed off and cut off the headboard and shortened it down to 8' long. The bed has been relocated back so the back of the bed is 13' behind the cab of the Fuso. The roof of the Guanella is 13' long so the full floor of the camper will be supported on the flatbed.

The old camper/flatbed configuration had about 24" from the camper to the headboard of the flatbed and I used that space to store bikes, etc. With the flatbed moved back is left a gap between the front of the bed and my big toolbox so I filled that in with a 22" long deck. That 2" difference along with the 4" thickness of the headboard makes up the difference in length between the old camper and new one.

I also built a new bumper for the truck since I had instructed Hallmark that I didn't want the bumper on the camper. I don't remove the camper very often so I will remove the jacks when the camper is on the truck. That was't feasible with the old one since the bumper was attached to the jack support. Again, the cheapest thing on the truck is the bumper. Next is the flatbed and the most expensive thing is the camper...I want them to take the hit in that order if we get hit again!

I will add photos of the new camper when I get it...hopefully soon!

Buckstopper

 

[con kso]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck with the jerk hit and run driver. That sucks.

I am, however, excited about your flatbed build. I'll be looking forward to the options and cool stuff you're going to add to your flatbed and camper.

I was wondering, was your camper covered by your standard car insurance or did you have additional insurance for it? Reason I ask is that I have a FWC flatbed camper and it was fairly expensive - I'd like to get it covered adequately.

 

[Buckstopper]

Progressive covered it as part of the comprehensive policy on the truck. It was listed on the policy and I declared a value for it when I got it. My agent says to just let him know when I get the new one and what it costs and he will add it to policy.

They were pleasant to work with but had a hard time figuring out how to handle the claim. It's a commercial truck policy written in Oregon. The accident was in Arizona and I wanted it repaired in Colorado at Hallmark. The commercial adjusters don't really know what to do with a camper. They finally passed the claim to a guy in Colorado that deals with RVs. We met at Hallmark and looked at the damage and got it resolved and they wrote a check while I was still there.

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Are you going to be at the NWOR again this year? Definetly would like to see how it turns out. Saw the damage last year, bummer that it was going to take that much work to repair, but once the damage gets to a point, it's major surgery and might as well start from scratch.

 

[Buckstopper]

We may go to NWOR. Not sure yet. We are discussing going to BC instead for a change of scenery. It would be interesting to compare your K2 interior to the flatbed model. I think we both would be surprised by how open this one is.

It was eye opening to meet with the shop guys at Hallmark and have them point out things that I hadn't noticed (like the roof not aligning the box). The big factor was that both side panels and the rear panel were damaged. That made it simply not worth it to fix after you factor that cost and the labor to square it up and fix all the internal damage. I have to say that that camper was really well built. Had it been of lessor quality I think we would have found the whole back wall of the camper sitting on ground and there would have been no question that it was toast. it took a heck of a hit.

I should hear tomorrow when I will be able to pick it up. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

[Buckstopper]

We got the new camper! We actually picked it up in May and camped in it for a week getting back to Oregon. It fit the remodeled flatbed perfectly which was a huge relief since I hadn't been able to pull a tape on the new box while I was building the truck 1200 miles away from Hallmark's shop.




We downsized from a Ute to what is a Guanella floor plan with a bathroom/shower so we were concerned that it would feel a lot smaller. The floorplan turned out to be very open with the flatbed and Lagun table. Lots of storage though some of it is a bit awkward to get to under the dinette seats.

Hallmark had to make a new mold for the shower stall to utilize the full flatbed floor width. We opted to skip the sink in the bathroom but wanted a shower. The creek side fill cassette toilet is turned so the access door to dump the cassette is on the passenger side and the discharge for the shower drain is behind the same door. It's tight but works. We had fold up hard walls on the old bathroom but not on this one due to the size. They added a privacy curtain for us when we picked it up and that works. The new shower stall allows the dinette to be converted into a bed that is 72" long.

The Nova Kool fridge is great with its separate freezer. Plenty of room and we kept Yeti Ice blocks frozen in the freezer to swap out as they thawed in the cooler. We typically keep drinks and snacks in the cooler so we aren't opening the fridge door all the time.

The Hefele cabinet latches are nice because the knobs are pushed in to lock the doors shut and are flush with the door so nothing to bump into. We didn't have any pop open during travel but we did have one break and another stick shut. The broken one was an adjustment problem. The door was installed slightly towards the hinge side so only the tip of the latch was engaging the strike and it ultimately broke off. I swapped out a latch from another door and shimmed the strike out to engage the full latch and it worked fine. The stuck latch is just a bad latch from Hefele. I am working with Matt at Hallmark to get those replaced. Those are the only build quality issues that I have found. I am really impressed with the build quality on the rest of the camper.

One of the solar panels is off of our old camper as part of the insurance settlement. The combination of one old 100 watt and one new 160 watt Zamp panel was able to keep the batteries charged for at least the 3 days we camped in one spot with some shading. I think I will be swapping out the old one for another 160 watt panel on the roof then use the old one as a remote panel that I can move to a sunny spot if we are camped in a shady campsite. We will be doing quite a bit of camping this summer and fall and will report how that works out.

I will add some interior photos but I figured I would start with this.

Buckstopper

 

[jvsontheroad]

We got the new camper! We actually picked it up in May and camped in it for a week getting back to Oregon. It fit the remodeled flatbed perfectly which was a huge relief since I hadn't been able to pull a tape on the new box while I was building the truck 1200 miles away from Hallmark's shop.

View attachment 457559

View attachment 457560
We downsized from a Ute to what is a Guanella floor plan with a bathroom/shower so we were concerned that it would feel a lot smaller. The floorplan turned out to be very open with the flatbed and Lagun table. Lots of storage though some of it is a bit awkward to get to under the dinette seats.

Hallmark had to make a new mold for the shower stall to utilize the full flatbed floor width. We opted to skip the sink in the bathroom but wanted a shower. The creek side fill cassette toilet is turned so the access door to dump the cassette is on the passenger side and the discharge for the shower drain is behind the same door. It's tight but works. We had fold up hard walls on the old bathroom but not on this one due to the size. They added a privacy curtain for us when we picked it up and that works. The new shower stall allows the dinette to be converted into a bed that is 72" long.

The Nova Kool fridge is great with its separate freezer. Plenty of room and we kept Yeti Ice blocks frozen in the freezer to swap out as they thawed in the cooler. We typically keep drinks and snacks in the cooler so we aren't opening the fridge door all the time.

The Hefele cabinet latches are nice because the knobs are pushed in to lock the doors shut and are flush with the door so nothing to bumb into. We didn't have any pop open during travel but we did have one break and another stick shut. The broken one was an adjustment problem. The door was installed slightly towards the hinge side so only the tip of the latch was engaging the strike and it ultimately broke off. I swapped out a latch from another door and shimmed the strike out to engage the full latch and it worked fine. The stuck latch is just a bad latch from Hefele. I am working with Matt at Hallmark to get those replaced. Those are the only build quality issues that I have found. I am really impressed with the build quality on the rest of the camper.

One of the solar panels is off of our old camper as part of the insurance settlement. The combination of one old 80 watt and one new 160 watt Zamp panel was able to keep the batteries charged for at least the 3 days we camped in one spot with some shading. I think I will be swapping out the old one for another 160 watt panel on the roof then use the old one as a remote panel that I can move to a sunny spot if we are camped in a shady campsite. We will be doing quite a bit of camping this summer and fall and will report how that works out.

I will add some interior photos but I figured I would start with this.

Buckstopper

Hi-Interested in the flatbed build. Any interior photos? Follow-up on who it is all working for you?

Thanks.

Jack in Bonita

 

[Buckstopper]

Jack - I am way delinquent in posting interior photos. The truck and I are about 300 miles apart right now but we will be reunited this weekend so I will get some shots posted.

It is working well for us. We camped in it quite a bit in the year that we have had it including an extended trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The overall interior layout works very well for the two of us. We downsized by a couple of feet with this camper and that was a concern but it has been ok. We really like the open space of the dinette.

The only problems that we have experienced has been the cabinet door hinges and latches. We opted for bamboo plywood for the doors. They are bullet proof but rather heavy and the surface mounted hinges have failed. I have installed 35mm hinges that insert into a hole drilled into the back of the door so there is a very positive connection. I also added a third hinge on some of the largest doors to give more support. I think these will work better.

The latches have a plastic tip that engages a strike screwed to the jamb. A couple of the latches have broken that plastic tip off and no longer engage. Still working on a solution to that one. I may add child proofing latches to keep the doors from swinging open if the latch doesn't engage.

I am making a few minor modifications to it in preparation to some longer trips this summer. Mod one is adding a drawer where there was a bit of a dead spot adjacent to the sink. The other mod is adding water filtration. More on these shortly.

I will post more info shortly.

Buckstopper

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Thank you, following. How do you like the camper step holder, I just ordered one. Seems like a better solution than letting it swing like i used to.

 

[Buckstopper]

Yetti - We really like the step holder. I had to reconfigure the top step a bit adjust for mounting it on the flatbed. Normally these are mounted kind of under the overhang of the camper on a pickup so the top step has a long piece of aluminum as the connector to the mount to push the step out a bit. Since the rear facia of the flat bed is flush with the camper in our case I swapped the long piece for a short piece. No big deal but I had to stare at it a bit to figure it out.

We also got the handrail that mounts to the steps and the back of the camper. That made the steps quite a bit safer since the door is almost 4 feet off the ground. Last but not least on the steps is the "All Terrain Landing Gear". This makes the height of the bottom riser adjustable for uneven ground...which is usually the conditions where we camp. All this stuff is from Torque Lift. They are not cheap but it's less than my insurance deductible if I fall down the stairs and break a something.

Buckstopper

 

[Buckstopper]

Ok - Camper and I are in the same place at the same time so I got some interior photos today. Disclaimer: The truck is in my shop and I don't have quite enough headroom to raise the top all the way so the photos show the soft walls kind of folded in. Its not like that under normal conditions.

First is forward looking shot. We really like the L shaped dinette area. The table pivots around just about anywhere you want it. 33 gal water tank is under the seat in the corner so that leaves a huge cabinet under the seat for storage.



View of the kitchen. With the flatbed all of the typical systems such as hot water heater, propane tanks, etc are on the floor so the upper doors cabinets that are full 22" deep. The door at the far end of the upper row is now a drawer. We opted to delete the radio that typically goes there and they used the panel to mount a 110 outlet, a 12 volt outlet and usb. I moved those to the panel to the right which encloses the batteries. That opened a nice deep space so I built a drawer. I used Blum self closing, full extension glides. I think I will add a child proof latch to make sure it doesn't open on the road. The drawer front was a cutting board that I made to drop into the sink in the old camper. I figured that it was appropriate that a bit of the old camper should be part of our new adventures.



The other end of the kitchen is a huge fridge and freezer. I usually keep the camper plugged in when its parked in the shop so the fridge is always on and stocked with cold ones just in case of emergency. We have big Yeti cooler in the toolbox behind the cab that we use for extended trips. It is filled with frozen food and we freeze Yeti ice in the freezer and rotate those in the cooler to keep the food frozen. It works very well.

 

[Buckstopper]

Inside photos continued....

Opposite the fridge is the bathroom. We have a creek fill cassette toilet and Hallmark made a new shower enclosure for our camper. It is best described as "minimalist". I am over 6' tall and have rather broad shoulders but I fit in it and can take a shower so it serves it purpose but I have to say it's tight. If I drop the soap I am out of luck. The shower hose plugs in low on the left hand wall (not visible in the photo) and the same shower hose plugs into a fitting on outside of the camper for outside showers. I find it a more comfortable to use the outdoor shower if we are camped remotely. We opted to delete the sink in the bathroom since it was tight. We rarely used the bathroom sink in the old camper and don't miss having one in the new camper. We also don't have a grey water tank for the shower drain in the camper. Instead there is a hose fitting inside the access door to the cassette tank. I created a grey water tank under the flatbed so I can connect a short garden hose to the hose fitting on the camper and the other end drains into the chassis mounted grey tank. We do have a separate grey water tank in the camper for the kitchen sink.



Here is a detail of the hinges that I used to replace the failed surface mounted hinges. They seem to be a lot stronger. Time will tell. Note that I added some baskets on the inside of the doors so I added some weight to the already heavy solid plywood doors.



That's pretty much the tour. We have the under bed storage and overhead cabinets that all Hallmark slide in camper have so that was the same as our old one and works well for us.

Buckstopper

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Torklift also has amazing customer service, even though their stuff is more expensive- just from my dealings with their warranty ill use them for life. I bought my camper used and it came with some torklift fast guns that were in bad shape, I called them asking if i could buy a rebuild kit. They asked me to send them a video/ pics of the loose spring and replaced them all free of charge. EVEN after explaining they came with a used camper and I was not the original purchaser.

I installed the step holder last weekend, the kit i bought was missing the nylon parts, after a email they had them shipped overnight.

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

Like you, we’ve always had excellent experience with Torklift.

 

[Buckstopper]

Here is an update on the Hallmark Flatbed camper. We have camped in every state west of Colorado, Alaska and BC Canada in this camper and it as worked very well. We have used it in all 4 seasons and have stayed comfortable in it so I can attest to the quality of insulation that Hallmark puts into their products.

We have also put a lot of miles on bumpy roads and it has held up well with one exception...cabinet door hinges. I replaced the hinges on all the cabinet doors because I had a few screws into come loose. We had opted for the bamboo cabinets and while bamboo has been very durable but it is heavy. I used Blum soft close hinges that use a 35mm hole in the door so they are not relying on the screws for support. They have solved the problem. No more loose screws.





We also requested no radio in the camper which we don't miss. This did create an opportunity for more storage space so I removed the false front and relocated the gauges and electrical outlet that were there and added a drawer. It uses self closing glides so if it opens while we are traveling it just closes itself. The drawer front was a cutting board that I made to drop in the sink of our previous camper but the camper was destroyed before we ever used this as a cutting board. This drawer has proven to be very useful as it is the only drawer in the camper.



The other news is that out truck and camper are for sale as we are moving to a van to allow more seats so we can take our grand kids with us on our adventures. Here's a link to the Forum sale post:

https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...0-with-hallmark-flatbed-camper-120-000.234657

Buckstopper