Palomino B600 may NOT be suitable for your Tacoma!

[wytwtr]

I know this is not truly a 4WD application, but we were looking for a less expensive truck camper we could put on our Tacoma for some moderate off-road use, and this is what happened to us.

If anyone is considering a Palomino Bronco B-600 (or their new Backpacker version) for your Toyota Tacoma, beware! In spite of what Palomino says on their website, ads, or what their dealers tell you, we found it was NOT suitable for our Tacoma, period. We found a deal for one on our local classifieds, and we told by the dealer (which was echoed on Palomino's website) that it was "perfect" for our Tacoma, and the dealer said we could drive it off-road. Once we got it installed on our 2014 Access cab, we had to fiddle around with the suspension on our own (after the RV dealer botched the initial installation and put sub-standard StableLoads on it), we took it to a truck scale and found that the dry camper and only myself, husband and 50-lb dog (no water, food, clothing or additional camping gear) was exceeding the GVWR by 560 lbs! We are now trying to get the dealer to take the camper back, since we never got it on the road, and feel it is unsafe and grossly overweight and there is no way that we would ever be able to take it off-road, let alone on the highway! Are looking at a more scaled down pop up camper like four wheel campers or all terrain campers. Buyer beware, do your own homework, and find an RV dealer you can trust!

 

[Rexsname]

I wish you the best of luck in resolving this issue. Were you able to weigh your Tacoma prior to shopping for your camper? Unfortunately, salesmen are in the business of selling inventory, not always doing the right thing.

REX

 

[tanglefoot]

I think it's pretty common practice for campers that are designed for certain-size trucks to result in the truck being over its GVWR. The GVWR numbers for trucks of each make, model and configuration vary so greatly that camper manufacturers really can't cater to them all. They build campers in sizes to fit the various truck bed sizes, and that's mostly what they refer to when they list truck applications for each camper.

You might browse or start a discussion in the pop-up camper section, but I'm willing to bet that a good percentage of truck camper owners are over the GVWR of the truck. And yes, it still works off-road (on the milder stuff). You may not have any kind of a case against the sales people or manufacturer.

There are likely plenty of B600s on Tacomas (I found several with a brief search). Just beef up the suspension a bit and roll with it!

 

[brianjwilson]

It is really the buyer's responsibility. You will see this same story all over the internet on RV forums. I would honestly say that the majority of truck and camper combinations are overweight. Even the big one ton dual rear wheel trucks (especially diesel 4x4 crew cabs), hauling 11-12' campers. Very few trucks will carry a camper safely and comfortably without modifications.

A four wheel camper with equal options will not be considerably lighter, not enough to get below GVWR anyway.

More than likely, air bags in the rear (or upgrades leaf springs etc) with better tires will make you feel good about the way the truck drives. Further improvements with shocks and stuff will make it much better. Check over at wanderthewest.com to talk with some guys hauling campers on Tacomas.

 

[wytwtr]

Thanks, all for your feedback and suggestions. Still waiting to hear back from the dealer if they are willing to work with us on taking it back, but I'm not hopeful.

I have heard from other people on other forums as well that there are those running their vehicles over GVWR and beefing up the suspension helps. This may be a cheaper option for us than taking a hit on trying to return the camper.

Just sucks that the dealer didn't even ask to look at our truck, suggest weighing it beforehand, or caution us against the added weight of the add-ons, they were only too happy to bump up the price tag and take our money. Since this was our first camper purchase, I was hoping they would be more helpful and provide some guidance. Even if they had just told us we would have to add suspension beyond the StableLoad overload leaf activators (which don't work very well, quite frankly) and air bags (which we were told later are not even currently available for the 2014 Tacoma), I would have been a little less displeased. We did add the Timbren SES suspension assists, which helped a lot with the sway problems. The sales manager tried to tell us when we tried to return the camper that these would increased our payload capacity, which on Timbren's site is stated as NOT TRUE. Fortunately, I saw that before we met with the sales manager, so I could at least shut him up on that claim right away.

 

[tanglefoot]

I don't think most dealers would suggest weighing the truck because then they might not sell the camper--they probably know it will be over GVWR. There really aren't any mid-size trucks that have significantly more payload capacity than yours. Most trucks that camper fits on will be over GVWR.

The suspension assists do, in reality, make the truck more able to carry a load, when it comes to suspension deflection and sway. They print that the products do not add GVWR though, for legal protection, so people don't get carried away and hold the parts manufacturer accountable.

You might check out the suspension assist products from Hellwig.

Here's a blog by a couple with a B600 on a previous-generation Tacoma. It looks like they used Supersprings to help support the load. They've done extensive travel around the US with their combo.

http://touringtheamericas.blogspot.com/p/truck_05.html

 

[BillTex]

GVWR...what's that?

Weigh your truck loaded/unloaded.
Check your axle ratings.
Get appropriate tires/wheels.
Get Supersprings.
Have fun...

You are not breaking any new ground here.

Bill

 

[surlydiesel]

You'll find a good deal of info on the Pop-Up Camper forum on here and as others have said WTW forum. I'll be honest, I wouldn't put a fully loaded truck camper on my Tacoma. I would however not hesitate putting a "shell" model from any of the big companies and select a few creature comforts. Screen Door, Fantastic Fan, Battery and Solar Panel and that's about it for me. I would add and takeaway items for different trips. Sometimes I would use it as a tent, other times I would want heat and a fridge but I would like being able to setup for each trip when weight is such a huge part of the game with little trucks.

Anyway, I posted this in the Pop-Up Forum after I was poking around on the Toyota website and building trucks. Turns out there is very little difference in payload between the Tundra and Tacoma and you would actually be overweight with a Tundra as well unless you had a Reg Cab Long bed. Assuming you are using a 4X4 Platform.

Reg Cab Long Bed 4X4: 1910
Double Cab 6' Bed 4X4: 1320
DC Long Bed 4X4: 1480
Crew Max 4X4: 1255

Tacoma:
Reg Cab 4X4 4cyl: 1390
Acc Cab 4X4 4cyl: 1320
Double Cab 4X4: 1305

Off the Toyota website. If you get a 2X4 in any truck you get a few hundred pounds extra in the payload dept but it's a trade off.

I'd get some Helwig Helper Springs or Super Springs, a Helwig Swaybar and along with your Timbren Stops, you should really feel fine with the weight on the truck handling wise. As for possibly being over your road weights. I'm not you and only you can decide if you are ok with that.

Best of luck,
Jorge

 

[wytwtr]

The Palomino camper is gone!

After a lengthy and somewhat expensive legal back and forth (hence my delayed response), we were finally able to get the RV dealer to take the Palomino B-600 camper back plus pay for the damages to our Tacoma due to the improper installation (they didn't tighten the Fastguns down properly and failed to put a rubber mat under the camper on the ABS bed, which resulted in bending the sides of our bed) and the bent suspension from the overload situation. Of course, they did not admit any fault, but we feel that they recognized the strength of our case against them for fraud and negligence.

A couple of comments on some of the posts above:

The load capacity numbers listed on the last post do NOT apply to 4x4 models, which only reduces the load capacity further. Our actual load capacity for a 2014 Tacoma 4x4 TRD is 1140 lbs. No way we could have carried the Palomino B-600 and stayed within that limit unless we didn't put ANY cargo in it and we had a 75 lb. driver!

One thing it seems the RV dealer either continues to fail to understand, or is just in denial, is that load capacity includes the weight of passengers, not just what you are carrying in the bed of your truck. We discovered after careful perusal of the Palomino Owner's Manual (that we did not receive until after delivery of the camper) is that Palomino themselves clearly state that the fully loaded camper plus passengers should NOT exceed the vehicle's GVWR. Since we were already almost 600 lbs. over that with NO cargo in the camper (not even water), this camper clearly was not suitable for our truck.

Finally, we ended up buying a FWC Eagle shell, which weighs HALF what the Palomino did, and we have outfitted it with minimalist gear (milk crates for storage, a small camping stove, 4 lb. solar panel, small Engel fridge), and have taken it on three long trips, several times up steep, FWD roads in Death Valley, with absolutely no difficulties. After tent camping for years, we only really needed a place to sleep and sit in the evenings, which we do quite comfortably now in our FWC!

 

[ripperj]

Glad you got it resolved, 560# over weight bent your suspension?

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