The Geotrek Versus is a really neat rig, but then you are back to a Mercedes chassis which would be a hard stop form many, including us. At one point, between pickup campers I dove deep into the van option and came away with nothing but cons for the way we use our vehicles and what is important to us. A very built out Mercedes is about as capable as a low end, basic 4x4 SD pickup with no lift and stock tire size. Stock SD/HD pickups can take 35" tires stock. Add in even a small quality lift, or start with Tremor package, and you can fit 37", which improves rollover, gets the axles even higher off the ground, huge sidewall, and more clearance when aired down. I know all that important only for those that trail drive, but it is at the core of how we use our rigs so weighted highly for us. There will no doubt be a cross section of shoppers that vans chassis works for, so fair to cross shop there.
Then the reliability and serviceability of Mercedes bothered me; Story after story from online and friends of issues with Mercedes components breaking down, not being able to get a timely fixes (months out at nearby service centers so had to tow to service centers very far away), hard to even get in for maintenance (though I do my own maintenance). There are some non-diesel, non-Mercedes van options but then you lose the trail driving ability because they have even less trail-capable drivetrains, even lower clearance, inability for larger diameter tires, etc.
Last I heard, Outpost is not really looking at doing any flatbed campers anytime soon. I think they are working on a 8' slide-in, so that will be interesting to see, but a slide-in is a different animal than a chassis-camper. But it will still will be a neat options. Any new makes and models increases choices and makes it that much more likely a buyer can find the best camper for them.
I remember you and I discussing the Flagship, and you were saying that a non pop up rig (vans and paragon style alike) are no bueno for offroad anyway due to higher center of gravity, and the fact that trees would get in the way a lot.
And in a way, you were true, those rigs are limited offroad, 35" tire or not. On the other hand, I have seen Sprinters on 33s be where they have no business being.
While on paper a F350 on 35 is more capable, in real life, people will bring their built out Sprinters to 99% of spots that Paragon goes.
35s on a Paragon is not 35s on a Bronco. Those enormous rigs (Paragon and Verus alike) are simply not the best if you need true offroad performance.
Fully loaded both truck and camper, this will be close to 300K. At that price you are in Tahoma E territory, which comes on a Ford E Chassis with unbeatable reliability, 37" tires, and better systems ( from more solar, water, charging speed to heated floors etc) not to mention the advantage of swivel front seat and large direct access that this chassis offer and other clever stuff such as the drop down bed both front and rear sleeping 4 adults comfortably, etc.
I fully agree with you: it’s both great and exciting to have all those new options on the market. There is something for every need and budget. There wasn’t many premium integrated truck campers in the 200-300 range and this is a welcome addition.
That's a little troubling to me that they would contact you to take a thread down.
@Chadx doesn't need to be the only person starting threads whether he has a deal with them or not. Public forum for public use they can chose to participate or not. To me a public forum is the last place of semi-unmoderated truthful information. If companies don't appreciate that I really wonder their motives.
FWIW ST contacted me when I was complaining about the charging system online. They never once asked me to change or take down any information and I truly believe they are a standup company with customers best interests at heart.
End of April my charging issues will be resolved with a big upgrade from ST and being as I've paid for every single penny of my camper I'll certainly share my honest feedback good or bad.
To the original point of this thread I like this new camper a lot and while $189K is the base price that's already at least what I have into my Tremor/ ST LT setup so it's not that out of sight.
That's pretty ridiculous. Unless YOU have signed an NDA they shouldn't ask you to remove any post. Plus you probably got information about the HT from an early look like through Gearjunkie or Truck Camper Mag like everyone else. They post early looks and "leaks" because they want certain information to get out. In no way should they have strong armed you into removing a post.
Will echo your last paragraph. With my truck, mods to handle the camper, flatbed and camper itself I'm very near the base price of the Paragon. I think their intro price to even a base system is very reasonable. In doing "builds" on ST's website I think where things start to add up quickly are upgrades. Adding AC, Induction, battery upgrades, direct plumb diesel heater, etc etc will instantly kick up the price another $20-$30K.
I am responding to the 2 above post at the same time. I wasn’t trying to throw Supertramp under a bus. To give you more context on this: before HT release, I was casually browsing their website and the HT was there. I clicked and saw the full product description. So I thought cool, a new rig. I started a new thread here and posted the link and they asked me to take it down because the reveal would be a couple days later and their web manager had accidentally turned the website page live.
They asked politely, so I didn’t have a problem with that even though the screw up is on their end. This event wouldn’t influence me in my decision to buy their product or not. Unlike some shady camper companies that I won’t mention here that have done shady stuff, all I see from Supertramp seems like a serious business. I like their product and approach. I just wish their price was more competitive (the HT is much more expensive than the Outpost when optioned similarly, and this Paragon looks cheap for what it is at first but I would bet money once optioned correctly it will be a ton more and I am not buying a 200K rig to have 270ah that won’t work with their induction cooking, no AC, no bath, no 100A charging, and a basic XLT, etc, so I would have to option it a lot).
I look forward to seeing the final product and real world feedback.
