33 replies to this topic

[takesiteasy]

Nice to see another camper brand- looks great! Thanks for the report.

[Vic]

...We also were able to choose the fabrics we wanted to use and thanks to the reccomendations we got here (thanks Vic!) we chose Sunbrella fabrics and they should wear very well (in fact my wife spilled some wine on the seat and was quickly ably to wipe it up without any ill effects... 

 

Glad it worked out for you.  Sunbrella seems to wear like iron.  

 

Your camper looks like a sweet rig. I'm sure you'll love it for many years.  

[clikrf8]

Good question.
We are still in the process of our fitting the interior (does it ever end??) so I'm not sure I have a complete answer yet but one thing I wish we had is a utensil drawer. You know for forks, spoons etc. I may start a new thread asking how other people organize their stuff..
Other than that we have been very happy with everything. Even the dinette seats are comfortable!

We have dual sinks so use a Tupperware bottom for our utensils on one side and laundry/dishwashing items in the other. There are two wooden tops that fit on the top of the sinks. We eat simple foods so rarely wash dishes in sinks. Works for us. After awhile (we have had our unit 3.5 years plus) you figure out what stays and what gets removed. Happy trails.

[Advmoto18]

Very nice Eddie!

 

No doubt you guys will enjoy it years to come!

[smlobx]

Thanks Bill. We are going to Lake Moomaw in JNF next weekend to do a little kayaking!

[Bigfoot]

...Overall we could not be happier with the camper and the way we spec'd our rig! My apologies for the quality of the images...
Let me know if you have any questions....

 

Good job in spec'ing it out for your needs. The N-S bed is great and one reason we went with Hallmark. We asked for extra power outlets including a couple of USB ports, as well as a floor light which is great for the middle of the night.  

 

Things that were disappointing start with the cheap venetian blinds over the kitchen counter that immediately lost their bottom restraints and bent. I got some replacement restraints and glued them together. And then there are the clumsy curtains on the dinette side that always seem to be in the way and look rumpled. We wish we had insisted on the European-style integrated windows which we had used in another rig, but Hallmark talked us out of them. 

 

The theme of poor attention to the detail one expects in a premium camper continued on to other things. We have 3 drawers but they are held in place by notches and gravity which is inadequate on rough roads. I added locks. The simple shelves provided in the closet were just sitting on removable brackets so everything fell apart during normal travel. I added screws and stretch cords to hold things in place. Several switches are sticking out of the wall in places where they are easy to hit without noticing. I replaced a few of them with protected switches. 

 

There is a lot of storage but the cabinet interiors are unfinished and some of them are difficult to use because of unprotected wires and pipes. I added some insulation for protection. The storage areas are all unique sizes, so I scoured on-line sources for right-sized containers and found a mix of kitchen trays, shop bins and ammo boxes that work for us. I tried a sliding basket but it took up too much space. Most pots and pans wound up in the overhead compartment. 

 

We also got an outdoor shower but all Hallmark offered was a cheap, plastic unit that is the first thing to freeze and break. Also, I can see the thin door vibrating on the road so it is only a matter of time before it breaks too. Replacement faucets are under $20 but I would have paid more for a unit that is built to last. The Bullfinch unit you have looks better. 

 

We have two ceiling vents plus a rectangular skylight over the bed. The air and light are nice although I am amazed that they did not come with opaque covers to block sun or moonlight when needed. I fashioned a cover for the skylight but had to resort to velcro and fabric for the circular vents. 

 

I have already posted on how Hallmark messed up the turnbuckle installation which caused considerable effort on my part to fix. 

 

All in all, a learning experience. Many of the detail problems I attribute to Hallmark's choice of generic parts that are not ideal for off-road camper use, and to employees who are not trained as well as they might be. 

 

Still, once the bugs were worked out a very nice camper that we have enjoyed on many trips to the mountains, deserts and seashores. Hope you like yours as much. 

 

Edited by Bigfoot, 07 July 2016 - 08:01 PM.

[smlobx]

Bigfoot-
I'm sorry that you've had some challenges with your rig but if you look closely at other brands many of the complaints you posted here are found in other rigs as well.
Is any brand 100% reliable right out of the box? Of course not and that is one of the reasons we bought our rig a couple of years before we intend to take an extended trip so that we can work out the minor bugs.

The North/South bed option, the state of the art roof with the best raising mechanism out there and their willingness to customize our rig were the reasons we chose Hallmark and (so far) we're glad we did!

[Bigfoot]

Bigfoot-
I'm sorry that you've had some challenges with your rig but if you look closely at other brands many of the complaints you posted here are found in other rigs as well.
Is any brand 100% reliable right out of the box? Of course not and that is one of the reasons we bought our rig a couple of years before we intend to take an extended trip so that we can work out the minor bugs.

The North/South bed option, the state of the art roof with the best raising mechanism out there and their willingness to customize our rig were the reasons we chose Hallmark and (so far) we're glad we did!

Of course, the basic design is strong and most problems are minor. However, Hallmark is the "premium" choice who have been around a long time and claim that they have it all dialed in, and charge for it. Not so much with surprisingly poor components and build details. 

[buzzman]

Eddie, congrats on your camper. We have a 2015 Hallmark Ute, similar to your Everest, and we really like it. We just finished a 6 week, 8500 mile trip "wandering the west". We spent every night in the camper and we had no problems with the camper except for a couple finicky cabinet latches. Hallmark is supposed to be sending me some replacements. Our previous camper was a 2007 FWC Grandby, also a very nice camper, but the wife wanted a few more amenities. Here's some pictures of some under the counter storage ideas we are currently trying. We would also like a drawer for flat ware, but the 2 small white bins we found at Wally World work okay...at least until we find, or build, something better. We don't have an oven so we have room underneath and found two plastic bins that fit under the cook top where we keep other various kitchen items. Our pots and pans and dishes are stored in one of the overhead compartments.

 

Buzz

 

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[smlobx]

Just thought I would update our situation....
We ended up selling our 2006 F-350 and buying a 2016. It is virtually identical to our older rig except for the updated 6.7L diesel which is a beast!
We looked at the possibility of getting a '17 but there were significant differences in the bed of the truck that had me wondering that we would have to make some modifications for the Hallmark to fit so we decided to play it safe and get the '16.

Just before we bought the truck we attended Expo East in Asheville and while we had a blast and learned a lot one thing we did not like was how bright the LED lights on the starboard side (where we hang out) were. After discussing this with my electrician we decided to install LED tape lights which are remotely adjustable in both intensity and color..

Here's a pic of what we did!

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Edited by smlobx, 15 November 2016 - 11:56 PM.