37 replies to this topic

[clikrf8]

I want to thank the admins for offering a new forum for us "others". We were quite happy with our Four Wheel Camper "Eagle" but needed more room for photography equipment and dog. Also, love my tacoma but it was too under-powered with its 4 cylinder engine. Several of you pointed out that braking would be a problem and it was: coming out of a tunnel on Washington's Hwy 20, we almost lost it around a corner hubby took too fast and brakes weren't up to cutting speed fast enough. A scare that had us rethinking our options plus Tacoma was just too uncomfortable for his back (T6 vertebra crushed a few years ago).

We explored our financial options (retired and still reeling from mistrust of financial advisors/bankers), took a deep breath and decided to go for it. Life is short and too many things to see and do in a shorter and shorter time. First was the truck: we researched our choices, hubby being the truck expert wanted certain features: diesel, 4x4, off road package, long bed, extra cab, Super Duty Ford. I checked daily on Auto Trader and found us a beauty: 2008 Ford F250 with low miles (33k) with everything on our list plus installed Air Bags/inside pump, Lo Jack, Sirius, towing package. We took a bigger deeper breath and took out a loan (we always paid cash, rarely relying on loans) to pay it off in 8 years.

Next, we found a buyer for our FWC, a nice Canadian who knew exactly what he wanted and paid close to our asking price. I am glad it is going to a new home sitting on his 2012 Nissan equivalent to our Tacoma.

We looked for several months for a camper, knowing that finding a used one was difficult at best as most Hallmarks and Outfitters were in Colorado. Another deep breath to buy a 2013 Hallmark Ute for our long box Ford. Yes, it is heavier but it is bigger and has more items standard. Hubby wanted a full bath (funny as I didn't and would have been happy with porta potti/outside shower). It still has room for us to both sit comfortably at the shortened dinette and look out the BIG windows. The soft top is insulated, there is a molded kitchen counter with a double sink, kitchen window with SS mini blinds, SS backsplash, Gorgeous SW motif upholstery, Solar system with 2 AGM batteries and 2000 watt inverter, rack/ladder/cage, locking shovel/ax set, audio center, and extended bed. $$$$ but life is short.

We picked it up from the factory in Colorado and headed off to circle around the US Southwest for photo ops. Snow chased us out of Colorado so we hung around Southern Utah for 3 weeks. I am busy editing images and will give a recap of our experiences later. For the most part, we really like our camper. The Ward family at Hallmark were wonderful to deal with and will fix a few issues we encountered. It is a spacious, well thought out, homey camper. The little details are thoughtful and innovative. They love building campers.

So, back to editing images. I have attached a small image of our truck/camper from our campsite at Walker Lake in Nevada.

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[highz]

Really nice! Looking forward to more pics of your rig and your Southwest trip.

[MarkBC]

As highz says, pics please!
If you got a new rig to better-enable photography, there should be pics.

[leadsled9]

Several of you pointed out that braking would be a problem and it was: coming out of a tunnel on Washington's Hwy 20, we almost lost it around a corner hubby took too fast and brakes weren't up to cutting speed fast enough. A scare that had us rethinking our options plus Tacoma was just too uncomfortable for his back (T6 vertebra crushed a few years ago).

I feel that a lot of folks kind of bury their head in the sand regarding the braking issue. The smaller trucks and early 1/2 ton trucks have brakes that work fine when the truck is empty....but dump a camper on the back and things can go bad in a hurry. The lousy braking was one of the major reasons for my truck upgrade too.

Shortly after upgrading I had an near accident....and the upgraded braking actually saved a mans life. Long story short a motorcylist came off his bike in front of me on the I10 freeway in Phoenix....bouncing down the freeway....I came to a screeching halt about 15 yards from him. Traffic had me boxed in so no lane change was possible....and if I had been in my 1/2 ton Tundra....I would have ran over the poor guy. You will never regret your upgraded braking.

You now have a great looking rig that is more suited to your needs. Keep us informed of your travels...and yes...pictures are required!

[Ted]

Congrats on the new set-up, clikrf8. I really like the large side windows and the front windows in the pop-up of your camper. Looking forward to seeing your photographs.

[Phird05]

Congratulations on the new camper! You will definitely be very pleased with your Hallmark. And just like the folks at FWC and ATC, the Ward family will always be there if you need them....even to answer any questions you may have. They are top notch when it comes to customer service. Although mine is the smaller Milner LX, I think they did a great job with the layout, build quality and the fixtures and finishes are much nicer than a lot of what is out there. I couldn't be happier with my camper and have had no issues that required any intervention at the factory.

Again, congratulations!

Good Camping,

Paul

[Overland Hadley]

Beautiful rig!

But we need more photos just to make sure.


What kind of roof basket do you have mounted? I have been looking for a while trying to find a basket that fits my needs.

[clikrf8]

I feel that a lot of folks kind of bury their head in the sand regarding the braking issue. The smaller trucks and early 1/2 ton trucks have brakes that work fine when the truck is empty....but dump a camper on the back and things can go bad in a hurry. The lousy braking was one of the major reasons for my truck upgrade too.

Shortly after upgrading I had an near accident....and the upgraded braking actually saved a mans life. Long story short a motorcylist came off his bike in front of me on the I10 freeway in Phoenix....bouncing down the freeway....I came to a screeching halt about 15 yards from him. Traffic had me boxed in so no lane change was possible....and if I had been in my 1/2 ton Tundra....I would have ran over the poor guy. You will never regret your upgraded braking.

You now have a great looking rig that is more suited to your needs. Keep us informed of your travels...and yes...pictures are required!

i am glad that I remembered about the braking issues and told hubby about what several of you warned us about. We tried to stay to a budget by using our Tacoma and buying 4WC Eagle (great little camper-thoughtful use of space and perfect for us at the time). Sometimes, you just have to crunch it and go for it. I am really glad that you were able to stop in time to avoid a collision with the biker. Sometimes there are unavoidable situations when your equipment has to be up to whatever is thrown at you. Our Ford F250 has super 4 wheel disc brakes hubby says are excellent in stopping power. That's not an excuse for him to barrel down the road like a NASCAR driver but it is comforting to know we are in a safe vehicle. We use the Tacoma for our town car and only take out the Ford when we camp.

[clikrf8]

Beautiful rig!

But we need more photos just to make sure.


What kind of roof basket do you have mounted? I have been looking for a while trying to find a basket that fits my needs.

We had hallmark install the Rhino rack system rails and bought a basket by same company that was a demo. We wanted one that would hold our uninflated inflatable raft (39" x 60" or something like that. Also, I wanted a platform to stand on for photography and this basket has aluminum "planks". Here is a link to what we got:TRAY

Expensive but it will get lots of use. I was looking at the wire mesh basket but didn't see how I could use it with a tripod (and once, I broke my carbon fiber Gitzo by getting a leg stuck in a hole).

[clikrf8]

Here is a photo of our campsite along the Pit River on California 299. This was about the only campground open as others had shut down for the winter at Lassen and a lake near Susanville. A gal at the BLM office in Alturas suggested it. Pretty little spot we had all to ourselves with fall color and 2 small waterfalls cascading between the trees. Most of my photos are of where we were not of the truck/camper as we would get up early to shoot and move on and/or be out shooting until after sunset then go to bed.

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