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Yeah, ripped completely away. Here's my new post: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/13607-rear-turnbuckle-mount-failure-on-hallmark-guanella/ The Maze District of Canyonlands is awesome! Here's a photo of one of our campsites: (That's my wife and 3-yr old twins enjoying sunset from the...

More pics (previous pics of the camper were from passenger's side, these are from driver's side):

We have an 08 Hallmark Guanella mounted on an 06 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD short bed (6 1/3 foot bed). We’ve been working on the camper mounting system with the intent of taking it regularly on rugged 4WD roads in Utah’s canyon country and the southern Colorado Rockies. We’ve got Hallmark-installed...

Well, so much for our camper mounting system! While driving rough roads in the Maze District of Canyonlands, the rear turnbuckles tore the plates mounting them to the camper clean through the plywood. Rather than bury a description of what happened and the eventual fix (knock on wood) here, I'll...

Bigfoot, I agree that the mounting plates on the camper for the rear turnbuckles were inadequate for rugged 4WD roads (essentially asking a 2 1/4 x 5 inch square of plywood to hold up against shocks of repeated big bumps). Larger metal plates should help a lot, hopefully there's enough solid...

We've been really happy with our Guanella on a Dodge Ram 2500 CTD short bed. Hallmark installed Happijac box-mounted tie downs which we'd read were not as strong as the frame mounts, but they added some extra reinforcement which seems to do a great job of holding things together on really rough...

I have to concur with Bigfoot, but that Power Wagon sure does look like a great truck for off road driving. We're getting our 2500 CTD prepared for more rugged terrain, unfortunately we'll have to get skid plates custom fabricated to protect the gas tank and transfer case (they factory make them...

A brief update: we came up with an easy solution to widen the dinette bed by stacking storage bins in the aisle and setting the table on top of the bins, then covering the whole setup with a full-sized inflatable mattress. The height of the platform in the aisle is exactly even with the bed, and...

Just thought I'd update my prior post with photos. We expanded the 39-inch wide dinette bed with a full-sized inflatable mattress propped up on storage bins plus the table (which fits perfectly and stably on top of two Rubbermaid Roughneck bins). If you look at the profile photo you can just...

2007 Hallmark Ute XS, $18,500, Fort Myers, FL http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/rvs/5242391314.html Looks like it's got a new roof with power lift and solar panel/ controller, plus AC and a generator, a Thule roof box and a few other upgrades thrown in. Appears to be in excellent shape from...

Regarding the Derringer handles, the front turnbuckle hooks wedge in perfectly between the jack mounting bolts and holes in the aluminum angle with zero clearance, so it's a non-issue. It's a minor inconvenience to unscrew and retighten them whenever we take the camper off and put it back on...

Foamular mounted to the bottom of the camper. As noted above, we may end up covering the exposed Foamular with a utility panel to disperse the weight across it and stop it from being indented/compacted by the ridges in the rubber mat (if you look closely at the photo you can see the dark grooves...

Got the mounting issue solved, or so it seems. Here's a link to a separate post on that. http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/11134-mounting-hallmark-guanella-on-dodge-ram-2500-short-bed-project/ Overall now we're really happy with our choice of a Hallmark Guanella, it's proven to be a very...

If you're leaning toward a Hallmark, try to go with an 08 or later if you can afford it (can get one in good shape for about $15K). The composite roof/side material is leak proof, and it's easy to inspect that vintage for damage. Another option that may be significantly cheaper is to get an...

Looks like we finally got the truck/camper fit dialed. Link to the post describing that project: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/11134-mounting-hallmark-guanella-on-dodge-ram-2500-short-bed-project/ Seems like we're truly off-road worthy now, and couldn't be happier with our choice of...

Home sweet home!

Update: We decided to mount the front turnbuckles to the front of the jack brackets, using a home-made metal plate system similar to Bigfoot and Bad Habit's. Although it would have been nice to get an attachment point further back on the camper to get a decent amount of forward pull, it seemed...

We just bought a 10 yr old camper (Hallmark) with its original 3+ cu ft Dometic 3-way fridge/freezer. Would have gone with a compressor fridge and solar if we built up a new camper, and we're prepared to make the switch at any point if the 3-way gives us trouble. However, so far it seems to be...

Jim, Is this what you used? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corning-FOAMULAR-150-1-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-R-5-Tongue-and-Groove-Insulation-Sheathing-68WD/100320355 How did you fasten it to the bottom of the camper or keep it from moving around? Do you use a rubber mat as well, or just the insulation...

Measured the camper box against the truck bed and it seemed like it would fit without any spacers on bottom. So we took off all the 2x4 + 1x4 spacers underneath, and lowered it onto the truck. Unfortunately, we only measured at the front, and it seems that the Dodge box is taller in back than in...

I ordered a set of AnchorGuard turnbuckles off rvwholesalers.com (Durnell's RV in Lakeview OH) for $126.99. The closest competitor, Amazon, was $160. I had to get a dish drainer and some sikaflex to bring the total to $140 for free shipping, but we needed those things anyway. Seems like a...

Thanks for the photos, Bad Habit. I was thinking of something like that attached to the rear of the jack bracket instead of the front. It would have to be lower down to stay below the camper and extend further back to give adequate spacing for the turnbuckle (probably 5 or 6 inches back). Looks...

Bigfoot, what's the special mounting plate on the camper you mentioned? I've got the same concern (it's 15 inches between the Happijac front tiedown and the turnbuckle attachment point on the front jack, which would be further shortened by the couple of links of chain necessary to provide a...

So you didn't need any of those 2x4's? Just lay the flat plywood bottom of the camper on the truck bed (with mat) and tie it down? Looks like we may be a bit tight if we try that (not clearing side rails by much as is), but we'll take a look. Are you solid on very rough roads with the Happijac...

Bigfoot, are you planning to convert to a frame-mounted tiedown (the Torklift, I assume) because of bad experieces you've had with the box-mounted Happijac, or simply that you anticipate wanting the extra strength and peace of mind somewhere down the road? I ask because one option we're still...