Whether my 1998 Hallmark is a “lemon” more than the other campers manfulctured that year, I can not say. What I do know is that ALL, ALL of the composite panels making up the main structure of the camper rotted. The frount fiberglass nose (made by the some fiberglass shop that makes parts for Earth Roamer) is fine. The back figerglass-aluminium door is fine. But all the walls made at Hallmark did rot. In 1998 Hallmark used a composite construction using fiberglass, foam, and wood veneer. Their mistake was to use the wood veneer. Water seeps in, the wood rots and the camper fell apart. The last time I was at the Hallmark factory, about 6 years ago, they had changed their constuction but the side and back of the camper still was made with a wood-balsa core. The first major structural falure, due to rot, occured when my Hallmark was only 6 or seven years old. The "solid" side of hte camper cracked completely after hitting a big bump. I took the camper back to the Hallmark factory and their first response was to say that I had crashed the camper. That was false. Upon closer examination it became clear that the side cracked becasue the wood in the composite wall was rotten. Sunce that time, over the years, the entire camper has rotted. The roof snk in where the Hallmark factory mounted air conditoner was located causing an ongoing roof leak and eventually caused the roof to rot, too.
My advice to any and all perspective buyers (myself included as I am forced to buy a new camper now) is DO NOT simply belive the Hallmark or any other manufacture's sales pitch. Take the time to investigate for yourself. If the solid side walls and back of the Hallmark camper still contain wood, I would definatly NOT buy one. Over time water can and will seep in. Also, Hallmark is most definately NOT the only upper-end pop top truck camper manufacture. You also have OUTFITTER R.V. founded by former co-owner of Hallmark Bob Ward and his son Brian.
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http://www.outfittermfg.com)
They claim that their camper is NOT made with any wood and will never rot. As I say, The owner of Outfitter used to be the half-owner of Hallamrk. He should know as well as anyone how to build a good camper.
Then you have Alaskan campers, the ORIGNAL pop top truck camper, their factory located in Washington State. I have visited the Alaskan factory twice and was quite impressed with their quality.
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http://www.outfittermfg.com )
And then you have the amazing XP Camper, manufaturered in Grass Valley, California. There is no question whatsoever that the XP is the BEST built pop top camper by far. With a price tag of $80,000 for the full sized model, they are beyond the means for most of us, including myself. But, if I had the money I would buy one. (www.xpcamper.com)
As far as I konw that pretty much surveys all the "upper end" pop top truck campers available. You can buy a ful sized Palamino pop top on e-bay for around $7000, and for what it is, it is not a bad option for a beginner. They are cheap and they are cheaply made... but for the money, not total junk. they work too. My first pop top truck camper was a Sunlite. It worked fine for 6 years until I traded it for my Hallmark.
If I pay $30,000 for a new camper I want it to hold up for quite a wild. I do NOT want another camper that will have major structural falures during the first ten years. If Hallmark can convince me that their new ones are now bomb-proof I will even consider a new Hallmark. But you can be sure that I will not simply fall for their shimmering-tounged sales pitches. I did that once and was very disappointed when my Hallmark camper totally rotted.
I will be happy to answer any further questions.
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