Congrats on the new camper and enjoy yourself.

For the record an Outfitter comes with a 44gal water tank standard and 60gal optional.

Enjoy !!! Post a pix when you can...It's all about fun !!! Lynn

Camper69- Congradulations- you have made an informed choice. Good Luck

Congratulations, I am not familure with either unit, we are new to TC'ing, but it is exciting to get a new camper. I hope that you have the best of times with it.

camper69,

Congratulations, you could not have gone wrong with either brand. Post some photos.

Brad

I like the little sunlite pop up. They are lite and fine for the price ,, just go around and caulk everthing up good ,then take it to a body shop and have the top sprayed wwith rino coaating , Never leak , lol

After picking up my Hallmark camper in April, I almost forgot about this forum. It was an interesting ride to Colorado from Illinois. I traded in my truck last year (94 F250 460cc, 3:55) for a 2006 F250 with a 5.4. My reasons for the smaller engine were based on the current specs on that engine versus what I had with the 460. Well, needless to say, I was a little disappointed when I first got the truck. I got a Superchip and re-programmed the engine. A very noticeable improvement to say the least. So I took off for Colorado. Everything was fine until I got to about North Platt Nebraska. I started noticing a lot of down shifting when I left the cruise on. By the time I got to the Denver area I felt like I was running on 4 cylinders. I figured it was the alititude but I figured I couldn't be the only one in Denver having power problems. I suspected the Superchip but of course I didn't have it with to de-program the engine. Needless to say, I had a hard time getting around until I finally got back to North Platt and down to a reasonable altitude. (More on the truck later.) They were waiting for me at Hallmark when I arrived. I'm glad I was a curious customer constantly going back to the shop because I was not happy with the way they were going to attach the camper. I wanted Tork Lifts and they had already installed them. What I didn't want however was a chain attachment on the front tie downs. That's what they were planning on doing. I stopped them before they installed them and told them I wanted the spring loaded rods. (I snapped a chain once on a previous camper.) They scratched their heads a lot but finally figured out a way to install the solid rods in the front. The clearance to the body of the truck is very tight so you really have to center the unit to get it right. But it worked fine and it looks great. The next problem involved my over load springs. There wasn't enough weight to engage the over loads so all the weight went on the mains. The solution to that came from Tork Lift when I got home. They sell large pads that replace the factory ones putting the over load springs very close to the stops. When the camper goes down, the over loads make contact very quickly. That solved that problem. The only other problem I had was solving the roof rack arrangement. I ended up with 6 foot Yakima tracks starting from the rear. I had no other option in placing the tracks since the AC goes right in the center of the roof. I later put a cargo rack to one side and a small covered roof carrier to the other. This solves all my 'where do I put this?' problems since there are no outside storage bins like I was use to on the Lance. It's a very nice arrangement with one major draw back however. You can only have limited weight on the back when raising the roof. No problem with the roof down or up, but raising it with that kind of weigh can cause major damage. The problem is all the torque from the motor raising the roof comes from a motor situated at the back of the queen over bed. That doesn't leave a lot of strength at the very end of the camper when the roof is being raised. As a matter of fact. Hallmark says no more than 20 pounds on the back when going up. That 20 pound allowance is about over with just considering the weight of my cargo rack and cargo box. So I have to take stuff down before raising it. That's a real pain if all you want to do is pull over and take a quick nap or must make the stop a quick sleep over in a rest area. I also kind of support it as it is going up, just to be safe. That's probably my only major complaint with the entire camper. There were a few minor flaws in the unit but nothing major. I had to re-center the table post for one. My only other big complaint has to do with the quality of the foam rubber for the dinnette. Very cheap. When you sit your butt hits the wood. I checked locally and to replace these cushions with quality foam is close to $400. So far I have I have elected to do nothing. Because of work and a very bad season of bugs, I have only had the unit out twice. I plan on going more in the fall and most importantly it will be all set and ready to go for next season. By then all the bugs will have been worked out of the truck and the camper. As far as the truck goes...I am happy I stayed with the 5.4 engine. I put an Airaid intake filter on and I replaced the muffler with a Gibson high performance exhaust. I may not have as much power as a diesel or a V10 but I can get from point A to point B without any difficulty. I am very satisfied with my choice in a Hallmark camper. While not as roomy as my previously owned Lance Lance it more than fits my needs for something mobile and certainly more agile. No way would I have considered the Lance a rig that easily could go to the store for milk. The truck feels very stable with the Hallmark on top and even my wife doesn't feel freaked out driving it. The composite roof by the way really is a giant plus. That unit is water tight when down. Rubber roofs always made me nervous. The metal roof on the Lance was a much better choice than rubber but certainly the composite roof is the major plus.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Route 66,

Thanks for posting the update.

Interesting comment on the weight limit of the roof. That is something I think potential buyers would have liked to been made aware of BEFORE they laid down their money. Strange that hallmark doesn't mention it on their site.

I have a large roof pod right at the rear edge of my Apex9.5 and even when loaded (approx 80+lbs) Outfitter's electric lift mechanism handles it fine. Granted that corner is the last one up and the first one down but that is to be expected. The motor is in the same position as yours.

quote:

Thanks for posting the update.

Interesting comment on the weight limit of the roof. That is something I think potential buyers would have liked to been made aware of BEFORE they laid down their money. Strange that hallmark doesn't mention it on their site.

I have a large roof pod right at the rear edge of my Apex9.5 and even when loaded (approx 80+lbs) Outfitter's electric lift mechanism handles it fine. Granted that corner is the last one up and the first one down but that is to be expected. The motor is in the same position as yours.

Once again, Outfitter should be divulging the same information about lift system bars and torsion system. I would be happy to put anyone interested in contact with "Heco" lift systems to verify the information.

"Heco" the mfg. of the lift system bars that all pop-up mfg.'s use does not recommend using the torsion system to lift excess weights in the rear of the camper.

Hallmark's roof can withstand 10 times the weight of the Outfitter roof without failure but is bound by the same lift system bars. Hallmark does manufacture its own reinforced front lift system bars to make our power lift system more useable and strong.

I took the liberty of showing a picture.

I wouldn't try this unless you put sticks in the roof in the rear to keep the side rails from bending.

_{Edit: Removed the flaming commentary.}

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Hitchhiker,