2017 Hallmark Guanella Review

[forumtruckcampe]

I could not locate an existing thread on pop up camper reviews, please let me know if I've overlooked a more suitable post location.

I purchased a Hallmark Guanella truck camper in the spring of 2017. The following are my thoughts having used the camper thru the fall of 2020. Per year usually use it on one extended trip (4wks) and roughly half a dozen 3-4 day trips.

The Good:
Excellent layout: Very comfortable and versatile. Usually we cook breakfast inside and once it's dark/getting cold spend part of the evening inside and don’t feel cramped or uncomfortable. Lots of storage space (did not get an inside toilet or shower which would have reduced the storage space).
Design: Good, no significant issues.
Bundle Price: Liked the Hallmark bundle price price which allowed small tweaks to the order.

The Bad:
Had several build quality issues, both annoying and safety related. Working with Bill Ward can be difficult and at times nonsensical, however the sons and wife were very helpful. List of some of the more significant issues:

The refrigerator had three safety issues – large airflow opening between the refrigerator combustion area/outside and inside living area which could allow carbon monoxide to enter (this did occur on my last camper), outside camper lining is "pink foam" which is combustible, and inadequate outside venting to prevent propane leaks from pooling. All these run counter to the installation instructions and are very difficult to even partially address post build.

Some other refrigerator install issues, there was no insulation on the refrigerator sides/top/bottom, no cooling fan, and there was a large clearance between the exterior coils and camper wall facing the coils (should be almost zero clearance to get a good draft). Again these run counter to the installation instructions. (Note: I had asked how much it'd cost to insulate the refrigerator and was told it was included.) I've with some difficulty added DC cooling fans, baffle plate and insulation; refrigerator performance is somewhat adequate so long as doesn’t get too hot outside (95F+ can be problematic).

The first time I drained the hot water heater (per the instruction manual directions for long term storage) I ended up with water on the floor of the camper and in the sidewalls. Turns out the water heater shell wasn't caulked as required per the installation manual. Again, difficult to seal post build.

The front camper bumper installation was too short, ended up damaging the battery door which hit the truck bed. Had to pad up the bumper stop by a couple inches to get clearance.

The camper top back RH corner hits well before the others which resulted in accelerated wear, added a 1/2 inch spacer to the lift pad. Easy Step blocked door due to inadequate clearance to bottom of door (with everyone inside), had to crawl out emergency exit. Fix was to trim bottom of door to get adequate clearance. The camper sink (it's the molded in composite design) has thru cracks around the sink drain, I assume the counter-top was dropped or?? Repaired with glass and epoxy applied underneath.

Things I would have changed on the order or suggestions:
Larger propane bottle option particularly if order the hot water heater.
Eliminate outside decals and the inside cloth trim used in high traffic areas (already showing wear. Example, cloth trim on sides of bench seats, near entry door and on trim in front of bed).
Add hard points for future usage such as bike racks, storage boxes, extra propane bottle.
Make sure to leave the tailgate at home, Hallmark didn’t remind me of that before I drove 2500 miles for delivery. Fortunately I thought of it; could easily have not since on my old 8 foot camper with a short bed truck you need the tailgate for support.
Remove the overhead storage storage cabinet above the dinette; it makes the space cramped and blocks the large “vinyl” window above the table.
Definitely order the Easy Step and outside grip handle.
Not enthralled with Dometic 3 way refrigerator, the company doesn’t provide parts list/other documentation, and caution to not use propane above 5500 feet (and the camper is sold in Colorado?). And Dometic apparently does not offer a high altitude jet (I called). Maybe there’s another brand that is better suited? I have also noticed the hot water heater doesn’t like high altitude as well.
Also note that the truck to camper battery charging installation was very poor, the wire run was very long 10 gauge such that the battery charges slowly. I replaced with 6 gauge wire run directly from the truck alternator to the camper battery (with an isolation relay) and can get substantial battery charging amperage.

Personal mods:
Added a strap and spacers to lash down the Easy Step below the large storage cabinet on rear RH side as entering the camper. This keeps it lashed down on rough roads and out of the way.
Used an old Ni Cad driver drill and tapped into storage battery to raise and lower top (versus using my shop driver drill and worrying about how to recharge it).
Added bulb seals around the camper top to reduce dust and eliminate risk of rain on front end of camper.
The Torque Lift camper hold downs seem to allow the camper to move around in the bed on rough roads, I made spacer blocks for the front and back to limit movement.

[ISBRAM]

When we bought our last Hallmark Cuchara camper new in early 2011 the Dometic 3 way refrigerator was finicky from the start. We had owned several other RV’s with similar refrigerators and knew it wasn’t normal.

After a few months sometimes it wouldn’t start to cool when turned on until I drove the truck a few miles, even then it was hard to get it below 40 degrees. Hallmark referred me to the Dometic authorized repair guy, he happened to offer mobile service. He came out and tested it and said I needed to replace the entire refrigerator and that warranty would cover everything except the mobile service.

I watched/ helped him replace it and he never said anything was wrong with the way it was installed by Hallmark. After it was replaced the new refrigerator worked better than any we had ever owned, it would freeze stuff if I turned up higher than 3 on the control panel.

We usually camp at altitudes of 8,500 to 11,000 feet and never noticed altitude affecting it. It just worked perfect all of the time even if the outside temperature was in the high 90’s.

The Atwood water heater Hallmark installed worked perfect from day one regardless of conditions. We sold our Hallmark last month but everything was still working perfect. Even though we only live an hour from Hallmark's factory, we never needed any warranty service or repairs from them the entire time we owned it.