Don's 2024 Palmino 3210 Camper

[Flyin6]

Duane used EcoFlow, the bigger one and he swears by it.

I am trying to keep things cost-effective and I feel two 100 Ahr batteries just to run a coffee maker once a day and a 12VDC fridge 24/7 off a solar 400-watt charger is fine. It has been doing fine so far.

[JR]

Yep, those will do you fine.

[Flyin6]

I got the second Renogy battery installed today. The voltage meter is showing 13.3 for both of them at the moment with plenty of muggy sun out there to juice things up.

We are working all over the camper to try and dial the thing in a little better. I discovered the fridge was set at 11 volts. Not sure what that means, but it has a setting for 12V and 13V. I set it for the tallest, 13V setting since that is where Lithium likes to live. I think it was doing a so-so job of keeping things cool. The freezer was maybe not quite freezing. I'll check on how much better it cools now if at all.

I installed a folding platform on the side of the sink to give her more room to set up in the morning. I made it out of two self-locking hinges and a cutting board panel of HDPE material.

She hung up several baskets in the slide for this and that and I put a picture of our Kentucky on one of the walls.

When I was looking around for a place to mount the inverter-powered 115VAC receptacle I had removed a bulkhead in the overhead. I noticed a void of dead space beside one of the cabinets, so I framed that in and made space for some pots and pans.

All in all, it is coming right along.

[Flyin6]

Hope to start filling this in shortly...

[Flyin6]

Here is that enlarged cabinet space:

[Flyin6]

And here is where the Inverter cable (temporary) ends...close to the quoffee pot:

[Flyin6]

Two batteries, charging. 13.2 shortly after installation with a lot of stuff running.

[Flyin6]

So we know where we are rooted:

[Flyin6]

Wire baskets going in:

[Flyin6]

Bathroom looking all comfy and the new folding "table":

[Flyin6]

She has been doing all this. Came up with some nifty ideas like the place to hang wet clothes and towels:

[Flyin6]

She did all this too:

[Flyin6]

She did all this too. Including a new Keurig!

[Flyin6]

She filled all this up, but hey, all I do is eat the food that she is going to cook...

[Flyin6]

No spices in the rack just yet, but I like the magnetic attachment theme.

[JR]

Optimizing the space, you never seem to have enough.

You gave me an idea. I'm getting an arched shower curtain rod for mine. I can use the old straight rod to hang things in the shower.

[Flyin6]

Optimizing the space, you never seem to have enough.

You gave me an idea. I'm getting an arched shower curtain rod for mine. I can use the old straight rod to hang things in the shower.

I give Kat credit for almost all of that organizational stuff. Se's a wizard. I do the mechanical stuff...

[Bigdave_185]

I’ll be interested to see how the magnets hold up. From the first pistol mount that didn’t hold the gun over a speed bump, the fiver doesn’t like magnets either. Seemed to just dump all things onto the floor each time we traveled


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[stlaser]

Looks pretty, and nice. She making you sleep in the back seat of the truck cab? 

[Flyin6]

Looks pretty, and nice. She making you sleep in the back seat of the truck cab? 

No room back there!
Let me see, there's the:
Tool box
Air pump
Recovery kit bag
Blackstone
Camp table (foldable)
Her travel action packer
My travel action packer
travel blanket/pillow
Jumper battery
Fishing tackle
stuff
More stuff
Even more stuff

[Flyin6]

I’ll be interested to see how the magnets hold up. From the first pistol mount that didn’t hold the gun over a speed bump, the fiver doesn’t like magnets either. Seemed to just dump all things onto the floor each time we traveled


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Kind of my thoughts
and I told her I didn't think all that stuff would stay put
Comes from flying Armee helicopters
Nothing that wasn't riveted or welded or strapped or glued in place was in the same place after the mission.
Some of that was due to thieving Rangers, but most was because sudden jolts dislodge things.
But, hey, I'm done arguing with her about little things. It is best just to let her clean the camper up for a few days to "learn" about G-forces and gravity.
;-)

[Atkinsmatt]

I saw a travel blanket and pillow on the back seat list.  What do you mean no room?

[Flyin6]

To finish up the 2000Watt inverter, I created a small box to mount the remote on/off switch.

[Flyin6]

No time to paint it white, the trip is at my doorstep!!!!!!!

[Flyin6]

I created this handy storage area for the 2X6 I use to support the camper off of the truck

[Flyin6]

Then I mounted it to the truck once again

[Flyin6]

The provided rear step has too much of a rise and has only one step. The bed is a good 3+ feet above the ground so I opted to install new folding steps.

[Flyin6]

They still needed another set of steps so I made up a hasty 2X6 ground mount fixture to level things out.

[Flyin6]

With the lofty bed height, the jacks were extending all the way to their limit, so I fashioned up a set of blocks to add some height. I recessed the top to feet the foot pad.

[Flyin6]

Almost in a "mission-ready" posture.

Final load-out and packing is now ongoing.

[JR]

Thats a big first step!

[Bob Smith]

Looking good Don. I agree withJR that first step is high.
Enjoy the camper and have a good trip

[TexasRedNeck]

Safe travels chief


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[Sammconn]

Have a great trip there boss!

[Flyin6]

Thats a big first step!

Should have seen it before!

When the camper is off of the truck, it will be 2-2.5 feet lower to the ground. You could hover up in ground effect if ya wanted ;-)

[Flyin6]

Oh, and thanks, all for the well wishes. I'll try and bring back some good pics and a few more stories!

[oklawall]

Safe and fun travels boss

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[Atkinsmatt]

Have a great time.

[Flyin6]

Final load-out ongoing. The rear seat area is quickly disappearing. The airbags are starting to complain and she thinks we need more stuff!

I learned something from this trip. Two other Army-era couples are showing up to spend a week together in the Wyoming. As we all know, girls dress up for girls. I have come to realize that she is kitting out (She calls it making the place "Cute") so that it will wow and get the approval of her girlfriends. I am only there as an accessory to what is actually going on...

Think I'll grab my rod and reel and get lost up some trout stream somewhere...

[Flyin6]

Post-action review:

We just completed the first big trip of 11 states and 4000+ miles.

Overall, the camper did most of what it was designed to do. The food never got warm in the frig, the solar system held up and works as advertised to this day. It did not suffer a catastrophic failure but did have a bunch of small issues.

Observed problems:

The drawer slide in the bathroom failed
The drawer slide in the kitchen failed
The main wall cabinet was never actually attached from when it was new and nearly fell out of the wall!
All the hallway lights failed simultaneously
the backsplash near the rear burner of the stove melted and nearly caught fire
The nighttime running lights failed preventing any nighttime driving
The electric jack control box failed, but due mostly to OE.
Despite being clamped securely in place, the camper would more about the bed during transit
The left side front camper to bed bumper fell off
The black/gray drainpipe cap fell off somewhere

The good:
The bed was comfortable
We were never able to exhaust the batteries
We never ran out of fresh water
The slide and awnings worked flawlessly
We had no water leaks
There were no leaks noted during several rainstorms
Despite hitting several tree branches and some good sized ones, nothing was damaged
The doors and windows and locks and latches all worked well the entire trip

The bad:
The many, almost daily failures
After each day, we would find stuff scattered all over the floor
The handling of the truck with that two-ton hammer in the bed was marginal on crappy roads, particularly in Chicago and Indy.
Fuel mileage was surprisingly bad. We saw a low of 7.6mpg westbound and a best of 9.7 eastbound. Without the camper we got 15.1, so there is a 50% penalty in MPG carrying that big piece of drag
The tall CG made it difficult to drive more than 500 miles, adding a couple of days to transit time
Fighting little cars in parking lots was challenging
Finding parking at the zillions of pull-offs at the parks was hard
People are not kind to RVers
Ya, people suck sometimes

Summary:
camping or traveling in a truck camper can be fun and thrifty. You will camp for free quite a bit and will seldom pay more than $70 for a full hookup evening. It is nice to have your apartment right behind you a moment away. Setup up and teardown can be bothersome, especially when in mosquito infested areas like Wyoming and Yellowstone. You could easily replace the truck camper with a small travel trailer, and maybe that is an option, but you lose maneuverability.
Truck stops will allow you to park overnight for free and there are $17 showers available along with some pretty decent food if you can't find a park or don't want to get fleeced by a KOA crawling with kids. Oh, yes, all campgrounds come well-stocked with curtain climbers screaming well into the night.
The TC and get you into spots where normal campers dare not tread, but we found no such spots. We would find travel trailers, fivers, and tent people everywhere we went. That begs the question if a TC is even necessary.
We had a good time, but knowing what we now know, I am not sure I could not have enjoyed the space to stretch out in a smaller fifth wheel with a big bed. Life goes on and we actually experienced an epic trip. The trip, we found is not about the camper, but about the places you find yourself and what you chose to do there.

[Flyin6]

Today, after we cleaned the camper and unpacked it, we carried it over to the local RV shop for some warranty work. Now we find out if Forest River will continue to stand behind its product.

[JR]

That is a lot of little things, and a few not so little.

I bet driving at 65 would really improve mpg, but its hard. Worth a try?

Overall sounds like the trip was good and your home safe.

[EL TATE]

Wire baskets going in:

well, you got the most important part correct with the Dot's. Looking good as always Chief