2021 Palomino Backpack Edition Truck Camper reviews

Terrible, do not buy Palomino or Forest River!! Bought a camper 2 years ago brand new.  Nearly every exterior screw fell out first year and was replaced and glued in. Service center told me that was normal and they see it a lot. Two years later I'm being told I need all new canvas and a new roof.  $10 k worth of work according to my local service center.  Tried calling Palomino for help, got an email from Jerald at Palomino basically saying its my fault!.  Said the repairs are only $3400.  Shows you just how much the mark up is at the service center. Jacks that lift the top broke 3 times.  Last time it took my service center 15 weeks to get replacements from Forest River, they lasted a week before breaking again.  4th time all my jacks were replaced with a linear actuator.  This means if they malfunction again, they cannot be manually operated to open or lower the roof. Have you ever slept in a pop top truck camper with the roof down? I have, with my wife and 3 dogs.   Again, my camper is 2 years old. The roof leaks in multiple spots, the canvas is torn in multiple spots. The service center told me the new jacks that were installed is raising the roof too high and stretching the canvas more than it was intended. I have broken lights and my heater doesn't work. I've had it in the service center for electrical problems, water pump, refridgerator, etc. 2 years old!! These guys are a joke.  Nelsons RV, RV's.com, Palomino, Forest River....  Save yourself the trouble and shop somewhere else.  Hit me up if you wan to kow more.  Show less

Do Not Buy! Horrible! Terrible quality and customer support. They will not stand behind their product. Bought this camper 2 years ago, brand new. Wife and I have spent our life hiking and camping with a tent. Now in our 50s we decided to buy a camper to make life more comfortable. Well my camper has been in the shop for repairs more times than I can count. My camper is currently at the service center and I'm being told that it needs all new canvas $6k and probably a new roof $5k due to leaks. Mind you I bought this camper brand new two years ago! Palomino/Forest River was contacted and they will not help with anything at all. The manufacturer will not take responsibility and neither will my local dealer, Nelsons RV/RVs. Com. The past two years of electrical and mechanical breakdowns and terrible service has been an absolute nightmare. Show less

An excerpt from my longer review here: https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/review-of-the-palomino-ss-1200-pop-up-truck-camper/ With the top up and the soft storage boxes removed the inside of the camper feels impressively roomy for the small footprint. The soft top is mostly transparent plastic (or a screen with the windows rolled down) so there’s an abundance of natural light, cross breeze, and views. If you’re in the bed area or standing down below you can see in every direction which is great when boondocking in wide open spaces. For such a small space we’ve found the kitchen to be very workable. We travel with three different pans and a lot of our storage is devoted to food and kitchen supplies. We often set up the table during meal prep for extra counter space and are able to assemble relatively complex meals for camping conditions. The Palomino SS-1200 is a very capable and fully featured pop up camper. We have lived out of it full time for seven months and it has performed admirably on most of the dimensions we care about. The biggest downside for this entry-level camper is the interior build quality and many of those issues can be addressed if you’re up for a little bit of light carpentry. Show less

This truck camper pop up is lightweight wait easy to travel and park anywhere very good on gas mileage due to the 1700 pound weight. This truck camper is bullet lined for a completely unique look one of a kind This truck camper is ready for overlanding/dry camping or rv campgrounds with full hookups the best of both worlds This truck camper has also 280 W of solar with an inverter has attached Max tracks for if you get stuck also has 2 extra water jugs with external lightweight stairs to come into your camper Also has a Max fan to pull out hot air from the camper windows all around pop up section for great ventilation I have used this camper in RV campsites and the campsites and for overlanding the bullet liner one of a kind paint job makes it scratch proof I give this pop up camper trailer 5 stars. This camper is one of a kind and a eye catcher Show less

Water poured into middle of bed during first rain. Membrane was loose due to factory error,so sealant cracked from wind, which allowed a leak around front fan. 2nd rain i found where it was coming from and it filled 3 solo cups in 30 minutes of moderate rain. Into the middle of the bed of course. After the first botched repair attempt by pleasureland i found out that Forest river’s warranty required replacement of entire roof shell. Actuator also failed by august. I suspected early failure when i picked it up, so i ordered one at my own expense. Those motors start to squeal and soon enough its dead and you cannot raise the roof. All the actuator motors are poorly sealed. Service guy told me that forest river has replaced those. However the one they sold me for about 250$ was the same style and serial # as old one. Sounds like a second one will fail soon. Still waiting for that to be replaced. 3 months. Forest river doesn’t answer any emails or phone calls. Dealing with Pleasure Land rv has been like being in a comedy movie spoofing shady car dealers. The pro for these is price. So i guess I deserve what i got. I’m going to void their crappy warranty and replace the roof myself with an aftermarket brand. will find and buy 4 actuators aftermarket and install them myself also. So if doing repairs yourself on a new unit doesn’t bother you then take your shot and buy one. Show less

I generally like the unit and am happy with. I feel 3 1/2 stars is my rating. I bought this in February 2021 and we have been on three trips with it so far. I pull a boat behind and remove the camper from the truck first thing when arriving at our camping location so I use the electric jacks a lot with no issues to date. I also place stabilizer bars under the nose of the camper. I have no leaks in the roof or anywhere else. I did add a roof mount single 100W solar panel and roof mount Dish Network Playmate satellite dish after purchase. It was already pre-wired for solar which was nice. We like the 3 way Dometic Fridge. The wet bath and on-demand hot water. My wife especially like the full inner spring queen sleeping area and its headroom. We did add a high quality topper to the mattress but it was okay as it was as well. The large amount of storage on each side of the bed is great. I do like the soft, portable storage bags in place of fixed cupboards. You can use what you want and take out what you don't. The poorer aspect is Forest River could have made a 3 1/2 star review 5 stars for just a few dollars more in quality. Just simple things that would cost them half of what it cost me to do. I drain my fresh water after trips. I have to unscrew and remove a cover over the water tank to do this each time. A way to drain this easily would be nice. The battery included with the camper was an unknown brand with low amp hours. I gave it away and bought a good group 27 battery to replace it. $100 The outside shower head was attached with a plastic tube which was kinked in three places before we ever touched it. I spent $20 at Ace Hardware to buy a decent sprayer head and hose. I had to re-glue one of the ceiling trim strips which fell out. Not a big deal but it's new. I do not care for the dining table as designed either. The storage under it is pointless. Although the overall amount of storage in the camper is impressive in a good way. The cutting board cover for the sink is warped already. When you drain the water some stays in the fawcett and drips on the board. I realize that now but did not before. Plastic in place of wood would have been a good swap here. I like the camper. Just a few little things would have taken this from decent to great. Show less

Roof leaks first trip after i buy it in April. MONTHS and many frustrating moments later it is still a giant headache. Actuator which lifts roof has failed. All of course under warranty. Then fight to get repairs authorized, hear all the excuses and brush offs. Neither issue is fixed. It’s august. If forest river is the only company selling rv’s I’m goin back to my tent. Show less

Bought this in September of 2020, a month later it was in the shop for a gasket recall. In the spring when we tried opened it for our first use of the year, found one of the motor that raise the roof didn’t work. Tapped on it and it started working. Then we found out the roof leaks. Brought it back to dealer to find the leak, replace the lights full of water, replace the window that leaked, replace the motor that didn’t work. When we picked it up from the dealer, a second motor quit working, they replaced that. Last week brought it back to a different dealer because the canvas sides pulled out of the roof, can only assume the motors raise too high and pulled the canvas out. Got a call today, and a third motor doesn’t work so now they have to replace that one. POS LEMON Show less

Just picked up our 2021 SS550. Not super impressed as this year the overhead cabinets are literally “canvas duffel bags” and worthless. They have removed lots of the storage the older models had (such as below the countertop and under the bed. The dinette table is so flimsy we have already ordered a better “foot for it” and then they are so worried about weight yet they have an additional board which is for the “dinette bed” that there is no place to store and have to lug around. With just a tad bit of thought they could have set up the dinette so that the table could be used for the dinette bed. But nope too easy to go the cheap route in construction but not price. You may ask why we bought it? Can’t find a older used one and are on a time line due to health issues. If ya have time wouldn’t buy it look at their previous years models much better layout and storage. Oh and quality apparently isn’t in their vocabulary just looking to turn out quick to build and super light weight to the point of stupid. Has so much potential and they went the cheap easy route. Some redeeming features are the electric roof jacks hand, rail at door Instant hot water heater and 3 way fridge beyond that really a bummer. Not sure why they went this route as is sad. Show less