Once again, the Palomino production team has developed a new floor plan that’s sure to get the marketplace talking. Introducing the 2025 Palomino HS-3201, a hard side, non-slide, split dry bath. What’s a split dry bath? In a word, huge!
Is it possible for a hard side non-slide to have one of the biggest dry baths in the business? Yes, it is, and Palomino is announcing the HS-3201 to prove it.
The funny part is that the Palomino team didn’t exactly warn us about this feature when we first saw the camper. I walked in, saw the open shower stall, and thought, “Where’s the toilet and sink?” Then I turned to the other side, saw the toilet room, and did a face palm.
It’s not that we’ve never seen a split dry bath in a truck camper before, but there’s no production camper on the market today that has this feature. And I don’t believe we’ve ever seen this done in a non-slide, as a ‘mid-split-dry-bath’. Try and say that three times fast without spitting your coffee.
By using a bifold door for the toilet room, and a pocket door facing the main living area, the mid-split-dry-bath offers unheard of dry bath space in a non-slide camper, while ensuring whatever level of privacy you may require. Are we looking at the new non-slide dry bath king? If we’re talkin’ space, you bet.
For more information on the 2025 Palomino HS-3201, we talked with Ben Meloche, General Manager, and Josh Tyler, Operations Manager, for Palomino RV.
The 2025 Palomino HS-3201 is a hard-side, non-slide, dry bath truck camper for long bed trucks. The interior floor length of the Palomino HS-3201 is 9′, the width is 8’2″ and the interior height is 6’8”. Palomino RV is reporting the standard build dry weight of the HS-3201 at 3,196 pounds.
The 2025 Palomino HS-3201 has 45-gallons of fresh, 20-gallons of grey, and 20-gallons of black. The camper comes standard with a self-heating 100AH battery with an option for a second, and has one thirty-pound propane tank. The MSRP for a standard-build Palomino HS-3201 is $43,293. Click here to request a free Palomino brochure.
Before we talk about the new Palomino HS-3201, tell us how the HS-3210 slide-out dry bath camper has performed since its launch last year.
Ben: Even though we launched the HS-3210 last year at this time, it took a while to get the camper into production. That’s not common, but there were several things we wanted to tweak. Since launching the production version of the HS-3210, retail sales have been strong.
A big part of the HS-3210 was the introduction of the white cabinetry, grey accents, and overall lighter and brighter interior look. How was that interior received in the marketplace?
Ben: It was very well received. We had enough dealers and customers request the HS-3210 interior in our other units that we’re launching it across the board for our 2025 hard side models. For the hard side truck camper line, it’s a good fit.
We painted our interior cabinetry white two years ago. It really brightens up the inside.
Ben: Exactly. There are many videos of people customizing their hard side truck campers with white interiors and cabinetry. We think the look is on trend, and gives the customer a blank canvas to decorate if they choose to.
Is the new HS-3201 another truck camper—like the HS-3210—that was designed and developed by your production team?
Ben: Yes. The HS-3201 has the same story. The success of the HS-3210 fired them up to create the HS-3201. We asked them to develop a non-slide dry bath model to give Palominos another option. Our production team is willing to try new things and develop prototypes until they find what works. The split dry bath is the result of that process.
There are a few areas we want to tweak, but the production team did an amazing job of hitting the goal. It has good kitchen space, a huge sliding pantry, and many usable and unique details that customers are going to love.
“It has good kitchen space, a huge sliding pantry, and many usable and unique details that customers are going to love.”
Has the Palomino truck camper production team now officially taken the lead on new camper design and development?
Ben: Yes. With our new approach, we suggest an idea, the production team builds a prototype that works, and then we bring in the engineering team to go through everything. The production team has a long leash and is 100 percent open to feedback; critical or positive. It’s become a well-oiled and highly functional process for us.
Josh: Our production team reads Truck Camper Magazine and social media and sees all the custom truck campers and mods people are doing. They take all that inspiration, and the proven design history of Palomino, and they use it when developing new models. They also know where the potential challenges can be on the production line and design those aspects out of the campers. From door to door, they are all working together on the process.
Ben: That’s an important point that someone in my chair often misses. As management, I can say, “I like this floor plan. Build it.” The production team can look at that floor plan and see production bottlenecks, but they’re forced to build around it.
By having the production team work on the design and development of the camper, we avoid those bottlenecks altogether and don’t have to build around anything. There are no square pegs in round holes. They are designing and building the camper for production from the ground up.
That makes perfect sense. Did you start with the foundation and floor plan of another camper when developing the HS-3201?
Ben: The HS-3210 was based on HS-2910. The HS-3201 uses the same foundation, basement, and tanks as the HS-2901. For cost and production efficiency, we’re getting two floor plans from essentially the same box.
Josh: We essentially took the HS-2901 and squeezed in a split dry bath. There’s a lot we carried over from the HS-3210 including the design of the rear kitchen.
The dinette is a straight sofa. Did you consider making it a two-top face-to-face dinette?
Ben: We believed that would have brought the dinette out too far into the living space. With the straight sofa, you have seating for two and a large 32-inch television to watch in the kitchen area.
Does the sofa turn into a bed?
Ben: Yes. The sofa also pulls out to make a short bed. Underneath the sofa cushion a pull-out frame. If you slide it out and lay the cushions down, it creates a short bed. It’s perfect for kids or shorter adults.
The rear passenger’s side features a huge pull-out pantry and two drawers. Was the consensus that you needed more storage in the main living area?
Ben: We know everyone uses every square inch of storage in a truck camper. The pull-out pantry uses space that would otherwise be hard to reach and utilize. The pantry was the most user-friendly and practical use of that space we could come up with.
Where did the idea of a split dry bath come from?
Josh: When we started developing the prototype, we were trying to get a dry bath on one side. The challenge was getting to the bed. You gain a lot of room with the slide-out on the HS-3210, but we didn’t have that slide-out space for the HS-3201. When we were playing around with ideas we came up with the split dry bath. Then we had some challenges on how to close things off for privacy, and we wanted to allow customers to close the door to the toilet room and shower. We went through several iterations before we came up with the camper we’re debuting.
Ben: The unit was built. It was 99 percent there. The only thing missing were the bathroom doors. That was the most challenging aspect of the floor plan. The bi-fold toilet room door gives privacy to that room. It also gives you extra space. The pocket door creates privacy from the main living area. Different people are comfortable with different things. The bi-fold door and pocket door give the most options to the most customers.
How big is the shower stall?
Ben: It’s a 32-inch by 24-inch pan. We sourced the pan specifically for this new model.
We see a lot of value in a dry bath. It gives the bathroom more storage with cabinetry and shelving. It also has a nice residential-style sink.
Having the shower separate means that one person could be using the shower while the other is using the toilet room. You can’t do that with a typical dry bath. Having the split dry bath in the middle of the camper closes the cabover off like a true bedroom.
Above: The pocket door closes off the main area from the bathroom and overcab
We noted a number of changes in the HS-3201 cabover. For example, the front cabinets don’t extend into the nose. Tell us about that design.
Ben: We continue to hear from customers who use CPAP machines that they need a spot to put the machines and outlets to plug them in. That’s where the new front cabinet design came from. Of course, you could also put your phone, a tablet, or a book in that front space. It creates a nightstand area and better utilizes that space for CPAP machines and other uses.
Did you test that space with a CPAP machine?
Ben: Yes. One of our team members uses a CPAP machine and we tested it with his.
There’s also a new accent color and texture on the front nose. Where did that come from?
Ben: That’s another across-the-board change. We don’t typically get too crazy with different accent panels, but that’s one area that needed something. It’s 100 percent for eye appeal. We don’t want the camper to get too white and sterile.
Above: The driver’s side of the overcab
The cabover cabinetry on both sides also appears to have changed. The driver’s side now has a two door hamper area, but no closet.
Josh: Yes, we changed the HS-3201 cabover cabinetry on the driver’s side because of the entertainment center. This is completely different from any other model. It has separate floating closets. It’s a layout idea we stole from our travel trailer line.
Above: The passenger’s side of the overcab
Does the HS-3201 use the same monster 11 cubic foot 12-volt DC Everchill WD-282FWC-6 refrigerator as the HS-3210?
Ben: Yes. And I have not heard a single complaint that our 11 cubic foot refrigerators are too big. We intend to outfit our campers with the largest refrigerators we can.
You are also using the Girard GSWH-2 tankless water heater. What has the reception been to that feature?
Ben: When we started using the Girard tankless water heaters across the board in our truck campers, we got some questioning feedback from dealers. Now they’re asking us why we’re not using them in our travel trailers.
From a warranty standpoint, we’re not seeing issues with the Girard water heaters. They make a lot of sense for truck campers. They also save weight by not having a tank. We have no plans to change that feature.
What type of windows are standard; single or dual pane thermal windows?
Ben: The HS-3201 has dual-pane thermal windows, as does our entire Max series.
How many watts of solar are standard on the HS-3201?
Ben: Two 200-watt solar panels are standard on the HS-3201.
Josh: There’s some room for more panels, but our charge controller is designed for 400-watts. You would need to upgrade your charge controller or add a second charge controller.
What are the tank sizes of the HS-3201?
Ben: They’re the same as our HS-2901 and HS-3210. The HS-3201 has 45 gallons fresh, 20 gallons grey, and 20 gallons black. There’s also a 30-pound propane tank.
What air conditioner are you offering for the HS-3201?
Ben: We offer an 11K BTU Dometic air conditioner.
Are you using the same L&W storage bumper system from the HS-3210?
Ben: Yes.
What does the 2025 Palomino HS-3201 weigh with standard build features?
Ben: The one we debuted was 3,196 pounds. We are making some additional tweaks, but don’t expect the weight to change much.
Where is the center of gravity for the 2025 Palomino HS-3201?
Ben: The center of gravity is 40.5 inches from the front wall.
What is the MSRP for the 2025 Palomino HS-3201 with standard build features?
Ben: It’s $43,293. That includes a package with two televisions and two awnings.
What is the warranty for the 2025 Palomino HS-3201?
Ben: It’s a one year nose-to-bumper warranty. That protects against manufacturer defects which, if there is an issue, we typically see within the first trip or two. The structure, plumbing, and electrical are all covered. Supplier warranties like appliances have their own warranties that are two to three years.
When will the HS-3201 be available at dealerships?
Ben: There’s a small run of HS-3201s going out at the end of November. Our dealers are excited about this model and are hoping to have it on display at the RV shows starting in January.
When will your production design team turn its attention to your pop-up line?
Ben: There’s nothing to report at this time, but we are coming up with ideas for our pop-up line all the time. When we have new model news to break, we’ll make it here, in Truck Camper Magazine.
For more information about Palomino truck campers, visit their website at palominorv.com. Click here to request a free Palomino brochure.