First post. Looking for advice on my first truck and camper.

[Bong Crosby]

First off, "hello" to the group.

I think I've decided on the truck and camper combination I want but wanted to pass it by some the folks who have more experience since this would be my first time purchasing either.

I think the combination that would best suit myself and my wife, is the Northstar 850SC and and a 3/4 ton crew cab, short bed truck (probably F250).

For the past few winters, we've been spending about 3 months in Southern Baja (just got back a few days ago from 90 days south of the border) and have been staying in a tent but that's getting kind of old. I want something a little more substantial where I can get out of the wind and sun. Baja can be pretty rugged, so an extremely heavy or top heavy hard sided camper might limit some of the roads I can travel and thus limit access to some of the more secluded beaches.

Seeing as how I spend the winter in Baja, a four season rig isn't necessary. I might use it in the spring or fall in the mountains of Idaho but that would be for a week or less at a time.

I selected the 850SC because of the indoor shower. Even taking a shower outdoors in Mexico can be a little chilly if the sun is down and there's a breeze blowing. I looked at the Four Wheel campers but just too expensive. I read some pretty negative reviews on the Palominos. Although, I will more than likely be putting more than 100 user days a year on the camper. Do you think the Northstar is up to that?

Any other words of wisdom from truck camper owners? Batteries? Solar panels? Generators? Mods? Upgrades? etc...

Thanks,


BC

 

[PunchitChewie]

I don't have a lot of experience, mostly just research. Batteries and solar if you aren't electric heavy. Generator and fuel would probably be lighter if you are using a lot of power or the A/C. I know you can build a big solar setup to use a lot of power, but you also need a bigger battery bank to support the usage when the sun goes down. I've seen a lot of good write-ups on forums for things like skoolies, and van builds for solar, and determining what size of battery and panels you should get. I've been all over the map with what I want to do, so have been looking at a lot of options.

 

[Cummins_expo]

Even though I am a die hard Pop Up camper guy- Have you considered a hard side camper? Those Baja winds can get crazy. The Northstar camper is an outstanding product, and would probably do what you are looking for. But the length of time you are staying in the camper you may find a hard side better suited Typically you will have bigger holding tanks and more creature comforts. ( generator, easier to mount solar, kayaks, surfboards). We spent a year in our truck and camper and started out Pop up and ended up Hardside. Look for an older Lance, Northstar, Bigfoot, Arctic Fox. My biggest concern would be the extended length of time you will be exposing the canvas to the elements.

 

[Bong Crosby]

Even though I am a die hard Pop Up camper guy- Have you considered a hard side camper? Those Baja winds can get crazy. The Northstar camper is an outstanding product, and would probably do what you are looking for. But the length of time you are staying in the camper you may find a hard side better suited

Good point. The reason I'm leaning towards a pop up is weight and storability.

As you know, the Baja has some incredibly beautiful places to camp but the roads to get to them can be heinous. I figured, the lighter and lower profile, the better to access some of these beaches. I mostly stay on the Pacific side and the winds tend to be a little calmer there.

I have a standard height garage door and so I can't store a hard sided camper inside, but a pop up would fit.

 

[Cummins_expo]

I get the storing in the garage idea- Depending on what camper some have built a dolly to roll the camper into the garage. Check out some of the posts from this guy ( Jefe) he has shown me hard sides can do anything just about a pop up can

jefe and bro John's wild TC adventure in the Anza Borrego Desert.

We're just back from a 10-day, 1300 mile round trip to the Anza Borrego Desert in So. Cal. We covered a lot of territory, mostly on 2-track washes. It is a particularly dry year there so the bloom failed to materialize. This was about it; But we knew that going in and just wanted to test the...

www.expeditionportal.com

 

[hemifoot]

i carry a northstar 850 on a shortbox ram 2500.holding tanks are adequate and the cassette is awesome.we updated the batteries to dual agm group 31's.carry a portable 120 watt solar set,and a fold a privy for the outside shower.the ram has airbags for levelling and supersprings.we spend average 100 days a year camping/fishing in it and spend all of august wandering and camping.i wouldn't trade it for a hardside if you put a gun to my head.also, if you have the shortbox,get the side storage boxes ,and the dual sinks.those boxes hold an incredible amount of stuff.

 

[kerry]

We have a 94 Northstar. Owned it for 10 yrs. like it. In my view the weakness is the roof construction. All our seams are now sealed with Eternabond. Should have done that when we bought it

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

If you’re looking at a F250, do yourself a favor and go with a F350. One tons have better resale, and have better load capacities. New, they’re about $1000 more.

 

[Flhtruss]

Second the one ton truck. That's something I would do differently. We have a f250 with allterrain pop up, pretty well fitted with amenities. Dumping the couch/bed for a side dinette is another, one I'd do different. Portable potti or one with a cassette is preferable to holding tank, never have trouble looking for a place to empty the black tank, also never let it get full if you can!
GVRW is 10,000 fully loaded 9340 not much room left in the weight department.
Not sure I'd worry so much on the sun and fabric section. Sun's gunna be burning up truck and camper. Proper maintenance should give good life. Plenty of good used ones just like everything thing else.

Your first comment "I think we've decided on .........." seems like no matter how much research done, after you get something and use it. You find out what you would do different. Going used for a season or two might help y'all narrow down the wants and needs. Best of luck and fun camping in something other than a tent.

Russ

 

[hemifoot]

i got my first pop up,a sunlite eagle , for 2k just to see if we liked it.actually the wife told me in no uncertain terms not to do it,but being a man i of course did it.we used it for 2 seasons,sold it for what we paid for it and immediately bought the northstar.we looked at the palomino and didn't think twice about the northstar.it's actually in the dealers right now after 4 seasons, getting some warranty work and resealed,including the roof.one ton for a daily driver?that's your call.you certainly don't need it to carry the northstar. my advice,take a 1 ton shortbox for a long test drive then do it in a 3/4.

 

[White Dog]

Well, I think you have taken two important steps. First, you have experience travelling in the type of country will likely gravitate towards in the future. Second, you have a base plan but are asking lots of questions from folks who have used the kit you are interested in. Good start!

My background! I have a Tundra with a Fourwheel Camper 'Grandby'. I've travelled about 60,000 km with this setup (I'm Canadian hence metric). I've lived about 6 months in total in the camper with the longest trip being 7 weeks. On that long trip, I travelled with my brother and his wife who had, at that time, a NorthStar pop top very similar to the 850 you are looking at (I don't know the model but I think it was the next smaller model; it didn't have a shower). He had it on a Tundra which has a 1450 lb capacity. So I have experience with both the FWC and NorthStar travelling on exactly the same trip.

Generally, every camper/trailer/van/motorhome has its advantaged and disadvantages. There is no perfect rig that will do everything. Each has a its pluses and minuses and it may be wise for you to quite literally draw up that list. If you are travelling with someone else make sure they have input. When I do this exercise, I add a letter or number code to identify how important that trait is. For example, if a shower is really, really important then give it an 'A'. If a shower is a 'would be kinda nice' option, maybe it deserves a 'B' or 'C'. I find that this keeps my little squirrel-brain happy and it lets me see what my wife thinks is really important too. It works for us.

Back to the question at hand: what do I like about the NorthStar particularly when comparing it to the FWC. To me, the NorthStar feels more roomy. The windows on the ends of the tent top add a lot of extra light. This is really nice on grey days when you are shut in. The top is also easier and quicker to put up. My brother would often put up his top when we did a quick stop for lunch. At the moment, my FWC doesn't have the lift struts (it will soon), so putting up the top during a quick stop never happens. Maybe I'm just lazy. The wrap around table in the NorthStar lets you have company over even in crummy weather. During our 7 week trip, the nights we had dinner together were always in the NorthStar. There just isn't enough room in the FWC. The NorthStar is certainly more reasonably priced and that's the reason my brother bought it. The NorthStar also has more internal storage space particularly under the bed. That is convenient. My brother could also leave the bed made up. In my FWC, I have to slide in the section so the bed needs to be made up every night. In the NorthStar, my brother and his wife slept front-to-back rather than side-to-side like the FWC. This made it easier for either of them to get up without disturbing the other. In my FWC, I have to crawl over my wife to get out of bed. I think the NorthStar may have for headroom over the bed as well which might be important if you don't like to stare at the ceiling right above your face.

So what do I prefer in my FWC? The fabric top in the FWC is much tighter than the NorthStar. The way FWC has it designed, there is minimal flapping even in a stiff wind. Sometimes, the flapping of my brother's NorthStar would wake me up while the FWC was still quiet. In fact, this was the reason he sold his. His wife has trouble sleeping and the flapping fabric drove her nuts (they now have a hard-sided model). I think the FWC is generally more robust. The lift mechanism in the NorthStar never struck me as being particularly tough. That being said, my brother never had a seconds trouble with his in the five years he had it and he took it down a lot of tough trails. I am also not a big fan of internal holding tanks. FWC just as a spigot on the outside for grey water. A hose leads to a 20 l bucket. In the morning, the bucket can be discretely dumped in the bush or down a privy if there's one around. I actually met a guy with a FWC that had a bucket but drilled holes in the bottom so the grey water just seeped into the ground. I don't suggest that but he thought he was pretty clever. Anyway, I use biodegradable soaps, so dumping grey water into the bush isn't a problem (I was a biologist before I retired, so I understand this stuff). Cassette toilets are the way to go. The cassettes can be removed and dumped into a privy, public toilet, or an RV dump. We don't use any of the recommended chemicals and only use biodegradable paper. Whenever available we use public facilities anyway. In terms of comfort in cold weather, I think the FWC has a bit of an edge. We have the 'Arctic kit' which helps but neither camper was great when the temperature got much below freezing. This is the other reason my brother went to a hard-sided camper. They like early and late season camping. I also think the FWC is considerably tougher than the NorthStar. Again, my brother didn't have many problems with his but he said it was getting a little 'creaky' by the time he sold it. I think he may have had a couple of minor rood issues too. Finally, the FWC is much lighter and significantly lower. Since we had almost identical trucks, my brother and I got to compare mileage. Mine with the FWC probably got about 15% better mileage. Then again, my brother is a bit of a lead-foot.

The advantages and disadvantages of pop-top vs hard-sided campers is pretty obvious. The one that caught my brother a bit by surprise (maybe its shouldn't have) was that there are a lot of places he simply can't take the hard-sided camper that he could the pop-top. He lives on the west coast of Canada and a lot of the logging roads and two-tracks are too overgrown for the full height camper. He also notices much for sway with his current hard-sided model and more sketchiness with stiff cross winds. Again, he accepts the trade-offs.

Well, I've probably rambled on longer than I should have. I hope there were one or two useful points in this somewhere.

 

[dstefan]

I have a Tundra with a Fourwheel Camper 'Grandby'

White Dog — great comparison! I’m committed to getting a FWC Hawk, but on the fence between Tundra and F250/350. Don’t mean to thread-jack here, but could you comment bit on how your Tundra is set up for the Grandby? Mods, weight vs sticker payload, performance, driving comfort, and especially if you’ve had any trouble with the weight?

Ive seen a number of comments like “I had a Hawk on a Tundra, but …” as well as some with no concerns. The Tudra really tempts me in terms of off road handling (we like some areas in the Southwest with challenging approaches), familiarity (currently have had a modified Tacoma for a years) with Toyotas in general, and reliability. Tundras seem very conservatively spec’d given the 10.5 in rear axle and brake capabilities. Just wish they came with a locker … sigh…

 

[dstefan]

Whoops! Never mind White Dog. Just saw your comprehensive thread further down that pretty much answers my questions … well except for why Toyota has their heads up their butts on lockers … sigh …

 

[White Dog]

Toyota is a bit odd that way. On our 4Runner they offer rear lockers but only on the Trail Edition. The 4Runner is my wife's car and she insisted on having heated seats (we are on the Canadian prairies and it can get pretty cold in the winter so I understand her point - I enjoy them too). Toyota only offered the heated seats on the Limited model. So we could get the heated seats or the lockers but not both. I know the Service Techs in our dealership really well. Apparently the wiring is in place for the seats and locker on all the models. They just won't customize the options. Frustrating for the Dealership as well as us. Every brand has their idiosyncrasies.

 

[Regcabguy]

Even though I am a die hard Pop Up camper guy- Have you considered a hard side camper? Those Baja winds can get crazy. The Northstar camper is an outstanding product, and would probably do what you are looking for. But the length of time you are staying in the camper you may find a hard side better suited Typically you will have bigger holding tanks and more creature comforts. ( generator, easier to mount solar, kayaks, surfboards). We spent a year in our truck and camper and started out Pop up and ended up Hardside. Look for an older Lance, Northstar, Bigfoot, Arctic Fox. My biggest concern would be the extended length of time you will be exposing the canvas to the elements.

The wind down there plus the slow access speed is just why I went with a popup. We get next to zero flap factor in very stiff winds. Getting through silt and sand is real tough with 35's let alone with the mass of a hardside. I'd love one once getting there but those narrow roads are spooky enough to navigate without the pitch and yaw using a srw. A dually would be very helpful until a cholla cactus pops the outer tires. I've had weeks and weeks total time down there and up here in the 20yrs with my Northstar and the canvas is still pretty good aside from some pinholes on the corners. The popups don't exert anywhere near as much leverage as a hardsided one does to the suspension. Everything's a tradeoff. Good points all around.
The border's being closed except for "essential" travel so not much chance of getting down there or up here.

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