Joined the Hardside club

[ripperj]

Well I guess my Alaskan was a hardside, but this is my first Hardside non Popup

I just bought this 2016 Northstar Adventurer from a local guy. It’s super clean, the previous owner hardly used it, never even put water in the tank and the fridge still has the stickers on it!

It has the optional over sized cabover windows and big skylight which I really like. Lots of delicate stuff in the windows though!

When my toy fund recoups a bit I will add some solar and electric jacks.

First camper I ever bought that i literally could load with food and beer and hit the road!

I might even keep this one a while

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[Regcabguy]

Well I guess my Alaskan was a hardside, but this is my first Hardside non Popup

I just bought this 2016 Northstar Adventurer from a local guy. It’s super clean, the previous owner hardly used it, never even put water in the tank and the fridge still has the stickers on it!

It has the optional over sized cabover windows and big skylight which I really like. Lots of delicate stuff in the windows though!

When my toy fund recoups a bit I will add some solar and electric jacks.

First camper I ever bought that i literally could load with food and beer and hit the road!

I might even keep this one a while

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Northstar makes a fine product! Enjoy the roominess and amenities!! There's a good selection of suspension enhancements out there to improve handling. I can't recommend enough a Hellwig Big Wig swaybar.

 

[ripperj]

It doesn’t handle horrible, but could be improved. My truck is ‘12, so it has leafs in the back, which according to the folks at the Truck Camper Warehouse is preferable to the coils.
I’m definitely going to get the sway bar and am conflicted on airbags(heard mixed things) or different springs


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[zb39]

Looks great, enjoy it!

 

[ripperj]

I’d say in the wild, but there is grey water and electric
The beer is cold, and if you drink enough, you can pretend


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[AeroNautiCal]

That's a great history for a truck camper, and allowing for depreciation it's better than buying new!

 

[ripperj]

Camped in VT last couple days, got down to low 40s at least. With the heat set at 64 and two adults in the camper, the furnace only kicked on about 4 times all night and only ran a minute or so each time, pretty happy with that. I don’t know if they are all like that, or if the optional extra insulation makes a big difference?


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[bajajoaquin]

It’s hard to say, there are a lot of variables. I have read a bunch of posts about furnace fans running down batteries on cold nights so it’s wise to keep your thermostat set low.

I am wrapping up a solar project on my new (used) camper and I kinda went overboard. I would guess that for that rig you can be happy with conservative use and a 100w panel intelligently installed. I say “intelligently” because my previous Lance had a 60w panel wired with thin gauge wire through the fridge wiring to a $15 “controller.” With judicious use, this was fine if we ran the generator once in a week.

A 100-watt panel, good wire and a good controller will be great.

The other thing is electric jacks. I thought mine were just a waste because I didn’t plan on taking the camper off the truck. However, I used them every time I camped. I leveled the truck and then ran down the jacks. It eliminated the away from walking around or somebody rolling in bed. It was comfortable in windstorms. Definitely worth the upgrade.

 

[ripperj]

Thanks for the input.
I’m going to go big on the solar, mostly because I can

I did upgrade to electric jacks. Best thing ever, I. Ant believe this is my 5th truck camper and I have always hand cranked


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