2014 NL 10-2 on Craigslist

Yup, NL's been busy with a lot of changes these last few years. To piggyback on what burningman mentioned, NL changed the 8-11 post-fire molds in 2017 (MY 2018?) to make the new 8-11 EX (shortbed) models. The new 8-11 EX is slightly wider, and the floor 4" longer at 9'3" (previously 8'11"; still called an 8-11 though). COG moved 2" farther back to 39.5".

They also added a new dry bath option. IMO the new "dry" bath is more of a dryer, wet bath than a true dry bath. Nonetheless, we liked the shower/toilet separation enough to order our 8-11 with the dry bath. We do wish the black tank was larger though---it's only 12 gal. (vs. 13 gal. on the wet bath 8-11). We're not big dry campers, but it's still may prove inconvenient during our longer, cross-country drives that we do occasionally.

There are two different Northern Lites: Before The Fire and After The Fire.
In 2014 the factory burned down, taking all the camper molds with it.
They had insurance and rebuilt... and this gave them the opportunity to make new, improved molds. This also gave them the edge over Bigfoot.
2016 and later “After Fire” NLs have more headroom, are longer, have slightly lowered side wings for more room, and generator compartments intentionally sized to fit Honda EU2000s.
The later 10.2s have more closets and a slide out pantry.

They’re all larger than the model numbers suggest. A “10-2” is now over 11 feet.

The earlier ones are still super great rigs, it’s just worth knowing things changed from 2014-down and 2016-up when you’re shopping.

Oh, one other thing, the pre-fire units had an extra roof stiffener piece if they came with an air conditioner. That piece is now unavailable, the new ones all have it molded in.
So, if you want AC and happen to find a deal on an earlier one that hasn’t got it, know that you can’t add it.

WyoBull wrote:
You are going to love the 8.11. Ours is a 2017 but is the wet batch. We absolutely love it. The build quality is phenomenal, we are very impressed with the unit. Enjoy yours!

Very good to hear! Thanks!

burningman wrote:
Some little stick-on rubber feet will keep the fold-down rear step from scratching up the bumper.
The removable rear step is held on with a couple set screws. Glueing a dime or penny on where the set screw touches down keeps it from gouging out the soft aluminum, which is what it’ll do otherwise.
And get yourself a Froli mattress pad system if you’re gonna camp in cold weather or you’ll get condensation under the mattress. The factory is shipping them with the Hypervent pad for that reason but that’s junk.
Oh, one other tip, install a switch to turn power OFF to the wireless Happijac controller.
The way it comes, it’s “on” all the time. There have been incidents of them randomly triggering and a few campers have been overturned!

Every camper has its little things, but overall you can’t buy a better made camper than the NL you did.

Good tips, thanks! The one about installing a master on/off switch for the HJ controller is an especially good one IMO. An overturned camper?! Yup, that would be bad day.

AidenJ wrote:
Originally Northern Lite had 3 floor plans in the 10-2 series. The CD or center dinette, RD or rear dinette with the bath up front and the RR which is the one pictured. Not sure when the RD went out of the line up.
The RR was the 1st to go with dry bath.

Good info, thanks!

Noticed some of the walls in the bathroom area in the NL 10-2 pictured in the Craigslist ad (RR) were not seamless pieces of smooth fiberglass like the newer units. Appear to be a bunch of flat panels sandwiched together with plastic trim. Cirrus uses a similar, multi-seamed construction in the wet bath/shower areas of their 820/920's. IMO this type of construction is much more difficult to keep clean and more prone to leaking/separating/moving over time.

Originally Northern Lite had 3 floor plans in the 10-2 series. The CD or center dinette, RD or rear dinette with the bath up front and the RR which is the one pictured. Not sure when the RD went out of the line up.
The RR was the 1st to go with dry bath.

Some little stick-on rubber feet will keep the fold-down rear step from scratching up the bumper.
The removable rear step is held on with a couple set screws. Glueing a dime or penny on where the set screw touches down keeps it from gouging out the soft aluminum, which is what it’ll do otherwise.
And get yourself a Froli mattress pad system if you’re gonna camp in cold weather or you’ll get condensation under the mattress. The factory is shipping them with the Hypervent pad for that reason but that’s junk.
Oh, one other tip, install a switch to turn power OFF to the wireless Happijac controller.
The way it comes, it’s “on” all the time. There have been incidents of them randomly triggering and a few campers have been overturned!

Every camper has its little things, but overall you can’t buy a better made camper than the NL you did.

otrfun wrote:

burningman wrote:
It sounds like what you want is a Bigfoot 10.4.
I was after one of those myself... until I realized the fridge door doesn’t even open all the way before hitting the bathroom and the dinette is too small and a few other things.
I didn’t think so from looking at photos and floorplans, but in practice I found the Northern Lite dinette-forward plan is pretty awesome, all the cabiver wnd living space are together making it feel roomier than dividing it up with the bathroom and closets etc in between the two living areas.
It’s more “open concept” and in a small space like a camper that’s a good thing.

We did look at a Bigfoot 9.4 which sounds very similar to the 10.4 you're describing. We also found the dinette too small. Very unfortunate, 'cause we really loved that panaramic, 180 degree view in the rear. If that dinette had been a tad larger we might have pulled the trigger on one. All said and done we finally came to the same conclusion as you. Decided a NL was the best compromise in terms of the overall floorplan---not to mention the first-rate build quality. Our new 8-11 dry bath is supposed to arrive from Kelowna early next week. Can't wait!

You are going to love the 8.11. Ours is a 2017 but is the wet batch. We absolutely love it. The build quality is phenomenal, we are very impressed with the unit. Enjoy yours!

burningman wrote:
It sounds like what you want is a Bigfoot 10.4.
I was after one of those myself... until I realized the fridge door doesn’t even open all the way before hitting the bathroom and the dinette is too small and a few other things.
I didn’t think so from looking at photos and floorplans, but in practice I found the Northern Lite dinette-forward plan is pretty awesome, all the cabiver wnd living space are together making it feel roomier than dividing it up with the bathroom and closets etc in between the two living areas.
It’s more “open concept” and in a small space like a camper that’s a good thing.

We did look at a Bigfoot 9.4 which sounds very similar to the 10.4 you're describing. We also found the dinette too small. Very unfortunate, 'cause we really loved that panaramic, 180 degree view in the rear. If that dinette had been a tad larger we might have pulled the trigger on one. All said and done we finally came to the same conclusion as you. Decided a NL was the best compromise in terms of the overall floorplan---not to mention the first-rate build quality. Our new 8-11 dry bath is supposed to arrive from Kelowna early next week. Can't wait!

It sounds like what you want is a Bigfoot 10.4.
I was after one of those myself... until I realized the fridge door doesn’t even open all the way before hitting the bathroom and the dinette is too small and a few other things.
I didn’t think so from looking at photos and floorplans, but in practice I found the Northern Lite dinette-forward plan is pretty awesome, all the cabiver wnd living space are together making it feel roomier than dividing it up with the bathroom and closets etc in between the two living areas.
It’s more “open concept” and in a small space like a camper that’s a good thing.