Northern Lite - the good the bad and the ugly.

off topic delete

a_flyfisher wrote:
Not only is my NL stored inside all the time when not in use, it has also been stored inside even when I have used it. At that rate, based on what you guys are saying, I think it should last a long time! (I just bought it 2 months ago, and haven't had it out on the road camping yet, but I have slept in it inside a number of times.)

We do that as well. Seems to be a TC habit, using the unit in the backyard because we can...

SidecarFlip wrote:
The key's to longevity in any unit, expensive or inexpensive is:

Keep after the seals and caulk (especially in areas where there is driven water pressure (nose and leading edges of the roof), check ALL the seals every 90 days during use time.

Keep the unit under cover or inside a building when not in use or over the winter. Nothing worse on any unit than leaving it outside in the elements, especially snow, freezing rain and pounding sun...

Just because it's new don't mean it's sealed properly. My outside shower unit lacked any kind of seal from the factory. I fiexd that with Dicor.
At the rate builders are cranking out new units, they miss the small but important points sometimes.

Wow - amazing feedback from everybody. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your experiences.

Yes the camper will be stored indoors - having a shed built in part to protect the camper and truck.

I'm aware that nothing is perfect, and NL won't be either, but it sounds like it's better than most.

I'd have to agree that quality of lots of products have gone to **** since the recession, and TCs are no exception. I would love to find a 2005 NL that was already upgraded with all the newer bells and whistles and had been taken care of and maintained, but let's face it, that would cost more than a new one. LOL.

I will stay on top of seals and maint as suggested. May even smoke test to see if there are any leaks.

Some of the new 2018 features sound like they're worth waiting for. A couple of months won't kill me.

Thanks for the tip about the RV shows - that will be a great place to buy. I'll get in touch with NL and find out their schedule.

Thanks again to everybody who replied.

Not only is my NL stored inside all the time when not in use, it has also been stored inside even when I have used it. At that rate, based on what you guys are saying, I think it should last a long time! (I just bought it 2 months ago, and haven't had it out on the road camping yet, but I have slept in it inside a number of times.)

You are correct, they all suck to varying degrees and also right on about keeping them under roof (of some kind).

SidecarFlip wrote:

At the rate builders are cranking out new units, they miss the small but important points sometimes.

At the rate builders are cranking out new units, they miss large and very important points nearly always.

In the quality spectrum, NL and Bigfoot still suck, but they suck a lot less than most other brands. When I ordered a new unit from Bigfoot, I ordered it with the absolute minimum of roof penetrations: no rack, no ladder, no extra holes of any kind. If you want this stuff, put it on later when you can seal it properly yourself. It would be nice if you could also keep them from smearing silicone seal all over the outside (which does nothing at all except collect dirt and look bad).

If you want to keep it forever, budget into the project a canopy to park under. It doesn't need to be fully enclosed, just keeping the sun and rain off will make it last 4x longer.

SidecarFlip wrote:
The key's to longevity in any unit, expensive or inexpensive is:

Keep after the seals and caulk (especially in areas where there is driven water pressure (nose and leading edges of the roof), check ALL the seals every 90 days during use time.

Keep the unit under cover or inside a building when not in use or over the winter. Nothing worse on any unit than leaving it outside in the elements, especially snow, freezing rain and pounding sun...

Just because it's new don't mean it's sealed properly. My outside shower unit lacked any kind of seal from the factory. I fiexd that with Dicor.
At the rate builders are cranking out new units, they miss the small but important points sometimes.

X2 on this...

The key's to longevity in any unit, expensive or inexpensive is:

Keep after the seals and caulk (especially in areas where there is driven water pressure (nose and leading edges of the roof), check ALL the seals every 90 days during use time.

Keep the unit under cover or inside a building when not in use or over the winter. Nothing worse on any unit than leaving it outside in the elements, especially snow, freezing rain and pounding sun...

Just because it's new don't mean it's sealed properly. My outside shower unit lacked any kind of seal from the factory. I fiexd that with Dicor.
At the rate builders are cranking out new units, they miss the small but important points sometimes.

zb39 wrote:
If you really want it to last, store it inside when not in use. its really simple but it helps a LOT.

+10 on that. When mine isn't used, it's inside a heated shop.

We ordered a new 2018 NL 8-11 which is now ready, and we will pick it up first week of Sept.

We ordered ours with out a A/C unit as it holds snow on the roof and we will also be using this TC for snowmobiling in the winter. So we have an extra Fantastic Fan in place of the A/C and all of thoes ( 2 FF main cabin, 1 FF bathroom) are covered with Max Air Vent Covers, so we can open them in the winter or rain with out getting wet inside, and can travel with the vents open as well, with out worry of the vent covers getting sucked off on the Hwy.

We ordered the 8-11 with a U shaped Dinette so I can now stretch out ( put my feet up) like sitting on a couch. A benefit of that extra bench against the wall and under the window, it now has a extra 12"W X 16" H X 36"L storage space under that seat, approx size, going from memory with those dimentions. The down fall is a smaller table but there are only the two of us, and we mostly eat outside anyways.

Wife wanted the green interior which she got and it looks great.

Also the 2018 NL 8-11 comes with a dry bath. Really all it is is now the pocket door to the bathroom is as you first come in the camper with the toilet right there and the sink and shower are off to the right side as you walk in the bathroom. The sink and shower are separated from the toilet by a shower curtin.
Also there is no Medicine cabinet behind the mirror, it is just a mirror on the wall now.

The TV swings around so you can watch in bed or in the main cabin, and the TV is now a 19", 12 volt.

Under the full size queen mattress is a honey comb insert that is about 1" thick X the same dimension as the queen mattress. This is to allow the area under the mattress to breath, as ( from what I hear) they had complaints of mold and moisture under the mattresses in past years. That honey comb layer under the mattress is new for 2018.

They also started using a winegard model RZ7500 antenna which I like as the old airplane shaped antenna won't tear my camper cover and is round and won't hold snow.

The main reasons we choose a NL was weight, the interior real wood finish and fibreglass roof.
We wanted a slide but that quickly was crossed off the pro and con list after we say a few at dealerships ( with slide in and out, and weight) so can cross off any rigs with slides.
We looked in the Big Foot they have nice insides, but nothing close to NL in our opinion, so they got the boot from the list as well.
We looked in the Adventurere and found they are using a prefinisned panelling which looks cheap to me, roof type so that cut them out of the race fast.
Arctic Fox was weight, roof type and interior finish

Fibreglass roof was a huge reason for us, because of where we are going to be using this TC.
We will be using this Camper traveling all over North America as well as In the bush going ATVing Kayaking and Fishing. There are a huge number of back country campgrounds on little mountain lakes up old logging roads around BC, and we plan on using our rig for that.
Also when we go on extended trips like across Canada we can easily park our rig in a hotel parking lot ( not under ground ....grin....) and pamper our selves for a few days if we want. Can still do that with any camper, but not as easy with a 33.5 ft 5th Wheel. ( part of the pro and con list)
We also see a lot of Truck Campers around because I think every fourth Canadian owns one ( grin). A lot of guys I know have older campers for hunting, and I would say that 95% of them have had roof issues over they years. Is that caused by old age, or where they haul those rigs, probably a little of both, however, by asking people that own a camper with all different types of roofs including fibreglass we got more positive reviews from Fibreglass roof people.

Slide may get damaged bouncing around on a old logging road, so as I said we didn't want a slide out early in our research. Some of those reasons were, the slide can fail mechanically, add extra weight and because we will use this rig in the winter as well we ( I) wouldn't have to clean the snow and ice off before we pulled the slide in. They also ( slides) are poorly insulated if any at all which is heat loss in the winter.
Another reason for the Fibreglass camper is next summer we are driving to the Arctic Ocean off the coast of the NWT in northern Canada. The Hwy is close to 900 km of gravel up to Tuktoyaktuk we wanted a sturdy Camper with little or no maintenance, we feel from all the research a fibreglass camper was our best fit, which in time was narrowed down to NL.

Before we decided to downsize from our 2014 Open Range 318RLS ( 33.5ft) 5th Wheel we did "a lot" of research, asking questions and looking at dealerships. We also weighed the pros and cons of each type of camper, ie. material constructed from ( fibreglass, wood, metal etc) ) with slide with out slide, weight, size of camper, storage space in / on rig with or with out solar, type of rear steps ( we are getting older and will be camping in all four seasons) construction method ( I like how the jack brackets are mounted on the NL) we were lucky we had a cool wet spring so we had a lot of inside days to do the research, ask questions, the pros and cons in person and in this forum, and visiting the dealerships. ( can't count how many 5th wheels we looked at when we were looking had side by side cabinet doors that didn't line up with the opposing door, that is poor QA/QC as well as a " craftsman " that didn't care what went out the door to the dealership)
Before I retired I was in charge of QA/QC for one of the worlds largest Smelters, so I am a stickler for details and craftsmen ship.
Like others have said there are things you can find wrong with every manufacturer when it comes to any RV, so that's a given.
Seals around vents, windows etc should be closely inspected on a regular frequency so you can nip those issues in the butt before they arise. I'm up on the roof of my 5th Wheel at least four times a season. It doesn't matter how old your rig is that caulking will fail with time and or prematurely from a foreign object like a tree branch. So it needs to be monitored and replaced as needed. If you don't like going on the roof take it to a dealership and have them change them all for you. It will cost you money, however your not the guy on the roof, they know how to do it, and have the right product on hand to do it with.
This forum was a huge help to me ( us) in choosing NL, we were at one time thinking of an Arctic Fox with a slide, but we quickly changed our minds after we made the pros and cons list.
I know I wrote a lot here, however I thought I would give you more reason for or against any type of Truck Camper ( in BC we just call them campers) not just NL campers.
That pro and con list really helped, and it took me a few days of thinking and reading to make that list but it sure helped when we decided on what brand to buy, what we wanted to do with it ( in our case travel in all types of weather and terrain ) what type to buy (slide no slide) and options to get in/ on the camper as we were ordering New what ever we bought.
We have only been in our new camper for about an hour at the dealership, so I can't give you any life history stories, but from what I saw the other day, I won't have to many camper maintenance stories to tell. ( I hope....grin....)

Soup.