Northern Lite 10-2 on SRW

I have a SRW with a 10.2 on it....... No issue a little top heavy. I have a F350 crew cab long bed. Good Luck.

bigfootford wrote:

insp1505 wrote:


While losing your wheels would be bad it's not the only way to tear out the rear of your camper by catching a jack on the ground. What the OP is referring to is departure angle. As the length of overhang increases the departure angle decreases making it more likely that you will contact the ground with the back end of the camper or in most cases the camper jacks because they are the lowest point at the rear. Uneven back country roads, pulling out of parking lots, pulling off the side of the highway all have the potential of making contact if you are unaware. This would be catastrophic to the rear of the camper.


Keep in mind the extension will now be your lowest point and decrease your departure angle even further. I have bottomed out exiting a few parking lots already.

Great post insp1505!

I removed the pictures just to keep the reply short...

Even with my 9'6" Bfoot I pay close attention when doing an acute transition or backing up.

Jim

Guess I wasn't thinking when I posted:o

Thank you insp1505...that's exactly what I was referring to. Where we elk hunt, the forest dept puts these big heaves for drainage in some of the roads we drive down...and my flatbad trailer with the atvs on will drag in the back...not an issue with the trailer, but the jacks on a camper might. My cooler now is pretty big, but that because I have a toy hauler with a rear garage which I can put anything...downsizing to a truck camper would require to go smaller cooler, etc...but I do use a popup camper for hunting and can throw the cooler, dog kennels, leveling boards all on the floor...a camper with slide would require some thought...heck, I could throw the kennels on the cab over bed if I had to. Just some decisions I need to make I guess. The Lance 975 will be about 400 lbs more than the 10-2..and the 9' 6 will be lighter than the 10-2 by a couple hundred pounds...but I can get the Lance for about 5K cheaper than the 9 6 and 8K cheaper than the 10 2......

I have the 48" ext. which I needed with my previous set-up, I probably could use a 42" or 36" now.

insp1505 wrote:


While losing your wheels would be bad it's not the only way to tear out the rear of your camper by catching a jack on the ground. What the OP is referring to is departure angle. As the length of overhang increases the departure angle decreases making it more likely that you will contact the ground with the back end of the camper or in most cases the camper jacks because they are the lowest point at the rear. Uneven back country roads, pulling out of parking lots, pulling off the side of the highway all have the potential of making contact if you are unaware. This would be catastrophic to the rear of the camper.


Keep in mind the extension will now be your lowest point and decrease your departure angle even further. I have bottomed out exiting a few parking lots already.

Great post insp1505!

I removed the pictures just to keep the reply short...

Even with my 9'6" Bfoot I pay close attention when doing an acute transition or backing up.

Jim

AidenJ wrote:
My guess would be that in order for the jacks to hit you need to have lost your wheels. My truck is stock and hauls my camper fine.

While losing your wheels would be bad it's not the only way to tear out the rear of your camper by catching a jack on the ground. What the OP is referring to is departure angle. As the length of overhang increases the departure angle decreases making it more likely that you will contact the ground with the back end of the camper or in most cases the camper jacks because they are the lowest point at the rear. Uneven back country roads, pulling out of parking lots, pulling off the side of the highway all have the potential of making contact if you are unaware. This would be catastrophic to the rear of the camper.

Here is my first TC showing an example of departure angle. Arctic Fox 1150.



Here is my second truck camper( Northern Lite 9.6) so you can see the difference.



Here is an example of departure angle in action as I cross a dry creek bed in Idaho and start up the hill on the other side.





You can see the potential for damage if I wasn't carefully watching.

If a cooler is the only thing keeping you from getting a slide you could consider other placement options. My dinette will hold a 6 foot cooler when made into the sleeping position, just add a couple tie down points to keep it in place. The overhead bunk is another option because you already had to lift it up into the camper what's another few feet? I could manage a 4' by 2' cooler on the floor of my slide-out camper, how big is your cooler?

I have a 48" superhitch truss extension for my latest camper, another AF 1150. It has an 11'4" floor like the NL you mention.



Keep in mind the extension will now be your lowest point and decrease your departure angle even further. I have bottomed out exiting a few parking lots already.

Also, those that tow, how long of an extension is needed? I have a boat, but the tongue weight is only about 200 lbs.

Thank you for the replies. Isn't the newer 10-2 longer than the older? Thought I read somewhere that the newer ones (don't know what year) were now 11' 4 and heavier...but still looks to be lighter than the Lance 975.

Great setup for me also mine rides and handles well. The jacks are not mounted in a place where you would notice a difference between the 10-2 and and the 9-6.

My guess would be that in order for the jacks to hit you need to have lost your wheels. My truck is stock and hauls my camper fine.