Northstar 850SC on longbed Tundra

This is a math problem.

A 2003 Tundra has about 1500-1600 pounds of payload capacity. The dry weight of a Northstar 850 is 1700#. Fully loaded with options, full tanks, food, clothing and gear, it will weight about #2500 pounds. Add passenger into the mix, and the Tundra is overwhelmed.

Folks here on the forum do that all the time with one ton and 3/4 ton trucks. The difference between them and a Tundra (or my F150 for that matter) is full floating axles vs semi floating axle.

When a full floating axle fails, the wheel stops spinning and you coast to the side of the road and call a tow truck.

When a semi floating axle fails, the axle snaps and the wheel and busted shaft slides off the truck and you pray to God that you can get to the shoulder of the road while driving on three wheels.

You can beef up the suspension and get the camper on your Tundra without too much sag.

But if you come to WA, please drop me a private message so I can be sure to stay off the roads you are on.

Seriously, you might get away with a small Four Wheel Camper or something comparable. The Northstar will simply crush your truck.

Most people say don't do it, but no one has experience from it. Its seen as like a sin to overload a half ton, but overloading a ¾ 1ton is fine. The margin of error on these trucks is huge. Get E rated tires Stay under 2500lbs and you will be fine. Whats the difference in overloading a passenger car with 6 250lb people and 400lbs of luggage? People do it all the time

Talk to Rex at Northstar. We have found them very helpful. We love our 850Sc, have it on a 1/2 ton pick-up. We have about 7,000 miles on it with no problems. It IS a heavy camper for a 1/2 ton. You can bet that our next pick-up will be a 3/4 ton.

whizbang wrote:


When a full floating axle fails, the wheel stops spinning and you coast to the side of the road and call a tow truck.

When a semi floating axle fails, the axle snaps and the wheel and busted shaft slides off the truck and you pray to God that you can get to the shoulder of the road while driving on three wheels.

Not entirely true Whiz. The semi floater you described is only true with the type that the axles are retained with a C clip inside the diff, i.e. Dana 35.

Not sure what Toyota uses but Ford uses the retainer at the wheel hub. Axles can bust into several pieces but stay in place.

DemingNM2009,

I knew if I said it couldn't be done, somebody would jump in and prove me wrong.

I have been lusting after a Northstar TC800 in order to get a bathroom, but, I figured they were too heavy.

What are the specifics on your truck and camper, and, what mods did you make to your suspension? Any weight saving strategies like removing the jacks?

As I mentioned earlier, check the width or dimensions of the camper first I believe your truck may not be wide enough to fit the 850sc. I used to own a 850 and used it on both a 3/4 ton and 1 ton SRW, my memory is that the camper fit snuggly on both of those trucks. Isn't your truck the first generation Tundra with the smaller box etc...?

SugarHillCTD wrote:
Please....weight police step away from your virtual scales.

Like Bill stated, let's first hear about the OP's axle and tire ratings and actual weights.

Then we can either give good advice or predict that the OP will end life on this planet.

Lighten up folks, huh?

No.

It's not rocket science to figure out what the rough capacities of a Toyota Tundra are. The OP's truck is not going to turn out to be some miracle super-payload-capacity truck. It's going to be a typical Tundra with a payload-at-GVWR of around 1000-1200lbs, and about 400lbs of extra capacity by loading to the combined axle ratings.

Even perfectly balanced and loaded to combined GAWR, he's only got a payload of around 1600lbs, for 2500lbs+ of camper and people.

"No worse off than the rest of us?" The rest of us driving 3/4 and 1 ton trucks may be overloaded, but we're still within the combined axle ratings of our trucks, not running 40% over.

Ultimately, it's up to the OP if he wants to try it. He'll definitely need new tires and rims. He'll definitely want to add helper springs and possibly airbags. It's a lot of time and money to risk on something that by no means is a "sure thing" as far as being enjoyable to drive. You don't want your driving experience to be God-awful after spending that much money.

As the OP, I asked if anyone has an 850SC on a Tundra. Either no one does or no one is willing to admit it.

Some have asked why I would want to put an 850SC on a Tundra. The simple answer is a Tundra is what we have. And we have put 68,000 miles on it, most with a 1000-lb Phoenix popup, and have had zero problems with the Tundra. When we get a heavier camper, I'd like to put it on a Tundra HD. But the only Tundra HDs I've seen did not come off the Toyota production line.

Thanks to you who offered to help me run the numbers. Today I did the numbers and decided I don't want to put an 850SC on our Tundra. But that was pretty much an academic exercise because DW had already convinced me our next camper ought to be a hardside.

By the way, Billy from Northstar and Jay from Five Star thought putting an 850SC on our Tundra was not a good idea.

i own a 2008 toyota/tundra 1/2 ton and carry a 2007 lance 815 fully loaded and get roughly 13 miles per gallon, dont even know its back there half the time! But it is a 5.7 v8