Northstar Laredo SC

With respect to the battery question, I have two AGM group 27 in my arrow u. Give Rex a call and see what they can do. They are more than willing to modify.

Bill

here are my comparisons and take aways: I love the Northstar Laredo, if it was just my wife and I, I do not believe we would be in a Wolf Creek. I regret selling the Laredo, and it would be nice to have it for extreme off road adventures, heading down into baja, heading out with just me and the kids. That said I love the wolf creek and the amount of storage, etc.

Battery compartment on side next to the propane, water heater in the rear and outside shower above the water heater. I believe you could get another battery under the sink area, It is hard to just have one propane tank, especially when winter camping, and extended trips. I ended up buying a small bottle to carry along in an emergency.


cassette toilet in rear and gray tank dump valve below: 13 gallons vs 20 gallons in the wolf creek: I am not a fan of the cassette toilet, especially with more people using it. 4 gallons of fresh water and only 5 gallons of holding capacity limit your use when boondocking. Of course they are ways around this...


Off Road Use: much more worthy and less swaying going on, but sill regardless you are taking it slow with a TC


wolf creek comparison: There IS a Difference when offroading


width comparison: much narrower 6" on each side

definitely get more movement of the camper, when off roading


winter use: harder on a family of 4 in the camper and this was one of the main reasons we kept going bigger: wood framed camper vs. aluminum: aluminum definitely gets colder and sweats, however the jacks anchored into wood I am not a fan of.


tunnel in Zion: Laredo and my f350 could pass through no problem do not need the special escort: with the wolf creek you need to pay the extra $15.

Mello Mike wrote:

Thanks, Dan. I like your idea. Unfortunately, this camper is already built. It's a brand new 2013 model, so I'm going to have to retrofit a solution.

Yeah, that does put a limit on the factory modifications...

Mello Mike wrote:
I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these. I like the narrowness and low profile of this model. Having a basement in my Wolf Creek 850 has become a liability off-road due to the height of the camper.

The main negative for me is the small battery compartment--only one battery will fit. Does anybody have a good workaround for this using an AGM battery?

When I feel I'm going to need a second battery, I'll put one in front of the drivers side wheelwell. I then can run the batteries either independent or in parallel.

DWeikert wrote:
If you're buying new, you can do what I did. Instead of the battery tray they mounted 2 grp 31 AGM batteries under the sink next to the FW tank. One thing I liked about that option is keeping the batteries in the heated area of the camper to give better battery performance in colder weather.
Go to about the 7 minute mark in this youtube
youtube Laredo tour
On the down side, it does mean a smaller FW tank...

For that matter, if there's any other custom mods you might want, don't hesitate to ask. Rex built my Adventurer with dual propane tanks even though a single tank is standard.

Thanks, Dan. I like your idea. Unfortunately, this camper is already built. It's a brand new 2013 model, so I'm going to have to retrofit a solution.

If you're buying new, you can do what I did. Instead of the battery tray they mounted 2 grp 31 AGM batteries under the sink next to the FW tank. One thing I liked about that option is keeping the batteries in the heated area of the camper to give better battery performance in colder weather.
Go to about the 7 minute mark in this youtube
youtube Laredo tour
On the down side, it does mean a smaller FW tank...

For that matter, if there's any other custom mods you might want, don't hesitate to ask. Rex built my Adventurer with dual propane tanks even though a single tank is standard.

brholt wrote:

Mello Mike wrote:
I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these. I like the narrowness and low profile of this model. Having a basement in my Wolf Creek 850 has become a liability on the roads I like to travel on due to the height of the camper.

The main negative for me is the small battery compartment--only one battery will fit. Does anybody have a good workaround for this using an AGM battery?

Torklift Hiddenpower?

That would be a last resort. I'm looking for another place in the camper where I can store another battery. I emailed Rex at Northstar for options including enlargement of the existing battery compartment.

Mello Mike wrote:
I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these. I like the narrowness and low profile of this model. Having a basement in my Wolf Creek 850 has become a liability on the roads I like to travel on due to the height of the camper.

The main negative for me is the small battery compartment--only one battery will fit. Does anybody have a good workaround for this using an AGM battery?

Torklift Hiddenpower?

I'm seriously thinking about buying one of these. I like the narrowness and low profile of this model. Having a basement in my Wolf Creek 850 has become a liability off-road due to the height of the camper.

The main negative for me is the small battery compartment--only one battery will fit. Does anybody have a good workaround for this using an AGM battery?

Rex took DW and I through the plant, small place but staff is very experienced and been with the company for years. Missed a near new Loredo on eBay due to the fact I was too dumb to use a bid sniper. Started looking @ the Lance's @ Kramers in Zion IL, for better or worse the 1040 we bought has the euro windows and a very innovative floor plan, side entrance with rear fold down tent. I guess the all wood construction of the Northstar was more than I was ready for. Had wood frame grief with two of the three previous truck campers we owned over the years. Now we will see if the 2010 model year Lance walls debond. I'm watching for that.