Northstar Laredo SC

Now I know why my wife won't go with me in my Laredo. There is no place for her to look at herself in the bathroom mirror, wash her face, comb her hair, and brush her teeth, although in a 2' x 2' room, about impossible to do any of these movements. Add these to her excuses, lol.

anutami wrote:

realter wrote:
I fail to understand why somebody would want a sink in the bathroom of a camper, the main sink is 5' away. The bathroom is so small, if you are showering and drop the soap, you have to step outside to lean over. No room for a sink too!!! A nice feature of the Laredo, is the door is 26" wide, so you don't have to enter or exit sideways.

Its nice to have a sink in the bathroom with a medicine cabinet and mirror to wash your face, comb your hair and brush your teeth and an occasional pluck of the eyebrow (so my wife says) :)

That's fine if the camper, and bathroom, are large enough that the sink doesn't get in the way. On smaller campers, a sink in the bathroom takes up a lot of valuable real estate. IMHO

anutami wrote:

realter wrote:
I fail to understand why somebody would want a sink in the bathroom of a camper, the main sink is 5' away. The bathroom is so small, if you are showering and drop the soap, you have to step outside to lean over. No room for a sink too!!! A nice feature of the Laredo, is the door is 26" wide, so you don't have to enter or exit sideways.

Its nice to have a sink in the bathroom with a medicine cabinet and mirror to wash your face, comb your hair and brush your teeth and an occasional pluck of the eyebrow (so my wife says) :)

X2!

realter wrote:
I fail to understand why somebody would want a sink in the bathroom of a camper, the main sink is 5' away. The bathroom is so small, if you are showering and drop the soap, you have to step outside to lean over. No room for a sink too!!! A nice feature of the Laredo, is the door is 26" wide, so you don't have to enter or exit sideways.

Its nice to have a sink in the bathroom with a medicine cabinet and mirror to wash your face, comb your hair and brush your teeth and an occasional pluck of the eyebrow (so my wife says) :)

I fail to understand why somebody would want a sink in the bathroom of a camper, the main sink is 5' away. The bathroom is so small, if you are showering and drop the soap, you have to step outside to lean over. No room for a sink too!!! A nice feature of the Laredo, is the door is 26" wide, so you don't have to enter or exit sideways.

I have the Laredo's slightly bigger sibling the 8.5 Adventurer. Same 7' width but an extra 3 inches in length and different floor plan. I was originally interested in the Laredo but after telling Rex I was 6'2" 240 he recommended the Adventurer for the extra 3" in the bathroom. I also got mine with the 12v compressor fridge, solar and cassette toilet. I did add a second solar panel to bring me up to 275 watts and now have almost 0 need for external power. I'm sitting here trying to think of something I don't like about the camper and drawing a blank. While the lack of a heated basement and the associated holding tanks means it doesn't fit the normal definition of a 4 season camper, the night after the photo in my sig the temperatures dropped to 19F and I was very comfortable with absolutely no problems with the camper. I have no problems considering this a 4 season camper.

Do not hesitate to email or call and talk to Northstar if you have any questions. Rex was a great guy to talk to and was very helpful even when I emailed him with questions on a used 850SC I was looking at before I decided to go hardside. Custom modifications are also not a problem if feasible. For example, the Adventurer normally comes stock with a single propane tank. I asked Rex if they could make one with dual tanks and without a moments hesitation he said "no problem." As another indication of their integrity, I initially wanted to order the unit with the 12v heater on the grey tank to make up for the lack of heated holding tanks and Rex convinced me it was unnecessary. I have no regrets following his advice.

I have a 2011 Laredo, my third TC over 30+ years, on an ’04 Dodge/Cummins long bed, standard cab with stock suspension. It was clearly the closest to my “sweet spot” that was available at the time - a light and efficient old school, but well appointed TC with the added value of being manufactured by a 3rd generation family business that makes only TC’s and has great customer relations. I was not looking for a house on wheels and the rig is also my daily driver as well as an excellent base camp for outdoor adventure and very well supported day trips. Its configured with an east/west cabover, aluminum siding, manual jacks, standard jalousie windows, Heiki vent, and no AC or microwave. The cassette toilet and no sink in the bathroom strongly influenced the decision. I’m in northern California and its entirely suitable for 3+ season use.

Being a tradesman and DIY type, I’ve heavily modded and upgraded the systems and appointments. On the electrics end I’ve added solar, a battery isolator and shutoff, installed an entertainment system and put LED’s in everything. An accumulator tank and and extension to the outside shower to rinse my kayak was added to the water system. I also have a Wave 3 cut into the LP system, an Edwin door window. and a recently added stove backsplash along with the usual personal and organizational additions. The Nothstar was quite easy to work on.

The Laredo has served me very well and I‘ve become quite fond of it. The build quality is very good both in terms of structure and the installation of plumbing, wiring and such and only a very few things have come up in the negative column. The dinette needed some immediate work to meet my needs. The table was seriously wobbly as issued and uncomfortably narrow. A classic camper table leg brace, replacing the plastic sockets with metal, and a removable drop leaf solved the issue. The cushions for some reason are all of a different size, making rotation for service sag not possible, and an additional cushion is needed to make up the bed. I’ll be redoing that when the OEM stuff begins to wear out. For now, the extra cushion lives behind the passenger seat in the truck cab. Entry to the TC was a challenge without using the usual scissor steps and an OEM step bumper was not available for the Laredo because of the grey water drain location. I have a hitch mounted nerf bar and a truck cab entry step combination that works well enough while parked where a larger footprint isn’t an option. An access door to the wheel well area at the back of the TC would be a wonderful thing. I can however get long skinny things over the truck bed rail with a little patience. The original round patio lights with the switch on top corroded to uselessness in just a few months - they have been upgraded and converted to LED. The stove hood vent that plagues many brands or RV’s has also seen several mods.

billtex wrote:

bobndot wrote:
Laredo's work really well at the Meadowlands viewing a Broncos Game.

hey bob...all I can say is;superbowl is not worth watching this year...
We'll be skiing.

:B:B , folks , I think this must be a , " N.E.Pats " fan .

Hey Bill, have a great time on the slopes with your family. We are heading up soon to ride our snow machines for a month in N.H.

anutami wrote:
I owned a 2005 and sold it a couple years ago after the holding tank froze and needed more room for my kids. Gray water is exposed to the elements and the The biggest draw back is it is only a 3 season camper. The U shaped dinette is awesome and the uro windows. The cassette toilet seems to fill up way too fast and it is kind of a pain to dump. Also, no sink in bathroom which I like to have.

What are you talking about 3 season? I use mine all winter and love it. Just have to dump some antifreeze into the grey tank or leave it open.

bobndot wrote:
Laredo's work really well at the Meadowlands viewing a Broncos Game.

hey bob...all I can say is;superbowl is not worth watching this year...
We'll be skiing.