Picking up New 990 Today
Back in 2005, with 2 small kids, my wife and I ordered an Arctic Fox 990 with the options we wanted, along with a new F350 CC diesel dually equipped the way we wanted to haul it. We used the heck out of that camper, both on family trips, and some trips with just the wife and I. We often towed a trailer with dirt bikes and quads and did a lot of boondocking.
Eventually as the kids grew we sort of outgrew the camper. We ended up with a class A for a while, and really missed the go anywhere, park anywhere nature of the truck camper, as well as having 4x4. After the motorhome we had a Desert Fox toy hauler.
The kids are grown and it's back to mostly the wife and I. We have a boat and we fish a lot, often 5 days a week. We also enjoy fly fishing in out of the way, remote areas. We decided we really needed to get another RV and started shopping. We really liked the Mercedes Sprinter based class C's, especially the Winnebago View's. The limiting factors for our uses were limited towing ability and low clearance. I still have the same 2005 F350 we ordered to haul our last camper, so we decided to look at truck campers. We were always impressed by the quality of Northwood products. We had also visited the factory once for a minor warranty repair, and really liked everyone we met there. Northern Lite and Bigfoot are also very nice, and I like the way they are constructed. We considered one of those, or an Arctic Fox 865. For a non slide camper, we really liked the 865. After talking and realizing we would be enjoying some longer trips we decided we didn't want to give up the extra space and feeling provided by a slide. The 990 was just right, yet again. We ended up purchasing one at Thunder RV in La Grande, about a mile from the factory. We are picking it up this morning. I had them install a Zamp 170 watt solar panel on it, in addition to the 20 watt already on it. I am having them install upper and lower stableload's on my truck today as well. When I sold our last 990 the buyer had the same truck as ours, so I sold him the Torklift tie downs and fast guns. We're going with that same set up this time. We are open to adding another 170 watt panel if it turns out we need it.
The biggest difference with this camper will be having the onboard generator. We ordered the last one without an AC (a smaller unit wasn't an option back then), and without a generator. We installed a 9k btu AC and used a Honda 2000 watt generator. We had 200 watts of solar on that one and typically only took the generator if we knew we would need to run the AC. I installed an inverter and we took a small swamp cooler with us when dry camping in areas with low humidity. It cooled the camper pretty well and didn't draw much power. We had also ordered the full passenger side wardrobe to have room for all of the kids stuff. It was relatively heavy, and not something we need now. The LED lights will be nice when boondocking and conserving power.
I still have the CAT weight slip from our last camper. With full water and loaded for camping it was about 700lbs under the GVWR, and well under each axles GAWR. I'm curious to see what this one weighs. The only upgrade I'm considering for down the road, besides the possibility of more solar, is upgrading my truck to 19.5" wheels and tires. I know there are some mud and snow rated commercial tires now, but I haven't really looked at any yet.
Looking forward to some new adventures.
Eventually as the kids grew we sort of outgrew the camper. We ended up with a class A for a while, and really missed the go anywhere, park anywhere nature of the truck camper, as well as having 4x4. After the motorhome we had a Desert Fox toy hauler.
The kids are grown and it's back to mostly the wife and I. We have a boat and we fish a lot, often 5 days a week. We also enjoy fly fishing in out of the way, remote areas. We decided we really needed to get another RV and started shopping. We really liked the Mercedes Sprinter based class C's, especially the Winnebago View's. The limiting factors for our uses were limited towing ability and low clearance. I still have the same 2005 F350 we ordered to haul our last camper, so we decided to look at truck campers. We were always impressed by the quality of Northwood products. We had also visited the factory once for a minor warranty repair, and really liked everyone we met there. Northern Lite and Bigfoot are also very nice, and I like the way they are constructed. We considered one of those, or an Arctic Fox 865. For a non slide camper, we really liked the 865. After talking and realizing we would be enjoying some longer trips we decided we didn't want to give up the extra space and feeling provided by a slide. The 990 was just right, yet again. We ended up purchasing one at Thunder RV in La Grande, about a mile from the factory. We are picking it up this morning. I had them install a Zamp 170 watt solar panel on it, in addition to the 20 watt already on it. I am having them install upper and lower stableload's on my truck today as well. When I sold our last 990 the buyer had the same truck as ours, so I sold him the Torklift tie downs and fast guns. We're going with that same set up this time. We are open to adding another 170 watt panel if it turns out we need it.
The biggest difference with this camper will be having the onboard generator. We ordered the last one without an AC (a smaller unit wasn't an option back then), and without a generator. We installed a 9k btu AC and used a Honda 2000 watt generator. We had 200 watts of solar on that one and typically only took the generator if we knew we would need to run the AC. I installed an inverter and we took a small swamp cooler with us when dry camping in areas with low humidity. It cooled the camper pretty well and didn't draw much power. We had also ordered the full passenger side wardrobe to have room for all of the kids stuff. It was relatively heavy, and not something we need now. The LED lights will be nice when boondocking and conserving power.
I still have the CAT weight slip from our last camper. With full water and loaded for camping it was about 700lbs under the GVWR, and well under each axles GAWR. I'm curious to see what this one weighs. The only upgrade I'm considering for down the road, besides the possibility of more solar, is upgrading my truck to 19.5" wheels and tires. I know there are some mud and snow rated commercial tires now, but I haven't really looked at any yet.
Looking forward to some new adventures.
