Bought 2007 Arctic Fox 1150

[agteacher]

We are looking at a 2007 Arctic Fox 1150 model. It currently has manual jacks on it. Can anyone tell me if the camper is wired for electric jacks? Also what things should we be concerned with looking really close at? We used to have a Lance Squire 4000, so I know about water damage with them, but are there any specific locations to double check on this model? Anything else we should be really concerned about?

[SidecarFlip]

Joe417 wrote:
The electric jacks were part of the "mandatory option package". Our '05 has happiJac. Newer units have Rieco.

If the unit you're looking has manual jack, it may be the previous owner didn't want to spend the money to replace bad power heads. Wiring should still be there but who knows.

Manual jacks aren't too bad to use if you keep the TC about truck bed height when it's off the truck.Manual jacks aren't too bad to use if you keep the TC about truck bed height when it's off the truck.

In my case, that would require having the damper jacks at almost full extension all the time. Not a good scenario at all.

What I do (I have manual RT jacks is, I use my DeWalt cordless drill, 2 of them, wife on one side, me on the other and use a RT adapter (HJ has them too) in the drills to extend and retract the jacks. It's quick and painless, faster than motorized jacks by a long shot.

[agteacher]

We're thinking the current leak is the diamond deck trim but will know more this weekend. Thank you everyone for telling us where to check. Thanks for the help on the jacks. I am not sure we have the remote for the HappiJacs so we thought we might go with the remote controlled Atwoods as they are heavier. Will do some more checking

[deltabravo]

agteacher wrote:
We will either be rebuilding the old jacks or replacing them. Thinking about Atwood jacks instead of the Happy Jacs if they will fit.

WHen switching to a different brand jack, all the electronics that control them needs changed over as well.

[Joe417]

You may want to reseal the marker lights also. I found two with minor leaks that could not be seen until I pulled them off.

I also had to replace wood under the battery box and LP compartment when we first bought ours.

[agteacher]

Can't wait to get it here so we can go over every inch and air it out. We're currently going through all of the owners manuals for everything in the camper and looking at the repair bills. The folder includes the original owner's name on a repair slip for one of the jacks in 2008. It was sold to another person in 2009 and then was sold to the person who we bought it from in 2015. The unit was originally in Texas, but is now in Ohio. The only thing that I don't see is the original sales paperwork for the camper. The people who had this camper put everything in the folder and it is separated by appliance. It looks like the original truck has also followed the camper until we bought it. We bought only the camper. The truck has a Superhitch, Ride Rites, and HappiJac tie downs. The guy is giving us the extension and the tiedowns. The receiver won't work on our Dodge, so we will have to find a receiver. He is also giving us the portable satellite that he purchased to use with the truck camper. I think we did pretty good on the unit.

[mellow]

Good deal, I had looked at the same model/year and the guy was using a drill to put his electric jacks up and down since they did not work and he was still asking $10K.

[agteacher]

The camper is wired for electric jacks and the plugs with covers are there. We will either be rebuilding the old jacks or replacing them. Thinking about Atwood jacks instead of the Happy Jacs if they will fit.

There were a couple damp areas on the inside - not really wet and we have had more than 6" of rain in the last few days. Most of the areas were completely dry but you could tell there had been a leak at one point across the front. We plan to put Eternabond over all straight seams and seal with dicor all other seams this weekend when we get the unit. We had a Lance and we had some water damage on it so knew what that looks like. It looks like if we get this resealed the moisture will evaporate and the inside will be solid and hard again. It hasn't separated, just a little dampness.

Will post pictures of the unit once we get it.

[Moose10]

Fisher Bill wrote:
"I know about water damage with them, but are there any specific locations to double check on this model?"


Everywhere, If you do have aluminum framing then I think you did well, I had a 2000 (in sig) and it had a soft corner (wood) where the valve gates are but check every corner, door, cabinet and window, high and low.

In ours there was a phone jack style of a corded remote control (also in the cabinet with the valve gates?), and if I let it sit for more than a minute I had to unplug and plug back in to remote to get the signal but for a camper this size you really want power jacks IMHO so hopefully you have a jack that looks like you could plug a phone into it.

You can get a complete power jack system that is wireless remote, not giving those away but well worth having.

Good luck!

The corded remote control times out after a minute. You don't have to unplug it to reset...press the "all up" and "all down" buttons at the same time and it will reset.

[Fisher_Bill]

"I know about water damage with them, but are there any specific locations to double check on this model?"


Everywhere, If you do have aluminum framing then I think you did well, I had a 2000 (in sig) and it had a soft corner (wood) where the valve gates are but check every corner, door, cabinet and window, high and low.

In ours there was a phone jack style of a corded remote control (also in the cabinet with the valve gates?), and if I let it sit for more than a minute I had to unplug and plug back in to remote to get the signal but for a camper this size you really want power jacks IMHO so hopefully you have a jack that looks like you could plug a phone into it.

You can get a complete power jack system that is wireless remote, not giving those away but well worth having.

Good luck!

[Moose10]

Wow, $6500 is cheap! I'd be on the edge to sell mine for another 10k on top of that, and it's an '06.
So mine has the electric jacks and if I swapped over to manual, there is really no way that you could mask where the wiring comes through the wall, so I think that if it ever had electric jacks or if it's wired you could easily tell. Take a look in the plumbing door on the driver side rear compartment and you should see the wiring.
Like others have said, take a look around the bathroom skylight, front roof seam and front clearance lights...I haven't experienced any leaks on mine.

[Grit_dog]

Nice buy! For $6500 you can do a lot of work and still have less into it than retail price.
Good luck and enjoy.

[JimK-NY]

agteacher wrote:
We went and looked at the unit tonight. It was raining and has for the last couple of days. There are a couple of damp areas in the very front of the unit but the filon and the paneling inside are solid. .......

Whoa! Damp areas just did not start overnight.

[work2much]

We have a 2006 1150 we bought new. The main thing I would look for is water intrusion. Especially around the skylight in the shower and the front cap seam on the roof. Both are not sealed well from the factory and leaked on ours since almost new. The skylight over the shower has no curb and any crack in the caulking will allow water straight in. Really crappy design.

Other than that the main structure of the camper has held up well. I am typing this in the camper now near the Washington border headed for Alaska. We near full time our camper and it works well for us.

[agteacher]

We went and looked at the unit tonight. It was raining and has for the last couple of days. There are a couple of damp areas in the very front of the unit but the filon and the paneling inside are solid. The paneling inside is dry across the front but you can tell that there was a leak at one time. No delamination and solid now. We decided to buy the unit for $6500 and the gentleman is delivering it this weekend so we can set up our truck for it. He is throwing in everything he has for the camper, including the hitch extension, all of the old jacks (electric, but not working) and the tie downs. I found all of the manuals in a cabinet with every manual in a portable file folder. We think we are getting a pretty good deal. Now to figure out how the satellite on the roof works.