Northstar 850 sc Electric roof lift
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โDec-21-2020 04:12 PM
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Truck Campers
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โDec-24-2020 06:57 PM
MKish wrote:
I'd look into using a drill (after making sure the lift system is in good shape). People do that for tent trailers all the time. Not sure how the weight compares; they have shorter--but wider--roofs and a lot more weight in the sidewalls.
I have a TC800 and would use the drill if I had rooftop AC and a bad shoulder.
The new lift system is built into the cabinetry and probably hard to retrofit without gutting much of the camper.
I had a tc 800 and you should put a 90lb bag of concrete up there and see if you still would use a drill , the first 3 or 4 turns will be the worst and your going to rip up the teeth on the crank and more . I tried it on my tc800 before putting an AC in the back window .
I agree that the Reico system would be a lot of work and the ceiling inside paneling has nothing behind it but foam and the outside alum skin , thats why its so light . I`m sure NS has redesigned the roof to include backing at the lifts . And yes pocketing the lifts that seem to be about 2+ times the length of the softwall would take some doing , not to mention the holes left after taking out the tubing from the Heco , also theres going to be a hole in the softwall at the rear corners where the plates are carriage bolted to the vertical of the roof
Thats where the issue a lot of times is , the carriage bolts-nuts loosen and some of the torsion is lost , if its real bad -loose its obvious , sometimes the plywood of the vertical is rotted . Thats how I got my ts1000 cheap , and then fixed it with an alum plate on the outside. If their loose raise the roof to work on it , theres no torsion in the tubes then , the system is just an inner tube welded to a outer tube w/ rosete welds to the outer tube , the inner tube has the plates that attach to the roof in the back on NS ,and to lower wall in Outfitter and Hallmark , as you lower the roof tension is put into the inside tube twisting it , a new light roof will pop up a few inches in the back when the hold downs are released , one thats overloaded wont
I can see retro fitting the newer screw type system that the Hallmark video shows into the NS , there are differences in the NS Heco and the Hallmark in that the torsion is in the upper tubes and the Hallmark in the lower , but if they havent moved the points where the arms attach to the old heco to much , I think the vertical wood part that the Heco rack is attached to could be reworked to a flat horizontal with a vertical behind it to still separate the underbed area ,Not real easy but doable with carpentry skill . If the screw system w/ gear reduction could be bought .?
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โDec-24-2020 01:54 PM
I have a TC800 and would use the drill if I had rooftop AC and a bad shoulder.
The new lift system is built into the cabinetry and probably hard to retrofit without gutting much of the camper.
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โDec-23-2020 03:23 PM
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โDec-23-2020 10:55 AM
Hallmark video
Copy and paste this , see 3rd video
http://www.hallmarkrv.com/videos/
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โDec-23-2020 10:48 AM
Put a large "foot" of thin plywood on the top foot to spread the force, or attach a pad on the ceiling at the best lift spot(s). As said above, once you get about 1/3 the way up, it is much easier to finish cranking.
I would also look at the hydraulic lifts used on 4 wheel campers to see if that is a retrofit possibility for you.
Note there are many more solutions using levers, hydraulics, bladders or extension poles. You just need to discover which is best.
Hope this helps,
04 GMC 1500 4X4X4, 04 Sunlite SB
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โDec-23-2020 10:05 AM
When I sold the camper it went back to Outfitter to do a elec lift that they had just come up with
To the OP , maybe call Outfitter or Hallmark and see if they could sell you the parts to do this . As I recall because prior to selling I was going to do this ,its a gear reduced motor so it takes about a minute to raise the roof , and switches to stop the travel.
I could also see a way to build a small manual gear reduction box using the gear off a crank , attaching a larger gear infront of it and a smaller one to the side , with a nut on the front of it , to use a crank on it , all inside a slim enclosure
To bad manufacturers exceeded the limits of the Heco system before thinking this through , although I have to say the Northstar ts1000 I had after the Outfitter and the NS tc800 I had before it worked well , as the AC was in the wall not on the roof
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โDec-23-2020 08:50 AM
My Palomino B1500 has one of the largest roofs of any pop-up, and mine has an AC unit on top. The Heco lift is only hard to operate during the initial lift. Those first couple of inches when the arms have their worst mechanical advantage is where it takes the most effort. I am able to place my back against the ceiling and use my legs to provide the initial boost to get the roof moving upwards. After that it's easy cranking, almost a 1-finger operation if the crank didn't want to keep walking out.
I say this because a change in technique might be more practical than tearing your camper apart to put in a different lift system, or buying a whole new camper.
Putting 10-ply tires on half ton trucks since aught-four.
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โDec-22-2020 10:50 AM
It tends to lose tension with age.
Sometimes the rear spring mount gets dislodged, usually due to water damage.
With time, both issues reduce the lift assistance of the torsion bar, and it takes a lot more force to raise the roof.
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โDec-22-2020 10:23 AM
Reasons I can see for it being difficult = roof is foam core and has limited structural points to attach to
The lifts appear to need a hole to collapse into , location of water heater .... may be in the way
The lifts need to be inboard of the roof to allow the soft side material to be able to collapse
On a fairly new camper it is probably questionable
The good is Northstars are still inexpensive compared to some others
and they appear to have the lift included
Palomino appears to be the reason Reico came up with it
https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/news/rieco-titan-on-palomino-rv-s-new-lift-system/
I know in about 2007 Outfitter was putting a motor on the Heco
dont know what they do now , but the did retro fits then , maybe Hallmark also
You may want try to make a new crank and see if it does enough to allow you to use the camper
With my Outfitter I used a hand crank handle from a happi jac and put the spline- gear from the Heco on it that way you have more leverage ( dont remember how it was in 05 ) you could get one of the newer harder material gear cranks ito do it with . read this
https://www.hannarv.com/P/21252/HECOTruckCamperCrankHandle
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โDec-22-2020 03:59 AM
https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/camper-reviews/2017-northstar-650sc-review/
The new system is a completely different design. Technically, a conversion may be possible, but it looks like a very involved project. I can see why N* do not offer to do it.
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โDec-21-2020 08:34 PM
I built handles with more extension that made it easier to lift . I know a drill would just chew up the crank gear , the gear is made soft so it fails first . I see now they have changed to making the cranks with harder gear material and the weld to the handle is supposed to break if to much force is applied to it
I used to push up on the roof with my shoulder to push the roof up the first few inches which helped ; now I have had surgery's on both and that would`nt work for me either
More torsion can be put in the system ,but after a while that weakens too .
About the time I sold the Outfitter they where making a elecric system to add to the Heco one , but the motor would go behind the rack and mess with the bed space
But I see now that Rieco -Titan is making a system to replace the whole Heco one . I would defiantly check it out if I had a pop up now
https://www.riecotitan.com/image/catalog/instructions/electric-roof-lift-instructions.pdf
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โDec-21-2020 06:52 PM
'10 Ford F-450, 6.4, 4.30, 4x4, 14,500 GVWR, '06 Host Rainer 950 DS, Torklift Talon tiedowns, Glow Steps, and Fastguns. Bilstein 4600s, Firestone Bags, Toyo M655 Gs, Curt front hitch, Energy Suspension bump stops.
NRA Life Member, CCA Life Member
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โDec-21-2020 04:36 PM