Northstar truck campers

[DieselBurps]

Hello, I am looking at purchasing a Northstar truck camper. I have been lurking on the forum for awhile and see that their customer service gets high marks. I would like to know more beyond that. Customer service is important to me, but I am more concerned about how well the campers hold up. I know they are wood framed construction and there is a lot of debate about wood vs. aluminum. I am looking used around year 2010 but also possible a new Adventurer model that I have seen priced at 20k. They have a lot of options I like, non basement,(lower overall height), casette toilet, and dometic thermopane pop out windows. The filon fiberglass exterior concerns me, it seems there is probably better material to use besides that, and the rubber roof also concerns. I have thought about Northern lite, but they might be a little heavy for my 3/4 ton dodge long bed, but appear better built, and come with a basement. Also not many used. the ones I have seen are fairly expensive.

Any thoughts on how Northstars hold up to rough roads and wet environments?

[Freedom_49]

sky_free wrote:
This ^^^ is a great, informative post. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

I could not agree more! That post was in the spirit of what a forum like this is supposed to be about.

[bcbouy]

i had my camper for about a week when i forgot to clamp down the roof and drove 30 miles down the freeway at 60 with the roof up.no damage whats so ever,i thought id destroyed it, but nothing.my old sun lite had a clamp on the front break off and it bent the lift system.you will be hard pressed to find an unhappy northstar owner.i'm beyond impressed with mine.no problem with the tank sizes yet either.that casset toilet is really great.

[d3500ram]

DieselBurps wrote:
... They have a lot of options I like... dometic thermopane pop out windows. ...

I am a big fan of NorthStar campers but not the Dometic windows regardless of what camper they are installed on. My review of this item can be read HERE.

[sky_free]

This ^^^ is a great, informative post. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

[JimK-NY]

I have a 2005 Northstar Igloo 9.5 which I bought used and in nearly perfect condition in 2010. Most of the first 5 years were spent on the dealer's lot after the original owners kept the unit for a couple of years and then resold on consignment. At the time of purchase the dealer repaired the screen in the rear door, replaced the kitchen faucet, and replaced a cracked, deteriorated cover in the vent over the bathroom. I replaced the mattress with a foam mattress. I had the dealer add a second 125 watt solar panel and 2 AGM batteries for a total of 300 A/H.

I did some recaulking and in addition have had two leaks. The first leak was in the caulk around one of the front windows. Once found that was easily fixed with no damage. I recently had to replace two wooden sides for my generator compartment. The leak occurred because of electrical connection box for the Happijac motor was installed upside down. Water ran down the wiring and eventually into the box and into the camper. This was partly my fault for not noticing the small opening. No matter which camper you buy, it is important to check every square inch of the exterior at least once or twice a year.

I have had some problems with standard camper appliances and parts. The city water connection started to leak and had to be replaced. The Atwood water heater was temperamental until I put a office binder clamp onto the electrical connection. The vent over the stove was replaced and then immediately broke again. The hinge pins are 1/8" plastic and I finally rebuilt the flapper with a homemade steel hinge pin. One of the Happijac motors shorted out and had to be replaced. I had to replace the water pump due to an annoying slow leak. I have had to replace the propane tank pigtails twice. These get very stiff and brittle after a few years of use. The solar controller malfunctioned and had to be replaced. I have buffed out scratches in the sides windows twice. The plastic scratches easily due to small branches. Two struts that hold open the small Euro windows have broken. Actually what broke is the little plastic housing for the ball bearing mechanism that holds the windows open. I use binder clips to hold the windows open since the repair parts are over $100/window and likely to break again. The plastic parts that hold the silverware door glides broke and were replaced.

Most of the repairs mentioned above were low cost and easily done. I do not think the failures reflect badly on Northstar. It seems that there are lots of RV parts which are poorly made and fail frequently even with careful use.

There are a few items where I would have liked to see something different and better from Northstar. First some of the wiring is undersized. If you have your camper prewired for solar, arrange for appropriate gauged wiring. This should have been at least 6 gauge, not 10 gauge. I have an all electric compressor refrigerator. Again that should have been wired with 6 gauge, not 10 gauge. Next, I would have liked better veneer on the paneling. The coating is extremely thin and holds up poorly. A single piece of Scotch tape will damage the surface. Finally the worst design and materials were the kitchen countertops. The substrate is press board which is not water resistant. That junk is fairly common even for some low cost home kitchen counter tops. Unfortunately Northstar used a router to bevel the edges. This gave a nice appearance but exposed the substrate. As soon as any water hit the exposed areas the substrate started to swell and buckle. I was dumbfounded to see such a gross error in construction. I had to use a couple of coats of epoxy resin on the seams to prevent further deterioration. The repair epoxy and the swollen areas have never looked good. I was told the original owners never used the kitchen so this booby trap waited until we used it the first time.

Except for the kitchen counter tops, I am pretty happy with the design and quality of construction for my Northstar. I have also stated two universal issues. First, the quality of RV parts is mediocre at best and that leaves few choices for even the best campers. Next water leaks can be a serious issue for any RV and especially for truck campers. Check every possible area frequently. I doubt that aluminum frame construction will provide much help in this regard. A leak can cause very serious and expensive damage and can destroy a camper even if the frame is not damaged.

[towpro]

http://www.northstarcampers.com/online-catalog.php?view=item&parentId=11&catId=13&numId=33

Northstar thinks so. Look up in your owners manual and door stickers to see what your truck is built to handle.

Most likely the weight carrying capacity of the rear tires will be the limiting factor.

[robmease]

I have a ram 1500 and would like to get a northstar 850sc will my truck Handel it

[bwc]

djc486 wrote:
We have a 2010 Northstar Igloo and love it. No problems, no leaks. Keep it outside and uncovered. What other company president gives you their own phone number to call if you have problems?

X2 except ours is stored inside. Waiting for their new side entry.

[djc486]

We have a 2010 Northstar Igloo and love it. No problems, no leaks. Keep it outside and uncovered. What other company president gives you their own phone number to call if you have problems?

[countrycampers3]

billtex wrote:
No doubt Northstar has a great rep...and they have been a round a long time

They are pretty basic, tanks are not that big, construction methods are old school. However, none of those things should rule them out if they work for you. They are a proven design.
We have had both wood and aluminum framed campers. There is not much difference to the user. I would not hesitate to buy a wood framed camper. In fact there are some advantages to wood (flex, thermal transfer).
If we were looking for a no frills, well built, camper for 2...we would consider NS.

Bill

We agree with Bill
We had a NorthStar Arrow, and loved it. Bought new. Only problem was Dometic Fridge had a new model come out and had problem with it the first few days. Rex Willett President NorthStar. had us bring it up and they replaced it. no Charge.

As far as Dometic insulated Windows. They are Great and very well insulated. We've camped in many a below -0 temps and the windows were great. Nice big windows and easy to see through. I like how the bug screen rolls up into the window frame, and the sun shade (which blocks out all sunlight) rolls down into the widow frame.

As far as the Roof, If you ever had a problem Rex would take care of you. They go out of their way to help.

These are my opinions and experiences.

Have fun in the hunt for your TC.

[BillL1356]

I have a NS Arrow U. Camper was built in June 2013 and for various reason I couldn't pick it up till September. We drove to the factory, from PA, where REX did all the set up and walk through. He suggested that we camp in nearby state park so that if we found anything we didn't understand or needed fixed he could take care of it while in IA. We came back the next morning to have a flakey light repaired.

Upgrades that I have done include: replace the RV faucet with new residential faucet, and added a 150 watt solar system, two AGM 100 AH batteries, and a Trimetric.

With respect to the roof, TPO is used on buildings all time and with proper maintenance will provide excellent long term service.

We have camped about 40-50 nights a year in all kinds of weather and the camper is stored outside. The camper has been rock solid and is extremely well built.


Bill

[realter]

I took mine back to the factory to have the 2nd window installed in the back door. The lower one sure is nice to see the front grill of those semi's as I poke along at 62 mph.

[Jgwoods]

I have a 2013 Northstar Igloo 9.5 and I am quite happy with the product. I chose it for the most part because I am six feet eight inches tall and so is the ceiling on the Igloo 9.5. Most other campers run 6'4" or 6'6" and I didn't want to duck.
In two years we have driven with it almost 30k miles and slept in it around 150 nights.
Being a big guy I find the dinette seat cushions too soft. I wish I had ordered the double sink, I regret busting off two TV antennas going under too low branches, and I added a two inch mattress topper to the original mattress. Big as I ma I wish the bathroom was a little bigger in every direction but it works. I ordered mine with an oven and have never used it.
I love the convenience of the cassette toilet.
I have had no leaks, no squeaks, no problems with the build quality at all and it has been treated pretty rough.
If I was doing it all over again I would take another Igloo with just a few changes in how it was ordered.

[MKish]

I ordered mine with an extra window in the back door. 😛