Thanks..and a Slide Question

[Riley01]

First I want to say THANKS for all of the help this newbie has been getting with all of my questions on buying a truck camper.

My question this time is on slides. Can anyone who has gone from a slide to no slide comment on slide vs. no slide? I really like the Northern Lite but they don't have a slide so I'm a little hesitant to go there. They do a pretty good job of making them look roomy so it is tempting. From what I can tell the quality is top notch for a truck camper.

My use will be mainly my wife and I flitting around staying a couple days here and a couple days there and taking some motorcycle rides. I'll be pulling a 6x10 trailer with my bike in it. We may leave the trailer behind sometimes and do some boondocking. The only thing that bugs me about the NL is the small FW tank (35 gal). All comments are appreciated.

Thanks,
Rick

[Kayteg1]

Not too many people are "born to drive" and even less are good in backing up.
When you camp at the lake with boat ramp - setting a chair at ramp with couple of cold ones make for easy entertainment.
But for those buying new truck, the "extreme tow package" on my Ford is really impressive. When blind spots warnings don't work with camper wings, the camera coverage and adding trailer length to the system makes pretty good help.
Not eve saying that truck can check trailer or camper tail lights... at freeway speeds.

[bobndot]

Riley01 wrote:

deltabravo wrote:
On a side note, a 6x10 trailer is a nightmare behind a truck camper when trying to back up.

It's a PITA without the camper, I'm hoping a camera will help with that.

Rick

I can see how some people would have some difficulty backing a narrow trailer but if you practice doing it becomes easy, at least for me it did.
I towed a lot of different trailers behind my TC's as said in the link below. I ended up liking my 5x12 v-nose the best and still use it today behind my 'C'. It is very light and carries our bikes, canoe, sometimes one snowmobile, sometimes it's an extra bathroom using a Curve porta potty, we also use it as the semi outdoor kitchen. All our equipment is portable using E-track hardware. We used it in many different configurations offsetting the limited space of our non slide Lance TC and now our non slide class 'C'.


If you plan to use your TC in the winter, I found it to be a pain to climb onto the roof in order to clear the slide top from ice/snow in order to close it. The non slide tc used a lot less LP and was much easier to heat. I liked the non-slide stealth overnighting in Holiday Inn parking lots. 😉

I found having the right floorplan in a non slide is very important making it feel larger or having the right combination of storage cabinets.

Have you looked at the Northstar 12 ft non slide ? It offers a side entrance door and a lot of counter space with a dry bath. NS customer service is going to be hard to beat.


The below older link has some general trailer info.

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27365512/print/true.cfm

[Riley01]

deltabravo wrote:
On a side note, a 6x10 trailer is a nightmare behind a truck camper when trying to back up.

It's a PITA without the camper, I'm hoping a camera will help with that.

Rick

[specta]

Seems like buying a camper with or without a slide should be a pretty easy question to answer by the person buying the camper.

Do I want a roomy or confined living space??

[wnjj]

I have no issues with a 6x10. I can see the tires at the road from my mirrors by looking under the wings. Backing is almost never in a straight line anyway. Ideally you always back to the left slightly.

[Kayteg1]

For some time I was pulling 4x8 utility trailer behind my 12' TC. When backing up from the street at 90 degree, I would put 8' plank across the trailer. Made backing up a breeze.

[deltabravo]

On a side note, a 6x10 trailer is a nightmare behind a truck camper when trying to back up.

I had a 6x12 from 2010-2014, even that one was annoying. It's the width that's the problem. You can't see it to back up. Once you see it in either side mirror of the truck, all bets are off trying to get it straight again.

[restlessways]

billyray50 wrote:
We have had both non slide and slide TCs and will never go back to a TC with no slides. Like the extra room.

Yeah. I had a Lance 1030, but after looking at the slide-in campers I wouldn't want to go back. Just a single slide Arctic Fox 990 seemed humongous by comparison.

[billyray50]

We have had both non slide and slide TCs and will never go back to a TC with no slides. Like the extra room.

[Hardscrabble]

Full time in a NL 8-11, wet bath,12,000 miles since November 1, 2019, wife, 65 lb dog and me. Sometimes it’s small for sure - but we’d not do it differently at this point. Everything is a compromise. The quality of the NL is absolutely fantastic and for the one issue we had with the furnace which was a Dometic issue - Keith stood behind us 110%.

We are boondocking quite a bit and are in a lot of the out of the way places, nights in the 20s quite frequently, we can go about a week and a half on one bottle of propane, I only keep the outer bottle online so I know when I run out on it so when it runs out I have another full one. We have 200 watts of solar and we are never wanting. We are careful with our usage and never use the TV but we both work so we use power for our computers and so on.

The fridge/freezer is huge and very efficient on propane, like others we opted no microwave, storage is fantastic. We have the U shaped dinette, the storage under there is great. The range and oven are great, we made some modifications as the sink is huge so we have a cutting board that goes across half or 3/4, makes more usable counter. Our friend put a bracket over the non-pass through window which makes more counter.

I put the heavier tools behind the drivers seat in the truck and am super aware of weight and distribution and we’ve had no problems. We have been driving in 50 mph winds, backcountry roads and city traffic, it handles very well.

The water - we carry extra but keep it low and forward when we are moving. We conserve water religiously as we have been in arid climates - limit the showers and waste and we have always done well. Taking a shower, for me is like a silverback gorilla in a phone booth so I tend to take showers elsewhere when able.

Sometimes it’s like that movie “The Life of Pi”, living with a tiger in a lifeboat, we take turns being the tiger. We are in a super small space but spend a lot of time outside. If I have a work call I go up and sit in the cab, we just negotiate our way through. We’ve been able to access a lot of places we never could have in a heavier or larger RV.

One more thing, hence the edit - I put a aftermarket OEM compatible backup camera on that I can mount on the camper or move to the truck when the camper is off. I also put a low profile hitch basket on that fits perfectly under the overhang of the camper where I store light stuff including a tub for the septic hose as it won’t fit in the NL back porch mounted one. I carry leveling blocks and a step stool that makes it easier for our old dog to get on the steps up to the camper. My thought is one could put gas cans for their generator there too.

Best of luck.

[jimh406]

We haven’t had one of these slide vs noslide threads in a while. As normal, opinions are masquerading as facts.

Go pickout the best floor plan for you. Maybe it will include a slide or multiples or maybe no slides.

Have fun.

[wnjj]

restlessways wrote:
A slide offers more than "useless floor space," it increases the overall square footage and provides a much more comfortable environment with which to lounge in, and also room for large dogs which many of us have. My 120 lb pooch would have nowhere to even lay down in a Northern Lite. Even turning around would be difficult.

x2. That space is noticed all the time when people pass by each other. It also works when the dinette is left as a bed and the kids sit on the edge of it, again not in the way of those passing through.

Our slide adds 200 lbs to a nearly 4k lb loaded camper so hardly worth worrying about.

[restlessways]

JimK-NY wrote:
My wife and I spent a couple of years as full timers in a truck camper. I am really happy we had: 1. a cassette toilet, 2., a wet bath, and especially 3., no slides.

A slide gives you mainly just some useless empty floor space. You will gain a lot of weight, may not be able to stop quickly and use the camper. You will not be able to camp in some places that do not have the room for a slide or where you want to be stealthy.

And then there are those of us who much prefer a 43 gallon black tank which lasts over a month and is easy to empty vs a 5 gallon cassette toilet which you have to deal with every couple days and risk splashing feces all over. No thanks.

A slide offers more than "useless floor space," it increases the overall square footage and provides a much more comfortable environment with which to lounge in, and also room for large dogs which many of us have. My 120 lb pooch would have nowhere to even lay down in a Northern Lite. Even turning around would be difficult.

I've never in my life camped somewhere that a couple extra feet on one side was not available, so the idea that a slide-out on a camper will limit places to stay seems laughable.

[Grit_dog]

JimK-NY wrote:
My wife and I spent a couple of years as full timers in a truck camper. I am really happy we had: 1. a cassette toilet, 2., a wet bath, and especially 3., no slides.

A slide gives you mainly just some useless empty floor space. You will gain a lot of weight, may not be able to stop quickly and use the camper. You will not be able to camp in some places that do not have the room for a slide or where you want to be stealthy.

As these are all opinions and as such are typically certain to the author’s bias, I’ll counter your opinions a bit.
Floor space is only useless if you enjoy life in a submarine or on a sail boat. But that useless empty floor space also allows for a wider dinette.
A lot of weight is very subjective. What’s a single slide add? 200, 300 lbs? Again, truck is carrying it not you personally and it will not make a noticeable difference in the trucks performance. Especially in the OPs case.
May not be able to stop and use the camper quickly? Not sure where you got that from. Many are useable with the slide it, albeit tight. The rest take less than half a minute to extend. Heck I’m always in a hurry and I have 30 seconds to spare.
Lastly, I’ve yet to camp or see a place to camp where there wasn’t 2 extra feet to extend the slide. Maybe if you camp in narrow allies or a 1 car garage this is an issue. Same opinion of the stealth comment. Not applicable.