Mundo4x4Casa
West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
Alright! The…die…is…cast. After a long gestation period, and looking 1st hand over dozens of small hardside truck campers, the search has ended.
We ordered a 2020 Northstar Laredo SC (self contained). After a good chat with Mike Smith @ Truck Camper Adventure and his bona fide experience with the exact model Laredo, and after agonizing over every little detail, we ordered the rig with these options: (which is above and beyond the great list of standard features)
Gray water tank hose
Glass top stainless steel sink
Dometic Glass top 2 burner stove with iron grate
Dometic 3.8 cu ft 12V compressor refer
4-season Insulation upgrade foil faced walls and roof
Permanent wrap around rear for short beds (the small storage boxes at the side/rear)
Dually swing out brackets with 3 inch extensions (to get around my super singles)
Electric Jacks which I will make removable with weather resistant quick plug soldered connectors
Snap insulated cover for the standard exit vent
240 Watt solar panels w/ Zamp controller (2 x 120W) placed on either side of the standard exit vent
2-AGM grp. 31 batteries
2-Propane tanks with option of one or two hooked up or even just one taken depending on length of outing
Not so many options ordered which keeps the weight down and those that we ordered are on or near the floor keeping the weight low; always a good thing. We'll be using a new set of Happyjac tie downs again, since they do not hang down and try to touch every passing boulder.
I’m not sure whether it was either a good thing or not that we knew from 2 decades of experience exactly what we wanted in a new TC.
We’ve always been happy with our ’98 Lance Lite and essentially wanted to replace it with a newer, better laid out model with the same not wide; not tall; not heavy footprint. Since Lance has changed their protocol to be storage free and increased the bling factor, we weren’t going there.
What did we want that we could not find in the competition? 1. Storage space. 2. trouble free, tried and true appliances. 3. Better use of solar power. 4. No basement. Why? It adds from 4 to 6 inches to the total height of the TC on the truck, and with the Laredo’s 41 gallon water tank in the living space and insulated enough to get us down into camping in the single digits, it’s good enough. About the weight of the 41 gal. tank: we will fill it with the amount of water we think we will use plus some extra to keep the overall weight down. 5. Going against the grain (there is a pun in there somewhere) we wanted a wood frame camper again, as they are slightly flexible and forgiving, whereas, welded aluminum is rigid and will eventually break if I’m driving. With the torture I've put the Lance 165-s through, it still amazes me how solid the camper box still is; especially for a wood frame camper that is 1x2" slats with corner blocking essentially industrial stapled together.
The delete list: TV, Air Conditioner, microwave oven, frame mounted tie downs, rear bumper, awnings, back up camera.
The big deal is Jeanie’s acceptance of the cassette toilet instead of a wet bath with black tank. Yess! I convinced her by saying, “I’ll be the rubber gloved one taking care of the dumping of the cassette”.
We will actually pick it up at the factory in Cedar Falls Iowa at the beginning of our fall color trek to the N.E.
Our bullet proof 2001 RAM Cummins H.O. short bed camper package with stuff will continue to be the beast of burden for the new acquisition.
I’m glad our quest is over. Let the 4-season travel begin....well, 3-season. We don't do summer in the box.
jefe
We ordered a 2020 Northstar Laredo SC (self contained). After a good chat with Mike Smith @ Truck Camper Adventure and his bona fide experience with the exact model Laredo, and after agonizing over every little detail, we ordered the rig with these options: (which is above and beyond the great list of standard features)
Gray water tank hose
Glass top stainless steel sink
Dometic Glass top 2 burner stove with iron grate
Dometic 3.8 cu ft 12V compressor refer
4-season Insulation upgrade foil faced walls and roof
Permanent wrap around rear for short beds (the small storage boxes at the side/rear)
Dually swing out brackets with 3 inch extensions (to get around my super singles)
Electric Jacks which I will make removable with weather resistant quick plug soldered connectors
Snap insulated cover for the standard exit vent
240 Watt solar panels w/ Zamp controller (2 x 120W) placed on either side of the standard exit vent
2-AGM grp. 31 batteries
2-Propane tanks with option of one or two hooked up or even just one taken depending on length of outing
Not so many options ordered which keeps the weight down and those that we ordered are on or near the floor keeping the weight low; always a good thing. We'll be using a new set of Happyjac tie downs again, since they do not hang down and try to touch every passing boulder.
I’m not sure whether it was either a good thing or not that we knew from 2 decades of experience exactly what we wanted in a new TC.
We’ve always been happy with our ’98 Lance Lite and essentially wanted to replace it with a newer, better laid out model with the same not wide; not tall; not heavy footprint. Since Lance has changed their protocol to be storage free and increased the bling factor, we weren’t going there.
What did we want that we could not find in the competition? 1. Storage space. 2. trouble free, tried and true appliances. 3. Better use of solar power. 4. No basement. Why? It adds from 4 to 6 inches to the total height of the TC on the truck, and with the Laredo’s 41 gallon water tank in the living space and insulated enough to get us down into camping in the single digits, it’s good enough. About the weight of the 41 gal. tank: we will fill it with the amount of water we think we will use plus some extra to keep the overall weight down. 5. Going against the grain (there is a pun in there somewhere) we wanted a wood frame camper again, as they are slightly flexible and forgiving, whereas, welded aluminum is rigid and will eventually break if I’m driving. With the torture I've put the Lance 165-s through, it still amazes me how solid the camper box still is; especially for a wood frame camper that is 1x2" slats with corner blocking essentially industrial stapled together.
The delete list: TV, Air Conditioner, microwave oven, frame mounted tie downs, rear bumper, awnings, back up camera.
The big deal is Jeanie’s acceptance of the cassette toilet instead of a wet bath with black tank. Yess! I convinced her by saying, “I’ll be the rubber gloved one taking care of the dumping of the cassette”.
We will actually pick it up at the factory in Cedar Falls Iowa at the beginning of our fall color trek to the N.E.
Our bullet proof 2001 RAM Cummins H.O. short bed camper package with stuff will continue to be the beast of burden for the new acquisition.
I’m glad our quest is over. Let the 4-season travel begin....well, 3-season. We don't do summer in the box.
jefe
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