freedomrider
Ordinary average guy
Hi all,
After over a year of researching my family fun vehicle and reading everything the whirled wide webs has to offer, I've decided to start my own pop-up TC thread to get a few unresolved questions answered. I'm essentially shopping for both the truck and camper simultaneously with the goal of ending up with a suitable combination for my needs (me, wife, and growing toddler to use for weekend state park camping as well as some light duty off-highway adventures).
The truck will a be a 1-ton crew cab but I haven't decided on long bed versus short bed yet. For the camper, I've narrowed it down to one of two Northstar units; the TC800 or the 850SC.
One of my big concerns is having ample room for cargo so a very appealing feature for the TC800 on a long bed is access to space along the sides of the truck bed. A few here on The Portal (regcabguy comes to mind) write very favorably about how useful this extra space is. It seems that this space is wasted for any other Northstar configuration (I'd be happy to be corrected if that assessment is wrong). On the other hand, for either the TC800 or 850SC on a short bed, the full wrap can come equipped with cargo boxes but it's hard to tell from photos what kind of space these really have. I'd appreciate any info on dimensions for these. In terms of cargo space, the 850SC on a long bed seems to take the biggest hit with no cargo boxes AND no access to the truck bed (again, someone please correct me if that's wrong). The plus side to either camper model on a long bed is that the trailer hitch is accessible for towing or for a bike rack/cargo box/etc. (I guess a hitch extension can always be added for a short bed if necessary).
So, for anybody who has endured my rambling to get this far, my questions (for now) are:
1. Is the TC800 on a long bed the only camper configuration that provides access to the space along the sides of the truck bed?
2. How much useful space do the full wrap cargo boxes really add?
And a bonus question:
For light duty off-highway use (e.g., maintained fire roads), which would be more limiting; a short bed truck with rear camper overhang or a long bed truck with little to no overhang?
Thanks in advance.
Mike
After over a year of researching my family fun vehicle and reading everything the whirled wide webs has to offer, I've decided to start my own pop-up TC thread to get a few unresolved questions answered. I'm essentially shopping for both the truck and camper simultaneously with the goal of ending up with a suitable combination for my needs (me, wife, and growing toddler to use for weekend state park camping as well as some light duty off-highway adventures).
The truck will a be a 1-ton crew cab but I haven't decided on long bed versus short bed yet. For the camper, I've narrowed it down to one of two Northstar units; the TC800 or the 850SC.
One of my big concerns is having ample room for cargo so a very appealing feature for the TC800 on a long bed is access to space along the sides of the truck bed. A few here on The Portal (regcabguy comes to mind) write very favorably about how useful this extra space is. It seems that this space is wasted for any other Northstar configuration (I'd be happy to be corrected if that assessment is wrong). On the other hand, for either the TC800 or 850SC on a short bed, the full wrap can come equipped with cargo boxes but it's hard to tell from photos what kind of space these really have. I'd appreciate any info on dimensions for these. In terms of cargo space, the 850SC on a long bed seems to take the biggest hit with no cargo boxes AND no access to the truck bed (again, someone please correct me if that's wrong). The plus side to either camper model on a long bed is that the trailer hitch is accessible for towing or for a bike rack/cargo box/etc. (I guess a hitch extension can always be added for a short bed if necessary).
So, for anybody who has endured my rambling to get this far, my questions (for now) are:
1. Is the TC800 on a long bed the only camper configuration that provides access to the space along the sides of the truck bed?
2. How much useful space do the full wrap cargo boxes really add?
And a bonus question:
For light duty off-highway use (e.g., maintained fire roads), which would be more limiting; a short bed truck with rear camper overhang or a long bed truck with little to no overhang?
Thanks in advance.
Mike
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