What hold the roof skin to the frame on my Northstar Pop Up

presh223

New member
Greetings all,
I am new to this forum and extend a gracious hello to a community which has been regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and helpful out there. Recently, I have contracted pop-up-camper fever and have a question regarding a substance applied to the jack brackets affixed to the camper. Actually, I have a multitude of questions which I cannot identify an answer to in perusing others’ posts.
Per usual I predict I am totally over analyzing this and it is probably just a form of putty? Presumably locatable at any general hardware store? My wife and I typically refrain from Home Depot shopping together because I spend too much time trying to differentiate products. While inundated with the ubiquitous choices of silicones, latex, acrylic, caulking, etc. I cannot figure out which is most suitable for my application. Moreover, a rear roof hinge has splintered the wooden frame and has protruded outside of my roof, thus, soon I will need to acquire a sealant which will seal the roof skin to the aluminum bottom.
Pictured is the substance which has induced marital disdain at Home Depot . Thank you to anyone who shares their thoughts regarding my issue. I have also posted a pic of my camper, I LOVE IT!!!

Best,
photo 2 (1).jpgphoto 3 (1).jpgIMG_5056.jpgIMG_5898.jpg
 

presh223

New member
Kerry,

Thanks a ton, I don't usually shop at Lowes, but great recommendation. The jacks are ready to be installed today so this is helpful. Thanks again...
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
Great truck/camper combo! I looked at what must have been the same model Northstar of similar vintage a while back at an RV dealer.
 

presh223

New member
Thanks Tangle Foot. I think I got a really fantastic deal. The rear hinge of the roof protruded through the roof so the owner wanted nothing to do with it. I love tools and challenges so I thought what the heck. This is the day I brought it home, after cleaning it, looks way better! Paid $650.
 

cuttyy

New member
cool seal

I glued my Aluminum skin back on plywood frame with liquid nail. I glued and screwed aluminum edge frame with same . I sealed all roof seams in and out with cool seal roof mastic. and coated whole roof with cool seal roof coating. ALL MY PICS COME OUT UPSIDE DOWN NO MATTER HOW I TURN THEM. IM TOLD IPHONE PROBLEM...... ONLY HERE... SORRY
 

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Camelfilter

Explorer
IMG_0270.jpg

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:D

I have the same problem with my iPhone. If I know I'll be posting a picture here (and I remember...), I turn my phone upside down as compared to the way I normally take pics.
 

presh223

New member
Cool Seal,

Wow, these are great photo's. I had no idea what they looked like on the interior. Looks, like yours was definitely in need. Was it pretty straight-forward? It seems like everything remains obscure about these until you remove the respective item to reveal its interior. Once there, if you've ever worked with your hands, it should just flow. Like everyone, I hate doing things twice, so I obsess about allocating the "proper" components to ensure it won't need to be re-visited. Your contribution helped me in terms of materials used. Did it hold up ok thus far?

My issue is I am excited to use it, however don't like not having a peace of mind about potential leaking in the interim. This seems like it will have to be a winter project. How long did it take you? Do you have any recommendations for a fix-for-summer type of thing, something which won't be inordinately difficult to remove when getting invasive for the entire roof.

Any general photo software can remedy our photo orientation issues, a lot of them exist for free online. I don't recall what its name is but if you google something like "free alternative to photoshop" I'm sure it will populate.
 

cuttyy

New member
Roof

The roof on this North star TC 650 EC came off when previous owner forgot to secure front latches and hit the highway. I found this on Craigslist for $100.00. Luckily the wood frame was soft and all the screws pulled rather than tear the fabric. The roof folded right in half and
landed behind on the ground. I have used cool seal on previous campers and have never had a problem. I removed the roof and built a platform on several sets of saw horses .There was one tear in the aluminum skin. I installed another roof vent in this area. I worked on the roof off of the camper for about three days mostly waiting for glue or cool seal to dry. not that big a deal. still more to do. I am pondering an aluminum side trim above the lip to clean up the sides . I don't know your camping style or weather but if I was eager to go I would just tarp it at camp. more upside down pics.....
 

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kerry

Expedition Leader
Can you give us a description of the layup of the roof? It's hard to tell from the pictures. I've got a Northstar TS1000 and am curious as to the construction of the roof. I've had some leaks which are now repaired but I'm wondering what might have been damaged underneath. I know it has an aluminum skin on top and a kind of very thin plywood with a vinyl skin glued to it in the interior but I don't know what's in between. What provides the structural strength for the roof in the middle under the aluminum skin? I'm pretty sure Northstar does not make these roofs themselves but purchases them from a roof supplier. I've seen identical roofs on other brand campers.
 

kerry

Expedition Leader
Thanks Tangle Foot. I think I got a really fantastic deal. The rear hinge of the roof protruded through the roof so the owner wanted nothing to do with it. I love tools and challenges so I thought what the heck. This is the day I brought it home, after cleaning it, looks way better! Paid $650.

Can you explain a little more what the problem was? It's unclear from the pictures. The mount for the rear end of the raising bar went thru the roof? Do you know why? Seems that would be an unlikely event unless something stopped the roof from coming down and the roof was cranked down forcefully in spite of it.
 

presh223

New member
Man, you got a STEAL!!!! I accessed the broken hinges recently and think I'm going to try and reinforce in the mean time to get the hinge to not protrude the roof. I'll seal it with something temp for summer use. We are WA state and the weather is mild.
 

presh223

New member
Is your roof difficult to raise? Especially in the beginning? Mine is notoriously difficult and I'm hoping it's because of my broken roof hinge rather than design. I owned a Skamper (same general size) and the roof popped up with no effort/strain at all. This one feels like I'm lifting an anvil.
 

kerry

Expedition Leader
Which hinge is broken? My roof raises pretty easily. I raise it with two or three boats on top. I did design a longer handled crank--a sailboat winch handle. The OE crank is way too short.
 

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