Pop Top Prep
Pop-top Prep
by Neal “Trust Me” Johns
The NorthStar Camper is not guaranteed for Off Road use as delivered. Several DE members have or did have these well built Campers. Here are the things that must be done before Off Road use for NorthStar and many other Campers:
1 Four angle iron brackets must be added where the upper hold down is attached to the Camper. These brackets should hold the vertical walls and horizontals together in rough country. Two DEers left them out to their dismay (A pulled apart horizontal and vertical section is a mess to fix). The owners are both deceased now, no connection (bad pun). You can use one of the hold-down bracket bolts if you have small hands.
2 A 2X4 angle iron must be added across the rear of the bed (and another 2X4 added around the outside of the bottom of the Camper (if there are none). This is to help prevent the camper from sliding backwards on steep hills.
3 Adding 2X4s underneath moves the cab-over part of the Camper up over the truck cab to help clearance over bumps and rough roads also.
4 A Battery Brain (the device that disconnects the load from the battery when the battery is low, but has enough juice in it to start the engine is nice to have. Don’t ask me how I know.
– Neal
Questions? (909) 887-1549