Frequently Asked Questions

There are only 2 brand name tiedown systems available: Torklift or HappiJac, both are great products, they are just different.

Tiedowns (4) are already mounted on the camper during manufacture. Either Torklift or HappiJac tiedowns will need to be installed on the truck, either by the customer or dealer before taking delivery.

Turnbuckles (4) are what connect the camper tiedowns to the truck tiedowns. Northstar truck wiring comes out the rear of the camper and plugs directly into the 7 pin Bargman in the bumper area. If you need to tow then a “Y” or “Splitter” will be needed.

TC:  Truck Camper
SC:  Self Contained – Interior toilet and shower.
XB:  Extra Bed – Option # 29 Tip -Out Extra Bed (G-Max 650, TC650 & 850SC Pop ups only)
DSI:  Direct Spark Ignition – Auto ignition on the water heater and furnace
LED:  Light Emitting Diode – The latest bulb technology

Please check out this video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cMdgp5M7Q8

Yes, we do !                                                                                                         

Included in the standard equipment list is the SUB ZERO PACKAGE consisting of 3 items: An insulated R-9 tent with reflective insulation sewn in between two panels, an insulated dinette window with screen/shade and foil faced block foam wall insulation. The softwall material is not canvas, but rather three layers of modern material called Tri-Lam. The Tri-Lam vinyl is joined together so there’s weather resistant vinyl on the inside and outside. With Tri-Lam you don’t need to worry about putting the top down after a rainstorm, if mildew forms on the Tri-Lam it wipes right off and looks brand new again. The reflective foil on the inside of the Tri-Lam has an insulation factor of R-9. The foil faces into the camper interior to retain the heat in the winter, and the cool in the summer. The reflective foil also gives a slight improvement to the sound insulation inside the camper and a great improvement in darkening the interior for when an afternoon nap is on the after-lunch agenda.

A Resounding Yes!!                                                                                                     

The strength is built into every Northstar camper and all models are designed to be used as a “base camp” off the truck without additional support!  Be sure the camper is lowered to its lowest point and the jack feet have something under them so the jack feet don’t sink into the ground. . If your camper has dually bracket extensions  for use with a dual wheeled rear truck, we recommend using small stackable stabilizer jacks under the front of the floor on either side just to give the units with dually swing out brackets some additional stability. All Northstar campers are meant to be used or stored without the need for saw horses, cinder blocks etc.

While you are cordially invited to visit the factory to see how they are built (tours are available by appointment) Northstars are sold and serviced through our dealers, not factory direct. There is a list of stocking dealers on our website under ” Find a Dealers”. Please contact our Sales Manager, Billy Mackaill 602-524-7629 or northstartruckcampers@gmail.com, to arrange a factory tour, locate your closest dealer or even a particular model.

To find a local dealer on our website, click here and insert your zip code or click on a yellow star in your area.

The cassette toilet is one of the coolest things on the planet! This interior toilet is built in and the cassette of waste just slides out the back wall and has built in wheels and a handle to roll it to any pit toilet, rest area/gas station toilet, a dug hole in the ground if appropriate, and even to your home toilet.  So easy to use and it has its own pump & water reservoir so it is does not use any of your on board fresh water. The reservoir can be refilled with lake, stream or gray water to continue camping, you do not need to use your fresh water.  As long as you have some source of water you can camp indefinitely.                                                                                                                  The cassette toilet allows for  year round camping as you can use a windshield washer fluid/RV anit-freeze and water mixture so the cold doesn’t affect using it even in the coldest of temps.                                                                                               You never have to worry about freezing your black tank or searching or waiting in line for a dump station. Truck Camper Perfect!

The function of the solar panel is to charge the on board 12v battery/batteries which in turn will then supply DC (Direct Current) 12v power to various items in the camper, interior lights, furnace blower, 12v outlet, Maxxfan, water pump etc. The solar panel does not actually power anything, the batteries do that.

Please remember, the battery/batteries are also charged through the trickle charger in the power converter when the camper is plugged into 110 v or a portable generator or whenever the truck engine is running and the camper is plugged into the truck 7 pin Bargman hookup.

All of our pop up campers that do not have the interior toilet have a enclosed storage space for a portable toilet (Thetford 260 B) which is slid out to be used. In some instances the porta pottie has to be turned to get in and out.

To carry a truck camper and tow a trailer at the same time you will need to purchase the “Y” splitter which plugs into the truck Bargman 7 way located in the bumper area.  The truck camper is then plugged into one side of the “Y” and the trailer the other.

All of our campers are wired for AGM/Lithium battery/batteries and have Power Converters that will recognize and charge them. Batteries are supplied by either the consumer, the dealer or as a factory option.   There are several Northstar models that can house up to 3 X 300 AH lithium batteries for people who really want to be off the grid with lots of available power. Please talk with your Northstar dealer to get the correct set up that works best for you.

The tip out dinette bed ( XB-extra bed) is available in the TC650, TC800 and 850SC. The bed size is 60″ x 32” in all models and rated at 500 lbs capacity.

No, we do not.

If you have your camper pre-wired for the electric jacks, it is easy to add the electric motors and control brain to your camper. The cordless remote allows you to raise and lower all 4 jacks at once or individually to level the camper. If the camper is stored without the battery but plugged into 110 v the electric jacks will not work, the camper has to have a battery in place.

IMPORTANT: Anytime the jacks are to be used for leveling the camper, the turnbuckles MUST be undone !!

The white leads go to 12V(-) and the red and black connect to the 12V(+)

Northstar does not do any custom builds as you lose the cost advantage of building campers in multiple runs of units. However we will always look at trying to do certain small things for customers like interior light placement or ports added for Star link for example but we do not adjust cabinetry as in all our models the cabinets are screwed in from the outside before the fiberglass hung wall is installed. This gives us the strongest camper advantage In the market and unsurpassed durability to take thousands of miles without a shake, rattle, or separation anywhere on your Northstar!

A popup truck camper will experience less wind resistance, and with the lower center of gravity, less sway and more control  while traveling down the highway. Thru our experience,there is an average of up to 3 mpg savings with a pop up camper compared to a hard wall. One great advantage Northstar has is the widest camper we produce is only 7’6” inches wide with all of the pop up models being only 7′ as compared to many brands being 8′. Northstar’s narrower widths allow for a better ride, overall control and also visibility around the unit. When affected by side winds, the wider the camper, the more leverage the wind has against it. Northstar also does not have deep basement models that raise the Center of Gravity (COG) and overall height therefore increasing the wind resistance even further. Northstar campers fit closer to the roof of the truck cab and bed rails than any other brand therefore not trapping as much air when in motion with less wind noise and buffeting.

We offer the Offroada, Night Hawk and 10X model with a standard Furrion 10 cubic foot 12v compressor refrigerator. It is the largest refrigerator available in any Truck camper! You can take more than you need with huge freezers and adaptive refrigerator compartments. The 10 foot fridges do not require top roof vents or side vent for ventilation. Eliminating holes in the side and roof of the unit as another great feature.  Other Northstar models have a 3.5 cubic foot single door 12v compressor refrigerator standard with an optional double door 3.5 refrigerator with dual controls. The dual controls allow either section of the fridge to be freezer or refrigerator!     Don’t miss the new Drawer refrigerator/freezer  available on select models enabling TWO refrigerators and gaining you more food/drink options than ever before!          12v only Compressor fridges can be run off level unlike absorption fridges.     Northstar has been offering 12v compressor fridges as an option for over 15 years and they have been used in the Marine industry for 20 years before that.

Yes, it is. The Willett family has been manufacturing truck campers since 1955 and has been selling them to dealers since 1961. Same Family, same factory for 61 years. Learn more here. 

The roof on either a manual crank lift system or the new electric lift system can carry up to 200 lbs in the down position evenly distributed.
The manual crank lift system will raise the roof plus up to 100 lbs., the electric lift system will raise the roof plus up to the 200 lbs.
There should be nothing installed on the roof more than 6” forward of the 2 front electric roof lift motors.

We were one of the first manufacturers to have a full walk through door in our poptops. It was dropped from our lineup in the mid 1980s. We found that the short door had too many advantages over the full height door. The shorter 53″ high door offers much more strength to the camper. All our campers are made to use off the truck. We wouldn’t be able to say that with the full door. The shorter door comes with a screen door not available on the full door. The air, insects and water infiltration the full door lets through the horizontal hinges and vinyl enclosure attachments is a concern along with the added maintenance for the full door over the shorter door.The full height door has no header holding one side of the camper to the other, this allows the door frame to narrow when pressure is put on the back jacks when using the camper off the truck. When the camper is back on the truck and no pressure is applied the door frame opening becomes wider. Basically, the rear entrance door never fits properly and this becomes a bigger problem as time goes by.

Currently, Oct. 2017, nobody building pop up truck campers offers the full height door for all of the above reasons.

Yes & No, The tailgate does not need to be removed if it can be placed in the down position with the cables supporting it. To achieve this the camper either has to have no tail lights, or in the case of the 850 SC, Laredo SC, Wind Bandit and Night Hawk models,  the camper has to have the  detachable wrap option which has slots in the storage boxes for the cables which in turn then allows a short bed truck to lay the tailgate down. It’s a new concept Northstar has been setting the trend on. Todays tailgates are heavy and a real hassle to remove, unplug the rear camera and then do it all over again every time you load/unload the camper. With todays Northstar that problem is a thing of the past!!  There are even aftermarket mirrors available for the tailgate so your back up camera functions on the truck screen as normal even with the tail gate down.                                  

Be sure to consult with your dealer as to which application is right for you. Sometimes the rear tail lights/wings/skirts can be eliminated allowing your tailgate to travel along with you The future is here now with Northstar!!

PS                                                                                                                                   If for whatever reason you wish to remove the tail gate and are concerned about the unsupported portion of the camper being past the end of the truck bed, Northstars are built so strong that we do not need the tailgate in the down position to for support.

Laws vary from state to state but there must be communication between the camper and the truck. Almost all Northstar Campers have a pop out window that matches as closely as possible with the rear sliding windows of the truck. We also offer the Northstar foam boot that goes between the truck cab sliding window and camper pop out allowing pets or smaller people to pass between the two.

Ultimately it is up to you as the owner to make your own decision.

The COG (Center of Gravity) is the balance point of a camper measured from the camper lower front wall going backwards towards the rear of the camper. The COG is measured on our standard build campers with no water, propane, battery, options or accessories. All of our fresh water tanks are forward of the COG so as soon as you put any water on board the COG is moved further forward.

No. The 600SS is  7” narrower than the remainder of our pop up camper line, which means you cannot back the truck between the jacks when trying to load the camper. Also, a large pallet or similar would be needed to get the camper up high enough to clear the truck bed rails and truck cab. Lastly, because of the narrower body width the turnbuckles will not fit correctly between the tiedowns on the truck and the tiedowns on the camper.

This is the maximum weight the manufacturer rates the truck to carry, including the weight of the truck and all people, cargo, fuel etc.

This is the maximum weight the manufacturer rates the axle to carry. To determine your axle weights when the camper is on board and fully loaded, weigh the front and rear axles separately on the scales and then compare to your truck axles ratings which are normally found in the truck door jamb.

This is the small print on the sidewall of your tire, usually just behind the inflation number, this rating will usually be a direct correlation to the axle ratings and GVWR of your new truck. If in doubt, always discuss with your tire store what you are planning to carry weight wise.

2023 Northstar Pop Up Truck Camper / Truck Compatibility Guide

Jan 1st 2023

Note: Different Brand/Model/Year Trucks have varying bed lengths & bed rail heights.  

600SS

• Exterior Dimensions: Floor Length 6’ 3”. Floor Width 40”. Body Width 6’ 5”. Dry Weight Std. Build 1258 LBS
• For most “Smaller Trucks” Tacoma, Frontier, Canyon, Colorado, Ranger, Raider etc.  with approx. 5’ to 6’3” beds.
• Will fit all truck cab configurations . Std. build is no wrap at all.
• All approx. 5’ truck beds should have the ½ wrap option.
• AVAILABLE TO ORDER

TC650

• Exterior Dimensions: Floor Length 6’ 8”. Floor Width 48”. Body Width 7’.
• Dry Weight Std. Build 1405 LBS.

TC650XB 

• (Extra bed length is 60”) Dry Weight Std. Build 1445 LBS.
• For full size ½ ton or larger trucks with ultra short (5’ 6” to 5’ 10”) or standard short bed. (Approx. 6’ 4″ to 6’ 10”)
• Will fit all truck cab configurations. Std. build is no wrap at all which will correctly fit the F250/350 w/ 6’ 10” bed and 2020 GMC/Chevy 2500/3500 w/ 6’10” bed.
• All others require the ½ wrap option.
• AVAILABLE TO ORDER

650SC 

• Exterior Dimensions: Floor Length 6’ 8”. Floor Width 48”. Body width 7’
• Dry Weight Std. Build 1650 LBS.
• For full size ½ ton or larger trucks with ultra short  (5’ 6” to 5’ 10”) or standard short bed. (Approx. 6’4” to 6’ 10”)
• Will fit all truck cab configurations. Std. build is no wrap at all which will fit the
• F250/350 w/ 6’ 10” bed and 2020 GMC/Chevy 2500/3500 w/ 6’10” bed.
• All others require the ½ wrap option.
• NEW FLOORPLAN AVAILABLE TO ORDER

850SC 

• Exterior Dimensions: Floor Length 8’6”. Floor Width 48”. Body Width 7’
• Dry Weight Std. Build 1785 LBS.

850SCXB 

• (Extra bed length is 60”) Dry Weight Std. Build 1825 LBS.
• For full size ½ ton or larger trucks with short (6’ 4” to 6’ 10”) or long bed  (8’)
• Will fit all truck cab configurations.  Std. build is with the longer side wings (no storage) which will then allow the camper to fit a short or long bed truck as is.
• For short beds only the camper can be ordered with Option #21 Permanent Wrap-Around Rear End or Option #22 Detachable Wrap-Around Rear End.
• Both of those options have the lockable storage compartments – Option #23 Rear Storage Bumper w/ Swing Down Step only available with Option # 21.
• AVAILABLE TO ORDER