bigfoot and northern lite details on their construction

[eou_edu]

So I've had some very bad luck with campers. My first two wood ones rotted away. The third I spent some more money and bought a 2005 bigfoot. Unfortunitly through some dealer trickery they masked the rotted out wooded floor by covering it with a carpeted piece of plywood. When I went to fix the floor the wood floor trusses were so rotted they were sawdust. Then there was no way to fix it without completely gutting out the camper and redoing the whole floor. Instead I sold it to someone wanting a project (full disclosure of the problems).

I am aware of the 2 piece fiberglass construction of these campers. But fiberglass itself needs structure. I don't know all the technical terms for fiberglass construction but I know of basically three types:

1) Not reinforced. This is the way my 2005 bigfoot was. It was just fiberglass and the structure was the wooded floor. Once I took the rotted wood out of the floor the only thing left was the fiberglass. Had I attempted to walk on it while it was in the air my foot would go right through the bottom.
2) Reinforced fiberglass with a wood core. There can be delamination problems. Everywhere where there has been a hole in the fiberglass can created avenues for water to come into and rot the wood.
3) Reinforced fiberglass with a compostite core. Most boats are going to this. It has created some rocky starts but long term this appears to be the way to go for boats.

So which of these are bigfoot and northern lites. My 9'6" 2005 bigfoot was the first one with wood. Did bigfoot every change this method or are they still doing the same? Do they now use aluminum where they used to use wood? What about northern lite? I know their old factory burned down and they restructured their business. But did they change the fiberglass construction method then or were they already doing it? BTW I'm not looking for a wood vs aluminum debate. For me little to no wood is the very best. But I also live in the Oregon coast where it starts raining in September and doesn't stop until June and rarely freezes. If you live in the great lakes your priorities might be different. Different strokes for different folks.

[welsteach]

devildog1971 wrote:
I now own a Northern Lite , at one time I owned a Real Lite had a side door and jack knife couch, and it was a four season camper it had copper shut off valves to cut the water off to the outside shower. Surprised that Northern Lite and Bigfoot neither one has a valve to cut water off to the outside shower, when it is below freezing I would think the valves on the hot and cold water side might freeze?

I have a 2006 Bigfoot. First thing we did was shut water off to the outside shower. We never use it, don't want to winterize it.

[StirCrazy]

eou_edu wrote:


I am aware of the 2 piece fiberglass construction of these campers. But fiberglass itself needs structure.
.

fiberglass its self is structural when you get the right thickness for the application. problem is it is heavy and expensive. that why you used to see glass over wood construction and so on. the bigfoot and such I would expect the only reason there is wood in them is to have something to fasten to with out having to drill into the shell.

Steve

[welsteach]

My 2006 Bigfoot has a shut off for the outside shower. First thing my husband did was shut it off, we never use it, don't want leaks after shutting water down and such.

[adamis]

I bought my Bigfoot from a guy who lived on the California Coast. For the most part everything was in great shape but all of the screws on the exterior had significant rust issues. I started going through and replacing them all with stainless steel ones and scratched my head wondering why they were not stainless in the first place. I e-mailed Grant from Bigfoot and asked him the question and he said that it was shortly after mine was built (2001) that they started using stainless fasteners on the exterior.

Right now so far as I can tell everything is water tight but I do have it on my todo list to work on replacing my windows in the future. I suspect I will see some water related issues just because of the condensation from the aluminum frames on cold days will expose the plywood backing to water regardless if the window leaks. Still, I don't think there will be any structural issues like a stick frame camper would likely have.

Us fiberglass owners are quite proud of our better than average water resistance but proper storage and maintenance are key to maintaining that. Not everyone can afford indoor storage but I feel more than anything, it is the key to proper long life. Just drive by an RV outdoor storage yard and there are rows and rows of expensive dreams that are slowly being beaten to death by the elements. Some areas of the country are harder than others. Condensation and moisture buildup isn't a problem on the West coast as compared to areas in the South.

[2_Piece]

On my NL 10-2 there is no flap on the outside under the vent hood, but there is one on the inside of the range hood.

[Marcela]

Speaking of outside shower doors, I noticed on my new BF 10.4, the stove exhaust has no 'flap' under the outer cover. From the mesh screen next to the fan through the exhaust ducting is a clear shot.

[Kayteg1]

Not a freezing damage danger, but my furnaces had hot air from the exchanged directed first into outside cover before it turn around to go inside.
The sheet metal cover had no insulation and there was not much space for it.
What I did was spraying some of polyurethane foam on the cover, put plastic foil over the piping sticking inside and mount the cover - allowing the foam to shape around piping.
That probably will give it about R4 value, but at forced air compartment, where heat exchange goes into overdrive.

[Siletzspey]

2 Piece wrote:
... outside shower could be a weak point ... wondering if this is a real issue or just a possible issue.

I setup a temperature sensor grid inside my 2018 9'6" QSE, and there are two 2" ducts that blast into the basement/tank space, and the space behind the shower stall and outside shower head gets particularly warm, on par with the cabin temp.

I also put insulation in the outside shower head box, but feel better yet that it's getting a lot of heat from the backside.

--SiletzSpey

[2_Piece]

stevenal wrote:

devildog1971 wrote:
Surprised that Northern Lite and Bigfoot neither one has a valve to cut water off to the outside shower...

My BF does, accessible through the electrical cord door.

Agree, outside shower could be a weak point.....but... winter time I winterize. If a camper trip happens in winter months I dewinterize everything except the outside shower. Only done this once so far and no problems. Remember newer campers are plumed with pex. Pex will expand and flex a lot more than copper and pvc will. Also, backside of outside shower controls are only 6 to 12" away from bathroom faucet and get heated from furnace. I do not use outside shower in winter months so leaving antifreeze in those lines do not bother me. A person could also fill the outside shower area with a piece of insulation batting for a little extra piece of mind. I'm just wondering if this is a real issue or just a possible issue.

[covered_wagon]

NL camper a great camper, but the insulation is too skinny for real world cold. Even tho venting everyday and all nite will still let condensation build up under the fiberglass. Between insul and fiberglass starts to delaminate. Camper starts to show some degree of age the more used in real cold. BF has one with thicker insul and thats the one if you winter camp.

[stevenal]

devildog1971 wrote:
Surprised that Northern Lite and Bigfoot neither one has a valve to cut water off to the outside shower...

My BF does, accessible through the electrical cord door.

[Homeless_by_Cho]

devildog1971 wrote:
I now own a Northern Lite , at one time I owned a Real Lite had a side door and jack knife couch, and it was a four season camper it had copper shut off valves to cut the water off to the outside shower. Surprised that Northern Lite and Bigfoot neither one has a valve to cut water off to the outside shower, when it is below freezing I would think the valves on the hot and cold water side might freeze?

I agree with you completely. This in my opinion is a very valid complaint about a four season camper. The thin piece of plastic that the outside shower valves are mounted thru provide very little to no freeze protection. I talked to Keith Donkin, general manager of Northern Lite, about this. I disconnected and capped off the outside shower hot and cold lines near the water pump. I never use the outside shower anyways.

LeRoy

[Kayteg1]

devildog1971 wrote:
when it is below freezing I would think the valves on the hot and cold water side might freeze?

Not if -like in my camper - you have big holes around the shower hose, that will draft warm air into shower compartment and farther.
You can always cut a piece of Styrofoam to fit the door and keep it warmer.

[devildog1971]

I now own a Northern Lite , at one time I owned a Real Lite had a side door and jack knife couch, and it was a four season camper it had copper shut off valves to cut the water off to the outside shower. Surprised that Northern Lite and Bigfoot neither one has a valve to cut water off to the outside shower, when it is below freezing I would think the valves on the hot and cold water side might freeze?