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Northern Lite - our first summer.

topgeek
Explorer
Explorer
We got 3 feet of snow this week - so I'm suffering cabin fever.




We've completed our first summer in our Northern Lite and it has been AWESOME.

We are absolutely loving it.
I'd buy it again in a heart beat.


Some photos from this summer of adventure:


The pups think the camper is the best thing ever. We turn the dinette into a queen sized dog bed for them at night - works really well.







I took the rig fly fishing quite a few times this summer:






We took it to a BBQ festival in the mountains and did some kayaking




We actually stayed in a campground and due to the great sound insulation - it wasn't bad at all - didn't hear a thing ๐Ÿ™‚




We criss-crossed the rockies countless times this summer. Thankful for the big diesel and the exhaust brake. I rarely have to touch the brakes "coming down the mountain".




We've taken the rig to the Desert a bunch of times this spring and fall to go mountain biking:






Circling the wagons with our usual group of idiots:




...even ran into a fellow Northern Lite owner from Canada out there and rode mountain bikes together for 3 days.




We used it as a "Race HQ" for one of my wife's triathlons. It was so great for her to have "home" literally walking distance from the start/finish. Everyone standing in line for the porta-potties in the pouring rain before the race start was extremely jealous - LOL




We even used it as an extra "spare room" and camped in the driveway when the in-laws came to visit (photo of my driveway ๐Ÿ™‚ )




As for mods - so far we've done very little - the thing is setup so well from the factory.


I built an exo-skelleton for the ladder to hang bikes on so there's no stress on the ladder itself:







..and I installed a weboost to improve cell phone signal when needed:





Future plans/mods:


We are headed to camp on the beach for two weeks in December so I have ordered a Honda EU2200i to take with us in case the solar cannot keep up (and if it gets hot enough we need to run the AC). It will be here next week.


I am going to remove the rear passenger seat in the truck and build a "dog platform" out of 80/20 with full length storage drawers underneath and a retracting loading/unloading ramp as our brown dog is getting older and has trouble getting in and out.

I'm also beginning design work on the LifePo/ 400 watt solar / Simarine / Victron setup now.

I hope to have it installed by next summer.


Other than that - there is nothing to do.

The setup meets all of our needs.





Happy Winter Everyone! *twitch*
8 REPLIES 8

bigfootgrey
Explorer
Explorer
Nice pictures, great rig! Looks like youโ€™re enjoying it! Thanks for posting
2011 Ford F-350 PSD SC DRW
2008 Bigfoot 25C-10.4E
Firestone airbags - torklift stable-loads,fastguns,Talons Rancho rs 9000XLโ€™s.

GoinThisAway
Explorer
Explorer
Looks like you're making good use of that NL!
2008 Dodge 3500 DRW 4x4
2008 Bigfoot 25C10.4
Torklift/Fastguns/Hellwig/StableLoads

cewillis
Explorer
Explorer
Beautiful pictures, summarizing a great year.
Cal

toddb
Explorer
Explorer
Nice photos!

With your solar setup consider a redarc or ctek dc-dc charger with solar charger built in. I wish I would have found them when I purchased my mppt ๐Ÿ˜ž

billyray50
Explorer
Explorer
Great photos and trip! Thanks for sharing.

deltabravo
Nomad
Nomad
topgeek wrote:
I'm also beginning design work on the LifePo/ 400 watt solar / Simarine / Victron setup now.


Northern Arizona Wind and Sun has a 10% off sale through Monday 12/2/19, they sell Victron.

https://www.solar-electric.com/
2009 Silverado 3500HD Dually, D/A, CCLB 4x4 (bought new 8/30/09)
2018 Arctic Fox 992 with an Onan 2500i "quiet" model generator

specta
Explorer
Explorer
Looks like an awesome year.

I put my camper away a week or so ago but hoping to get it out and head south for a few days in Jan or Feb.
Kenny
1996 Jayco 376FB Eagle Series TT
1997 Jayco 246FB Eagle Series TT
1976 Ford F-250 4wd Mercury Marauder 410 - 4V
Regular cabs. The best looking trucks.

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
The solar system will keep up and youโ€™ll use the generator for AC only. Nice pictures and narrative.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad