Setting truck up for a Northstar

[Buteman]

Hi Guys

Looking for some tips on setting up my 2012 Ford Ranger dual cab to take a Northstar 700DLX

(1) what size of air bags should i buy?

(2) Tie-downs inside or outside.

(3) Tailgate as i am going to leave it on the truck does anyone no if you can get a cover to protect it while it is in the open position ( from stone chips )

(4) Anything else you think might help please

Cheers Guys

Paul (Buteman )

[zildjian]

Two of the mods have owned Northstar and will be along directly, as far as the air bags go, will you bolt those on yourself I only ask as sometimes a garage and their air tools help instead of struggling

[Buteman]

That's Great thanks

I shall order the air bags now.


Cheers

Paul

[TrueDink]

The tie down points on that Northstar are in the same place as the European campers so you will have to have corresponding points on the inside of the truck.

[keeflester]

Paul, I had niche marketing in Louth to fit my camper. They used buttons down low on the outside of my buck. This may not suit you as it will affect the resale value. Others have used heavy duty straps to the chassis under the join between Buck and cab but this can cause rubbing. The most elegant solution needs some engineering and it involves brackets fixed to the chassis protruding out under the buck to take fastguns. Others have used these and found them very good. You won't be able to fix inboard without making access holes under the camper and fixing eye bolts through the buck floor into the chassis. A lot to decide, but just for getting it home you could use truck ratchet straps down to the chassis and some kind of soft padding to protect the paintwork.
Hope this helps.

[TrueDink]

You can just about make out the bottle screws in this photo.

[zildjian]

Just emailed me these to show you of the stuff Niche marketing have sold her

"I'm attaching pics of my new turnbuckles I just fitted on mine. Bought from Niche Marketing for £176"
http://www.niche-marketing.net/ (Greg Howman)

[derestrictor]

would those be the 'fastguns'?

[keeflester]

would those be the 'fastguns'?

They're the equivalent manual version. They're pretty good actually. They cinch up pretty tight but have some give in them to prevent shock loading on rough roads. I wished I had kept mine when I let my Northstar go, but it would have been harder to sell without them.