Northwood Wolf Creek 850 Reinforced Tie Downs/Anchor Bolts

joeshmoe wrote:


If it's a result of wear and tear over time, then all of us Wolf Creek owners should be concerned.

Not quite. The tie down splice issue only affects the long bed Wolf Creek 850 models. The short bed models have no such splice due to the storage boxes on either side of the camper. I've taken my WC 850 off-road for going on three years now and have had no issues with the structure, frame, or tie downs.

gitpicker2009 wrote:
and what the heck is that huge wood screw doing sticking out of that stainless steel looking box??

"Reinforcement:B"

Had this whole thing not been brought to light, we'd be none the wiser. But now, I'm thinking maybe this camper should only be used for very light offroad camping, if that.

I bought it to specifically go off-road camping, and to it's credit, it's did well the last two times I have. I mean I really shifted the weight around. My wife had to get out at least twice. But she gets scared easily. Between the bedliner, bed mat, fastguns and tiedowns, the camper has never shifted. Not even a fraction of an inch. It's the longer term I concerned about.

It appears Nolan is the only (that I've heard) who's experienced a failure. But he also does a lot of off road camping. My concern is, was the front anchor weak from the beginning (as in defective) or did it become weak resulting in the separation? I still don't accept that it had anything to do with the turnbuckles.
Every time I cinch down my fast guns, I hear wood. Like it's setting or slightly splitting. Like you would hear when you step on improperly supported piece of plywood. That bothers me. Those anchors should be bolts through the frame or via a bracket which goes to the frame, not a couple 1/4" screws. We pay for "frame mounted" tie downs. Shouldn't the camper also be to the frame?

If it's a result of wear and tear over time, then all of us Wolf Creek owners should be concerned.

and what the heck is that huge wood screw doing sticking out of that stainless steel looking box??

Rbertalotto wrote:
Amazing what we pay for******like this. And I've seen this type of work in $500K motorhomes.

Indeed. So the logical question is why? Why do they do it and why do we pay for it?
It's not like they're mass producing thousands of units each year.

Over 21 years, they had sent out something like 10,000 units by 2012. Not sure what that equates to in man hours and units per year, but I know this...they need to hire better quality control inspectors.

After only two trips out, one side of my dinette seating began to separate from the floor. Not from driving and movement, but from using too short of screws. Just pulled right out. Also having an issue with the floor begin to feel spongy.

The thing is, we really like the camper. Probably because it's our first camper but maybe expected better fit and finish quality.

The Wolf Creek line I think started out as good, mid-range, reasonably priced, above average quality, camper. But for reasons of expediency, economy and possibly volume, has become just an average camper riding on the coattails of the Northwood name. These campers have climbed in price significantly in price over the last three years. Now about $20-23K+ for typical unit depending on options. I've seen them advertised at 25-26K at some dealers. That's getting up there with the lower priced AF's. Why do we pay it? Who knows. Why do we pay for half the stuff that's out there?

woodhog wrote:
They are all not like that...





If they cannot even lace in wiring neatly and properly what are the areas like where you cannot see.
Our camper has wiring even neater than this picture, most runs even have labels on them.

X2. Wiring in our unit is neat and labeled. No complaints.

Woodhog, is correct the Northstar TC's are very nicely done.

They are all not like that...





If they cannot even lace in wiring neatly and properly what are the areas like where you cannot see.
Our camper has wiring even neater than this picture, most runs even have labels on them.

Amazing what we pay for******like this. And I've seen this type of work in $500K motorhomes.

anutami wrote:

Ear Plugs? Hilarious :)

There were actually a few, but this is the only pic I took

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About the anchors, I'm sorry. I see no meaningful improvement as they promised. I guess not enough campers have separated at the splice. And there's clearly still a splice on the 2015's


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Pinched jack wire and spliced wood segment

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Driver side

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Splice

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Misc. pics

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jmtandem wrote:
Somebody forgot to take the shop vac and clean up the debris field.

Agreed.

But this is the same thing that I see on ANY RV, except a $200k + diesel pusher.

The production folks at RV factories don't spend much (if any) time cleaning out the nooks and crannies of the cabinets and appliance enclosures.

/rant off.

Back to the tie downs. A wider piece of angle aluminum would suit me more too.

THe small piece of plywood between the two metal pieces seems really cheesey. The backing plate for the tiedown bracket bolts should have been properly sized, so it butted up against that piece of angle aluminum, eliminating the need for a cheesey plywood spacer.

Send this info to the dealer so they can notify the factory. There's still room for improvement in my opinion.

I believe that Apache Camping center has pretty good pull with the factory, because I am sure they are the largest AF truck camper dealer.