Wolf Creek Maiden Voyage
We finally made it home with our new Wolf Creek 840 today, after a month's worth of travails. Our initial effort was thwarted by a truck breakdown. A month ago I started the truck to pull it under our...
Forum Discussion
I think my greatest worry about getting too far off road would be clearance, IF I were still in Virginia. Here in Idaho the tree problem is greatly reduced. My clearance with this camper is around 12 ft. I really wish I didn't have the HD antenna as we never watch TV, don't even own one! It seems to be the tallest thing and the most vulnerable. The AC sticks up there a bit too. Since I've brought it up let me pick at that for a moment.
Why would anyone order this camper with the roof rack/rails and have an AC unit plopped down smack in the middle of it? Makes very little sense to me. There is enough room on the passenger side of the roof for a bag or two, but the majority of the real estate is taken up with the AC. The rack does give you a hand rail to grip when climbing up there so that's a good thing I guess. Gonna have to puzzle over the roof layout a bit before I add solar down the road. I'm thinking the antenna can go away and make room for more panels.
Nitpick two: The rear skirts that drop down beside the bumper are trimmed with a plastic strip. This strip covers the edge of the skirt pretty well at the top but the skirt seems to spread some as it runs an angle down to the actual camper bumper. This leaves about a 1/4 inch of interior panel exposed. It has been caulked on passenger side only. The panel appears to be some sort of synthetic material so I'm not necessarily worried about moisture damage, but it is really the first sign of any sloppy fit and finish I have found on the whole rig. I'm sure I will find a few more spots of less than stellar attention to detail, but this is so obvious that I'm surprised Northwood overlooked it.
I spoke too soon. I also found the top of the bath skylight interior trim was cut with appears to be a butter knife. It would have been so easy to make that cut with a trim/table saw of some sort and leave a nice clean edge. Granted, the average person will never see this but when you're 6'5" it is up close and personal! Doesn't affect the camper integrity at all but it is cosmetically challenging.
I guess it is nice to be able to point to pretty insignificant things as my first "issues" with camper build, since many others have experienced much worse than this on their first night out of the gate. Our first night was exclusively positive and we are blown away by the thought that went into this contraption. Northwood really has designed a winning product. I will continue to "Trust but Verify" as I get acquainted with the camper, keeping a critical eye out for things to modify, fix, or seek help with. More images too. I'll see if I can't get a couple of shots of the two I've just pointed out.
My thanks to everyone who has read this and expressed well wishes. It is like having a friend along for the ride!
Why would anyone order this camper with the roof rack/rails and have an AC unit plopped down smack in the middle of it? Makes very little sense to me. There is enough room on the passenger side of the roof for a bag or two, but the majority of the real estate is taken up with the AC. The rack does give you a hand rail to grip when climbing up there so that's a good thing I guess. Gonna have to puzzle over the roof layout a bit before I add solar down the road. I'm thinking the antenna can go away and make room for more panels.
Nitpick two: The rear skirts that drop down beside the bumper are trimmed with a plastic strip. This strip covers the edge of the skirt pretty well at the top but the skirt seems to spread some as it runs an angle down to the actual camper bumper. This leaves about a 1/4 inch of interior panel exposed. It has been caulked on passenger side only. The panel appears to be some sort of synthetic material so I'm not necessarily worried about moisture damage, but it is really the first sign of any sloppy fit and finish I have found on the whole rig. I'm sure I will find a few more spots of less than stellar attention to detail, but this is so obvious that I'm surprised Northwood overlooked it.
I spoke too soon. I also found the top of the bath skylight interior trim was cut with appears to be a butter knife. It would have been so easy to make that cut with a trim/table saw of some sort and leave a nice clean edge. Granted, the average person will never see this but when you're 6'5" it is up close and personal! Doesn't affect the camper integrity at all but it is cosmetically challenging.
I guess it is nice to be able to point to pretty insignificant things as my first "issues" with camper build, since many others have experienced much worse than this on their first night out of the gate. Our first night was exclusively positive and we are blown away by the thought that went into this contraption. Northwood really has designed a winning product. I will continue to "Trust but Verify" as I get acquainted with the camper, keeping a critical eye out for things to modify, fix, or seek help with. More images too. I'll see if I can't get a couple of shots of the two I've just pointed out.
My thanks to everyone who has read this and expressed well wishes. It is like having a friend along for the ride!
