Cross country with wolf pup 16bhs

[Jessiesgirl]

We just completed a cross country trip from washington state to Connecticut, we really lucked out and the weather was sunny the entire way. After everything was said and done we drove 3800 miles. My wife and I purchased the wolf pup the week before our trip so we got a crash course in what is really necessary in a camper and what is not. For those that care we pulled the wolf pup with a 2016 4runner. Below are a few things that I thought I'd share.

1. The set up we used was a WDH with double sway control and I added air bags to the rear suspension of the 4runner to reduce sag.

2. Staying around 65 will give you the best gas mileage, faster than that and you can see the the needle drop

3. I cant say enough how much I hate wind while towing something its annoying as hell and freaks me out. Luckily we only had wind EVERY day

4. KOA's are expensive! For one night stays 60 dollars a night seems obsurd.

5. The first thing you should do when buying a wolf pup is replace the mattress, the one that comes in it shouldn't even be called a mattress. I didnt even take it out of the bag before throwing it away.

5. My parents drove our other vehicle behind us on the trip, a couple nights they stayed in the wolf pup with us, and let me just say that for two adults and a child the wolf pup is plenty of room, add two more adults to that and I was ready to sleep in the car.


6.We took two weeks because we have a two year old that we cant leave in the car for twelve hours a day. Would I have done it differently? The only thing I would have changed was not bringing my parents along. It was a fun trip and the wolf pup is really comfortable and has everything we need. Were looking forward to plenty of trips in the near future, shorter than 3800 miles of course.

[DonD]

nice write-up!

The parents might have been a pain, but a year from now you will laugh at your war stories

[ependydad]

44’ toy hauler here and my in-laws regularly join us... it’s still a pain! (LOL)

Love them dearly, though.

Glad to hear you had a good trip. If you have pics, please post them!

[20vmki]

Originally Posted by Jessiesgirl

1. The set up we used was a WDH with double sway control and I added air bags to the rear suspension of the 4runner to reduce sag.

Could you provide more info in your hitch/sway control setup? I have the same camper with a 2003 tacoma and was looking to upgrade to WDH.

Thanks,

Eric

[Jessiesgirl]

Originally Posted by 20vmki

Could you provide more info in your hitch/sway control setup? I have the same camper with a 2003 tacoma and was looking to upgrade to WDH.

Thanks,

Eric

What I used is below. All were purchased on amazon. Everything worked great, I had ZERO sway the entire trip Even on really windy days.

EAZ LIFT 48057 Elite Weight Distributing Hitch Kit, Includes Distribution Hitch, Sway Control 800 lbs Tongue Weight Capacity


Eaz-Lift 48381 Left Hand Driver Side Sway*control

Tekonsha 90250 Prodigy RF Electronic Brake Control

[aceinspp]

Good info. Next time planning a trip look up other camp grounds which are more affordable and some just as nice if not better than KOAs. We stay at a lot of cg for 30 to 40 dollars a night. Slowing down to around 62mph will increase you mileage even more. Later RJD

[Jessiesgirl]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

Good info. Next time planning a trip look up other camp grounds which are more affordable and some just as nice if not better than KOAs. We stay at a lot of cg for 30 to 40 dollars a night. Later RJD

We did stay at some other places that were much cheaper, I was just saying things that I learned on the trip.

[Boomerweps]

Did you run across I-90?
How did the rig handle the mountains?
Did you weigh your TT on a scale?

I was hoping to get a bigger TV soon but may continue using my 2008 Explorer for a few years with the same 16 BHS. Looking at your TV specs, it shows more hp & torque than mine but at much higher RPM. 270hp@5600rpm vs. 210hp@5100rpm and 278ft.lb.@4400rpm vs. 254ft.lb.@3700rpm. I suspect our TV's torque is similar at the 4400rpm but yours has a bit more hp at 4400rpm. Hence my mountain towing questions. Did you have to wind the engine out in the mountains, I.e., high rpms or forced downshifting? What kind of speeds maintained there?
Oddly enough given the engine power differences, your max tow rating is 5000# while my Explorer's is 5225#.

[MillMitch]

Excellent write up and thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great trip.

[Jessiesgirl]

Originally Posted by Boomerweps

Did you run across I-90?
How did the rig handle the mountains?
Did you weigh your TT on a scale?

I was hoping to get a bigger TV soon but may continue using my 2008 Explorer for a few years with the same 16 BHS. Looking at your TV specs, it shows more hp & torque than mine but at much higher RPM. 270hp@5600rpm vs. 210hp@5100rpm and 278ft.lb.@4400rpm vs. 254ft.lb.@3700rpm. I suspect our TV's torque is similar at the 4400rpm but yours has a bit more hp at 4400rpm. Hence my mountain towing questions. Did you have to wind the engine out in the mountains, I.e., high rpms or forced downshifting? What kind of speeds maintained there?
Oddly enough given the engine power differences, your max tow rating is 5000# while my Explorer's is 5225#.

We were on I-90 for a while, I kept it in manual the whole trip and never went into 5th gear. Going up steep hills I would shift down to 3rd. My average speed for the trip was 65, obviously slower going up long hills (I wasnt trying to kill the 4runner) I used an OBD 2 connected to my phone to monitor engine temps and transmission temps never went above 194. I did not weigh the trailer but I can tell you there was some extra weight in the trailer for sure. I did not keep any water in the tanks besides a gallon or two of emergency water.

[BarabooBob]

Remember that engines do much better with higher rpm's than by lugging the engine. You did good by you doing the shifting instead of letting the tranny decide. Most automatics will shift to soon unless you have tow/haul mode.

[johntaylor]

Originally Posted by Jessiesgirl

Staying around 65 will give you the best gas mileage, faster than that and you can see the the needle drop

Your tires are rated for a maximum speed of 65 mph. You need to be driving at less than 65.

[K2Kevin]

Nice write up! I too traveled across country, well... vertically across country. Northern Illinois to South Florida. About 3000 miles round trip, towing a Wolfpup 16BHS with a Jeep Wrangler Sahara. The Jeep tows very good at 65 or less. Stayed on the interstate most of the trip, so no issues with steep grades The only issues we had were drivers and gas stations in Georgia... long story...

We didn't plan where to stay on the way to Florida or back home. We only had a reservation at our final destination. On the way down to Florida, we planned it to be a 3-4 day trip allowing us to stay at a few campgrounds and explore a little. It was so much fun just driving a bunch of hours, and when I felt its time to start "shopping" for a campground (need to stop driving within the next hour or so), my wife and son would start looking up locations on the AllStays app that is on our current route. We didn't do any boon docking, every where we stayed while traveling was an RV "resort" or campground. All of them cost around $25 - $45 a night, all offered electric, and many times I didn't even unhook. We meet a few really nice people while traveling.

A quick lesson I learned: One night we stopped in Chattanooga TN, my son got very sick and had EXTREME cramps at 1am (Thought it was appendix or something very serious). After some thought... It was all those Starbucks Bran Muffins he ate the day before. No really... LOL So I did have to unhook and get over to the local 24 hour Walmart. Little did I know the real neighborhood we were camped in. Not the friendliest/safest, cops were swarmed outside the store, and they were closing the 24-hour Walmart for the night due to some violence that just happened before I arrived for Metamucil. No "Hood Rat" or Cop was going to tell me I couldn't get that pink stuff (you should have seen the looks I was getting from the locals), so they let me in to grab what turned out to be a life saver for my son. Basically, just because theres a campground and a lot of nice people around, doesn't mean the area you are visiting is nice or safe when you travel 5 minutes from your black tank.

[Dirt Sifter]

Jessiesgirl, thanks for the great write up. We have a '15 RPOD 197 with a '17 Tacoma TV, and have been contemplating a cross country trip with it. You answered some of our concerns. Our set up to tow is similar to yours. The last time we tried a long trip was with a Tundra towing a 30' Cougar; good to know you are still a family after the long trek in a small house. :-) FWIW my kids would not want to travel with their parents either..... :-)

[Boomerweps]

Originally Posted by johntaylor

Your tires are rated for a maximum speed of 65 mph. You need to be driving at less than 65.

Incorrect. The tires on my 2019 16BHS are clearly marked "75MPH maximum speed".
It does tow better IMHO at 65mph. But rolling faster downhill, I feel more comfortable that it has the higher rating than earlier tires.

[aceinspp]

Originally Posted by Boomerweps

Incorrect. The tires on my 2019 16BHS are clearly marked "75MPH maximum speed".
It does tow better IMHO at 65mph. But rolling faster downhill, I feel more comfortable that it has the higher rating than earlier tires.

What make of tire? Later RJD

[seizethebay]

Congratulations!!!!
This summer, I took my Mom (93) on a 7000+ trip from Florida to Canadain maritmes and back through the northeast! I have a wildwood lite 171. When we finished the three month tour, I swore never again! I was planning our next trip within 1 month!

[Boomerweps]

Originally Posted by aceinspp

What make of tire? Later RJD

Castle rock ST 205/75R14
Max load 2040@65psi
8PR load range D 105/101L
Dated 5/17
Max speed 75mph
On my 2019 Wolf Pup 16BHS, bought end of 4/18.

[jdsud]

k2kevin, do you have a 7 pin wire harness and brake controller. im looking into buying the same camper to pull with my jeep Wrangler, it only has a 4 pin. planning on renting a similar camper prior to see how it tows on a small trip. will i need the 7 pin with brake controller to pull one? i would hate to put it all in and not end up buying one.

Originally Posted by K2Kevin

Nice write up! I too traveled across country, well... vertically across country. Northern Illinois to South Florida. About 3000 miles round trip, towing a Wolfpup 16BHS with a Jeep Wrangler Sahara. The Jeep tows very good at 65 or less. Stayed on the interstate most of the trip, so no issues with steep grades The only issues we had were drivers and gas stations in Georgia... long story...

We didn't plan where to stay on the way to Florida or back home. We only had a reservation at our final destination. On the way down to Florida, we planned it to be a 3-4 day trip allowing us to stay at a few campgrounds and explore a little. It was so much fun just driving a bunch of hours, and when I felt its time to start "shopping" for a campground (need to stop driving within the next hour or so), my wife and son would start looking up locations on the AllStays app that is on our current route. We didn't do any boon docking, every where we stayed while traveling was an RV "resort" or campground. All of them cost around $25 - $45 a night, all offered electric, and many times I didn't even unhook. We meet a few really nice people while traveling.

A quick lesson I learned: One night we stopped in Chattanooga TN, my son got very sick and had EXTREME cramps at 1am (Thought it was appendix or something very serious). After some thought... It was all those Starbucks Bran Muffins he ate the day before. No really... LOL So I did have to unhook and get over to the local 24 hour Walmart. Little did I know the real neighborhood we were camped in. Not the friendliest/safest, cops were swarmed outside the store, and they were closing the 24-hour Walmart for the night due to some violence that just happened before I arrived for Metamucil. No "Hood Rat" or Cop was going to tell me I couldn't get that pink stuff (you should have seen the looks I was getting from the locals), so they let me in to grab what turned out to be a life saver for my son. Basically, just because theres a campground and a lot of nice people around, doesn't mean the area you are visiting is nice or safe when you travel 5 minutes from your black tank.

[Dirt Sifter]

FWIW, last week we met our match in the wind on a 1600 mi. trip. The R.pod and Tacoma 3.5L, tow package did fine until we got into a 35 mph head wind with gusts to 50. On the two lanes, it was ok; on the ID freeway with truck speed limit of 70 and cars at 80, not good. Tacing at 5K and top speed of 55 - 58 mph, got off the freeway at the first good place for the afternoon and night. Gas mpg went from around 13 to around 8. I don't usually drive in those conditions; only thought I needed to - until I didn't. Another learning experience.