New owners of Wolf Pup-- discouraged

[BarbandLinda]

My partner and I just bought this little 2016 trailer last month and hoped to find a warm place for a couple of weeks. We have experienced so many problems, both with the trailer and the Kia Sedona 6 cyl. tow vehicle that we think we've made a big mistake. We both have some experience with trailers and towing but this isn't much fun. It's a lot of WORK. And of course the weather has been pretty cruddy even in the deep south.

[Lloydg]

There are a lot of folks on the forum that can help you if let us know what kind of problems you're having. I hope things work out for you because there I so much fun to be had.

[BarbandLinda]

Hitching up has been a real pain every time so far. We have an Andersen hitch which was highly recommended by friends who RV everywhere. I believe it is a good set up but we might not have gotten good instructions. Definitely need to return to the dealer for further help. The LED overhead lights in the trailer blew out in the first 2 days. One of the stabilizer jacks was bent apparently, when we took delivery of the trailer so it never hits the ground flat. Another dealer issue. The dang water heater is really inaccessible for the two of us slightly overweight people, one with a bad knee and one with a bad hip. You have to lift up the end of the bed, have someone hold it while the other crawls under to the very front of the trailer to start the H2O heater. Needless to say, we're getting by with cold water.

[Lloydg]

It looks like you have a couple of issues that the dealer should be able to help you with. I.e. hitching up, lights and jack. The water heater is hard to understand. What kind do you have? If it's a Suburban, you should be able to access an on/off switch from the outside by dropping the panel and flipping a switch. Maybe another Wolf/Pup owner can provide some advise. If truly you have to crawl under the bed to reach the switch, I'd be asking the dealer to remount it to a more accessible location. Most campers are helpful in these matters. Ask around for some help.

[fonzie]

For more help, what is model # of trailer you have?

[BarbandLinda]

It's a 16FQ I believe.

[bikendan]

i'll bet the frontal area of the Wolf Pup exceeds the max of the Kia.

[fonzie]

Here a good instructional video....look at 4 minutes interval for water heater electric operation...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTJKEtaOs0

[fonzie]

Your Kia Sedona is rated at max towing of 3500 lbs and your trailer GVWR is 3954 lbs. Just pulling your trailer empty (2919 lbs) is already close to max towing capacity. Probably both car dealer and RV dealer told you "yes it can pull that".....

http://www.forestriverinc.com/produc...elID=1332#Main

http://www.kiamedia.com/us/en/models...specifications

[fonzie]

Also have a look at your owners manual for towing trailer starting page 5-81 attached...

http://www.kia.ca/content/ownership/...5sedona_en.pdf

[aceinspp]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you may have a little more trailer than your vehicle can manage. Another case dealer just cares about sale both car and tt. You will find most folks here can help with your issues and get you going. Later RJD

[tragusa3]

There is a learning curve for efficiency in hookup, setup. By the 10-12th trip, we had reduced our "frustrations" easily in half. Every time you use it, be thinking of efficiency...how can you best divide up jobs, which ones require two people, etc. When my family of 4 gets out of the truck, we all know what our jobs are and the order to do them in. We're set up in less than 5 minutes with little cursing.

Definitely overtaxing the tow vehicle. I used to have a similar trailer and it gave a workout to a light duty half ton truck. So, if you decide on a tow vehicle upgrade, get advice here first. There are certain features you will need that don't come on all vehicles sold as "tow vehicles".