Forest River Cherokee Wolf Pup Travel Trailer reviews

This was our first RV. Purchased it for my travel nurse daughter to use while working so she didn't have to pack & unpack in apartments every contract. We had the Wolf Pup 17JG for 3 months & my daughter wanted some heat strips added to the AC unit for just chilly days that didn't need the furnace. Her husband brought it back from her Georgia contract, the schwintek slide had only 7 out/in cycles on it since we bought it. Took it into the dealer, slide worked fine when we retracted & brought it home. They added the strips & after we got it home we tried to open the slide to check their work. The slide wouldn't budge. It was stripped out. Techs said we must have damaged it on the way home from their shop. Yeah right. Couldn't prove it however so we told them to fix it under warranty. They told us that there was a parts shortage due to Covid. Six month's later we have to basically go into the showroom at stage a sit in before they miraculously found parts & fixed it! The slide hadn't been installed straight from the factory & they had to pull it completely out & reinstall it straight with the new slide hardware to get it fixed. We then took it home AGAIN, put the slide out & the first thing we saw was they hadn't installed the weather seal over top of the slide! You could put your hand outside over top the slide! *sigh* Horrible build quality from the Forest River factory, the dealer service under warranty was almost non-existent, just a horrid experience all round. Once they get you signed on the contract they don't want to hear from you ever again! Show less

We really like the layout, it works well for us. The quality just isn't there. There has been multiple small issues that I repaired myself. The slide is the major issue. Going back in the shop tomorrow. We are fortunate to have bought the extended warranty, something I rarely do. I would NOT recommend this unit and do regret buying it because of the issues. Seriously thinking about selling it when it comes out of the shop after only owning a year (purchased new). Show less

Our Cherokee Wolf Pup 16FQ is just the perfect size for 2 adults. We downsized in 2021 from a 27’ Newmar Class A coach to this little camper and could not have been happier with our decision. I towed our Pup with my 2013 Honda minivan and had no problems utilizing a sway bar and a load leveler. This model makes very good use of a 16 ft. camper. I have removed the very uncomfortable original sofa bed and replaced it with a full queen size mattress. We have seen other 16FQ owners who have replaced the fold up with a real mattress also. I added a custom-made removable backrest to rest on the bed. The 16FQ floorplan is wonderful and includes a large 11 cubic foot 12V refrigerator that can run off the installed solar panel and battery for days! The fold down rear bumper rack is perfect for strapping on bikes, coolers or whatever else you need to take along! I have added lots of extra small storage shelves to our Pup to keep favorite things within handy reach, including, one above the stove built for a toaster oven. I wish I had replaced the factory tires sooner. The original tires, I recently learned, were only rated for speeds up to 65 MPH. Fortunately, a recent tire blow out didn’t damage the camper, and our camper now has quality replacement tires installed in 2023. I have done dozens of little upgrades to ours to make camping more fun, but the 16FQ is a good solid little camper! Show less

I wish I could give our trailer five stars for everything, but the design ergonomics let it down somewhat, but not nearly as much as the diabolical quality. Starting with the design, it is the lack of attention to detail that spoils things for me. For example, the fridge door hits the bathroom doorknob, and sooner or later it’s gonna get dented. The jackknife sofa works fine, but the stupid armrests just constantly fall off. And the fold out mattress that sits on top of the sofa is horrendously uncomfortable. And then there are the panels inside the cabinets that have been installed at an angle, eating up precious space - ridiculous given there is plenty of room hidden behind them. And the legs of the door steps catches on the rivets holding the door frame. And why is the shower pan, shower head and toilet white, when the sink in the vanity is grey with black taps? And let’s not overlook the fact that the taps themselves preclude all logic - the hot and cold turn in different directions! While on the subject of the bathroom, why on earth didn’t Forest River put the skylight over the shower? Not everyone is sub 5’10”. As for the fan in the bathroom, it’s useless. As for the quality, it’s dreadful. I nearly cut my wrist on a piece of siding poking up in the access to the storage compartment. In there, there is s panel “protecting” the water tank, but it is flimsy as hell and only fixed to the floor, so it’s gonna break soon. The bathroom door is curved, so while it fits the frame at the hatch, there is the thick end of an inch gap at both the top and bottom. The stereo speakers are not wired correctly, so you just get one channel inside and the other outside. The wall coverings (some kind of sticky back plastic) are bubbling in places, and trim strips are coming away from the ceiling and walls, too. The biggest shock was today when, following the advice of other Wolf Pup owners, I looked through the tiny access panel under the shower pan, only to find a hole of around a square foot that was partially covered in some plastic fabric. Luckily, rodents and other critters have not yet made the space under the shower home, but now I have a major headache trying to figure out how to effectively fill it, as it is too big for steel wool and spray foam, the access panel is too small to put boards in there, and the outside is rendered inaccessible by a waste tank. The TV mount is not centered on the wall, meaning we can only put the smallest TV in. There are numerous screws that aren’t even gripping, and you can see streaks where the staple gun was run - those don’t even polish out. Also, there is no sealant around the kitchen sink which means the countertop is likely to swell. However, for the price point (we paid €21k for a “new” dealer stock 2022 model), it’s acceptable, and we enjoy using it. We haven’t had any warranty work done yet, so don’t know what our experience there will be. The layout is pretty good, and the 12v fridge is awesome, although if you want to boon dock, the standard ‘Juice Pack’ will need beefing up. The sofa is comfortable (apart from the annoying armrests), and now we have replaced the stock mattress with a better one, the bed is pretty comfy, too. There’s plenty of storage space inside the camper, although much of it is hidden under the sofa and dinette. The power awning is useful, as is the outside TV bracket, and we love the outdoor mini fridge. Would we buy another? Possibly. We have only had this one for three months so far, and despite its faults, we have fun trips in it. Let’s see what our opinion of it is after a longer period. Show less

Only my second camping trip and the awning has stopped working. I never could get the backup camera to work.i took it back for the camera they got it to work untill I left the lot. The small stove top is close to the wall I'm not going to use it until I can get a heat barrier of some sort. The microwave was loose when I got home with it I believe they had swapped it out sometime. But it was a easy fix Show less

We are thoroughly enjoying our Wolf Pup! We have an extended warranty, however we have not had to access our warranty for any issues. Great lightweight trailer, easy to tow. Spacious washroom and functional layout. Show less

Slide problems plague this model. Mine has failed for the 3rd time. Forest river doesn’t stand by their product and does not want to help with it. Floor plan makes the RV useless if the slide does not work. Poor cabinet space, wood panel by the fridge was cut too long and shoved in to try and fit it…staples came out. There’s just a lot of quality issues, but the biggest one it has is the slide out. I would not buy and i will NEVER buy a Forest River product again. They do not care about your loyalty as a consumer. Sell it and forget it should be their new motto. Show less

I purchased this model based on weight and floor plan. The walk around queen was appealing as was the large rear bath with centered toilet (provides more leg room than a corner placement). I also wanted a larger fridge that wasn't sitting on the floor. I like this more than I could have imagined. I also made sure to get a year that had a PROPANE fridge. Gas is nice and cold, reliable and easy. They try to sell you on your battery/solar power only, don't do it. I think we will be all set when we sell simply based on having a 3 way fridge. Our biggest complaints are: 1) The mattress is an absolute joke, it's more like a box spring. They do this so that the weight is as low as possible when advertising. You will need to spend some serious money to actually get comfortable. A topper isn't going to cut it. Plus once you add height to the mattress, the side closet doors will not open as they open inward against the bed. 2) The "walk around" is more like a squished side shimmy at best. I find myself scooting to the end and getting up more often than not. This is also due to the fact that you will slam your head on the sharp corner of the upper kitchen cabinet. You WILL do this more than once and it's no joke. Talk about a rude awakening. 3) The queen appears large but due to the cabinets mounted on either side you are really wedged in there from the arms up. It feels coffin-esque. You don't appreciate this until you've slept in it a few times. We removed these cabinets and we are so happy we did. Now we have an actual bedside area large enough to actually set things on and the upper cabinets that run the length are more than sufficient storage. 4) The sensor placement for the black water tank is not placed in the correct area. Therefore it will always read as full as soon as you basically start to use it. Thankfully we have a plumber in the family. 5) The radio and the outside speakers are junk. No biggie but don't think you will ever actually use them, you will end up bringing your own. 6) The storage area under the bed is hard to get to when you have to lift your 5 layers of bed material. I took a page from a youtuber and mounted a hydraulic hinge. Much better. There are a bunch of other annoying things that you will spend time and money on adjusting but I think that's par for the course i.e. the faucet handles have to be turned ass backwards. We figured out this was because they used knob faucets instead of levers like they were supposed to etc. etc. I have realized that all of these types of trailers are cheaply made so don't expect top quality, I feel bad for the people that buy new. If you get a good deal, the towing weight and floor plan are the key reasons to purchase but have some $$ set aside for all of the additions/adjustments that you WILL be doing to have comfort. After all, it was kind of the whole point right? I hope this helps! Happy camping! Show less

This is my second Forest River trailer. Both experiences have been great. This trailer I've had for 5 years. It's been very easy to maintain with no issues at all. The only warranty thing I needed to have done was the refrigerator, which needed to be replaced by Thetford, the fridge manufacturer, so I don't blame FR for that. Thetford tried to deny the claim and FR stepped in and paid for a new one for me because they felt Thetford was wrong. Excellent customer service experience from Forest River. Otherwise, there's literally nothing to note here. It's been an amazing little trailer. Show less

We quickly purchased this RV from an dealer that was far away from us. This fit the bill for what we needed at the time. We were limited by towing capacity. This towed ok. This is inherent of a single axle trailer when comparing to a tandem axle. Kind of like comparing apples and oranges. The setup with the app was great. I could watch for trees when putting the slid out on my own with my phone running the slide. We went on several week plus long camping trips in this with our family of 5. It gets the job done. We all had a comfortable place to sleep at night. 5 is really pushing it for room getting ready in the morning or turning in for the night. This is really the only fault of the camper for us. Storage is ample, 12volt fridge is great! Great little camper for a family that does not have a big tow vehicle. Show less