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The camera angle makes a big difference in how big this camper appears relative to the Maverick, haha.
I just picked up my new camper, the Cherokee Wolf Pup 16TS, and brought it home. The camper has a dry weight of 3,204 lbs and a hitch weight of 470 lbs. Yes, I know, I know, Ford advises a limit of 400 lbs for the tongue weight. I'm using a weight-distributing hitch and, with the hitch installed and properly configured, I have a rear squat of only about 3/4". I'm pretty satisfied with that.
Squat measurement before hooking up.
Squat measurement after hooking up.
When I load my gear in the camper, I'll be concentrating most of the weight toward the back of the camper, when possible, to reduce the amount of weight brought forward onto the hitch.
My plan is to work remotely from this rig with a combination of campsite stays and dry camping/boondocking. I'm solo, so only the weight of one person and gear will be added to the truck and camper. I'm working on equipping the camper and loading it with my gear. Once I do, I'll be taking the entire rig to a scale to ensure that I am under the GCVWR. Whenever possible I plan to be running empty tanks to keep the weight down.
Monitors will be stowed and secured during travel from one site to another.
The big question - how did it handle? I certainly could tell that I had a trailer attached, but I never felt out of control on my drive back home. I was driving on relatively flat land at 65 mph with a 15 mph crosswind and averaged 13.2 mpg from the dealership to my residential street.
I was able to accelerate satisfactorily and it got up to 70 mph with no issue and handling identically to 65 mph. I will likely keep my speed to 65 mph when I have all but a tailwind for the sake of fuel economy and safe handling.
I plan to keep this post updated as I continue this journey. I'll be making some local-ish trips (max of 4 hours away) in the next month or so to iron out all of the little things and to fill the gaps in the gear I have onboard. In July I plan to head westward to central Washington state where I have some friends that I'll be visiting, making stops along the way to work.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions or thoughts!
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