After our big beautiful Ram diesel truck gave up the ghost in May 2024 right before our summer RV travels, we sold our 2022 Genesis Supreme toy hauler and quit RVing. Just like that!
It was a bitter blow to turn our backs on a lifestyle we loved, and it took a few months to adjust to the idea. After all, we’d been just weeks away from a summer of RV travel adventures when we walked away from it all!
But we’d had it with modern diesel trucks and were ecstatic to trade in our now unreliable 2016 Ram 3500 for a trusty little gas powered 2021 Toyota Tundra. It couldn’t tow a big fifth wheel trailer, but it was perfect for hauling a tent.
Above all else, we didn’t want to make an investment in an RV until we’d thought it all over for a good long time. We were willing to think it all over for as many years as necessary!
Periodically we’d notice a trailer for sale on a street corner or we’d peruse the online ads for various types of rigs, but we had no inclination to do any serious RV shopping. The tent was just fine for now…or forever.
As time went on, though, we really began to miss having a rolling weekend getaway home. We began talking about small trailers the Tundra could tow comfortably. We even took a very long look at an ad for a barely used popup tent trailer. But for some reason we didn’t pick up the phone to go see it.
And then, on the very last day of 2024 — New Year’s Eve — everything changed.
Our cute new digs.
Mark had noticed an ad in Craigslist for a small, “NEW” and “NEVER USED” pre-owned trailer.
Huh? How could a “pre-owned” trailer be “new” and “never used” ??
He contacted the seller to see if it was a scam or if it was being sold by a dealership. No, it was for real and the seller was a private party who’d towed it home from the dealership a few months ago and never used it!
In Arizona there is no sales tax levied on private sales of used vehicles, so buying from a private seller would be very advantageous.
I shrugged it all off, though. I was standing by our strategy of waiting to get back into RVing…indefinitely, if need be!
But on New Year’s Eve morning, Mark said, “Hey, we’ve got nothing going on today. Why don’t we go kick the tires on that trailer I saw in Craigslist?”
Aw heck…it was a beautiful sunny day…why not?! So, the three of us hopped into the Tundra and drove 100 miles to take a look at it.
As soon as we stepped inside, we were smitten. It was perfect!!
The funny thing is we’d had no idea what “perfect” was before we opened the door of this trailer. But we knew this trailer was it when we saw it!
Within an hour we were signing papers.
We drove home in shocked silence. We’d had no idea when we woke up that morning that we’d be buying a trailer that afternoon. But we sure were getting 2025 off to a great start!
One of our first shakedown cruises to Canyon Lake.
This trailer is a 2024 Forest River Arctic Wolf 17CB travel trailer. It’s 23’ long end-to-end and it has a single slide-out.
It has an open floor plan with a walk-around queen bed, super comfy wall hugging theater seat recliners, a small but functional kitchen and a big enough bathroom to do what ya gotta do comfortably.
It’s light and airy inside and has a pass-through basement compartment underneath.
2024 Forest River Alpha Wolf 17CB. In our unit the dinette was upgraded to theater seats. More details here.
The biggest surprise, though, was that it has many features of a much larger trailer despite its small size.
It stands on two axles and has a cargo carrying capacity of nearly 2,400 lbs. Yet it’s GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is only about 7,000 lbs., a weight the Tundra can handle, even in the mountains (its “limit” is 12,000 lbs.). It can carry 81 gallons of fresh water, has a whopping 10 cubic foot refrigerator and a 15,000 btu air conditioner.
These large capacities are not at all typical in small and lightweight travel trailers!
Basic specs for the 2024 Forest River Alpha Wolf 17CB. More details here.
But was it really “new” and “unused” ?? The seller had an interesting story.
He’d owned a huge $200,000+ motorhome outright and wanted to get the cash out of it quickly. But he’d had trouble selling it. It occurred to him that it would be a whole lot easier to unload a super cheap and small travel trailer.
He’d been a car salesman at a big name dealership for 25 years, so buying and selling vehicles was old hat for him.
He traded in the motorhome at an RV dealership for one of the smallest brand new trailers on their lot. He got his cash out of the motorhome, and he also avoided paying sales tax because his net outlay on the transaction was negative (he’d already paid sales tax on the motorhome when he bought it).
All he had to do now was sell the little trailer.
The Tundra and the Alpha Wolf 17CB make a nice and tidy little package.
We lucked out because he did all this during the holidays and he had more trouble selling the trailer than he’d expected. By the time we came along, he was so thrilled to get out from under it that he happily let it go for a song. We were equally thrilled to find such a cute little brand new trailer at a bargain basement price. Win-win!
Best of all, it’s homey and cozy but has enough space for the three of us to move around without crowding each other.
Come on inside and have a look around!
Welcome to our new digs!
When you walk in, the kitchen is on the right (passenger’s side), the bed is up front and the recliners are on the left. It’s surprisingly spacious!
It’s an open but compact layout.
The kitchen is small but it has everything we need, including an oven, which we might use if we’re out for a while and Mark gets a hankering to make muffins or banana bread!!
The microwave is a wonderfully small low energy unit, drawing just 900 watts. It is hard to find a modern RV that has a low wattage microwave like this, as most are residential size and draw 1,500 to 1,800 watts. But this little guy is perfect for warming a small plate of food which is all we’ll ever use it for.
There are only two upper cabinets for our pantry and dishware. However, there are three full-size drawers for everything from eating and cooking utensils to office supplies like pens, paper, scissors and other goodies.
There’s also a very large cabinet under the sink that can hold 9 one-gallon bottles of drinking water. We like carrying our drinking water this way and storing it on the floor of a lower cabinet.
The kitchen storage is modest but we’ve found it is plenty adequate for the three of us.
The bed is a walk-around queen. The mattress is 80 inches long but the platform under it is actually the length of a short queen (75 inches) or perhaps an inch or two longer. The mattress is firm enough that it doesn’t flex a whole lot at the foot end even though it is unsupported there.
“Walk-around” is a little bit of wishful thinking because the bedside tables (which are actually the ceiling and walls of the basement below) stick out far enough that it’s a challenge to tuck anything in along the top of the bed unless, perhaps, you’re over 6′ tall! But it’s good enough if you aren’t super fussy about how beautifully the bed is made!
There are closets on either side of the bed with hanging space for shirts and jackets. Above the head of the bed there are three doors that open to a single upper cabinet that runs the width of the trailer.
Each side of the bed has a closet and a drawer.
The cabinet above the bed runs the whole width of the trailer.
The earlier editions of this trailer a few years ago came with a window at the head of the bed. Many small trailers are built with windows like that and it really makes the interior bright and gives you a cool view of the stars while lying in bed.
However, some people—including a friend of ours—have had the nasty experience of a rock flying up and breaking the front window on their trailer when it was being towed. For our friend, the expense was covered by the trailer’s factory warranty, but the time lost to repairing their new trailer was frustrating.
The wall hugging theater seat recliners stole the show for us. If anything clinched the deal, it was when we both sat down in those chairs. They are super comfortable!!
For us, being able to relax completely in a comfortable recliner at the end of the day is really important.
We had recliners in our full-timing fifth wheel and we actually went through two different pairs of wonderful recliners during our 12 years of living in that RV. We loved being able to come home, kick back and put our feet up, and chat with each other about that day’s adventures or mess around on our laptops.
The theater seat wall hugging recliners clinched the deal.
We didn’t have recliners in any of our other rigs besides our full-timing fifth wheel — not in our popup tent trailer which we owned before full-timing, nor in our 27’ Lynx travel trailer that we used for our first year of full-timing. We didn’t have recliners in either of the rigs we used part-time after ending our full-time travels either…these were a truck camper and a fifth wheel toy hauler.
And we really really missed them in those rigs!!
It is possible to sit sideways in a dinette and put your feet up in front of you, but it’s awkward and not relaxing. We did that in the truck camper and Lynx travel trailer, but it wasn’t great.
Our toy hauler’s Euro Chairs could recline a little bit, but they weren’t anything like truly cushy recliners. Toy hauler furniture has to be easily moved, and we tried replacing those chairs with gravity chairs and thick cushions, but they were hard to lock into position so they’d stay at the right reclining angle. The arms weren’t cushioned either and the chairs were uncomfortable for sitting with a laptop in your lap.
But these wall huggers in our new trailer are absolutely fabulous.
It’s embarrassing to say, but we almost feel like we’re towing around a pair of recliners. The rest of the trailer is just icing on the cake!
We’ve sat in a lot of recliners and these are among the most comfortable!
We aren’t the only ones who love the recliners. Buddy loves them too, especially my side.
Fortunately, the bed is a perfect height for him to spread out and still be part of the scene with us near his eye level. So there’s a place for each of us to relax.
Buddy claims my side of the twin recliners.
“Mine… Don’t even think about it!”
As you can see, the kitchen is compact. However, it works better than the L-kitchen did in the big fifth wheel toy hauler. There’s a flip down top for the stove and a slotted insert for the sink that extends the counter space so we can stand side by side and not get in each other’s way.
We can maneuver side by side without crowding each other
Hmmm…Buddy wants to show you what’s in the bathroom!
“Hi Dada! Can we come in too?”
There is a big stall shower, toilet and vanity. It’s funny, not all stall showers are the same. This one has a long wide shelf for soap, shampoo, razors, etc., that’s very convenient. It also seems larger than some other stall showers.
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There are two things in the trailer that gave us pause, though. But we decided they weren’t deal breakers and thought we might actually appreciate them in the long run.
One is that gargantuan 10 cubic foot 12 volt refrigerator. Sure, plenty of RVs have full size 110 volt residential fridges that are 18 to 22 cubic feet. But we’ve always had a propane fridge that was 8 cubic feet or less, and even though one had to be replaced, they’ve worked well enough and not put any demands on our solar power system.
We like to boondock and were off grid about 98% of the time when we were full-timers. An electric fridge will require a lot of solar power to support it. So, we’ll have a much bigger solar power system than any we’ve had before, yet we have less roof space than ever before too!
The other thing we weren’t crazy about is the “instant” hot water heater. I had an “instant” hot water heater in a liveaboard sailboat in the mid-1990s, and all I can say is that we never had hot water at the kitchen sink even though it was located just two feet away.
You had to waste precious water while it ran cold until it finally heated up, and if you turned the faucet on and off while you did dishes or took a shower, it wasted even more water as it went from cold to hot every time you turned the faucet back on. Frankly, I hated that thing.
While we would have been perfectly happy with an 8 cubic foot propane refrigerator and a 6 gallon hot water heater, that’s not how this trailer or many other 2024/2025 small trailers are being built.
So, we decided to take a “wait and see” attitude…and hope we could fit enough panels on the roof to satisfy the fridge and hope that “instant” hot water systems have improved over the last 30 years!
Let’s head outside again and have a look at the exterior once more.
We got a lovely shot of the trailer at sunset and then another at sunrise!
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We feel a little Like Goldilocks and the three bears with this trailer! When she entered their house, the papa bear’s porridge was too hot, the mama’s too cold and the baby bear’s porridge just right. Then when she sat it their chairs, the papa bear’s chair was too hard, the mama bear’s was too soft but the baby bear’s chair one was just right!
Since we moved out of our full-timing fifth wheel back in 2020, we’ve tried several different types of RVs.
The truck camper turned out to be too small and cramped (among other things).
The toy hauler ended up being too big and ungainly (among other things).
But this new Alpha Wolf 17CB travel trailer may be just right.
We’ve taken it on a few shakedown cruises and have MUCH to report about how those went.
Hint: It wasn’t until the THIRD shakedown cruise that all the systems were fully operational (YIKES!). We even had to cut the second journey short and head home earlier than planned because of a catastrophic failure!! (YIKES AGAIN!!). But we’re still smiling about this trailer because it’s just right!
We’ll have more on our shakedown cruise (mis)adventures coming up!
Our second shakedown cruise was fun but had to be cut short!!
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- Forest River Alpha Wolf Trailers in general
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Congratulations on your new rig, Emily!!! It looks like you and Mark might have found your sweet spot. Our 2017 Outdoors RV has a propane fridge, and I’m dreading the day we ever have to upgrade. We dry camp a LOT, and the idea of a 12V fridge worries me. I’ll be extremely interested in your reports from the field on that. Alan and I have recliners positioned at our trailer’s big back window – best feature ever! – so I truly do understand your delight in kicking back and relaxing in such a comfortable setting. And it’s quite obvious that Buddy approves! Fingers crossed that you’ll soon be sharing additional adventures – can’t wait to read more and be treated to your stunning photography. Wishing you all safe travels and much fun as you embark on this new chapter in your RVing life!
Good morning, Mary! Gosh, those Outdoors RVs are such great trailers. I’m sure you are loving yours. Our Tundra isn’t strong enough to take one through the Rockies easily, but that would have been a top choice if it could. As a big broad hint about our newfangled fridge — we love it!! And so far, it appears that it doesn’t use nearly as much power as we expected. Of course, ambient temps have been cool, so we haven’t tried to run it when it’s 95 degrees out yet, but so far so good. And aren’t comfy recliners the absolute best thing in a sweet rolling home?! Makes me feel like an old fuddy dud to say that, but it’s true! Thank you for the good wishes and enjoy that beautiful trailer of yours!
We recently got a very similar smallish travel trailer. It’s an Outdoors RV 19MKS. Couldn’t agree more that it’s a Goldilocks rig and the recliners are a huge factor. We fell in love with Oliver all fiberglass trailers, but I just couldn’t get over the lack of comfortable lounge seating.
We tow it with a 2019 RAM 3500 dually diesel. Just a tad overkill! It was inspired by the articles you wrote about your 2016. We thought we’d buy a big Fifth Wheel, right up until we took a wrong turn onto the 12’ tunnel running under Mobile Bay. The PTSD from realizing the disaster that would have been killed the Fifth Wheel dream, and no regrets two years later. Kind of freaking out now about your experience with exhaust manifold issues, but forewarned is forearmed.
Looking forward to more on your Goldilocks travels!
Wow, you’re a happy Outdoors RV owner too, just like Mary in the previous comment! You guys know where to shop!! I’m sure the big dually feels like overkill sometimes, but when you’re going over the mountain passes between Durango to Silverton in Colorado, you’ll feel like you’re on flat ground!!
There are so many big diesel pickups on the road that you are in the vast majority who have no issues. We were hit hard with exhaust manifold and turbo problems, but those came on the heels of the mice chewing the main wiring harness and leaving us stranded twice. So, it was an even bigger disappointment than it might have been. Our friend with a 2016 SRW Ram 3500 did a full delete on the emissions stuff on his truck the moment it threw the first error codes while towing in the mountains, and he still loves his truck as much as he did the day he bought it.
Mark has some notes for you:
1) Be sure to let the engine idle for a while before you turn it off. We were told that was probably what killed our engine — turning it off before it fully cooled down.
2) Check the wire that goes to the bolt for the grid heater — it’s hard to reach/see — and make sure it doesn’t wiggle. What happens is the heat (from the pre-heat process) causes the wire to melt, and eventually the bolt can fall into the engine and cause a catastrophic engine failure. I’m sure yours is fine, but that was something we learned about Ram diesels that’s important to keep an eye on. If you ever have your engine apart for some reason, you can replace the heater grid with an aftermarket model that doesn’t have that problem. You can read about all that at this link HERE.
We love the Oliver trailers too and were super impressed when a gal camping near us showed us all the great features in hers. Unfortunately, they’re too heavy for our Tundra in the big mountains. Like you said, though, it’s really important to have a super comfortable place to relax in the trailer at the end of a long day of hiking, sightseeing, biking and adventuring, and if the chairs/lounger/dinette or wherever you’re going to be relaxing aren’t 100% comfy, it will really affect your overall camping and travel experience…we know!
Happy trails!
LOL Recliners on wheels. So glad you finally got just want you wanted. New adventures await. This is the perfect jitterbug trailer. We wish you the best with it and eagerly await the next installment. 😀
Thank you, Annie!! We hope to be living large in a small space just as you do in the summertime with your Class C. There’s something to be said for being relatively nimble on the road, and although we’ll miss having the RZR along, it’s a trade-off we decided we just had to make. I hope your cross-country journey between AZ, TX and CA is sunny and happy and goes smoothly.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the new rig 🙂 I thought you might – you know me, I’m a fan a smaller campers. We’ve had everything from a 12 foot pop up to a 30 ~31 foot TT and my favorites were always in the size range of 20~23 feet overall. “fun size” is a better way to describe it I think 🙂
Have fun this season!
“Fun Size” — that’s exactly it!! Big enough to be comfortable but small enough to tow with a smaller tow vehicle and tuck into smaller spaces. We’re really looking forward to our travels this season. Right now we’re working on getting the solar power installed…!
Have fun in AFRICA. Yowza!! Can’t wait to watch your videos about photographing the wildlife there!!!
Congrats on the new rig. My little RPod 196 is only 22′ long and I’ve practiced backing it up using orange cones. It makes my husband laugh. We are ready for 2025 music festival season…..Glad Buddy is happy.
Kudos to you for learning to back up your rig, Ali. I can pull it into a pull-through but I’ve never been brave enough to try backing it in!! Have a blast at the 2025 music festivals with your sweet little RPod — how fun!!
You two are the ones who inspired us to start out on a full time journey. I’m still waiting to start. We currently have a 2019 Lance 1995 travel trailer that is about the same size as your Alpha Wolf. The only difference being we have that blasted dinette. We bought a 2023 RAM 3500 SRW in anticipation of being able to tow whatever big 5th wheel we wanted (within reason). Now we’re starting to see so many former 5er towers move down into the smaller rigs. One thing we agree with you on is that our next rig must have recliners. Big windows too. Congrats on your new rig and please keep inspiring us.
How cool that we got your creative juices flowing to try a new phase of life in an RV. Thank you for letting us know!!
There’s always a LOT of focus on what kind of rig you travel in, but the reality is that the only thing that matters is that you go and do it! I remember some sailors talking about being in the South Pacific and all the fancy gear and multi-hundred-thousand dollar boats they were in. Then a couple from Norway showed up in a tiny little boat, bailing as they crossed two oceans and using a bucket for a toilet. In the end, that couple was enjoying the same sunrises, sunsets and adventures as the people in the bigger boats. So, even if your trailer isn’t exactly what you want, enjoy your travels and be patient. Like us, the right thing will come along unexpectedly!
Also, although many former 5th wheel owners may be downsizing, we still would choose a fiver as our rolling home for full-time travels. The long nights, short days, and scant sun in the winter makes a small rig seem even smaller. We were thrilled to move up from a 27′ TT to a 36′ fiver after just one winter, and we’d get another fifth wheel if we returned to full-time travel.
Our journey is still unfolding, though. Who knows if this Goldilocks RV will turn out to be as ideal as we anticipate. Like our big beautiful Ram dually that we loved so much for the first 7 years we owned it, many unexpected things can happen on the Roads Less Traveled!!
Happy planning and traveling!!
Love it! We have a very similar trailer, use it a lot, and find it quite comfortable. We also had a few trailers, and the one thing they all had in common was a cheap plastic toilet that failed within a year. Porcelain toilets have been the fix.
Ahh…porcelain toilets. Definitely the way to go!! There are certain “must haves” and that’s one. I’m glad you love your trailer, Paul, and I hope it takes you to many beautiful places!
Such great descriptions of your recent adventures….HAPPY FOR ALL 3 OF YOU !! Love, Mom
Thanks, Mom! Have a blast in Paris!!
Congrats on your latest purchase!! I’m sure you’ll both (and Buddy too) enjoy all the adventures it will provide!
Come now Emily…. compared to “making” a truck camper bed, making your “walk around” bed must be an absolute DREAM!!!
Enjoy your travels.
Yes indeed!! And YOU should know — making that truck camper bed is quite a project!!! This one is definitely easier!! Thanks for the good wishes. We can’t wait to get going! And happy trails to you in that SWEET truck camper sitting on the RIGHT SIZED truck!!