Forest River Grey Wolf 26RR Review
We bought our Forest River Grey Wolf 26RR Limited new in 2020. We have camped 3 full seasons with it and have a few things that we love and a few things that we wish were different in our unit. Overall it is a great camper for beginners and provides room for growth. We based our overall rating on a few categories: maintenance, floor plan and base utilities.
Grey Wolf Limited Basic Specs
Hitch Weight: 775 lb.
Cargo Carrying Capacity: 2,745 lb.
Gross Vehicle Weight: 7,775 lb.
Unloaded Vehicle Weight: 5,030 lb.
Exterior Width: 96″
Exterior Length: 30′ 10″
Exterior Height: 10’6″
Awning Length: 15′
Fresh Water: 40 gallons
Gray Water: 38 gallons
Black Water:38 gallons
No slides, one main door, and one toy hauler door.
Base Utilities and Power Needs
- Generator: You will need a high-powered generator to power the AC. If you were to put an aftermarket slow start on the AC you would be able to get away with a smaller generator. You can run the fan off of the battery and solar power but that is the high limit.
- Electric Fridge: The fridge runs on electric, which can prove to be an issue and significantly drains the battery. If you are not in direct sunlight the solar panel cannot keep up with replacing battery usage. I wish that this fridge had the option to run off of propane as well.
- Solar and battery power: The concept is great and handy to have, however, it has its downfall. If you’d like more usage out of the system than the bare minimum you would need to upgrade your batteries and add more solar panels. Having the hookups makes it easier though.
Floor Plan
- The floor plan is as good as it could get for the design of this unit. The fold-down sofa is roomy and gives enough space for 4-6 people to sit comfortably.
- The kitchen area is open and has enough space to move around, but I find that it lacks counter space. You’ll be moving things around a lot if you intend to do anything other than basic cooking.
- The stovetop is adequately sized, however, the inside of the oven is rather small. Don’t get me wrong it is an average size for a camper but if you compare it to your oven at home it is small.
- The bathroom is well-spaced for the floor plan. You can turn around, change your clothes, dry off out of the shower and go to the bathroom without bumping into things. The shower is big enough to stand comfortably, though the shower head is a little low for those who are tall.
- The bedroom is the tightest spot in the whole unit. You’ll need to shuffle around the bed to get to your side and the cabinet space. There is no space for anything other than a mesh bag for a laundry basket.
Toy Hauler and Patio Deck
This is without a doubt my favorite section of the camper and where the Grey Wolf excels. The “garage” section of the camper can be a bit of a pain compared to another unit with a dedicated space for a garage. You have to move couch cushions and fold up the benches to create space for whatever you are storing. The advantage is that if you are only storing kayaks you could do just one side and not the other. The real disadvantage is if you are storing things under the table seats, everything needs to be moved.
The patio is well worth it when you have a beautiful site to enjoy. We set up our chairs and camp table on the deck when it is nice out and is easily my favorite time to spend in the campsite. The downside to this particular setup is the screen door. It serves its purpose by keeping most bugs out but it lacks quality. It is attached to the inside of the garage from the ceiling, and velcros to the walls. The bottom of the screen doesn’t attach because it is also a door, and that allows the wind to blow it around. Clip-on weights solved the problem in the short term but it is a design flaw.
Storage
- The bedroom cabinets and closet are remarkably small. There is only hanging space for the primary closets next to the bed, with two small shelves for misc. stuff above the bed.
- The bathroom has great storage for towels, toiletries and extras.
- The kitchen storage is minimally adequate. You’ll need to do some configuring to fit all of your kitchen appliances, dishes and food to keep it all from spilling into one stacked cabinet.
- The “living room” storage over the dinette table provides a good amount of space to store your other camping gear.
Storage Downfalls:
- Shoe storage space, there is a small spot near the door but it is for 1-3 pairs.
- Laundry storage
- A good place for a trash can
- Clothes storage
- Towel drying space in the bathroom
- Wasted space over the wheel well
- There is very little outdoor storage. There is one cabinet with just enough space for the spare tire and some tools.
Maintenance
General maintenance is quite easy with this unit. Changing the water heater anode, tires, winterization, black tank cleaning, battery, and propane access is doable.
There are a few things that went wrong and have proved to be an issue for us over the last three summers. The way that the manufacturer made the electrical and plumbing can make it difficult to trace lines back to their origin.
- Fridge fuse access: A nightmare. The first time we found out about this type of issue we traveled to our camping spot and the fridge had turned off completely by the time we reached our destination. There is a fuse BEHIND the fridge, and to access this fuse you need to pull the entire fridge out of the wall. The fridge is heavy and very difficult to pull out of the wall.
- Water lines: Some of the connections behind our shower came loose during travel, and getting back there to tighten and readjust the lines is difficult. You’ll need to pull the caulking off the hot/cold knob panel and redo it if you need to get in there.
- Black water flush issues: Beware if you use a hose at a campground that is not pressure regulated. You may need to get your own regulator dedicated to the black water flush. Ours was overwhelmed by high pressure and burst the connection on the inside of the camper.
Overall
This Grey Wolf is a great unit to have as a first camper, or even as your final camper. Even with its quirks and downfalls, they are not major problems to have. You need to be handy or have basic knowledge of your unit no matter what type or brand of camper you have. If you liked this camper but want a smaller version of it check out the Forest River Grey Wolf Pup. It is basically the same thing but shorter in length (with minor floor plan changes). We hope this review of our Forest River Grey Wolf 26RR Limited will help you on your journey to picking out or learning about campers.