New to RVing, any owners of Wildwood xlite FS 195BH?

[jonesfamilycamping]

Just attempting to find a couple who has a wildwood xlite FS 195BH. We are new to the world of RVing. We have a five year old and a two year old, so the bunkhouse feature is selling us so far on this under 3500lb travel trailer. We have a 2006 Nissan Frontier SE V6 with hitch and electric 7-prong hookup so not too worried about towing this type of travel trailer. Like I said just trying to find someone who may be able to answer some specific questions we have about this model under the Forest River brand.

Jones Family, Hendersonville, NC

[Wa11y757]

We had a 2014. I'll answer anything ya got.


Now I'm going back to looking for my 10mm wrench! 2016 Wildwood 27RKSS
2005 F250 PSD

[Asrabbit]

My wife and I have a 2016 195BH. It seems to meet our needs well. We have taken kids with us on a few trips. When it is just my wife and I we use the bunks as storage and that works out really well. We added memory foam toppers and it is really nice. We bought two full size ones and cut one in half for the bunks. Somehow mine came from the factory with a bent axle. That is still not fixed yet although the deal finally received the new axle. Hopefully will be fixed within a few weeks.

[Seachaser186]

We were newbies and bought a 2014 185RB, just me and the wife. We enjoyed it but we decided to upgrade to 35' TT w/ a super slide. There is something to be said about the smaller TT far as towing, maneuverability and parking.

[Wa11y757]

The axle has a bend upward in the middle for camber. But with 3500lb axles, and the unit is like 3000lb, by the time u fill the storage under the bed with toates,chairs, grille, lantern, and whatever else ya got....that's pretty close to the limit. plus added tounge wieght. Actually, we had a water leak from the upper marker light on the front and it made the wall at the foot of the bed blister...so we had to take it to the dealer. I wanted to ask about the tires wearing on the inside. So we weighed everything we took out. Then I got scales from work and weighed the camper...600lbs tounge. And 3489lbs total.... No water in tanks and nothing in the fridge. Point being the axle was working at its stamped limit. Dealer said "cheap tires and low axles keep the cost down"... ...

[stantyszka]

I own WW X Lite. Not that model but they are for the most part outfitted with much of the same "stuff" just in different places. I've been pretty happy with the X Lite. Build quality for price seems to be pretty good. Don't see a ton of them at campgrounds which seems odd. Jaycos everywhere. Mine is a little shy on storage, totally recommend mattress toppers too. Overall I've been pretty happy with wildwood.

[jonesfamilycamping]

Keep the suggestions and comments coming...I think it is great there is a forum like this!

[kralspace]

When we were shopping for a small beginner's trailer they said the Wildwood and the Salem were identical except for the interior colors and stickers.

We love ours, there's two of us that usually go, and we're used to only one of us being up moving around at a time ;-)

I like the queen bed and just leave it out during the day. There's room for a fold out tray beside it for me to work on my laptop and I'm out of the way of anyone coming in the door.

Definitely will want mattress toppers! For such a small trailer we seem to have plenty of indoor storage, including using the top bunk.

The one thing we do miss is having any outdoor storage. But no biggie, we just put the lawn chairs, cooler, etc in last before we lock the door.

Yeah, you can tell it's made fairly cheaply, but I figure by the time the queen bed gives out I'll have a plan to rebuild it better or find a fold out couch to replace it.

It's easy to pull, hook up and maneuver and that's what we like most.
We did get the extra jacks on the front corners and it's really stable.

I splurged on the little $5 drill attachment to wind the jacks up and down, a bit more expensive electric tongue jack and even this old 63 year woman can set up and break it down by myself.

We may decide to upgrade later but for now this is perfect for us.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Our trailer is very similar, except murphy bed and no bunks. Tandem axle so we are way under max limit. 4100 lb, 500 lb tongue weight.

[Yalahagirl]

We have that same model (WW X-Lite). Ours is a 2013 we bought recently. The previous owner put a new and expensive mattress in it and never slept on it. (His wife wouldn't go camping!) We have enjoyed the few trips we managed to squeeze in but we are still "tweaking." I'm having to be very creative with storage!

[jawga]

You will enjoy it we have had ours for three years and we take our three kids and dog with us and we still all fit. Also check out the salem group since they are the same thing. Also you will eventually upgrade vehicles and will make towing easier, we went from an explorer with a v8 to and expedition and was the difference in night and day. A coworker got the same model and had a tacoma pickup with the larger v6. He pulled the camper a few times and then bought a 4runner with the v8 and he said it was a big difference

[daybreak]

I have the salem cruise lite 195bh, which is the same thing. We love it, we have a 4 year old so we use the top bunk for storage. We added a screen door grab bar, best mod we did. Also added front stabilizers, a tv we mounted to the side of the microwave cabinet, and a medicine cabinet in the bathroom. We switched all interior lo ights to LED and they don't get hot, I just got some LED tap lights to add into the cabinets they aren't installed yet. It works well for us.

You might want to check out the salem group, there is a huge thread about the 195bh and upgrades and tips from people.

Please excuse any typos I'm using my phone.

[jonesfamilycamping]

Just wanting to know what is the best type of deep cycle battery, how long does it last (like years), and what is the biggest drain on it, when "boondocking?"

Thanks!

[SecretAgentMan]

We looked at the Heritage Glen 24BH and 27BH models. My wife and I also have 2 kids. We made a long list of pros and cons for each and stacked them up side by side. The 27BH came out on top. My dad's advice helped seal the deal on the decision we made. He has owned RVs before and this was my first. The more compromises you make when you purchase it, the less you are going to enjoy it and the less you are going to want to use it. So far no regrets. To each their own though. Good luck!

[Lefty665]

We got one new in early '14, have put 10k+ miles on it and like it. . Interior, the mattresses aren't much. Space is tight but is just fine for 2 with a dog and weekends with grand kids. Added 12v reading lights over table seats. . Exterior, original tires were bias ply and marginal at best. Ours also came with a bent axle, got axle straightened and new one size up radials at about 4k miles. Just fine since. Symptom was cupping on both edges of tires. . Refrigerator won't cool without removing outside vent cover, then it's very good. Added fans but vent cover is so restrictive that didn't fix it. Debating next step, in the meantime the vent cover is easy off and solves problem, just ugly. . Biggest 12v current draw is interior lights, second likely is furnace fan. Lights are an easy LED replacement. With LEDS all the interior lights draw less current than one incandescent bulb. If you do that don't forget the porch light Under 3000k matches warm incandescent color. . I added a 2nd 12v deep cycle battery from Costco mounted beside the original on the tongue. It's a little higher capacity than the original supplied by the dealer, but they work ok together. We get 4 days out of them boondocking, that's as long as we've tried at a stretch. The voltage is creeping down to low 11.x volts by the end. I'm guessing 5 years battery life, we're half way there with no degradation . We think it's great. Got it to replace camping by sleeping in the back of the truck. Wanted something that was easy to haul and had most of the comforts. It has fit the bill nicely. Have a buddy with a big Airstream, that's grand, but I'd rather have the extra $90k he spent to do something else with and with lots less bulk to haul around. . Note: It pulled perfectly on the old Chevy 1500 we had when we got it. Got a newer Ford F150 and it was all over the road. Chevy had a factory rear sway bar, the Ford did not. Added a rear sway bar to the Ford and manners are back to very good. Ford is an eco-boost and we love it. Chevy struggled towing on high grades west out of Denver, eco-boost chews them up and never revs much over 3k.

[Camp4two]

Originally Posted by jonesfamilycamping

Just attempting to find a couple who has a wildwood xlite FS 195BH. We are new to the world of RVing. We have a five year old and a two year old, so the bunkhouse feature is selling us so far on this under 3500lb travel trailer. We have a 2006 Nissan Frontier SE V6 with hitch and electric 7-prong hookup so not too worried about towing this type of travel trailer. Like I said just trying to find someone who may be able to answer some specific questions we have about this model under the Forest River brand.

Jones Family, Hendersonville, NC

Wife and I have a 2016 Salem Cruise Lite 195BH and love it. FR makes three 195BH trailers under the EVO, Salem and Wildwood names. All three are mostly identical except for cosmetic changes.

In the Salem Travel Trailer forum you might want to check out the thread titled "Cruise Lite 195BH Owners Thread." Go to comment #146. There you will find a Quick Reference to 25 categories covering mostly FR 195BH trailers.

Welcome to the forum and happy camping.

Camp4two

[Lefty665]

Hi, How do you get paragraph formatting? I had it in original, but it disappeared when posted Thanks

[Camp4two]

Originally Posted by Lefty665

Hi, How do you get paragraph formatting? I had it in original, but it disappeared when posted Thanks

Try it again since you said you had done it, then click on Preview Post before you Submit it. Make any format changes in Preview under the Reply to Thread section then click on Preview Post again to verify your changes are how you want them. Then click on Submit Reply. That should do it.

[Lefty665]

Thanks I'll give it a shot. Seems a hard way to preserve the carriage returns and line feeds I already entered, but it is what it is.