Difference between Salem 195BH and Wildwood 195BH?

[SimmZ]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna find my answer here. This is a pre-sale question. We are on the way to change our Rockwood 1940 pop-up camper for a small bunkhouse travel trailer, we are interested getting the Salem Xlite 195BH but while browsing the internet for deals/offers, I found the Wildwood Xlite 195BH mostly...

I'm trying to figure out what are the difference by reading the brochure and the specifications, but I can't really find any difference except on the Wildwood floorplan diagram there's no information about the master bed on front and in the Salem Xlite 195BH, the diagram show "Queen Bed" on front?

But in the other hand, when we visit our local dealer, they have the Salem in stock and when we visit it, the saleman told us the front bed is a full-size (54 inch) and not a Queen size (60 inch) like in the brochure. To be honest I don't take the time to measure the bed while visiting the trailer...

Now, I'm very confused I must say... Queen or not? Differences between Salem & Wildwood?

SALEM Xlite 195 BH FLOORPLAN (from ForestRiver website) :




Wildwood Xlite 195 BH FLOORPLAN (from ForestRiver website) :




Thank you for clarifying this.

[bikendan]

this is common in the RV Industry, Twin Brands.
this allows two local dealers to offer this floorplan, without infringing on each other's "brand" exclusivity.

FR has a number of twin brands in their lineup. Winnebago does too and so does Thor Ind., to name a couple of others.

so, the only difference between the two are outside graphics and interior decor.

[SimmZ]

Okay, that make sense... like Chevrolet and Pontiac a few years ago! But in that case Pontiac offer a few more goodies like factory fogs lights, alloys and more. This is not the case for ForestRiver twin-branding? Both offer the same equipment level?

But what about the front bed? I'm just confused when the dealer says it's a full-ed and brochure (of the Salem only, not the Wildwood) says it's a queen bed.

I regret to have not bringing my measuring tape with me when visiting the Salem 195BH... now the dealer is 1.5 hours far from my home, I'll not do the travel again just to measure the bed...

[CincyED]

I would call the dealer and have them measure it and take a picture and send it to you.

[jawga]

we have the wildwood model 2014 model year. it is a full size bed up front even though the website shows queen size. the only difference we have seen is the colors. Wildwood seems to be red and grey and salem seems to be blue and grey

[jawga]

oh also after we bought ours found out there are many different configurations of this trailer for options. some have the 3way fridge (vents on side next to door) and some just have the mini bar type fridge( small door next to main door). some have the antenna and cable run for tv and some dont. also the ac can be either a 5 or 8 btu wall ac or a 13.5 btu roof unit. some come with a rear spare tire and some dont. went and measured bed is 54x75. we ended up adding a memory foam topper to the bed to make it more comfortable. hope this helps

[rockfordroo]

The only way you're going to know is to measure it. The brochure for my 2012 Roo 19 says the beds are 60 x 80, but in fact, they are 60 x 72.

So measure the bed in the one you have access to. I'd be pretty confident that both models have the same size bed in them.

[SimmZ]

Wow jawga thanks for the info! Well, I'm 6'1" and we have a king size bed at home for this reason... so we do prefer at least a queen size bed but in this category of small bunkhouse unit I guess it'll be very hard to find!

[jawga]

I'm 6'2" and wife is 5' 10". not as bad as you might think unles you sleep stretched out all night but even then with my head up against the wall my feet dont feel like they are hanging off the end.

[SimmZ]

That's right. And camping is not camping if you feel as good as home! You need to do some conceding. LOL!

[jawga]

yup but still cant do without heat ac running hot and cold water, shower toilet microwave and decent bed.... nah some conceding but almost like home haha. shower head is ok but swapped ours for an oxygentics one and so much better also swapped out the toilet for a ceramic one under warranty.

[SimmZ]

What about the head clearance in the shower for tall people? When I tried the Salem 195BH I think my head rub the roof when I stand inside the shower but I still have my boots so maybe this is not that bad... The shower is pretty big actually, I'm more concerned about the head clearance.

Why did you replace toilet under warranty? Because the plastic toilet kinda broke?

[jawga]

if i stand straight ( at attention haha) up i do rub my head but normal standing it doesnt bother me or i have gotten used to it. a lot if other trailers in this size seem to not have much head room. most shower heads even in houses doesnt seem to be high enough. the dometic 300 toilet had some issues last year there is a thread in the plumbing section as a sticky, dont know if there is still a problem or not.

[Terier]

Sometimes there can be small differences with units from different areas. I remember chatting with a couple of Cruise Lite owners that brought the same year & model TT just a couple weeks apart but in different states. One had outside storage doors on both sides of the TT while the other one only had one door and limited storage under the bed.

[SimmZ]

That's right Terier. As someone else says I've seen A LOT of difference between units of the same brand/model/year while browsing deals on the internet. The Salem/Wildwood 195BH come with A LOT of options and some options are even not in the brochure! I need to be careful when comparing prices, because some come with a 60$ Walmart 120V fridge when other come with a Norcold 3-way fridge ($$). Some come with a 50$ wall-mount A/C when other come with a 600$ top mount A/C and I ever see some units naked without any A/C! I also saw a few with a wall mounted radio inside, but most don't have any... I'm actually wondering if the 60$ Walmart 120V fridge can work on 12V, maybe with the trailer built-in power inverter?

That make the price compare very painful actually...

The unit I tried at my local dealer is a 2014 Salem 195BH FS who come with the Norcold 3-way fridge and a 5000 BTU wall mount A/C and no radio for 12,900$ (CDN) which sound like a pretty good deal. I also notice there's some wiring up for a TV (not included). In fact a residential wall-mount A/C is less efficient and a little more noisy, but when it broke you can fix it for 50$ for a complete brand new unit... not bad in a sense.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by SimmZ

That make the price compare very painful actually...

That was the joy of ordering. I was able to price shop 4 dealers and compare apples to apples.

[jawga]

for a base line ours had the reg fridge, not 3 way. 8k btu wall ac, no radio, no tv hookup (no big deal installed myself for around $40usd. ours was $8995 usd

[SimmZ]

9000$? Really? Is that a blow-out sale of a previous year? Wow.

Just for fun, what about the standard 120V fridge? Does it work on 12V for dry camping or while traveling on the road? Does it drain power because it's a standard compressor instead of a gas absorption. But something gas absorption (3-way fridge) became less cold than a true compressor fridge on very hot days...

[jawga]

No its a 2014 model. They just sell real cheap. they dont haggle over price the price is what it is take it or leave it. they had a larger trailer identical to one at a dealer near our house and they were around $4k less. the trailer was built on a wed and i bought it the next weekend so it was a little over a week old. the fridge only works on 120. we were not planning on going camping unless there are hookups. what we have been doing is plugging up the camper at the house the day before so the fridge cools down. then before we leave we pack all the food inside. the food stays cold until we get to the campsite and the. we plug up the camper again. also we can cool or heat the camper before we leave the house. usually the trip to a campsite is no more than 8 hours most of the time its only about 3 hours. we did find out you cant run the microwave, ac, fridge, and an electric skillet at the same time it trips the breaker.

[jawga]

sorry should have written $USD instead of usd. noticed u were talking in $CND. we were looking at used but this new one was a lot cheaper than a used one. I could have turned around and sold it for $10k and still been cheaper than some of the used ones we saw