Weight of a Solera

[butch50]

I'm interested in a new Solera but am really curious about the weight of them. Has anybody weighted their new Solera before you out in your stuff? Also after putting in water and your personal items what was the weight of the rig?

Also what is everybody towing for a run around car if you are towing one?

It does not appear that they have much cargo capacity and was wondering if anybody is having any problems with excess weight. I presently have a pickup and slide in camper and have to pay close attention to the weight I add to the rig.

Thanks,

Butch

[DebbieMH]

Hi Butch. I didn't weigh mine without stuff. I weighed mine when it was totally full with all our stuff that we wanted for a 14 day trip - including full water, gas and metal dog fences! When you added myself, husband and two dogs - we were about a hundred pounds "over". Solera drove beautifully and there was no problems. In a S model - there is plenty of storage room. IMHO

[DebbieMH]

Oh, second question. We don't tow anything yet. We have a smart car - so if we decide, will get that one set up. If we go within a couple of hours, one of us just drives one of our other vehicles. In Key West and next month in Houston, we will rent a car. You can rent a lot of cars for the price of getting one set up to tow.

[Taylorgso]

Hi, Butch:
Ours is 24M (Murphy Bed). Your post is a good reminder I need to get mine weighed. We keep it ready to roll with exception of items in refrigerator. I actually filled freshwater tank yesterday in prep for taking to the scales. Based on what Debbie stated, I expect mine to come in under GVWR.

We tow a Mazda3 - weighs around 2900lbs which puts us well below GCWR, so we actually carry some of our "stuff" in the Mazda. The difference between GVWR and GCWR is approximately 4200 lbs. FR puts a 3500# sticker on their hitch, although the hitch is a 5000# hitch - they state they want to discourage users from pulling heavier vehicles and going overweight. So you could tow a car a little larger than ours without concern

With our Mazda, the Solera tows beautifully. The extra weight is virtually unnoticeable and apparently no strain on the Mercedes Diesel. We use a drop-in auxiliary brake, and a toad-charge system. I use magnetic lights on the toad. If I ever trade the Mazda, will probably install a wired-in lighting connection.

Keep in mind you're dealing with a 24' Motorhome. It is not made for extended, long-term camping, and it is really only a 2-person unit, so it's highly unlikely you'll be packing so much "stuff" that you'll go overweight. At least in mine, there's not enough storage space for things like fire pits, dog kennels, etc. Debbie has the S Model, which has much more exterior storage - enough to easily load it overweight if you're not careful!!

[butch50]

Thanks for the replies.

Like I said we are use to watching the weight of our rig with a slide in truck camper it is very easy to go over weight on it. In fact my F350 that I'm hauling with right now it about 500# over the GVWR. I have changed tires and wheel and have 19.5 commercial wheels on it.

As far as extended trips we are presently in Alaska with our camper and have been for about 8 weeks now. I have seen a lot on Navions up here from the lower 48. There is just the 2 of us plus our mini Labradoodle pup.

Taylorgso, question for you , is the murphy bed in yours a short queen (75 to76" long) or is it a standard 80" queen? I'm 6'1" so a short queen means my feet hang over the end, now I know in the MS model that this is not a problem as there is no footboard.

I have talked to many people that have the Navion but I have never seen the Solera yet.

Another general question is what kind of gas mileage do you folks get when not towing and for the ones towing what type of mileage do you get while towing?

I am a past Forest River owner, I had a Cedar Creek 5er for a number of years. So how does it seem that the Forest River Soleras are holding up. Is anybody having a lot of troubles with them? If I get one I won't have a dealer very close to me. There are a lot of things that I can do myself and don't need a dealer for.

Thanks for the free flow of information on here,

Butch

[Taylorgso]

Originally Posted by butch50

Thanks for the replies.

Like I said we are use to watching the weight of our rig with a slide in truck camper it is very easy to go over weight on it. In fact my F350 that I'm hauling with right now it about 500# over the GVWR. I have changed tires and wheel and have 19.5 commercial wheels on it.

As far as extended trips we are presently in Alaska with our camper and have been for about 8 weeks now. I have seen a lot on Navions up here from the lower 48. There is just the 2 of us plus our mini Labradoodle pup.

Taylorgso, question for you , is the murphy bed in yours a short queen (75 to76" long) or is it a standard 80" queen? I'm 6'1" so a short queen means my feet hang over the end, now I know in the MS model that this is not a problem as there is no footboard.

I have talked to many people that have the Navion but I have never seen the Solera yet.

Another general question is what kind of gas mileage do you folks get when not towing and for the ones towing what type of mileage do you get while towing?

I am a past Forest River owner, I had a Cedar Creek 5er for a number of years. So how does it seem that the Forest River Soleras are holding up. Is anybody having a lot of troubles with them? If I get one I won't have a dealer very close to me. There are a lot of things that I can do myself and don't need a dealer for.

Thanks for the free flow of information on here,

Butch

Butch:
The Murphy bed is a standard 80" queen. I'm 6'2" and it's nice to be able to sleep without my toes hanging over. The mattress is thick and VERY comfortable, and accommodates standard fitted sheets. Also, it's much easier to make the bed than the corner beds. With the bed in the stored position, the two recliners are at perfect angle for viewing TV, but there's no standard dinette - there are two trays that attach to the recliners. For us this works very well, and we prefer the chairs to a dinette.

The only real downside - if there is one - is the reduced outside storage space compared to the S and R models. This has not been a problem for us - we have room to store all the setup stuff: hoses, leveling blocks, patio mats, folding chairs, etc., with space left over for things such as tools. On the plus side, there is an abundance of interior storage - almost as much as in our old 38' pusher, from which we downsized. You can special order it with cabinet storage over the cab, but we preferred the cabover bunk, which allows storage of odd-sized items. For instance, the recliners do not have a footrest, so we have collapsable hassocks which we store overhead.

Reports of fuel mileage are all over the place. Realistically, you can expect 15+ mpg clean, and 12-13 with a toad. And of course this depends a lot on your driving style. Mine is not really broken in yet, and on straight highway trip I've gotten 15.4 (per my scan gauge), only time I've taken the toad any distance (to dealer which is 50 miles away) I got a little over 13, but I'm a very conservative driver. But you'll absolutely LOVE the way this rig handles. There's one mod all us owners are making and that is to replace the rear sway bar with a Hellwig replacement - you might insist this be done prior to delivery and included in the deal. The part is less than $200 and can be installed in a matter of minutes in a garage with a lift. This greatly reduces sway from crosswinds and passing trucks.

So far, no problems of consequence. A couple of fit/finish deficiencies, a missing door latch, misaligned recliner. If you've had experience with the Cedar Creek and are handy, I wouldn't think you'd have any regrets. But do make sure you do a thorough PDI before you drive it off the lot. Once you do, you're at their mercy - as with any dealer.

Ed

[Fla Lizard]

Ed,
So glad to hear you are pleased with the inside storage of your M. We should be getting ours the end of this month. We ordered the M sight unseen. Our dealer only had the other two models and every dealer we called had "just sold the M." We are downsizing from a 38' FRED toyhauler and I was a bit nervous about the lack of storage. We opted for the cabover bunk also. Have you had any problems with the workings of the bed? Also, where did you get your collapsable hassocks?

Thanks for the info (I've been reading the forums since we ordered ours in April.)

Audrey

[Taylorgso]

Originally Posted by Fla Lizard

Ed,
So glad to hear you are pleased with the inside storage of your M. We should be getting ours the end of this month. We ordered the M sight unseen. Our dealer only had the other two models and every dealer we called had "just sold the M." We are downsizing from a 38' FRED toyhauler and I was a bit nervous about the lack of storage. We opted for the cabover bunk also. Have you had any problems with the workings of the bed? Also, where did you get your collapsable hassocks?

Thanks for the info (I've been reading the forums since we ordered ours in April.)

Audrey

Audrey:

Like you, we downsized too - from a 38' pusher back in January. We finally got "fully" retired and wanted to do more distance traveling and staying in National and State Parks; the old coach wasn't right for that! We did find that we had "stuff" in the pusher that we had never or hardly ever used and certainly didn't need.

The bed has worked fine. It has two motors, and they have to be synchronized - initially ours wasn't and it would stop after traveling a foot or so and we'd have to release the button and push again. Dealer synchronized them and it works well.

Becky bought the hassocks somewhere locally, maybe wallyworld or Target or BB&B, but has seen them online, too. Here's a link to the style we bought: Hazelwood Home Cube Ottoman | Wayfair
I think it's probably also available on Amazon. We like this style cause you can store stuff in it, but it also collapses to fold completely flat (only about 3" thick). And it's amazingly strong. I'm 220# and can stand on it! She paid a lot less than prices I've seen on internet, so you may want to check locally before you spring for internet!

[Taylorgso]

OK...
Just got back from CAT scales. With Full Fresh Water tank, Full Propane, Full Diesel fuel, Full DEF, and blackwater with maybe 5 gals, we were 11200 - 170# over. Everything in the coach ready to go, with SWMBO, myself, the dog all on board. By the way, I go 220#, SWMBO is 155#, the dog is 50#. Simple solution: go on a diet and lose 170# for the 3 of us!!!, or maybe put SWMBO and the dog on roller skates and tow them behind the Solera

Alternative solution, travel with only half full fresh water tank (we also had 4 Gals of bottled water on board), and 0# in the holding tank, and maybe leave some toys behind. No room for a third adult, but for SWMBO, me and the dog, I think we'll be fine.

Interesting enough, I can't tell a bit of difference in handling when everything was empty and when loaded. The new sway bar (which probably added 25#) has so improved the handling that it's probably undetectable.

[DebbieMH]

I was over weight too back when I had everything in mine. But, don't sweat it - mine handled fine and that was before the new sway bar. I think they put a bit of fluff in the numbers anyway.

[Taylorgso]

Originally Posted by DebbieMH

I was over weight too back when I had everything in mine. But, don't sweat it - mine handled fine and that was before the new sway bar. I think they put a bit of fluff in the numbers anyway.

I agree - of course don't let the weight police hear me say that!. It does tell me to forget about having levelers installed. I will travel with less fresh water, though. We only need enough for flushing toilet; we keep bottled water for drinking and cooking.

Only other thing we're considering is solar panels (oh, and Bilstein shocks), and I suspect a solar system is going to add 30-35lbs to base weight. I think I can live with that.

[Fla Lizard]

I thought you were going to say "put SWMBO and the dog on a diet!" picturing the skate solution.... Thanks for my laugh of the day...

Audrey

[Taylorgso]

Originally Posted by Fla Lizard

I thought you were going to say "put SWMBO and the dog on a diet!" picturing the skate solution.... Thanks for my laugh of the day...

Audrey

SWMBO "thinks" she needs to go on a diet! However, at 5'11" I think 155 is about right. Now, as for me and the dog...

[ajgasman]

Butch, I have a 2010 solera s24 and tow a 2012 Toyota rav4,which weights 3500 lbs. and I had to install a transmission pump so I could tow it , my mileage without towing is 15 mpg and towing drops it to 12 mpg. hope this helps. Ajgasman