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Old 02-22-2012, 10:11 AM   #1
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Has anyone actually weighed their 2306 w/Murphy bed?

Picking up my 2306 soon and I'm getting nervous about weights! lol I'll be towing (for now) with a Honda Ridgeline. I'm comfortable with my combined weight and payload weight, but I think I'm going to be close on my tongue weight.

The supposed "dry" weight of the 2306 is 3700 lbs, so I'm *hoping* it'll weigh in somewhere around 4200-4300 lbs as delivered and loaded (we're very light packers). Let's say it's at 4200 lbs; a 12% tongue weight would put me at 504 lbs, which is right at the 500 lb limit of my truck. So...

Can anyone confirm what their 2306 with the Murphy bed ACTUALLY weighs, as verified with a scale? Thanks!
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Old 02-22-2012, 08:38 PM   #2
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the fictional "dry"weight is 3700lbs. that doesn't include the weight of "options", such as oven, a/c, awning, spare tire, microwave, grill, t.v. and so on.
my HTT weighed 400lbs. over its "dry" weight, when it arrived from the factory.
and that was with the basic "options".

so, you can figure that it'll weigh 4000lbs. before adding the weights of the battery, propane, water and cargo.
adding 40lbs. for the battery, 40lbs. for propane and 250lbs. for water, you'll be 4330lbs. before you add any cargo.

and you have to subtract the weights of whatever is in the Ridgeline, other than the driver, from your 5000lbs. tow capacity.
so, you're already over the often-recommended 80% rule. you'll be at or over the 5000lbs. amount.

if you lived in Florida or Iowa, you could get by for awhile but in Colorado?
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Old 02-22-2012, 09:21 PM   #3
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I'm going to be an optimist here and cite the fact that I won't be carrying any water. That puts me closer to 4000lbs which, while not ideal, is certainly within my truck's specs. And having raced motorcycles for many years I certainly have no problem revving an engine -- especially a Honda. lol
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Old 02-22-2012, 09:28 PM   #4
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Thank you for the info by the way. Hopefully more 2306 owners will chime in with real-world weights!
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Old 03-08-2012, 10:20 AM   #5
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PG,

I know you picked up your 2306. Did you get a chance to weigh it yet? I got the same model and was curious what the weight was with all of the options including the tongue weight. Also, did you get a 2012 model or 2013 and what brand tires were on it?

Thanks for all your help on this! It's good to have another new owner to bounce questions off of now and then.
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Old 03-08-2012, 10:58 AM   #6
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Didn't get a chance to weigh it on the drive home -- it was WAY too cold to be outside hitching and unhitching! I'm going to weight it once the weather here improves, and I'll be sure to post my numbers.

As for your other questions, to be honest I'm not sure how they labeled my trailer (2012 or 2013) -- I'll have to check the paperwork. The tires are the Chinese Load Stars.

One other thing I found interesting is that there seemed to be some "upgrades" I wasn't expecting. For instance, the shower curtain track is curved and the stereo unit is NOT a Concertone. On top of that, it has Bluetooth built in which I wasn't expecting. Do any other MiniLite owners have these features?
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Old 03-08-2012, 06:33 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pg_rider
For instance, the shower curtain track is curved and the stereo unit is NOT a Concertone. On top of that, it has Bluetooth built in which I wasn't expecting. Do any other MiniLite owners have these features?
If it's a Genesis 3.0, it's made by Concertone.
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Old 03-08-2012, 06:55 PM   #8
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You should have a yellow sticker inside the camper, backside of a door, that sticker will have the weight of your unit as it can off the line, difference between that and your take home should only be maybe the battery (depending on unit options) and the weight of the propane your dealer should have added. I would not weight it unit you load it for camping to know what you are really pulling.
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Old 03-09-2012, 10:39 AM   #9
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You should have a yellow sticker inside the camper, backside of a door, that sticker will have the weight of your unit as it came off the line, difference between that and your take home should only be maybe the battery (depending on unit options) and the weight of the propane your dealer should have added.
That's what's weird -- my yellow sticker (there's one on the screen door, and one on the front left side of the trailer, bot identical) specifies a weight of 3780lbs. I want to beleive that's my as-delivered weight, but yet that's also the advertised "dry" weight on the Forest River website.

I want to believe that's truly my as-delivered weight, and Forest River is just very truthful/accurate with their advertised dry weights. Guess I won't know for sure until I get it on a scale...
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Old 03-09-2012, 10:41 AM   #10
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That's what's weird -- my yellow sticker (there's one on the screen door, and one on the front left side of the trailer, bot identical) specifies a weight of 3780lbs. I want to beleive that's my as-delivered weight, but yet that's also the advertised "dry" weight on the Forest River website.

I want to believe that's truly my as-delivered weight, and Forest River is just very truthful/accurate with their advertised dry weights. Guess I won't know for sure until I get it on a scale...
I take it back -- my sticker does say 3780 lbs, but the Forest River site quotes a dry weight of 3646 lbs (a difference of 134 lbs). Is it possible that the AC, awning, and other options only add 134 lbs to the advertised "dry" weight?
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Old 03-09-2012, 11:09 AM   #11
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I take it back -- my sticker does say 3780 lbs, but the Forest River site quotes a dry weight of 3646 lbs (a difference of 134 lbs). Is it possible that the AC, awning, and other options only add 134 lbs to the advertised "dry" weight?
I'm sure its trailer-specific and hopefully someone else with your trailer will chime in here.

As I recall, my 233S's dry weight (yellow sticker) was 332lbs more than the listed brochure dry weight.

My factory options included (again, going by memory here): The convenience package, power awning, slide out toppers, power jack, spare tire, and raised fridge panels.
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Old 03-12-2012, 12:30 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by pg_rider View Post
I take it back -- my sticker does say 3780 lbs, but the Forest River site quotes a dry weight of 3646 lbs (a difference of 134 lbs). Is it possible that the AC, awning, and other options only add 134 lbs to the advertised "dry" weight?
The website weight might also be wrong. The dry-weight for my 2306 in the 2011 brochure was 3410lbs and the website stated a dry weight of 3600lbs; so keeping in mind the standard disclaimer 'that not all weights are accurate' I would go by the yellow sticker as your correct dry weight with your factory options.
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Old 03-12-2012, 05:40 PM   #13
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I spoke to a sales rep from Forest River and he said they changed the 2012 brochure to reflect the dry weight of the trailers WITH the convenience package so that would explain the difference from the 2011 specs. He said each unit is weighed as it leaves assembly and so the yellow sticker should be accurate, not counting battery and propane.

I ordered a Rockwood 2306 and I have been considering the weight, and I also will be towing with a Honda Ridgeline. Here are my concerns: If the 2306 with murphy bed is around 3780 lbs, it could end up pushing the limit of the GCWR with propane, battery, water, cargo and passengers, and according to the Ridgeline manual, with 4 or 5 people and their gear in the truck, the towing max goes down to around 4500 lbs. In addition, it states that the weight limits must be decreased by 2% for each 1000 feet of elevation, so the weight may not be a concern on level grade but there could be issues driving in mountainous areas. Most likely all of these circumstances will not apply for me but I have been considering all the possibilities.

I never imagined this could all be so difficult and now I'm giving myself headaches wondering if I should choose a smaller trailer, find a bigger truck (much more money), or stick with what I ordered and hope for the best...
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Old 03-13-2012, 09:47 PM   #14
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Replicant, glad to hear there may be another Ridgeline 2306 owner! Wish I could give you specific weights on the 2306, but below is what I posted on the Ridgeline forum about my initial experience:

"This past weekend I picked up my new 2012 Rockwood 2306 camping trailer at RV Wholesalers in Ohio (I live in Colorado). On the drive back I learned a lot about the Ridgeline's capabilities so I thought I'd share my experience.

Let me start by saying that before this trip I was firmly on the side of the "Weight Distributing Hitch (WDH) not required" crowd, based on everything I'd read here. Even with an advertised "dry" weight of 3640 pounds, I was confident that I could just pick up my trailer and go.

I measured my truck's front and rear height before and after coupling the trailer to my basic hitch. With the trailer coupled, the rear sagged about 1 1/2", which I thought was great and gave me further confidence for hitting the road without a WDH. I left the dealership and could immediately feel the "lightness" of the front end, and I had obviously lost a fair amount of steering authority. The front was just floating, and the steering felt very sloppy. Not even a mile down the road a semi came past me (each of us were going ~50mph), and man did my truck get loose. I'm not a nervous driver at all, but that really spooked me bad. There was no way I was going to make it across the country with such a light front end and lack of steering authority.

I immediately turned around and went back to the dealer. 30 minutes and $580 later, I left with a 1000 lb /10,000 lb Equal-I-zer WDH/sway hitch installed. Again, I measured the front and rear height with the hitch in place; the rear height stayed the same, and the front actually lowered by 1/2" indicating the WDH had transferred a significant amount of weight through the frame to the front axle.

I got back on the road and the difference was absolutely night and day. I'm not exaggerating when I say I literally laughed out loud at how effective the WDH was. The truck steered as though there was no trailer back there; there was no porpoising over the dips in the road; and there was absolutely not a hint of sway when trucks went by me.

In terms of engine/tranny performance, I was initially unimpressed. On the freeway the truck wanted to stay in 3rd gear at 60mph, revving at around 3500 rpm. After about 10 miles of that I started playing with throttle position and found that I could lift off the gas for a sec, cause the truck to shift to 4th (2800 rpm), and then get back in the gas and remain in 4th. That was certainly a "sweet spot" for towing, but I soon started experiencing the dreaded hunting. The tranny would often shift to 5th (2100 rpm) which, depending on the grade of the road, it could sometimes hold. However, on any sort of climb it would then skip past 4th and go right down to 3rd -- very frustrating, because 4th would have likely been able to make the hill. I tried to ride 4th and 5th as much as I could, and ended up averaging around 8.5mpg for the trip. I was hoping for 10mpg, but couldn't get there.

So what did I learn... Well, I can't recommend a WDH enough. Remember that at the start I was set against them, but I'm now a strong believer. Perhaps there's a weight threshold that the Ridgeline likes, but for my 3700lb dry trailer with an advertised tongue weight of 318 lbs I believe the Ridgeline is not suitable for towing without a WDH. That said, I realize my tongue weight may be less than the recommended 10-12%. With the battery and propane installed I'd like to think I'm around 375lbs, but I need to hit a CAT scale to figure out for sure. Perhaps additional tongue weight would have helped with the sway, but in my opinion the rear of the Ridgeline would still have been squatting too much to be safe.

I'm planning on weighing in at a CAT scale to make sure I'm not overloading the front axle, so I'll update this thread as soon as I have data."
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Old 03-13-2012, 10:38 PM   #15
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I immediately turned around and went back to the dealer. 30 minutes and $580 later, I left with a 1000 lb /10,000 lb Equal-I-zer WDH/sway hitch installed. Again, I measured the front and rear height with the hitch in place; the rear height stayed the same, and the front actually lowered by 1/2" indicating the WDH had transferred a significant amount of weight through the frame to the front axle.

I got back on the road and the difference was absolutely night and day. I'm not exaggerating when I say I literally laughed out loud at how effective the WDH was. The truck steered as though there was no trailer back there; there was no porpoising over the dips in the road; and there was absolutely not a hint of sway when trucks went by me.

"
As I reading your reply I was hoping that you made a U-turn back to the dealer for a WDH. You were wise to do so once you knew there was a possible problem or issue.

My trailer dry weight is 3621 lbs and I use a WDH and anti-sway. There are people that keep telling me that I "don't need that stuff" but I beg to differ as it seems to be working especially since I don't know anything when simi trucks pass me.
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Old 03-14-2012, 12:45 AM   #16
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wieght distributing hitch

If you get a weight distributing hitch with sway control you will be just fine. I tow a Surveyor 235rks which weighed dry at 4200 and I am just fine. I will tell you that you are not going to be the guy passing everyone in the fast lane. Good luck.
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Old 03-14-2012, 11:43 AM   #17
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Thanks pg_rider for that detailed account of your experience. The large decrease in fuel economy and the gear shifting issue is really making me question my choice now. The 2306 very closely meets my needs, in that I am planning on temporarily full-timing with it, but your description of the Ridgeline towing performance somewhat discourages me from using it for actual camping. I would probably park at a campground and then stay as long as possible rather than moving around frequently.

RVW has been fairly accommodating, even telling me that though the deposit is non-refundable (why did I ever sign that?), I could change my mind and use the deposit for something else. However, when I asked for a quote on an entirely different make of trailer, their usual discounts were nowhere to be seen. It could be that because they deal Rockwoods in such volume that the discount on those is much more substantial, but I got the feeling that he didn't really want to sell me something else for whatever reason. Anyway I guess I'm at the choice of either getting the lighter trailer or sticking with 2306 and not worrying about it for now. I guess I can always sell it or trade for something lighter later on or eventually get a Toyota Tundra.

I am also curious how many people go for the extended service plan. When the finance guy contacted me, he made it sound like I would be stupid to not get it. In some cases I think extended warranties are a good idea but $1499 is quite a bit extra, even if it does cover for 5 years. Having that coverage would be nice, but if I had to bring any trailer in for service very often, I would never buy that brand again. I think I would rather take my chances and let the factory warranty handle the major stuff. Any thoughts?
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Old 03-14-2012, 11:50 AM   #18
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I wouldn't give two thoughts to the mileage aspect. From what I've seen, it almost doesn't matter WHAT truck you use to pull WHAT camper -- everyone seems to get 8-10mpg.

As for the warranty, I passed on it. There were too many exclusions in my mind, and I figured I could always buy an extended warranty when my factory warranty gets close to running out. DO MAKE SURE to buy the Forest River 2nd year warranty for $150. That's a no brainer...
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Old 03-14-2012, 12:46 PM   #19
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replicant - I think you are right to take the factory warranty (w/ the optional 2nd year) and forget about the dealer's service plan. That two years is when you would find most manufacturing problems would occur.

Keep in mind that all of your appliances (fridge, stove, water heater, water pump, etc) have their own warranties from their manufacturer. The roof should come with a 10-year warranty against defects. Of course, regular maintenance of the roof and checking for leaks will help a lot, too.

An extended service plan is usually a money-maker for the dealer. Do what pg-rider did and read it through for exclusions if you are considering it. Caveat emptor.
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Old 03-24-2012, 08:15 AM   #20
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New here -- close to placing order for Micro Lite 25ks -- just want to say thank you for all the wisdom here. Your advice on warranties, etc. is much appreciated!
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