Newbie looking for help with purchase

[phathead19]

Hi there, new to rving and the forum. Was hoping to get some input from people on Forest River as a manufacturer and specifically input from owners of the Surveyor Cadet 321bhts or the Sport 296 model. My rig is a 2010 f150 FX4 with tow package. Specs on the 321bhts say I should be under gcvw by 5000lbs and tow rating by 4000lbs dry. I have to double check axle ratings but Im pretty sure I was good. That's all dry weight numbers. Also trips will usually be less than 100km(god bless Vancouver Ilsand) we some longer trips every couple years maybe doing 300km a day with a 3 and 2 year old. Might even have new truck by then. Also Im a 10 year class 1 driver whose driven the worst conditions on road and off road in western Canada so pretty comfortable with the driving part.Appreciate it and thanks for any future help.

[Ford Idaho]

I know you are just looking for some help but posting three threads on the same topic is not helping your cause.

Good luck.

[phathead19]

Geez I hope I am in the right place for someone to help. I've posted that three times in three appropriate threads, which I've since found out is against the rules. My bad and my mistake. But really within five minutes I had two people complaining to me about that but no one offering anything else with it. ??????

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by phathead19

Geez I hope I am in the right place for someone to help. I've posted that three times in three appropriate threads, which I've since found out is against the rules. My bad and my mistake. But really within five minutes I had two people complaining to me about that but no one offering anything else with it. ??????

Have you considered that it is possible that someone with your trailer has not yet read your thread?

Patient is a virtue.

[bikendan]

another way to get info, while you're waiting for other Surveyor owners to post, is to do a search in the Surveyor sub-forum, for those particular models.

i do know that Surveyor did some recent changes to their lines/models, so not sure if those models you're asking about, were called by different model names or model numbers, previously.

[phathead19]

I don't mean to carry on Mr Idaho, but I did also ask for opinions on Forest River as a manufacturer. I'm done with the back and forth now and understand I may have gotten off on the wrong foot by breaking a rule about duplicate posts but please enough chastising. Just looking for help. Thanks and thanks bikendan I'll definitely check it out.

[pastor99]

"I don't mean to carry on Mr Idaho, but I did also ask for opinions on Forest River as a manufacturer."

We bought a Forest River Wildwood 241QBXL a couple of months ago. We really like it. Everything works. Some of the workmanship (e.g. caulking the cabinet panels) was really, really shoddy. I wish they had more information specific to a particular model available on their website.
Again, so far, we really like it.

[phathead19]

Thank you. I guess that's to be expected though from what I've read on different manufacturers sites and forums, unless of course your spending the big bucks (although to me these are big bucks). Appreciate it

[Ford Idaho]

Originally Posted by phathead19

Thank you. I guess that's to be expected though from what I've read on different manufacturers sites and forums, unless of course your spending the big bucks (although to me these are big bucks). Appreciate it

You do know that Forest River Manufacturing has nothing to do with this site.

[pastor99]

I just read some of the stuff from the "Mad Momma ..." post and it was unsettling.

[davel1971]

pick any brand you want. All built with same components and average to poor workmanship. Just part of the industry unfortunately.

[davel1971]

I'm sure somebody will disagree with me, but the Surveyor Cadet 321bhts with an empty weight of 7300lbs and dry hitch weight of 888 is too much for most any half ton. You would most likely be over payload capacity and be hard on the truck on hills.

[Old Bones]

Welcome to the forum phathead19.

We have a 2013 Surveyor SP296. It was a new floor plan in 2013. Very pleased with this TT so far. All the counter space with island due to the kitchen slide and jack & jack bunks (4 grandsons) are what sold us on it.

Our TV is a 2010 Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4x4 with a 5.7L.

It pulls the trailer fine, but we are experiencing sway issues with winds and in Saskatchewan it's windy just about all the time.

Have had lots of good suggestions on how to eliminate the sway and comes down to dialing in the WDH better and I'm changing the tires on the truck to a heavier sidewall.

Last year we camped for about 32 nights. Mostly 4 day weekends and trips to the campgrounds were about 100 to 150 KMS.

So far no major issues with the trailer. Any problems we had were cosmetic, such as hinges coming loose and the valance over the sofa fell down. All were easily fixed with different screws and some additional ones. I think our rough secondary highways are more to blame for shaking screws loose.

Hope this helps some.

[phathead19]

Unless the numbers I'm getting for my truck are off it doesn't exceed any of the weight limits. Including my family dogs and canopy with dry hitch weight ill still be under. Pushing it but under. Also first test drive will be to scale, going to take my truck there first though to make sure given weights are correct in documentation I'm using for reference. And again almost all my camping will be within 50 km radius to 100km and mainly paved roads. But yeah if I had to travel very far more often than not it is getting to be too much trailer(even though no numbers are going ovver maxes why work it that hard) Gotta love vancouver island for all the beautiful spots so close

[davel1971]

you haven't given us the towing and payload capacity of your truck, so no way anyone can give you a good answer

[phathead19]

Gcvw is 17000 I should be at 13000ish. Tow is 11100 trailer is 7400 dry. Payload is 1960. Front axle is 3300 and rear axle is 2400 dry curb weights. Family and dogs 500, canopy 200 trailer hitch dry is 890. All pulled from spec docs from ford and forest river. Is that enough?

[rlocicero]

I really don't care if you post three or thirty times. If you need help, that is the important thing. The Whiners drive me nuts. We have a Flagstaff 829fkss that weighs 6400 dry and empty. I am guessing about 7200 loaded. We have towed it all through Ontario, New Brunswick and most of the Maritime provinces with a 2008 F150 5/4l tow package. We also towed it thru ontario to Soo St Marie, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Back to Rochester, NY With 2011 Ford 150 5.0L tow package. No problems or issues on either trip. You can do the math all day long but how it tows is important.

[phathead19]

Rlociero thanks for that. I'm really appreciating the members who are trying to help. Been having issues all day on my first day of school here with people chastizing me and picking apart my posts when I'm just asking for help. Appreciate the insight and happy trails

[phathead19]

To the people so concerned here is what I posted in my other thread Im monitoring:

I just read more on it and as far as I can tell its done by adding the two vehicles loaded weights together. Like I said before that means my 5700lbs truck, 500lbs of family and pets, 7400lbs of trailer and 2300lbs of gear(including my canopy) puts me under the MAX of 17100 lbs pulled from ford literature. Also the 7400lbs of trailer with 2300lbs of gear (9700lbs) is still under my tow rating of 11200lbs pulled again from fords literature. with proper weight distribution I should be able to add slightly to my tongue weight for smoother ride, without overloading. Again thanks for all the help with this stuff but please just posts on peoples experiences and opinions with regards to these two trailers and forest river as a manufacturer

[phathead19]

And I have to admit I earned all the tow vehicle talk because initial statements about how much I'd be away from weights was way off. Thanks for making me do math on papern not just in my head