About to buy a FR Surveyor 295BHS Appreciate Expert Advice!

[GolfOCD]

Hi all,

I have been watching the boards for a while and am about to go in tomorrow to finalize a deal for a Forest River 2015 295BHS. But, I have a few questions and would really appreciate any feedback the experts on this forum could provide.

As a little background, we chose this model because we have 3 kids (14, 11, and 7) and it has the BH in the back. I also liked the outside kitchen. We also chose this model because the dry weigh is only around 5800#, which I thought was good since my tow vehicle is a 5.7L Tundra (with tow package).

1) We settled on a price of $21,160 for the trailer, seems reasonable. Any feedback here?

2) This trailer has a "short slide" meaning that it only sides out 3'. This helps reduce the weight, and it still feels like plenty of room in the trailer, but will that significantly hurt me if I ever need to sell?

3) We opted not to do the 15k A/C as it comes with a 13.5. We live in Virginia, but it does get pretty hot in the summer. Most folks on the Forest River forums upgraded to the 15k A/C, but is this really necessary?

4) We are buying the hitch, sway bars, load balancer, and brake controller (all installed) from the dealer and they came in just under $1000 for all of that. This part seemed too high, but I'm not an expert here.

5) Do I need the 50 amp power cord? It comes with a 30amp, but again, other folks have suggested getting the 50.

Thanks all in advance. I've picked up a ton of tips and advice on these forums and it really, really helped when I went in to negotiate.

[vjswhippet]

I love my surveyor but it's only 26 ft. I bought the Equal-I-Lizer brand hitch and I think it's around $1,000. I barely feel the big trucks go by. I've had this trailer since 2003 ..I've had to replace the refrigerator a couple years ago and this year the the whole breaker panel box. I don't think that's too bad for a 12 year old trailer ?

[GolfOCD]

We survived our first weekend of camping and it was a mixed bad of good things and some "ok" things. Nothing bad, it was just kind of noisy at the camp ground we were at. I think we're going to look for more "quieter" spots.

First off, I will say that I don't know why anybody would buy any other camper. I'm a little concerned about the quality of the construction, but I think this may just be TT world, which I'm just getting used to.

The only really dumb thing we did was fill up the gray tank with another day to go. So, all teeth brushing was outside and no washing of dishes. LOL

In the two days were were there, we used just about every gadget and feature on the trailer.

Outside kitchen: Perfect for bacon in the morning. Outside fridge, awesome. I also thought that I would not like how the door does not swing all the way up, because I think it will "brown" over the years from the cooking, but I now love it because it keeps debris from falling in whatever you are cooking.

Outside shower: Perfect for hosing off dirty kids and we washed the dog with it after he got muddy.

Fine to tow with a 1/2 ton pick up truck. I won't win any races, but it performed just fine.

The Blue Ox Sway Pro and the Yakonsha P3 are the perfect combo.

LOVE the LED lighting on the awning.

Outside speakers, could be a little louder, but it was great to have them.

U-shaped dinette, perfect. Our family of 5 fit around it nicely.

32" TV nice to watch a movie and let the kids simmer down at night.

A little wobbly, I may look into braces for this thing.

The heat in the morning was HOT and the A/C was COLD (but we were in shade, not direct sunlight).

As for the noise outside, we just turned on the fan and it drowned out any noise and we all slept great.

Power tongue...awesome.

Emptying the black tank was not as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. Actually kind of no big deal.

The kids played outside a LOT. No real complaining about the lack of video games and my son can throw a frisbee like a champ. Who knew? We had a good time and looking forward to our next adventure.

Just overall a really great experience. We needed one more 2x4 to level the trailer perfectly, but oh well. You live and learn.

[GolfOCD]

I searched today, but couldn't find a good site, where can I find a 15k AC unit that will fit the trailer? Looks like this is going to be a job I'll have to take on myself one day.

BTW--I got the P3 Brake Controller for the price they quoted the Voyager to me. I think I've pushed them enough....maybe...

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

GolfOCD wrote:
So, quick update. I just decided to let the dealer install the hitch and brake controller. It is the Blue Ox Sway Pro, but they wanted to give me the Takonsha Voyager, which I told them was garbage and that I wanted the P3. Still waiting on an answer there.

They quoted me a price of $1500 for the A/C unit. Yee-ikes. We'll just have to see how far the 13.5k can get us.

I had not seen the Funfinder you noted, but if this deal falls apart, then it is definitely one worth looking at.

The walk-through is set for Saturday as long as all goes well with the financing. Friday night we are going to take one of the checklists from the "start here" thread and go shopping.

I already have the campsite reserved for this weekend, looking forward to giving this a shot on this Memorial Day weekend!

The 13.5 AC will most likely be fine, but sheesh! they are proud of the 15K unit swap job! 1500 for a few hours labor and a part that sells for under 600 and they get left with a new-unit-take-off part they can sell and get a lot back for! LOL!


For the walk through: Take a notepad and write down ALL issues as you go. Even the smallest piece of crooked trim or ding on a cabinet door. Whatever you see that is not "right", mark it down and discuss / get in the dealers records the list before the last bit of paperwork is signed. That stuff does not have to be fixed on the spot, just noted so it can be handled under warranty as faults that existed at delivery.

[GolfOCD]

So, quick update. I just decided to let the dealer install the hitch and brake controller. It is the Blue Ox Sway Pro, but they wanted to give me the Takonsha Voyager, which I told them was garbage and that I wanted the P3. Still waiting on an answer there.

They quoted me a price of $1500 for the A/C unit. Yee-ikes. We'll just have to see how far the 13.5k can get us.

I had not seen the Funfinder you noted, but if this deal falls apart, then it is definitely one worth looking at.

The walk-through is set for Saturday as long as all goes well with the financing. Friday night we are going to take one of the checklists from the "start here" thread and go shopping.

I already have the campsite reserved for this weekend, looking forward to giving this a shot on this Memorial Day weekend!

[APT]

The Brake controller can be tricky to easy. Tekonsha makes vehicle specific adapters for most half tons, so installation should be 10 minutes including searching 8 minutes for a screwdriver to mount it.

The WDH does require a couple hours worth of time. I suggest you take a look at this thread as well as Etrailer's WD Page as well as some good Etrailer installation videos. in order to access if you think you can do it or not.

[skripo]

I would suggest you get the Blue Ox Sway Pro, I just changed over from the Husky Center Line (same as Reese) and it is a bear to setup and may be a little uncomfortable on your tundra. It was for me on my Durango r/t.

The sway pro made it feel like I was literally driving a different truck. My only negative is that my sway pro does not eliminate sway as well as the husky Centerline. To be fair my test drive was in 30 mph winds that gusted to 40 when I crossed a bridge.

I will be posting a detailed review when I get back from my next trip.

I would highly recommend a Tekonsha P2, they are pretty much the standard. The P3 is about $20 more but I can't for the life of me figure out what more it gives me.

The Sway Pro was $560 on Amazon and I believe the P2 is about $120. My dealer also offered me the same $1000 deal but it was all bottom of the line stuff. The controller was a $40 item, the Weight distribution hitch did not have sway control built in like the Reese or sway pro, and the anti sway device was a simple piston that needed to be removed to back up.

I am assuming you have a crew cab to haul your family so your weight capacity might be very limited, you will want to check that carefully. If your trailer is 5,800 dry, assume it will be about 6,700 LBS loaded with gear. That translates into about 850 to 900 pounds of tongue weight on your truck.
Add the the hitch weight of about 80 lbs and you will be adding close to 1000 lbs to your truck before you even get in to the truck.

I don't want to sound like the weight police but cargo capacity is WAY more important than tow rating. I had to sell my a relatively new truck right after I bought my trailer because I didn't listen to the good people here.

Might I recommend you look at the Funfinder 242BDS? You lose the couch and one of the kids will need to sleep on the dinette but it weighs about 900 lbs less and I think you might find the top of the line appliances and outdoor kitchen very compelling for the price.

Good luck!

[GolfOCD]

Thanks all, one point of clarification: A lot of folks mention the dealer doing the install. What exactly are they installing? My truck has the two package and has receiver hitch, I think the only thing I need is the sway bars and load leveler. Does that require expert installation as well?

I'll also ask them for the bigger A/C unit.

Late last night, I got some paperwork from them and they had a $439 "Processing Fee" on there. I absolutely HATE this kind of stuff when try to buy something from a dealership of any kind. Anybody had good experience getting the dealers to drop this?

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

Another vote for getting the bigger A/C.
Our 31 footer barely stays comfortable with a 13.5 unit if there's no shade and temps get up in the mid 90's or higher.

I'd also say to just let the dealer do the WDH install, just specify they need to install a good hitch and a good brake controller (Prodigy 2 is plenty sufficient IMO). I let our dealer put in what they picked out and, while the hitch was a Reese dual cam, I got the cheapest basic POS timed-based brake controller.
They do this hitch setup work all the time and can set it up right on the first try - worth a few hundred bucks difference when your spending 20-plus-K anyway.

[mbopp]

GolfOCD wrote:

mbopp wrote:
The limiting factor on 1/2-tons is payload, not tow capacity.
What's the payload rating on the yellow drivers-side door jamb sticker?

7100

That's the gross weight of the truck plus cargo. Payload would be in the 1100-1500# range.

[thirtydaZe]

I would wonder, sure you could purchase your wdh on amazon cheaper, but do you have the correct tools to do the install yourself? some of the torque specs on mine are crazy.

paying a bit more to have the dealer install everything during your walkthrugh could be worth the extra cost at the end of the day.

of course, i'm a "i want it now" type of guy too.

[Slate_CM]

Same tow vehicle here, with a 5650 dry weight TT. We have some hills here, and without much trouble I can hold 50-55 all the way up. You will get up around 3500 rpm which is peak torque for that motor.

My truck is about the heaviest version, CM Limited with steps, 20" wheels etc. Payload is 1310. But don't forget Toyota has used the J2807 engineering standards to rate the 2nd gen from the start.

It allows all standard options and two 150 pound passengers. I think you will be fine.

[GolfOCD]

mbopp wrote:
The limiting factor on 1/2-tons is payload, not tow capacity.
What's the payload rating on the yellow drivers-side door jamb sticker?

7100

But this number just doesn't seem right, because...

About two weeks ago, I bought good-size pallet of damp sod, and I read that those can weigh 2000# or more

My truck bed was low, but the truck had no problem driving around with the sod or stopping.

So...if the truck is roughly 5600# plus 2000# for sod (and ALL of the weight was on the rear tires), that puts me at 7600 or depending, up to 8000#. I still had a decent gap between the well and the tires, but I wouldn't want to drive around like that forever.


Which brings me to the trailer. With 5600# for the truck and 1100# tongue weight, that is only 6600#. A full thousand pounds less than the truck with sod. My family only weighs about 500# (we're on the smaller side).

Still, don't see carrying any extra gear in the bed, but this should work. Thoughts?

[Merrykalia]

GolfOCD wrote:
And that will alleviate the "I want the top bunk" arguments that have ALREADY started. We hadn't thought about putting gates up, but we do have some because we had bunk beds before. They slide under the mattress or I can make something.

We used those when ours were little, up until they were 7ish. Our 8 year old rolled out of bed last weekend, but she was on the bottom, which is about 8" off the floor. She just pulled her blanket and pillow into the floor and stayed there.