Forest River Rockwood Ultra Light 8315BSS

Looking at the TT 8315BSS it states a dry weight of just over 7200 and a carry capacity of 1500+ Some of that 1500 will be used in battery and propane so I imagine the dry weight delivered is about 7550 lbs That still leaves near 1400 lbs carrying capacity. That may be adequate for a retired couple I know it would be more than enough for my DW and I. We don't do much boondocking so I travel with about a quarter tank of water and the holding tanks empty there is water at most check ins for state parks and electric only camping. I have plenty of payload left in my 2500 Ram so some of the extras can go there when needed. I scale out loaded and headed to Fl. for the Winter a little over 15,000 lbs all told. As far as longevity I think a Rockwood will handle the road as well as any other. Check out posts from Chip & Char he has towed a similar Rockwood similar to the one you mention, 10's of thousands of miles with only minor problems.

blacktop wrote:
Vintage, the ultra light uses Torsion axles, and like Airstreams which use the same type axle they don't have the same capacity as leaf springs do. That's not to say an Airstream is inadequately built. Torsion axles ride very well. If your need is to bring more with you, then stick with a trailer that has leaf springs.

OK, I will consider my self schooled. I guess my deal with the couple of Rocky's I saw was a good amount of space for storage and the only thing you can put in them is cotton balls. Most of your weight carrying ability is used up in water. It was just an observation that ruled them out for me. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

Vintage, the ultra light uses Torsion axles, and like Airstreams which use the same type axle they don't have the same capacity as leaf springs do. That's not to say an Airstream is inadequately built. Torsion axles ride very well. If your need is to bring more with you, then stick with a trailer that has leaf springs.

I own a 2015 Flagstaff Classic super lite. I have towed it about 6000 miles so far 5,000 of them with my F150 heavy 1/2 ton and now with my Ram 2500. I have not experienced any problems in the wind and even in a little snow. It says 7500 LBS dry weight and 8700 max weight. It scales at 8400 lbs loaded. We have had no problem keeping warm down to about 15 degrees and no problem with our single 15,000 output A/C. We spent a couple of months in Fla. this past winter and in May Al. and Mississippi where the temps were near 100 and the humidity about the same. We were always comfortable. Hope this helps

We love on Soith Florida and have an ultralight. A\C kicks it. We keep the TT at 72 degrees, no problem.

Responding to the OP: I don't think a trailer being lightweight necessarily means it's low on insulation. As long as you have a good air conditioner in the trailer, you'll stay cool enough. (Our a/c is perhaps too effective for our current trailer; seems we're either too cold when it's running or a little too warm when it's not.) If you really want a well-insulated trailer, you may need to look into the "4-season" brands like Arctic Fox.

Trailer reaction on windy days will depend on whether you use the stabilizers or not (in camp) or on how good your sway-control and weight distribution are in your hitch. There's always going to be some "wind wag" and the taller the trailer, especially compared to the tow vehicle's height, the more susceptible to wind wag it will be.

Responding to the response: You can't generalize about the entire Rockwood line (or its twin Flagstaff) by noting how close some of their models' "dry weight" and GVWR are - it all depends on the model. We had a Flagstaff with a model designation similar to the one you mention, with that "thin line" at 888 lbs - for a large trailer, that's almost nothing stored in it! Our current Rockwood Mini-Lite has a CCC of over 1200 lbs, which is more reasonable, especially for the size trailer it is.

GVWR is determined partly by the axles' weight rating. It wouldn't be difficult for the manufacturers to put heavier-duty axles on their trailers, but then the GVWR is boosted to, say, 10,000 lbs and people think "I can't tow a 10,000-lb trailer," not realizing that they are not forced to load THAT much into it!

I understand your frustration, and I suspect that it's very easy to overload some of these so-called "light" trailers, just because their cargo capacity is so low. And I suspect that wheel & axle problems can result. If you want a large trailer, you might as well get one that can carry what you need it to carry - and make sure your tow vehicle is up to the task.

I have heard up and down things about Rockwood trailers. Some say they are terrific, some say they aren't all they're cracked up to be. When we were looking for a trailer, what I noticed about the Rockwood line was the thin line between the dry weight of the trailer and the GVWR. Meaning to me....they aren't built well enough to load the trailer down w/o compromising it's integrity. Other than that they are a nice looking apparently well finished trailer