Forest River Surveyor

[lgroat]

Greetings.
We bought a used Jayco 22fb a couple of years ago. It was pretty inexpensive and suited our needs well enough. We've used it a tremendous amount and that has allowed us to create a list of features we'd like to have in our next camper.

We've been looking at a 2015 Surveyor 264 RKS. It looks awfully nice and would be a great plan for us. Any inputs from past Surveyor owners?

A couple gas mileage questions. Our Dodge Hemi pulls great, but the mileage when towing is awful. How much will the weight of the new trailer affect that? I've read before that aerodynamics have a larger effect. Does that sloping fiberglass front help that much? We set a goal weight of < 6000lbs for the new trailer. That's a good 1000 more than the Jayco, but well within the truck's capacity.

[MargaretB]

We seriously considered the 2015 Surveyor 264 RKS but wound up with something else because the general impression was that it seemed narrow. Maybe because of the orientation of the dinette? We also didn't like not having a night-stand.

What we liked about it was that beautiful sofa, the all-season features, the great kitchen, and the double doors.

We had decided on the unit we wanted, the Surveyor Cadet 226RBDS, but when we went to the dealer to buy it, someone had beaten us by ten minutes and we would have had to wait more than a month.

[lgroat]

fx2tom wrote:
Love love love our Surveyor

Edit: Just saw you chose the Prime Time, we liked those as well. Congrats and enjoy the new rig!

Thanks. I think the Surveyor is more attractive on the outside, but the layout of this one works for us! Wish we could take it out this weekend, but it will have to wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving.

[fx2tom]

Love love love our Surveyor

Edit: Just saw you chose the Prime Time, we liked those as well. Congrats and enjoy the new rig!

[lgroat]

Hi All.
Well we ended up agreeing about the shallow slide. We decided that the Prime Time Tracer 2750RBS was the best fit for us. We really like the rear living models, but to stay in our desired weight range and length they RLs seem to compromise on the shower size or give up too much storage. We are picking it up tonight. Excited!

[Andy_F]

We looked at the Surveyor over two years ago when we moved up to a TT from our old Hybrid. They seemed well-built. We instead opted for the Keystone Bullet due to it having a deeper slide and a better floor plan and more features at the time for what we wanted.

Our old Rockwood Roo was (and the Roo still is) very block-shaped without much of a sloped front end. We found the more aerodynamic sloped front end of the Bullet (and the Surveyor to a degree although it lacks or back then lacked the lower radius curve back towards the frame) to make a remarkable improvement in our towing experience when coupled with the wide stance axles and low center of gravity. Keep in mind this was our experience even though the weight of what we were now towing increased by approximately 600-700 pounds.

Not sure about the Surveyor, but the Bullets now sit higher off the ground due to the floor plans all having a flush-floor deep slide. I've often wondered if raising them up changed the towing experience a bit by also raising the center of gravity. I personally like our non-flush slide and our lower center of gravity but maybe after experiencing the deeper flush floor slide and the room it provides I might feel differently. We also like having a curbside dinette which doesn't appear to be offered anymore with the flush-floor slide floor plans.

[crcr]

Nice layout, but personally don't care for the shallow slide. I guess that is part of how they are keeping the dry weight so low. We have a layout virtually identical in a Jayco Eagle Super Lite 256RKS, a bit shorter, but has a much deeper slide.

Good luck!

[dadmomh]

My favorite floorplan in the world! We looked at one back in '06 and fell in love with it, but...we were really after a hybrid and at that time didn't want to spend the extra money. And it was heavier than DH wanted to tow. This past year we made the change from our beloved HTT to a TT and looked again and still loved it, but it still weighed more than we wanted. We bought the one in our sig and love it, but that 264 still lurks in the back of our minds. DH was impressed with the build and we both loved the fit and finish. While there aren't a ton on Surveyors on here, the ones who have them seem very satisfied. Don't think you'd be making a mistake.

Is that 6000# number GVWR or dry weight....as I recall, the Gross was over 7000#. Our max capacity is 8000# and we're at 6629# with Rocky. Looking at a weight sticker on one online, the GVWR is 7800+. Too much for our F-150.

Re mileage...most feel like it's a good day if you average 10 mpg. Larger or smaller doesn't make a lot of difference, it's that big ole front you're dragging down the road. Happy Camping!

[prichardson]

The sloping front will help. How much depends on how vertical and high the Jayco was. Shape has a bigger effect than weight. I would not expect to see more than 1 MPG.

[Ductape]

We had a Surveyor for about 5 years, and it was good to us. No real problems. They're pretty well built given the constraints of being a lightweight design. Fuel consumption is all about wind drag. The Surveyor got us no better mileage than the rig before that weighed 50% more.

It did tow really nice with the low frame and torsion axles.

[Dtaylor]

When we were looking for a new trailer two years ago, the Surveyor was at the top of our list. I would be in one now if the dealer would have come down just a little more. (I didn't want to finance any part) We really liked the fit and finish. As for gas mileage, I do not think you will see much difference.