2027 Forest River Airelume172

The Airelume 172 leaves Forest River's factory at 3,629 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 4,860 lbs and 1,231 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 25% of the loaded rating, and Forest River's own definition is worth reading before you plan against it: cargo capacity is what remains for fresh water, gear, food, batteries and every dealer-installed accessory. Fresh water alone is 8.3 lb per gallon, so filling this trailer's 39-gallon fresh tank spends 324 lbs of that 1,231 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Tongue weight is 460 lbs, 13% of the dry weight as published; it rises as the trailer is loaded and counts against the tow vehicle’s tongue-weight and payload limits (tongue weight by size).

Off hookups: 60 gallons of grey and black capacity against 39 gallons of fresh water, so fresh water runs out first (tank sizes by length).

Against the rest of the Airelume roster this is the 3rd of 12 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 2,824 lbs to 8,708 lbs. It sits in the lighter third of the line.

Plan the tow on loaded weight, not the 3,629 lbs dry figure: half the published cargo capacity brings this plan to about 4,245 lbs, and the published GVWR of 4,860 lbs is the limit (how to read trailer weights).

Forest River’s line listing and this floorplan’s own factory page agree on all 4 shared figures. Dry weight plus cargo capacity equals the published GVWR exactly. A missing row means Forest River does not publish that figure (how figures are verified).

Forest River publishes no floorplan description for this plan in the channel this page is built from - only the numeric specification block. Rather than describe a layout from the floorplan code, which would be a guess dressed as a fact, this page carries what the factory publishes and says where it stops. 172 is a Airelume designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

How the 172 differs from the other eleven Airelume floorplans. Most distinctive first. How these ranks are worked out.

• Length, 21 ft 7 in: second-shortest of twelve, between the 162 (20 ft 3 in) and the 160 (21 ft 8 in).
• Dry weight, 3,629 lb: third-lightest of twelve, between the 160 (3,069 lb) and the 232 (4,054 lb).
• GVWR, 4,860 lb: third-lowest of twelve, between the 160 (3,925 lb) and the 170 (5,550 lb).
• Cargo capacity, 1,231 lb: third-smallest of twelve, between the 162 (1,001 lb) and the 265 (1,442 lb).
• Tongue weight, 460 lb: fourth-lightest of twelve, between the 170 (450 lb) and the 260 (485 lb).
• Tongue weight as a share of dry weight, 12.7%: sixth-largest of twelve, between the 270 (12.5%) and the 265 (13%).
• Exterior height, 10 ft 4 in: shared with the 255; of twelve, two lower and eight taller, nearest the 160 and 162 (10 ft 2 in) and the 170 (10 ft 5 in).
• Cargo capacity as a share of GVWR, 25.3%: shared with the 255; of twelve, six smaller and four larger, nearest the 270 (23.5%) and the 162 (26.2%).
• Fresh tank, 39 gal: smallest of twelve, level with the 160, 162 and three others; next are the 255, 270 and three others (40 gal).

Next to the 160, the nearest lighter floorplan by dry weight, the 172 is 560 lb heavier by dry weight, has a GVWR 935 lb higher, has 375 lb more cargo capacity, has a tongue weight 35 lb heavier, is 1 in shorter and stands 2 in taller; the two publish the same fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Next to the 232, the nearest heavier floorplan by dry weight, the 172 is 425 lb lighter by dry weight, has a GVWR 1,194 lb lower, has 769 lb less cargo capacity, has a tongue weight 70 lb lighter, is 5 ft 8 in shorter and stands 4 in lower; the two publish the same fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Airelume is a wide line for a single grouping: dry weight runs 2,824 lb at the 160 up to 8,708 lb at the 325, so the heaviest plan is more than three times the lightest. Cargo capacity runs 856 to 2,000 lb and tongue weight 325 to 1,090 lb. GVWR runs 3,825 to 10,708 lb. Because every plan publishes a factory GVWR that ties out, the loaded rating on this line is a measured number on every page rather than a reconstruction.

A full 39-gallon fresh tank is about 324 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2), 26% of the 172’s 1,231 lb cargo capacity, leaving 907 lb. Across 12 Airelume floorplans the water share runs 16% to 38%, and 2 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Airelume 265 at 25% and Airelume 162 at 32%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3).