2027 Forest River Airelume255

The Airelume 255 leaves Forest River's factory at 5,813 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 7,785 lbs and 1,972 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 40-gallon fresh tank spends 332 lbs of that 1,972 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Dry tongue weight is 785 lbs, or 14% of the dry weight. Ten to fifteen percent is the conventional band for a bumper-pull trailer, and this plan sits inside it as published. Tongue weight is not fixed: it moves with how the trailer is loaded, and weight added ahead of the axles raises it. A weight-distribution hitch is the normal fitment at this tongue load, and the tow vehicle's tongue-weight limit is a separate number from its trailer-weight limit.

Tank capacities are 40 gallons fresh, 30 grey and 30 black, 60 gallons of waste capacity against 40 gallons of supply. The ratio is what governs how long the trailer can sit off hookups: waste capacity exceeds fresh, so the fresh tank is the binding constraint and refilling extends the stay. Forest River publishes these three figures per floorplan, and they are the factory's numbers rather than a segment average.

Against the rest of the Airelume roster this is the 7th of 12 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 2,824 lbs to 8,708 lbs. It sits in the middle of the line by weight. Comparing floorplans inside one line is more reliable than comparing across brands, because every figure here comes from the same factory channel on the same day.

A useful way to read the pair of weights is to stop planning against the dry figure. Nobody tows a trailer at 5,813 lbs: that is the weight before water, batteries, propane, bedding, food, tools and anything the dealer bolted on. Load half the published cargo capacity, which is modest for a family trip, and this plan is already near 6,799 lbs on the road. Compare that number against the tow vehicle, not the dry weight, and leave margin on top of it - the published GVWR of 7,785 lbs is a limit rather than a target.

Every number above was captured twice from Forest River and checked against itself before it was published. The line listing and the individual floorplan page are two separate factory renderings of the same trailer, and this plan's 4 shared figures agree exactly on both. Dry weight plus cargo capacity also equals the published GVWR exactly, which is the arithmetic check this site runs on every profiled floorplan. Where a figure is missing from this page it is because Forest River does not publish it in this channel, not because it was hard to find - and the row says so rather than being quietly dropped.

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. 255 is a Airelume designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

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 dry tongue weight 325 to 1,090 lb, which keeps the bottom of the roster inside what a mid-size SUV can carry on the ball and the top of it firmly in half-ton truck territory. 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 40-gallon fresh tank is about 334 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2), 17% of the 255’s 1,972 lb cargo capacity, leaving 1,638 lb. Across 12 Airelume floorplans the water share runs 16% to 38%, and 5 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Airelume 270 at 17% and Airelume 170 at 22%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3).

Closest sibling: the Airelume 270, nearest on the published figures. It differs on 6 of the 8 fields both publish (this plan first): length 29 ft 11 in vs 33 ft 7 in; dry weight 5,813 lb vs 6,503 lb; GVWR 7,785 lb vs 8,503 lb; cargo capacity 1,972 lb vs 2,000 lb; dry hitch weight 785 lb vs 815 lb; grey tank 30 gal vs 60 gal. They match on fresh tank and black tank.

Either side of it by GVWR: Airelume 260 is 1,386 lb lighter (6,399 lb GVWR); Airelume 265 is 45 lb heavier (7,830 lb GVWR).

All 12 Airelume floorplans: Airelume line hub.

Against the 255: the EVO 26ICE is 3 ft longer; the Salem & Wildwood 26ICE is 3 ft longer; the Tracer 275BH is 2 ft longer.

11 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the 255. Not published: interior height, sleeps, slide count, axle count, tire specification, refrigerator, air conditioning.

Sourcing rules: methodology.