01 What the Aurora line is
Aurora is Forest River's value family answer — a three-line family (Aurora, Aurora Light, Aurora Destination Series) that on the 10 July 2026 RVUSA probe carried 857 active listings, more inventory than any other line missing from this catalog. The base Aurora profiled here is the family's 96-inch wide-body tier: twelve tandem-axle floorplans from a 29-foot-9 rear-bath couples plan to a 37-foot-10 triple-slide flagship bunkhouse.
The weight story is unusually clean for the value tier. Forest River's per-plan detail pages print a GVWR for every Aurora, and on every one of the twelve the published UVW plus CCC equals it exactly — no derivation. What the factory does not publish is per-plan axle ratings or any MSRP; sleeps counts and axle class come from RVUSA catalog records, whose weight fields lag the current factory figures on several plans — a logged conflict, resolved to the factory detail pages throughout. Live asking prices on the probe day ran from the high $20,000s for volume family plans into the mid $40,000s for the flagship.
The standard content is the argument: every base Aurora ships with the 15,000-BTU GE ducted heat-pump air conditioner, a 35,000-BTU furnace, the GE 60,000-BTU tankless water heater, solid-surface counters, the 10.7-cubic-foot GE 12-volt refrigerator, an enclosed fully sealed underbelly, a power tongue jack, aluminum sport wheels with a carried spare, an outside shower and a camp-side outside kitchen on most plans (a mini version on the couples plans, the full camp kitchen on the 32BDS and 34BHTS) — heat-pump cooling and tankless hot water being exactly the two line items the value tier usually cuts. Two scope notes: the Aurora Toy Haulers (26ATH / 27ATH / 29ATH) are a separate ramp-door sub-line outside this reference's travel-trailer scope, and a regional Aurora Sky variant family exists with its own distinct published weights — per this site's twin-handling rule its figures are not attributed to the plans below.
02 Floorplans profiled in depth
Six of the twelve 2026 floorplans — the demand leaders and the structurally distinct plans — are profiled in full: the entry couples 24RBS, the volume-selling 27DBH double-bunk, the triple-queen 29TQS, the reconfigurable 32MAZE, the rear-lounge 32RLTS and the flagship 34BHTS. The table is sorted by length.
| Floorplan | Dry wt | GVWR | Length | Sleeps | Layout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24RBS | 6,468 lbs | 8,468 lbs | 29' 9" | 3 | Entry rear bath — couples plan, 21-ft awning, outside kitchen |
| 27DBH | 7,186 lbs | 9,186 lbs | 33' 4" | 8 | Double-bunk family plan — dual entry, the volume seller |
| 32RLTS | 8,842 lbs | 10,342 lbs | 35' 10" | 3 | Rear-lounge entertainer — triple slide, power theater standard |
| 29TQS | 7,892 lbs | 9,824 lbs | 36' 0" | 8 | Triple-queen sleeper — three full-size beds |
| 32MAZE | 8,686 lbs | 10,686 lbs | 36' 10" | 4 | Adaptable triple-slide — rear island kitchen, dual awnings |
| 34BHTS | 9,152 lbs | 10,652 lbs | 37' 10" | 6 | Flagship bunkhouse — triple slide, full camp kitchen; 2-Queen variant |
This is a published-GVWR-clean line: the factory detail page prints a GVWR for every plan and the published UVW plus CCC sums to it exactly, verified against the brand-roster weight table, which agrees to the pound. Sleeps counts are RVUSA catalog fields shown as “up to.” The RVUSA weight records are stale on several plans (24RBS, 29TQS, 32RLTS, 34BHTS among the profiled set; the 27DBH and 31KDS agree exactly) — a logged conflict, factory figures used throughout. Forest River publishes no MSRP for the family. Always confirm against the unit's weight sticker and your vehicle's payload placard before purchase.
03 Catalogued plans — verified weights
The remaining travel-trailer plans carry factory-verified weights below; their layouts are not asserted beyond the factory floorplan summary. The 34BHTS 2-Queen-Beds variant (factory id 12829) publishes weights identical to the 34BHTS.
| Floorplan | Hitch | UVW | GVWR | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26FKDS | 854 lb | 6,977 lb | 9,654 lb | 29' 4" | Front-kitchen dual-entry couples plan |
| 28BHS | 858 lb | 6,986 lb | 8,486 lb | 32' 1" | Dual-entry bunkhouse, outside kitchen |
| 29QBS | 888 lb | 7,124 lb | 9,124 lb | 33' 7" | Bunkhouse with bunkroom jackknife sofa |
| 32BDS | 1,054 lb | 8,154 lb | 9,654 lb | 36' 1" | Dual-entry bunkhouse, full camp kitchen |
| 31KDS | 1,042 lb | 7,743 lb | 10,000 lb | 36' 3" | Rear-kitchen dual-slide, W/D prep |
| 34BHTS (2Q) | 1,310 lb | 9,152 lb | 10,652 lb | 37' 10" | Two-bedroom variant of the 34BHTS — identical weights |
Aurora Destination Series — the family's 40-to-45-foot destination trailers for seasonal sites, catalogued from the factory roster weight strip (hitch / UVW / CCC; the factory prints GVWR on each detail page and it equals UVW plus CCC exactly on all six). The 40BHTS2Q two-queen variant publishes weights identical to the 40BHTS.
| Floorplan | Hitch | UVW | CCC | Length | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40BHTS | 1,382 lb | 9,598 lb | 1,984 lb | 40' 11" | Destination bunkhouse; 2-Queen variant (40BHTS2Q) publishes identical weights |
| 39FLTS | 1,254 lb | 10,323 lb | 1,500 lb | 42' 11" | Front-living destination trailer |
| 43CONDO | 1,494 lb | 13,245 lb | 1,500 lb | 43' 0" | CONDO-series two-level destination; sleeps 10 (RVUSA) |
| 44CONDO | 1,652 lb | 12,711 lb | 1,000 lb | 44' 10" | Largest CONDO; dual A/C (RVUSA); sleeps 11 (RVUSA) |
| 42CONDO | 1,286 lb | 12,715 lb | 1,000 lb | 44' 11" | CONDO-series destination; sleeps 9 (RVUSA) |
Destination trailers are towable to a site and lived in, not toured with — note the CONDO plans' 1,000-to-1,500-pound cargo margins against 12,700-to-13,200-pound UVWs, and hitch weights over 1,250 pounds. Weights are the current factory roster figures; the RVUSA records for several Destination plans are stale (logged).
04 How to choose & what to weigh
Families: the 27DBH is the default, the 34BHTS the destination
The 27DBH is the plan the market votes for — eight berths, a second entry straight into the bunk room, a 74-gallon grey tank and a genuine half-ton weight ticket at 7,186 lb dry. The 34BHTS flagship adds two more slides, a private bunk suite and the full camp kitchen at 9,152 lb — and its 2-Queen variant turns the same trailer into a two-couples coach at identical weights.
Couples: one honest entry, one honest flagship
The 24RBS is the value couples buy — rear full bath, outside kitchen, W/D prep and a 2,000-lb margin at 6,468 lb dry. The 32RLTS is the entertainer — rear lounge, kitchen island, standard power theater and dual awnings — but mind its 33-gallon grey tank and 1,500-lb margin.
The 29TQS three-queen pitch
No bunk pads: a private front queen plus a rear room with two more full queens. Two couples splitting a site, or teenagers who outgrew bunks, each get a real mattress — a layout the bunkhouse field simply does not offer at this price.
Tongue weight and payload are the real constraints
Cargo margins run 1,500 to 2,000 lb across the line — a filled 38-gallon fresh tank alone claims about 315 lb. Dry tongues span 850 lb on the 24RBS to 1,310 on the 34BHTS, with the 32MAZE at 1,218 — figures that come off the tow vehicle's payload placard before a single passenger boards. Weigh the loaded rig; the placard, not the brochure tow rating, decides.
05 What every base Aurora has
06 Where Aurora sits in the value field
Inside its own family, the base Aurora is the wide-body tier: the Aurora Light runs underneath with single-axle X-series compacts and lighter tandem plans, and the Destination Series (catalogued above) stretches the platform past 40 feet for seasonal sites. Inside Forest River, it slots into the crowded value shelf beside the volume Salem / Wildwood twins and the Grey Wolf value family plans — the Aurora counterargument being the heat-pump A/C, tankless water heater, solid-surface counters and the weight math that ties out on a printed GVWR. Across the aisle, the natural cross-shops are Keystone's Springdale, the Coleman lineup and Jayco's Jay Flight SLX — the same sizes, mostly without the tankless-and-heat-pump standard content.
08 Recalls
NHTSA lists 23 recall campaigns affecting this line. The earliest was reported 16 Oct 2007 and the most recent 10 Oct 2025.
| Reported | Campaign | Component | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Oct 2025 | 25V682000 | Electrical system | Unprotected wiring can increase the risk of a fire. |
| 18 Apr 2025 | 25V264000 | Electrical system | Wiring without circuit protection may become damaged and short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire. |
| 14 Apr 2025 | 25V245000 | Structure | Steps that detach while in use increase the risk of injury. |
| 7 Mar 2025 | 25V149000 | Equipment | Electrical arcing increases the risk of a fire. |
| 21 Feb 2025 | 25V111000 | Equipment | An incorrect weight rating may lead to unintentionally overloading the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| 8 Nov 2024 | 24V846000 | Equipment | Overheated wiring can melt, increasing the risk of a fire. |
| 18 Oct 2024 | 24V775000 | Equipment | Sewer gas entering the vehicle increases the risk of injury. |
| 17 May 2024 | 24V350000 | Equipment | Overheated vinyl linoleum flooring increases the risk of a fire. |
| 10 May 2024 | 24V325000 | Electrical system | A breakaway switch failure increases the risk of a crash. |
| 19 Apr 2024 | 24V280000 | Equipment | A inverted cooktop flame increases the risk of a fire. |
| 5 Apr 2024 | 24V254000 | Electrical system | An unprotected wire increases the risk of a fire. |
| 9 Feb 2024 | 24V094000 | Tires | A punctured tire can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| 29 Jul 2022 | 22V556000 | Equipment | An awning that drops or extends beyond normal operation can increase the risk of injury. |
| 6 Jul 2022 | 22V477000 | Electrical system | Trailer brakes that fail to activate can increase the risk of a crash. |
| 13 Apr 2022 | 22V243000 | Equipment | A gas leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire. |
| 8 Mar 2022 | 22V135000 | Electrical system | Loose wires may contact each other and cause an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire. |
| 7 Jan 2022 | 22V003000 | Equipment | An inverted flame can increase the risk of a fire. |
| 17 Sep 2021 | 21V723000 | Tires | The incorrectly-sized tires can become overloaded, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| 25 Nov 2015 | 15V798000 | Equipment | Unstable entry and exit steps increase the risk of injury. |
| 2 Jun 2009 | 09V193000 | Service brakes, hydraulic | The driver would normally detect the brake drag but IF undetected the temperature increase AT the wheel end can eventually lead TO soft pedal conditions due TO… |
| 4 Dec 2008 | 08V639000 | Equipment | Glass breakage may occur which could cause personal injury. |
| 25 Jun 2008 | 08V279000 | Equipment | Extended operation OF A leaking cooling unit could lead TO A fire from gas which might escape. |
| 16 Oct 2007 | 07V483000 | Tires | AS A result, the potential exists for the spare tire TO become detached from the carrier assembly and fall TO the road surface. Should the spare tire detach itself… |
Coverage is not complete, and this matters. These campaigns come from two passes over NHTSA’s public record: a query-by-query harvest of the recall API (1,556 queries, of which 0 failed and 242 returned an explicit zero), and a sweep of NHTSA’s complete recall flat file (325,650 rows), which added 46 campaigns the API harvest had missed. It missed them because the roster it worked from was built by a catalog endpoint that refuses most requests, so entire manufacturer names were never asked about — NHTSA files several Forest River sub-brands as makes of their own. Two limits remain: NHTSA sometimes files a roster under a parent name, and some matches below rest on the wording of the recall rather than its model field. Campaigns affecting only pre-2005 units fall outside this catalog’s range and are not listed. This page is a starting point, not a clearance. Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy, and again before you tow.
09 Owner-reported problems
Owners have filed 16 complaints with NHTSA about this line. The earliest was filed 3 Aug 2005 and the most recent 13 Nov 2025. The breakdown below is what those owners actually reported, grouped by the component NHTSA assigned.
Safety outcomes in this set: 2 reports describing a fire. These are the owner’s own account of what happened and have not been verified by NHTSA.
What gets reported
| Component group | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Service brakes, hydraulic | 8 | 50% |
| Electrical system | 3 | 19% |
| Equipment | 2 | 12% |
| Tires | 1 | 6% |
| Unknown or other | 1 | 6% |
| Wheels | 1 | 6% |
Most recent reports
The most recent 10 owner reports filed on this line, newest first. Wording is NHTSA’s summary of what the owner described.
| Filed | Component | Miles | What the owner reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Nov 2025 | Wheels | 0 | The contact owns a 2025 Forest River Aurora Trailer. The contact stated that while his son was towing the trailer at an undisclosed speed, the front driver’s side wheel and the passenger’s side front wheels separated from the axle, causing the trailer to drag on the road. The contact stated that… |
| 19 Aug 2022 | Electrical system | 0 | The contact owns a 2021 Forest River Aurora RV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V477000 (Electrical System) however, the contact cannot move the RV due to not having a truck powerful enough to tow the RV to a dealer to have the recall repaired. The contact stated that… |
| 7 Oct 2015 | Unknown or other | 174,000 | Due to unknown reasons, the vehicle died while driving through A major intersection in my town. I attempted to start it 2-3 times and it finally started back up. I drove A few feet and it died again. I started it again and proceeded to drive and it quit on me again. I was able to coast it into A… |
| 22 Jan 2010 | Tires › Temporary/emergency spare tire | 6,000 | While driving down the interstate the spare tire detached from the carrier assembly and fell to the road service. Also broke electrical plug in connection and chewed up the brand new spare tire, which is no longer usable. Safety chain is the only thing that prevented A rear end accident. *tr |
| 16 Oct 2009 | Service brakes, hydraulic | 7,000 | Tl*the contact owns A 2007 coachmen aurora. The ABS brakes have failed due to heat build-up. He received A notice for workhorse RECALL#50901-C. The vehicle was taken to the dealer in may 2009 and A technician stated that the parts were unavailable. Workhorse concluded that only an interim repair… |
| 12 Jun 2009 | Service brakes, hydraulic | 15,183 | One year of ownership..........spark plug wire burned up. Two years of ownership.........caliper burned up prior to A trip, my mechanic "noticed" the wire and replaced it. Serviced for A routine oil change, smelled the burn, found the broken caliper. Replaced it with another (same model). Told that… |
| 27 Oct 2008 | Service brakes, hydraulic | 37,264 | Have A coachmen 2003 RV on A workhorse W22 chassis that the front brake overheated and locked up. *tr |
| 4 Aug 2008 | Equipment › Recreational vehicle/trailer | — | Dometic refrigerator model RM2852 was recalled on april 11, 2008 because of possibly starting A fire. I received A recall letter in the mail on july 31, 2008. Why did it take so long to notify me? I have A disabled son who doesn't know danger, such as fire. I have used my motorhome many times this… |
| 30 Apr 2008 | Service brakes, hydraulic | 29,580 | There was smoke comming out from under the front of my motor home. Took to A shop where they told me that the brake calipers on both front wheels had frozen up causing everything to over heat which resulted in melting the seals for the wheel bearings letting the oil to run out. The rotors had to be… |
| 1 Feb 2008 | Service brakes, hydraulic › Foundation… | 29,000 | Rear brakes on 2003 coachmen on workhorse chassis overheated and locked up causing no brakes while going down freeway. *tr |
How this count is drawn. A report is counted here only when NHTSA’s own model field names this line. What the owner typed in the description is never used to attribute a report: our line names are ordinary English words, and an owner writing “imagine my surprise when the axle went” or naming the state of Montana is not reporting a Grand Design Imagine or a Keystone Montana. Held out of it: Aurora - MH (motorhome).
Read these as reports, not as findings. Complaints are submitted by owners and NHTSA does not verify them; no complaint here has been confirmed as a defect, and none of them is a recall. The sample is also self-selected — only owners motivated to file appear in it — so a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Use the pattern, not the total: a component that keeps recurring is worth inspecting on any used unit. File or search complaints at NHTSA.