01 What makes the 2026 290RKS different
The Jay Flight 290RKS is one of Jayco's Jay Flight travel trailers, the mass-market nameplate and the volume seller in Jayco's towable range. This page covers one model year of it — the 2026 290RKS, exactly as Jayco published it — because the numbers that decide whether your truck can pull this trailer are not the same from one year to the next. Jayco publishes it at 8' 0" wide closed and 11' 0" with the slide-outs run out for the 2026 model year, which is the measurement that matters for a site pitch as well as for the road.
For the 2026 model year Jayco published a 9,650-pound GVWR on a 7,810-pound dry weight, 1,840 pounds of published cargo capacity, a 1,080-pound dry tongue weight. That dry tongue is 14% of the dry weight, inside the 10–15% band conventionally quoted for a bumper-pull trailer. Tongue weight is not fixed — it moves with how the trailer is loaded, and weight added ahead of the axles raises it. A tongue load in that range wants a weight-distribution hitch, and the tow vehicle's tongue-weight limit is a separate number from its trailer-weight limit — check the loaded tongue against the hitch receiver's rating and the vehicle's payload, not against the tow rating alone. The 2026 trailer left the factory on ST225/75R15'E' tyres; the load range in that code is part of the axle rating and a replacement set has to match it.
Against the 2025 build of the same floorplan, 9 published fields moved. The full comparison is in section 02, and it is drawn from two separate verified factory records rather than from one record and an assumption about the other.
A 2026 trailer is close to current as of 2026, but section 05 still applies: check it against its build date rather than its model year. Jayco commonly builds a model year well before the calendar year turns, and the tyre date codes have to be read against the build month, not the badge.
Specifications by model year
This floorplan has a verified factory record for 2 model years here, 2025 to 2026, and the specification does not hold still. Across those years GVWR ranges from 9,500 lb in 2025 to 9,650 lb in 2026, a spread of 150 lb; dry weight ranges from 7,710 lb in 2025 to 7,810 lb in 2026, a spread of 100 lb; dry tongue weight ranges from 1,080 lb in 2026 to 1,093 lb in 2025, a spread of 13 lb. Even the published sleeping capacity moves (2 and 5). That is why each model year has its own page below, carrying only its own published figures. Nothing on a year page is copied across from a neighbouring year.
| Model year | Dry (UVW) | GVWR | Cargo (CCC) | Dry tongue | Sleeps | Tire size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7,710 | 9,500 | 1,790 | 1,093 | 2 | ST225/75R15'E' |
| 2026 | 7,810 | 9,650 | 1,840 | 1,080 | 5 | ST225/75R15'E' |
Every row is that model year’s own record from Jayco’s model page for that year. The figures in the tow-critical placard at the top of this page are the 2026 record from the source this catalogue originally profiled. On the weights, overall length and tire size, that record and Jayco’s own 2026 model page agree on every field both of them publish. Exterior height is not compared: Jayco publishes a bare height, a with-A/C height and a with-2nd-A/C height, and the single height row carried here cannot be matched to one of them, so no claim is made either way.
02 Full 2026 specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 36' 10"
- Exterior width
- 8' 0"
- Width, slides out
- 11' 0"
- Exterior height
- 10' 7"
- Exterior height (w/ A/C)
- 11' 3"
- Interior height (main)
- 6' 9"
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight (UVW)
- 7,810 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 9,650 lbs
- Net cargo / payload (CCC)
- 1,840 lbs
- Dry tongue weight
- 1,080 lbs
Running gear
- Tire size
- ST225/75R15'E'
- Hitch type
- Bumper pull (weight-distribution recommended)
- Model year of record
- 2026
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 52.0 gal
- Grey water
- 110.5 gal
- Black water
- 39.0 gal
- LP / propane
- 40 lbs
- LP / propane, optional
- Not published
Galley & systems
- Water heater
- Tankless
- Furnace output
- 35000 BTU
- Furnace, auto-ignition
- Not published
- Outside storage compartments
- 3
Sleeping
- Sleeps
- up to 5
Verified specs, drawn to scale
Original graphics built from this floorplan’s own verified figures.
Loaded weight budget
Size, drawn to scale
Holding tanks
Drawn by this site from the verified figures above, never traced from a manufacturer drawing; a graphic is left out where its figure is not published. Full record: dataset.
What it takes to tow this
Built from this floorplan’s verified weights. We publish the trailer side only.
Truck tow ratings are not listed: one model varies by thousands of pounds across engine, axle ratio, cab and package. The loaded range is the 10–15% tongue-weight convention for travel trailers, applied to this plan’s 9,650 lb GVWR, not a measurement of this unit. Hitch class is not used as a rating (SAE J684 covers trailers to 10,000 lb GVWR); read the rating stamped on your hitch. On this plan the convention band’s low end fell below the published dry figure, so the range starts at the published dry weight instead — loaded is never lighter than dry.
03 What changed for the 2026 model year
Jayco changed 9 of the published fields between the 2025 and 2026 290RKS. Every figure in both columns is that model year's own factory record — nothing here is carried across from the other year.
| Field | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry weight (UVW) | 7,710 | 7,810 | +100 lb |
| GVWR | 9,500 | 9,650 | +150 lb |
| Cargo capacity (CCC) | 1,790 | 1,840 | +50 lb |
| Dry tongue weight | 1,093 | 1,080 | -13 lb |
| Exterior length | 37' 0" | 36' 10" | — |
| Exterior height | 10' 10" | 10' 7" | — |
| Exterior width, slides out | Not published | 11' 0" | — |
| Grey tank | 71.3 | 110.5 | +39 gal |
| Sleeps | up to 2 | up to 5 | — |
| Model year | Dry (UVW) | GVWR | Dry tongue | Sleeps | Tire size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7,710 | 9,500 | 1,093 | 2 | ST225/75R15'E' |
| 2026 | 7,810 | 9,650 | 1,080 | 5 | ST225/75R15'E' |
Every row is that model year's own factory record, and each year links to its own page. The fuller table at the top of this page adds cargo capacity and names any model year that is deliberately not published here.
GVWR changed for 2026
GVWR was 9,500 for 2025 and is 9,650 for 2026 (+150 lb). Both figures are the manufacturer's own for their year.
Dry tongue weight changed for 2026
Dry tongue weight was 1,093 for 2025 and is 1,080 for 2026 (-13 lb). Both figures are the manufacturer's own for their year.
Sleeps changed for 2026
Sleeps was up to 2 for 2025 and is up to 5 for 2026. Both figures are the manufacturer's own for their year.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page is read from Jayco's own 2026 model page for the 290RKS — one source, one model year, no blending. The all-years parent page sets this year beside every other model year we hold, and where the record this catalogue originally profiled disagrees with Jayco's own model page, both figures are published there and neither is adjusted.
Fields Jayco does not publish for 2026
For this model year the factory record omits: Propane Unit (lbs) (Optional), Furnace, Auto-ignition (BTU output). Those rows read “Not published” on this page. They are deliberately not filled in from an adjacent model year — a neighbouring year's figure is an inference about this one, not a measurement of it.
04 Buying a 2026 290RKS today
Still in warranty
A current-model-year trailer is normally inside Jayco's structural and component warranties. Get the delivery PDI paperwork and confirm the warranty start date is the date of sale, not the date of build.
Check the build date, not the model year
Model-year 2026 units can be built well before the calendar year turns. The federal certification label inside the entry door carries the real month of manufacture, and it is what the tyre date codes should be read against.
Weigh it before you tow it
Every weight on this page is a DRY factory figure for the 2026 model year. A used trailer carries its previous owner's additions, and a travel trailer puts its tongue load on the tow vehicle's hitch and through its rear axle. Weigh the loaded rig at a public scale and check it against the tow vehicle's payload, rear-axle and hitch ratings.
05 How it compares — and to its other years
The same floorplan one model year earlier, with its own published weights.
Every Jay Flight floorplan this catalogue holds a verified factory record for, with its own published weights.
06 Loading it for a trip
This floorplan carries its water comfortably. A full 52-gallon fresh tank is roughly 24% of the 1,840-pound cargo capacity, leaving the 290RKS with a usable gear budget even when you tow full.
| Weight budget | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo capacity as published (CCC) | 1,840 lb | Everything you add: gear, water, propane, batteries, food, people’s belongings. |
| Fresh tank filled (52 gal × 8.34 lb) | −434 lb | Water is the heaviest thing most owners add, and it is added first. |
| Cargo budget left with a full fresh tank | 1,406 lb | 24% of this plan’s capacity is spent before a single bag is loaded. |
| Per sleeping position, water aboard | 281 lb | A rough share of what is left across the 5 berths this plan sleeps. |
The published dry tongue weight of 1,080 pounds is 14% of the 7,810-pound dry weight, which sits inside the 10–15% band usually quoted for stable towing. It is still a dry figure: loading the front pass-through and the fresh tank both push it up.
Nothing above changes the ceiling. Loaded to its 9,650-pound GVWR the 290RKS is towing 1,840 pounds more than its 7,810-pound dry figure, and that is the number your vehicle has to be rated for — not the brochure weight.
Tank balance is generous here: 52 gallons of fresh against 110 grey and 39 black, so waste capacity keeps pace with supply and the fresh tank is the constraint that ends a dry stay.
07 Where this floorplan sits
Ranked by GVWR, the 290RKS sits 97 of 117 in the Jay Flight line: 9,650 pounds against a line that runs from 3,500 to 14,500 pounds. That position is the useful thing to know, because the plans immediately either side of it are the real alternatives.
Either side of it in the same line: Jay Flight 324BDS is 50 pounds lighter at 9,600 lb GVWR; and Jay Flight 321BDS is 150 pounds heavier at 9,800 lb GVWR.
| Comparable travel trailers | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 290RKS | 9,650 | 7,810 | 5 | 36 ft 10 in |
| Jay Flight SLX 290RKS | 9,650 | 7,810 | 5 | 36 ft 10 in |
| Aurora 32BDS | 9,654 | 8,154 | — | 36 ft 1 in |
| Springdale 281RK | 9,655 | 7,200 | 6 | 32 ft 5 in |
| Viking 292TB | 9,645 | 6,903 | — | 36 ft 8 in |
| Puma Tracks 3300FLBS | 9,643 | 7,693 | — | 36 ft 10 in |
| Surveyor Legend 303BHLE | 9,660 | 7,743 | — | 37 ft 11 in |
Against the 290RKS: the Aurora 32BDS is 4 lb heavier; the Springdale 281RK is 5 lb heavier and 4 ft shorter and sleeps 1 more. Those are differences in the published numbers only — what they cost, how they are built and how they live are separate questions each of those pages answers on its own terms.
Those are the nearest travel trailers from other lines by weight — one per line, picked by proximity on that figure and nothing else. They are listed so the same tow vehicle can be checked against real alternatives, not because they are equivalent inside; layout, build and price diverge sharply across that group.
For scale, the Jay Flight floorplans profiled here run 2,450 to 12,430 pounds dry and 16 to 42 feet of exterior length across 117 plans. Where a floorplan falls in that spread usually says more about which vehicle can tow it, and which site it fits, than the layout name does.
Every profiled floorplan in this line, with the full weight table, is on the Jay Flight line hub.
08 Common questions about the 290RKS
How much does the 290RKS weigh?
Its published dry weight is 7,810 lb and its GVWR is 9,650 lb, so 1,840 lb separates the empty trailer from its rated maximum. By GVWR it is the 21st-heaviest of the 117 Jay Flight floorplans profiled here that publish a GVWR (3,500 lb to 14,500 lb). Size the tow vehicle to the 9,650 lb figure, not the dry one.
How much can the 290RKS carry?
Cargo carrying capacity is 1,840 lb, 19% of the GVWR. Across the 958 travel trailers on this site that publish both figures, the median share is 23%, so this plan sits 4 points below the median. A full 52-gallon fresh tank is about 434 lb of it (24%), because federal rule counts on-board water as cargo (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.2). The yellow cargo-capacity label inside your own trailer’s entry door (49 CFR 571.110 S9.3.3) states the figure for that unit as delivered, options included, and it is the one that binds.
What is the tongue weight of the 290RKS?
The published dry tongue weight is 1,080 lb, 14% of the dry weight. Across the 1,148 travel trailers on this site that publish both figures, the median dry tongue share is 12%, so this plan sits 1 point above the median. Loaded, it changes with where the cargo sits, and it is carried by the tow vehicle’s payload, not its tow rating.
What size tow vehicle does the 290RKS need?
A tow rating of at least 9,650 lb, this floorplan’s GVWR, plus enough payload for the tongue load, passengers and cargo. The dry tongue weight alone takes 1,080 lb of that payload before anything is loaded. Payload is printed on the tire and loading placard on the tow vehicle’s driver-side door pillar (49 CFR 571.110 S4.3); this site lists no truck ratings because they vary by build.
How many people does the 290RKS sleep?
It is rated to sleep 5. 79 of the 117 Jay Flight floorplans profiled here that publish a count are rated for more. Rated positions include convertible furniture.
What are the tank capacities on the 290RKS?
Fresh 52 gallons, grey 110 gallons, black 39 gallons. The smallest of the three is the black tank, at 39 gallons. Combined waste capacity is 150 gallons.
How long is the 290RKS?
Exterior length is 36' 10". That makes it the 23rd-longest of the 117 Jay Flight floorplans profiled here that publish an exterior length (16 ft 1 in to 42 ft 0 in). Check it against campsite and storage length; the exterior figure includes the tongue or pin box.
Every figure in these answers is read from this page’s verified specification table. Where the manufacturer publishes nothing, the question is not answered rather than estimated.
09 What this page publishes, and what it does not
Named sources publish 13 of the 18 specification fields this catalogue tracks for the 290RKS (90% complete on the full field set).
Not published for this floorplan: slide count, axle count, awning, refrigerator, air conditioning. Those rows are left blank rather than copied from a sibling floorplan.
Sourcing rules: methodology.
11 NHTSA safety record
This floorplan belongs to the Jay Flight line, and NHTSA holds 25 recall campaigns and 80 owner complaints against that line. They are separate records and are not added together — a recall is a manufacturer-confirmed defect with a remedy; a complaint is one owner’s account, which NHTSA does not verify.
What to look at on a used one. Across the 80 complaints filed on this line the most-reported components are equipment (42%), unknown or other (12%) and structure (11%). That is where owners of this family have had trouble, so it is where an inspection is worth the time.
Recall coverage is not complete — our harvest of NHTSA’s recall API ran 1,556 queries, of which 0 failed and 242 returned an explicit zero. A line can still be under-reported where NHTSA files a roster under a parent name, or where a match rests on the wording of the recall rather than its model field. Complaints come from the complete bulk file but are unverified and self-selected: a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy. Full tables are on the Jay Flight line page.