2026 Forest River Nightfall397NHD

The Nightfall 397NHD has 5,326 lbs of cargo capacity between 15,674 lbs dry and its 21,000 lbs GVWR, 25% of that rating; filling its 150-gallon fresh tank at 8.3 lb a gallon uses 1,245 lbs of it (how to read trailer weights).

Pin weight is 3,765 lbs, 24% of the dry weight as published; it rises as the trailer is loaded and comes off the truck’s payload, not its towing rating, so check it against the payload on your own door sticker (pin weight and payload).

Off hookups: 200 gallons of grey and black capacity against 150 gallons of fresh water, so fresh water runs out first (tank sizes by length).

Against the rest of the Nightfall fifth-wheel roster this is the 4th of 5 fifth wheels by dry weight, in a line that runs from 9,459 lbs to 15,679 lbs. It sits in the heavier third of the line.

Plan the tow on loaded weight, not the 15,674 lbs dry figure: half the published cargo capacity brings this plan to about 18,337 lbs, and the published GVWR of 21,000 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. 397NHD is a Nightfall designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

How the 397NHD differs from the other four Nightfall fifth wheels. Most distinctive first. How these ranks are worked out.

• Cargo capacity, 5,326 lb: largest of five; next is the 404NHD (5,321 lb).
• Pin weight, 3,765 lb: heaviest of five; next is the 343NHD (3,250 lb).
• Pin weight as a share of dry weight, 24%: largest of five; next is the 343NHD (23.3%).
• Dry weight, 15,674 lb: second-heaviest of five, between the 343NHD (13,969 lb) and the 404NHD (15,679 lb).
• Length, 45 ft: second-longest of five, between the 350N (40 ft 6 in) and the 404NHD (45 ft 1 in).
• Cargo capacity as a share of GVWR, 25.4%: third-smallest of five, between the 404NHD (25.3%) and the 350N (26.6%).
• GVWR, 21,000 lb: highest of five, level with the 404NHD; next is the 343NHD (17,250 lb).

Next to the 343NHD, the nearest lighter floorplan by dry weight, the 397NHD is 1,705 lb heavier by dry weight, has a GVWR 3,750 lb higher, has 2,045 lb more cargo capacity, has a pin weight 515 lb heavier and is 4 ft 7 in longer; the two publish the same exterior height, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Next to the 404NHD, the nearest heavier floorplan by dry weight, the 397NHD is 5 lb lighter by dry weight, has 5 lb more cargo capacity, has a pin weight 575 lb heavier and is 1 in shorter; the two publish the same GVWR, exterior height, fresh tank, grey tank and black tank.

Nightfall is published as one roster that spans two different towing propositions, and the split is the first thing to understand about it. Forest River files fourteen floorplans under the name in three groupings - travel-trailer toy haulers, fifth-wheel toy haulers and HD fifth-wheel toy haulers - plus four more sold dealer-stock only. The bumper-pull plans run 6,758 to 9,383 lb dry with 1,175 to 1,500 lb on the tongue. The fifth wheels run 9,459 to 15,679 lb dry with 2,165 to 3,765 lb on the pin. Those are not two ends of one range; they are two trailer types sharing a badge, and the grouping a plan belongs to says more about its weight than its floorplan number does. Both are in the table below.

A full 150-gallon fresh tank is about 1,245 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.120 S10.4.2), 23% of the 397NHD’s 5,326 lb cargo capacity, leaving 4,081 lb. Across 5 Nightfall fifth-wheel floorplans the water share runs 23% to 38%, and this plan’s is the lowest. Nearest on that share: Nightfall 404NHD at 23%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.120 S10.4.3).