01 What makes it unique
The 420RE is the rear-lounge plan. The back of the coach opens into a rear living area with a rear entertainment wall and an L-shaped sectional sofa — a room-first layout for couples who live in the main room — with a standard work desk, a central kitchen, a dual-vanity full bath and a private front bedroom with a king bed suite. A dual-entry layout adds a second door. It rides the full Riverstone build: a 102-inch-wide fully-welded frame, tandem 8,000-pound axles and an automatic six-point hydraulic level-up system.
It carries the most payload in the line. Forest River lists a published 24,000-pound GVWR against the 18,065-pound dry weight — the lightest of the big plans — leaving a 5,935-pound payload, the most of any Riverstone, and a 3,240-pound dry pin, across five slide-outs. Two 15,000-BTU heat-pump air conditioners, the 18-cubic-foot French-door refrigerator, a Truma AquaGo tankless water heater, a Splendide stackable washer and dryer and 200-watt solar with a 2,000-watt inverter are standard, under dual 20-foot and 11-foot-6 awnings.
At a starting MSRP around $212,000, with US street pricing well below the placard, it is the rear-living Riverstone. For a couple who wants a rear lounge with a sectional, a work desk, a dual-vanity bath and the most usable payload in the line — and who tows with a one-ton truck — the 420RE is the line’s room-first plan.
02 Full specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 44' 9"
- Exterior width
- 8' 6"
- Exterior height
- 13' 5"
- Interior height
- 8' 0"
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight (UVW)
- 18,065 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 24,000 lbs
- Net cargo / payload (CCC)
- 5,935 lbs
- Dry pin (hitch) weight
- 3,240 lbs
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 79 gal
- Grey water
- 100 gal
- Black water
- 50 gal
- Refrigerator
- 18 cu ft
Construction
- Frame
- Fully-welded frame · 102" widebody · riveted skirt metal
- Walls
- 3" hung-glass exterior walls · high-gloss gel coat · batten insulation
- Roof
- Fiberglass roof · 3/8" decking
- Underbelly
- 12V heated full docking station · 12V heated holding tanks
Running gear
- Axles
- 2 (8,000 lb tandem)
- Hitch
- Fifth-wheel (in-bed) · 2" bike-rack receiver
- Suspension
- LCI Road Armour™ · MORryde independent susp. optional
- Tires
- 17.5" H-rated on aluminum rims
Galley & bath
- Cooktop
- 4-burner gas oven · 30" convection microwave
- Refrigerator
- 18 cu ft
- A/C
- 30,000 BTU (dual 15K heat pump)
- Water heater
- Truma AquaGo Comfort · tankless on-demand
Sleeping & layout
- Sleeps
- 4
- Slides
- 5
- Entries
- 2
- Awnings
- 2 (20' & 11'6")
- Primary bed
- King
Verified specs, drawn to scale
Original graphics built from this floorplan’s own verified figures.
Loaded weight budget
Size, drawn to scale
Holding tanks
These graphics are generated from the same verified record that builds the table above, and are published under this site’s own licence — nothing here is traced from, or derived from, a manufacturer drawing or photo. Where a figure is not published for this plan, the graphic that would need it is omitted rather than estimated. The full record is in the published dataset.
What it takes to tow this
Built from this floorplan’s verified weights. We publish the trailer side only.
We do not publish tow ratings for specific trucks. A single model can vary by thousands of pounds depending on engine, axle ratio, cab, drivetrain and package — the only authoritative figure is the one on your own door jamb. Loaded pin percentages are industry convention for fifth wheels (15–25% of loaded weight), not a measurement of this unit. Hitch classes are not used here as a rating: SAE J684 covers trailers to 10,000 lb GVWR and does not define Class V, and capacity boundaries differ between manufacturers — read the rating stamped on your hitch.
03 The Riverstone floorplan family
Riverstone is Forest River's top-luxury full-profile fifth wheel — a step above Cedar Creek and a cross-shop against the upper trims of Keystone's Montana and Grand Design's Solitude. The 2026 fifth-wheel line runs to seven floorplans, and all seven are profiled here in full. The 420RE on this page is highlighted; each other plan links to its own page.
| Floorplan | Nominal | Sleeps | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39RKFB | 42 ft | 4 | Rear kitchen, bath-and-a-half, lightest + shortest |
| 442MC | 44 ft | 6 | Mid-coach den, kitchen island, six slides |
| 421FK | 44 ft | 4 | Front kitchen + island, rear bed, biggest grey |
| 44DBL | 44 ft | 6 | Two full baths + murphy, dual entry, heaviest |
| 425FO | 45 ft | 6 | Front living, hidden front office, six slides |
| 420RE | 45 ft | 4 | Rear living + entertainment, biggest payload |
| 43BFC | 45 ft | 4 | Rear kitchen, bath-and-a-half, RV of the Year |
Riverstone is Forest River's top-luxury full-profile fifth wheel — a step above the Cedar Creek line and a cross-shop against the upper trims of Keystone's Montana and Grand Design's Solitude. The 2026 fifth-wheel line runs to seven floorplans, all profiled here. Every plan rides on a 102-inch-wide, fully-welded frame with tandem 8,000-pound axles, 17.5-inch H-rated tires, LCI Road Armour suspension, an automatic six-point hydraulic level-up system and a 12V heated full docking station, and ships with an 18-cubic-foot French-door refrigerator, two 15,000-BTU heat-pump air conditioners, a Truma AquaGo tankless water heater, a Splendide stackable washer and dryer, a Fisher & Paykel dishwasher, 200-watt solar with a 2,000-watt inverter and a 72-by-80-inch king bed as standard. Hitch weight, GVWR, UVW and CCC are published per plan on the Forest River factory pages, and each plan's UVW plus CCC equals its GVWR exactly. The published GVWR (up to 24,000 pounds) is rated by the full chassis, with the balance over the 8,000-pound tandem axles carried on the king pin; real loaded pin weights run higher — always weigh the loaded coach and confirm against your truck's payload and rear-axle ratings. An eighth Riverstone plan, the 42FSKG, is a toy hauler and is not catalogued here.
04 What owners & reviewers report
Rear living + sectional sofa
A rear entertainment wall and an L-shaped sectional — a room-first layout for couples who live in the main room.
Biggest payload in the line
A published 5,935-lb payload — the most of any Riverstone — the most margin for gear, water and supplies.
Dual entry + work desk
Two exterior doors plus a standard work desk and a dual-vanity bath — a household-friendly, work-ready rear-living plan.
Confirm truck payload
A 3,240-lb pin on the 24,000-lb GVWR chassis — verify a properly rated one-ton truck’s payload and rear axle.
05 How it compares
The rear-kitchen, bath-and-a-half plan — a rear galley instead of a rear lounge.
The front-living plan — a front lounge and a hidden office instead of a rear lounge.
Grand Design’s raised rear-den plan — the direct full-size-luxury-FW cross-shop a tier below.
06 Loading it for a trip
This floorplan carries its water comfortably. A full 79-gallon fresh tank is roughly 11% of the 5,935-pound cargo capacity, leaving the 420RE with a usable gear budget even when you tow full.
| Weight budget | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo capacity as published (CCC) | 5,935 lb | Everything you add: gear, water, propane, batteries, food, people’s belongings. |
| Fresh tank filled (79 gal × 8.34 lb) | −659 lb | Water is the heaviest thing most owners add, and it is added first. |
| Cargo budget left with a full fresh tank | 5,276 lb | 11% of this plan’s capacity is spent before a single bag is loaded. |
| Per sleeping position, water aboard | 1,319 lb | A rough share of what is left across the 4 berths this plan sleeps. |
The published dry pin weight of 3,240 pounds is 18% of this floorplan’s 18,065-pound dry weight. Fifth-wheel pin weight rides in the bed of the truck, so it comes off payload rather than off tow rating — and it rises with the trailer as you load it, not in proportion to what you put over the axles.
Nothing above changes the ceiling. Loaded to its 24,000-pound GVWR the 420RE is towing 5,935 pounds more than its 18,065-pound dry figure, and that is the number your vehicle has to be rated for — not the brochure weight.
Tank balance is generous here: 79 gallons of fresh against 100 grey and 50 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 420RE sits 5 of 7 in the Riverstone line: 24,000 pounds against a line that runs from 18,975 to 24,000 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: Riverstone 44DBL is 60 pounds lighter at 23,940 lb GVWR; and Riverstone 421FK matches it exactly at 24,000 lb GVWR.
2 other Riverstone plans share this floorplan’s 24,000 lb GVWR, so the ranking above separates plans that tow to the same ceiling. On a shared chassis the figure that actually differs between them is cargo capacity and where the weight sits, not the rating.
| Comparable fifth wheels | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 420RE | 24,000 | 18,065 | 4 | 44 ft 9 in |
| Momentum 392M | 23,500 | 18,114 | 9 | 45 ft 11 in |
| Solitude 414LJMJ | 23,500 | 19,000 | 6 | 42 ft 10 in |
| Model G 3950 | 23,000 | 18,700 | 8 | 45 ft 5 in |
| Cyclone 3913 | 21,000 | 15,435 | 8 | 46 ft 5 in |
| Nightfall 397NHD | 21,000 | 15,674 | — | 45 ft 0 in |
| Sandstorm 4017GX | 21,000 | 15,674 | — | 45 ft 0 in |
Against the 420RE: the Momentum 392M is 500 lb lighter and 1 ft longer and sleeps 5 more; the Solitude 414LJMJ is 500 lb lighter and 2 ft shorter and sleeps 2 more; the Model G 3950 is 1,000 lb lighter and sleeps 4 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 fifth wheels 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 Riverstone floorplans profiled here run 16,511 to 19,271 pounds dry and 42 to 45 feet of exterior length across 7 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 Riverstone line hub.
08 Common questions about the 420RE
How much does the 420RE weigh?
It leaves the factory at 18,065 pounds dry, and its manufacturer-set loaded ceiling (GVWR) is 24,000 pounds. Real towing weight lands between the two and depends entirely on what you load. Use the GVWR when matching a tow vehicle; the dry figure is only useful for comparing floorplans against each other.
How much can the 420RE carry?
Cargo carrying capacity is 5,935 pounds. That is the whole budget: water, propane, batteries, gear and everything you bring. Filling the 79-gallon fresh tank uses about 659 pounds of that.
What is the pin weight of the 420RE?
The published dry pin weight is 3,240 pounds. It is measured empty; loaded, it runs higher, and it comes out of your tow vehicle’s payload rather than its tow rating.
What size tow vehicle does the 420RE need?
Your vehicle needs a tow rating of at least 24,000 pounds — this floorplan’s GVWR — and enough payload left over for the hitch load, passengers and anything in the bed. This site does not publish tow ratings for specific vehicles, because one truck model varies by thousands of pounds across engine, axle ratio, cab and package. The figure that governs is the payload sticker on your own door jamb.
How many people does the 420RE sleep?
It is rated to sleep 4. Rated sleeping positions include convertible furniture, so count the beds against how you actually travel rather than against the number.
What are the tank capacities on the 420RE?
Fresh 79 gallons, grey 100 gallons, black 50 gallons. Tank sizes set how long the floorplan can sit away from hookups, and the smallest of the three is what ends the stay.
How long is the 420RE?
Exterior length is 44' 9". Measure against your site length and your storage before committing — the exterior figure is the one that has to fit, and it 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
This catalog tracks 18 specification fields per floorplan. Named sources publish 18 of them for the 420RE. The rest are not shown, because the alternative is reading a figure across from a sibling floorplan or from what the segment usually does — and a number nobody published is worth less than an admitted gap.
Not published for this floorplan: tire size (a tire description is published, a size is not). If you find one of these in a manufacturer document for this plan, it belongs on this page.
The completeness figure at the foot of this page (98%) measures the same thing on the full field set: it is a measurement of how much this floorplan’s manufacturer publishes, not of how much research went into the page.
How every figure here was sourced and checked is set out on the methodology page.
11 NHTSA safety record
This floorplan belongs to the Riverstone line, and NHTSA holds 8 recall campaigns and 5 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.
Too few reports to show a pattern. 5 complaints have been filed on this line — not enough to say what fails most often. They cover service brakes, unknown or other and suspension.
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 Riverstone line page.