01 What the r·pod is
Forest River's r·pod is one of the most recognizable ultra-light travel trailers on the road — a small, aerodynamic, laminate-fiberglass coach marketed as “affordable luxury at the lowest tow weight in its class.” Its signature bulbous profile, with a high center roof that curves down to the chassis at both ends, keeps frontal area and tow weight low, and the lightest plans tow comfortably behind a mid-size SUV. It sits a clear construction tier above Forest River's own metal-sided value lines — the Wolf Pup and the Salem/Wildwood FSX twins — and competes with the lightweight laminate trailers from Grand Design, Keystone and Jayco, as well as Forest River's own Coachmen Apex Ultra-Lite and its rugged-styled stablemate No Boundaries, for the couple or small family who wants a genuinely easy tow without dropping to a teardrop.
Construction is the r·pod laminate recipe: a smooth fiberglass exterior over Azdel composite panels (fiberglass-reinforced thermoplastic that resists water intrusion), a block-foam insulation core and an all-aluminum frame, finished with a curved dual-pane acrylic front window. Every plan ships with the mandatory R-Pod Camp-Ready package, a notably full standard-equipment list for an ultra-light: a 12V black-glass refrigerator, an air-fryer convection microwave, seamless Surf-X countertops, a 12V TV, a power tongue jack, a central vacuum, a large roof-mounted solar panel with a 30-amp controller and inverter prep, a 15,000-BTU air conditioner, an on-demand tankless water heater, a sealed underbelly with forced heat and exterior motion lighting. A power awning is standard on select models. West Coast units add a second mandatory package, the Hood River Edition, with all-terrain tires and TPMS, advanced ground clearance, a Maxxair vent cover and 12V tank heaters.
Layouts run from a sub-2,600-pound rear-queen lightweight up to 25-foot front-bedroom and family coaches. The twelve profiled plans here span that breadth: the lightest RP-171 rear-queen couples' coach, the slide-and-full-bath RP-180, the fixed-front-queen RP-190 and its no-slide RP-194 twin, the Murphy-bed RP-192, the bar-top Murphy-queen RP-197, the two Murphy-bed-and-rear-bunks family plans (the no-slide RP-200 and the slide-equipped RP-203), the private-bedroom RP-198 with a pass-through bath, the residential no-slide RP-205 and RP-207, and the front-bedroom RP-206 theater-seat-slide flagship. The remaining dealer-stock-only plans are catalogued below and profiled in demand order as the catalog expands.
02 Floorplans profiled in depth
Twelve representative r·pod floorplans — spanning the line from the sub-2,600-pound, 19-foot rear-queen lightweight to the 25-foot front-bedroom and family coaches — are profiled in full with factory-verified specifications. They cover the lightest single-axle couples' coach, the slide-and-full-bath compacts, the fixed-front-queen RP-190 and no-slide RP-194, the Murphy-bed living-space plans, the two Murphy-bed-and-rear-bunks family plans (no-slide RP-200 and slide-equipped RP-203), the private-bedroom RP-198, RP-205 and RP-207, and the theater-seat-slide RP-206 flagship. The rest of the roster is catalogued below and profiled in demand order as the catalog expands.
| Floorplan | UVW | Length | Sleeps | Layout | Selling* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RP-171 | 2,529 lbs | 19' 0" | 3 | Front dinette, side kitchen, wet bath, rear queen — lightest plan | ~$23,000 |
| RP-180 | 2,974 lbs | 20' 0" | 3 | Side queen, off-door slide kitchen, dinette, rear full bath | ~$25,500 |
| RP-190 | 3,049 lbs | 20' 4" | 4 | Front queen, U-dinette, mid-kitchen slide, rear full bath | ~$26,000 |
| RP-194 | 3,404 lbs | 20' 6" | 3 | Front queen, booth dinette, central kitchen, rear full bath — no slide | ~$23,000 |
| RP-192 | 3,649 lbs | 22' 2" | 3 | Front Murphy bed, booth dinette, rear full bath | ~$26,000 |
| RP-197 | 4,054 lbs | 23' 0" | 3 | Front Murphy queen, bar-top kitchen, rear full bath | ~$27,500 |
| RP-200 | 4,544 lbs | 25' 0" | 5 | Front Murphy queen, rear double bunks, full bath — no-slide family plan | ~$28,400 |
| RP-203 | 4,584 lbs | 25' 0" | 7 | Front Murphy queen, rear double bunks, full bath — slide family plan | ~$33,000 |
| RP-205 | 4,643 lbs | 25' 0" | 2 | Private front queen, theater seating, rear corner kitchen, full bath | ~$29,000 |
| RP-198 | 4,594 lbs | 25' 6" | 3 | Private front queen, pass-through bath, slide living area | ~$33,000 |
| RP-206 | 4,729 lbs | 25' 6" | 2 | Front queen bedroom, theater-seat slide, rear full bath — flagship | ~$27,000 |
| RP-207 | 4,718 lbs | 25' 8" | 2 | Private front queen, 64" theater seating, full rear bath | ~$39,000 |
Unloaded vehicle weights (UVW), cargo-carrying capacities, hitch weights, lengths and tanks for profiled plans are verified against the Forest River factory floorplan records. The four newest plans (RP-190, RP-194, RP-200 and RP-205) publish a GVWR figure directly on their factory detail pages — equal to unloaded weight plus cargo capacity exactly — so their GVWR is unflagged. On the remaining plans GVWR is derived as unloaded weight plus cargo-carrying capacity (Forest River's own definition: CCC equals GVWR minus UVW), which matches the figure printed on each plan's detail page; because both inputs are factory estimates based on standard build, the derived GVWR is flagged. The selling price is a representative dealer-typical figure and is flagged (*) — Forest River publishes no single fixed MSRP, dealer MSRP placards run much higher (commonly the mid-$30,000s to the high-$40,000s), and selling prices on these ultra-lights commonly run from the low-$20,000s on the smallest plans to the high-$30,000s on the largest family and front-bedroom plans. Always confirm against the unit's own weight sticker.
03 The rest of the r·pod range
Below are the remaining current r·pod floorplans, each profiled in demand order as the catalog grows. The first group is orderable; the last three are sold as dealer stock only. Weights and lengths are the factory-published values from the brand floorplan roster. Note the spread in cargo capacity at the larger end — the dealer-stock RP-185 runs a tight 911-pound payload while the RP-204 carries a generous 2,881 pounds.
| Floorplan | Length | UVW | Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
| RP-153 | 17' 3" | 3,024 lbs | Smallest plan, single-axle compact (dealer stock only) |
| RP-185 | 23' 1" | 4,089 lbs | Couples' plan, tight 911-lb cargo capacity (dealer stock only) |
| RP-204 | 25' 6" | 4,629 lbs | Couples' plan, high 2,881-lb cargo capacity (dealer stock only) |
A reference list of additional r·pod floorplans; lengths and weights are the factory-published values from the brand floorplan roster and configurations summarize the layout. The RP-153, RP-185 and RP-204 are sold as dealer stock only. GVWR for any of these plans is derived as unloaded weight plus cargo-carrying capacity, matching the figure on each plan's factory detail page. Cargo capacity varies widely at the larger end — confirm payload against the unit's own weight sticker, not just the tow rating.
04 Line notes & data flags
Construction: laminate fiberglass over Azdel — a tier above the value bracket
The r·pod uses vacuum-bonded laminate construction: a smooth fiberglass exterior layer over Azdel composite panels, a block-foam insulation core and an all-aluminum frame, finished with a curved dual-pane acrylic front window. This is a clear construction step above the metal-sided stick-and-tin of Forest River's value lines (Wolf Pup, Wolf Den and the Salem/Wildwood FSX twins), and the composite Azdel walls resist the water intrusion that can plague wood-framed trailers. The aerodynamic, bulbous shell — a high center roof curving down to the chassis at both ends — is the design that keeps frontal area and tow weight low. Construction figures on the model pages follow the factory feature lists.
GVWR is derived — and matches the factory detail page
Forest River's brand floorplan roster lists unloaded vehicle weight, cargo-carrying capacity and hitch weight for every r·pod. The per-plan factory detail pages also print a GVWR figure, and on the four newest plans (RP-190, RP-194, RP-200 and RP-205) that published GVWR is carried straight onto the model pages unflagged — it equals unloaded weight plus cargo capacity exactly. On the older plans the roster presents GVWR only through its definition (cargo-carrying capacity equals GVWR minus unloaded weight), so the GVWR shown is derived as unloaded weight plus cargo capacity — and on every plan that derived figure matches the GVWR on the plan's own detail page exactly, corroborating the method. Because unloaded weight and cargo capacity are factory estimates based on standard build (and cargo capacity on the smaller plans is a round 1,500-pound figure), the derived GVWR is shown with an asterisk.
Rich standard equipment for an ultra-light: the Camp-Ready package
Every r·pod ships with the mandatory R-Pod Camp-Ready package, a full 12-volt-residential standard list: a 12V black-glass refrigerator, an air-fryer convection microwave, a hot & cold exterior spray port, seamless Surf-X countertops, blackout roller shades, a 12V TV, a power tongue jack, a central vacuum, a large roof-mounted solar panel with a 30-amp controller and inverter prep, a 15,000-BTU air conditioner, an on-demand tankless water heater, a curved dual-pane acrylic front window and exterior motion lighting. A power awning is standard on select models. This is a notably complete package for an entry-weight trailer and is part of why the r·pod positions itself as “affordable luxury at the lowest tow weight in its class.”
The Hood River Edition is mandatory on West Coast units
A second mandatory package, the Hood River Edition, is applied to units sold on the West Coast: all-terrain Mud Legend tires with TPMS, advanced ground clearance, a Maxxair vent cover and 12V tank heaters. It is region-specific, so the exact equipment on a given unit depends on where it was built for sale — confirm with the dealer which package a specific trailer carries.
Sleeps and selling price vary by source — and run below the placard
r·pod plans are couples' and small-family layouts; nominal capacity is typically two or three, though several plans count a convertible dinette or Murphy bed toward sleeping capacity, so dealer listings sometimes read “2–4.” The model pages use the factory and most-common dealer figure and note the convertibles. On price, Forest River publishes no single fixed MSRP. Dealer MSRP placards run high — commonly the mid-$30,000s to the high-$40,000s — while selling prices run far lower, often the low-$20,000s to the high-$20,000s. The model pages show a representative dealer-typical selling figure with an asterisk; the value story is the gap between placard and street price.