2026 Forest River Salem Villa / Salem Grand Villa / Wildwood Lodge / Wildwood Grand Lodge42DMS

The Salem Villa 42DMS leaves Forest River's factory at 11,484 lbs dry with 1,991 lbs of cargo capacity. Forest River publishes no GVWR for this line, so the loaded rating is not quoted on this page and is not computed from the other two figures. What the cargo number covers is defined by the factory: fresh water, gear, food, batteries and every dealer-installed accessory come out of it. Fresh water is 8.3 lb per gallon, so filling the 40-gallon fresh tank spends 332 lbs of the 1,991 lbs before anything else goes in.

Tongue weight is 1,475 lbs, 13% of the dry weight as published; it rises as the trailer is loaded and counts against the tow vehicle’s tongue-weight and payload limits (tongue weight by size).

Off hookups: 150 gallons of grey and black capacity against 40 gallons of fresh water, so fresh water runs out first (tank sizes by length).

Against the rest of the Salem Villa roster this is the 3rd of 12 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 9,234 lbs to 14,404 lbs. It sits in the lighter third of the line.

Plan the tow on loaded weight, not the 11,484 lbs dry figure: half the published cargo capacity brings this plan to about 12,480 lbs. Forest River publishes no loaded rating for this line, so the ceiling is the one on the trailer’s own weight label (how to read trailer weights).

Forest River’s line listing and this floorplan’s own factory page agree on all 4 shared figures. No GVWR is published for this line, so dry plus cargo has no rating to check against. 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. 42DMS is a Salem Villa designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

How the 42DMS differs from the other eleven Salem Villa floorplans. Most distinctive first. How these ranks are worked out.

• Dry weight, 11,484 lb: third-lightest of twelve, between the 40FDEN (10,574 lb) and the 40RLB (11,604 lb).
• Grey tank, 70 gal: fourth-smallest of twelve, between the 353FLFB, 40FDEN and 42ICE (40 gal) and the 40FKP, 42DL and four others (80 gal).
• Tongue weight, 1,475 lb: fifth-lightest of twelve, between the 40RLB (1,445 lb) and the 40ZZZ (1,480 lb).
• Tongue weight as a share of dry weight, 12.8%: fifth-largest of twelve, between the 42ICE (12.7%) and the 40FKP (12.9%).
• Length, 43 ft 10 in: fifth-longest of twelve, between the 40FKP (43 ft 3 in) and the 42ZEN and 44ZEN (44 ft 11 in).
• Cargo capacity, 1,991 lb: sixth-largest of twelve, between the 44ZEN (1,891 lb) and the 42ICE (1,996 lb).
• Black tank, 80 gal: largest of twelve, level with the 42QBQ, 42ZEN and 44ZEN; next is the 40ZZZ (70 gal).
• Exterior height, 12 ft 8 in: lowest of twelve, level with the 353FLFB, 40FDEN and two others; next is the 42DL (13 ft).

Next to the 40FDEN, the nearest lighter floorplan by dry weight, the 42DMS is 910 lb heavier by dry weight, has 1,105 lb more cargo capacity, has a tongue weight 215 lb heavier, is 1 ft 5 in longer, has a grey tank 30 gal larger and has a black tank 40 gal larger; the two publish the same exterior height and fresh tank.

Next to the 40RLB, the nearest heavier floorplan by dry weight, the 42DMS is 120 lb lighter by dry weight, has 150 lb more cargo capacity, has a tongue weight 30 lb heavier, is 10 in longer, has a grey tank 50 gal smaller and has a black tank 40 gal larger; the two publish the same exterior height and fresh tank.

These are destination trailers - towed to a seasonal site, levelled, and largely left there - and the numbers only make sense read that way. Fourteen floorplans run 9,234 to 14,404 lb dry against cargo capacity of just 886 to 2,446 lb. On a touring trailer that ratio would be a warning; here it is the design, because the trailer is not being loaded for a trip. What it does mean is that the fit-out a seasonal site accumulates eats the margin quickly, and 886 lb is not much once a screen room, a grill and a season of furniture are aboard. All fourteen are bumper pull, with 1,260 to 1,855 lb on the tongue - for a tow most owners make twice a year, which is why so many of these are delivered rather than towed by the buyer. Forest River splits the roster into a standard group and a Grand group, and the split is real: the six Grand plans start at 12,209 lb dry where the six standard plans start at 9,234 lb. Fresh water is 39 to 40 gallons across the whole roster, which is a plumbed-site number rather than a boondocking one and tells you plainly what these are for.

A full 40-gallon fresh tank is about 332 lb of water, 17% of the 42DMS’s 1,991 lb cargo capacity, leaving 1,659 lb. Across 12 Salem Villa floorplans the water share runs 14% to 37%, and 6 give up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Salem Villa 42ICE at 17% and Salem Villa 44ZEN at 18%.