2026 Forest River Sandstorm / Stealth / Shockwave3217GX

The Sandstorm 3217GX leaves Forest River's factory at 13,124 lbs dry, with a published GVWR of 17,160 lbs and 4,036 lbs of cargo capacity between the two. Cargo capacity is 24% of the loaded rating, and Forest River's own definition is worth reading before you plan against it: cargo capacity is what remains for fresh water, gear, food, batteries and every dealer-installed accessory. Fresh water alone is 8.3 lb per gallon, so filling this trailer's 150-gallon fresh tank spends 1,245 lbs of that 4,036 lbs before anything else is loaded.

Dry pin weight is 3,160 lbs, which is 24% of the dry weight. That figure lands on the truck's rear axle and comes straight off its payload rating - not its towing rating, which is the number most often quoted and the wrong one for this decision. Pin weight rises as the trailer is loaded, and a fifth wheel loaded toward its cargo capacity will put substantially more than 3,160 lbs over the bed. Read the payload figure on your own door sticker rather than a brochure maximum for the model.

Tank capacities are 150 gallons fresh, 120 grey and 40 black, 160 gallons of waste capacity against 150 gallons of supply. The ratio is what governs how long the trailer can sit off hookups: waste capacity exceeds fresh, so the fresh tank is the binding constraint and refilling extends the stay. Forest River publishes these three figures per floorplan, and they are the factory's numbers rather than a segment average.

Against the rest of the Sandstorm roster this is the 10th of 15 floorplans by dry weight, in a line that runs from 7,439 lbs to 16,354 lbs. It sits in the heavier third of the line. Comparing floorplans inside one line is more reliable than comparing across brands, because every figure here comes from the same factory channel on the same day.

A useful way to read the pair of weights is to stop planning against the dry figure. Nobody tows a trailer at 13,124 lbs: that is the weight before water, batteries, propane, bedding, food, tools and anything the dealer bolted on. Load half the published cargo capacity, which is modest for a family trip, and this plan is already near 15,142 lbs on the road. Compare that number against the tow vehicle, not the dry weight, and leave margin on top of it - the published GVWR of 17,160 lbs is a limit rather than a target.

Every number above was captured twice from Forest River and checked against itself before it was published. The line listing and the individual floorplan page are two separate factory renderings of the same trailer, and this plan's 4 shared figures agree exactly on both. Dry weight plus cargo capacity also equals the published GVWR exactly, which is the arithmetic check this site runs on every profiled floorplan. Where a figure is missing from this page it is because Forest River does not publish it in this channel, not because it was hard to find - and the row says so rather than being quietly dropped.

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. 3217GX is a Sandstorm designation and this site does not decode it into a layout claim.

Sandstorm is a toy-hauler roster published under three badges at once, and the first useful thing to know about it is that Sandstorm, Stealth and Shockwave are the same sixteen trailers. Not similar - the same floorplan codes, the same dry weights, the same cargo capacities, the same tanks, checked field by field. So a shopper cross-shopping the three badges is cross-shopping one product, and the choice between them is a dealer question rather than a trailer question. Within that roster there are two real classes. Five plans are travel trailers, 7,439 to 9,399 lb dry with 1,155 to 1,855 lb on the tongue. Seven are fifth wheels, 9,459 to 15,749 lb dry with 2,165 to 3,765 lb on the pin. The lightest fifth wheel outweighs the heaviest bumper pull, so the two halves do not overlap and no plan here is a borderline call. Cargo capacity runs 3,281 to 5,676 lb on the fifth wheels and 3,771 to 5,300 lb on the travel trailers - the bumper pulls give up very little payload, which is unusual and is the reason to read the table rather than assume the fifth wheels carry more.

A full 150-gallon fresh tank is about 1,251 lb of water (water counts as cargo: 49 CFR 571.120 S10.4.2), 31% of the 3217GX’s 4,036 lb cargo capacity, leaving 2,785 lb. Across 7 Sandstorm fifth-wheel floorplans the water share runs 22% to 38%, and 1 gives up more than this one. Nearest on that share: Sandstorm 4114GX at 24% and Sandstorm 3513GX at 38%. Your own unit’s figure is on the label inside its entry door (49 CFR 571.120 S10.4.3).

Closest sibling: the Sandstorm 3300, nearest on the published figures. It differs on 6 of the 8 fields both publish (this plan first): length 38 ft 4 in vs 36 ft 10 in; dry weight 13,124 lb vs 10,879 lb; GVWR 17,160 lb vs 16,555 lb; cargo capacity 4,036 lb vs 5,676 lb; dry hitch weight 3,160 lb vs 2,555 lb; grey tank 120 gal vs 132 gal. They match on fresh tank and black tank.

Either side of it by GVWR: Sandstorm 3300 is 605 lb lighter (16,555 lb GVWR); Sandstorm 3513GX is 90 lb heavier (17,250 lb GVWR).

All 12 Sandstorm floorplans: Sandstorm line hub.

Against the 3217GX: the Nightfall 343NHD is 90 lb heavier and 2 ft longer; the Vengeance Rogue 351G2 is 110 lb lighter and 6 ft longer; the Bighorn 36RK is 140 lb heavier and 2 ft longer.

11 of the 18 fields this catalogue tracks are published for the 3217GX. Not published: interior height, sleeps, slide count, axle count, tire specification, refrigerator, air conditioning.

Sourcing rules: methodology.