Forum Discussion

Mondooker's avatar
Mondooker
Explorer
Apr 10, 2022

Do you own the New River Ranch by Columbus?

I’d like to communicate with River Ranch owners about your Coach? River Ranch is now in its 2nd full year of production. And as an owner myself, would love to compare notes with other owners. I was hoping Forest River, the parent company, would have an owners forum?

Thank you one and all.

20 Replies

  • also read this tread : https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f96/palomino-river-ranch-390rl-220009-2.html

    keep in mind all my issues are fixed now but this is what I was dealing with
  • Ya, you want the 3 roof airs, I notice with my basement unit the bedroom is hard to cool down during warm weather.
    I'm also in the middle of a medium size solar install ( kind of as I have time, but I am 80% done )
    If you have any questions hit me up I'll try and help. Ive been through about every issue you could have LOL . But yes as a whole the RV is great and like any RV it has issues and things that I thought I would like that I don't like as much anymore.
    Oh one more thing, did you get the tank hot water heater or tankless water heater?
    I much prefer the tank heater we had in our last RV , this tankless one trips offline a lot if you shut off the water and then turn it right back on. Plus you get a big slug of cold water even if you only turn it off for 1 sec... then you have to wait for the new batch of hot water to get to you. not ideal for dry camping cause you use a lot of water .etc also depending on the campground water pressure it makes that worse or better.

    read down this thread : https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f96/river-ranch-221537.html
  • Thanks for that information cj99, I hope to see my 392MB (with the bunkhouse/office) next week. Mine has the 3 Coleman low profile roof airs. They are each 15000 BTU (specs all for 13500) which should keep things pretty cool. It’s been a long slog but Columbus has been as good to work with as anyone could imagine. That made things a little easier to deal with for sure.

    It sounds like you’ve had some issues but remain happy with your choice. I’ve looked at about every fifth wheel out there. And the River Ranch remains the clear winner to fulfill the needs of our family. I’ll report back when I get the Coach as to it’s fit and finish.
  • whoops sorry for the late reply , I didn't see a notice to this thread.
    well where do I start
    1) do we still like it and have by now worked out the bugs: YES
    2) do I have the basement air or 3 roof air: basement I have a whole thread on this.. we had many issues both electrical & mechanical with the AC system, but it works fine now but it is undersized for this unit. If I had my choice I would go with the 3 roof airs. that being said there is a lot of low overpasses,s out east and let me tell you we nearly make it under most, I mean like by an inch... so not sure how the 3 AC,s on top would work out. be very careful with the height
    3) the RV does pull very well compared to my last RV ( 43ft toy hauler )
    4) I can give you a whole list of issues we had ( also have a thread about it on here somewhere) but the shortlist is : AC issues, main slide leaked during rain, it was warped, stove oven quit ( was a pinched hose ) , and a bunch of smaller issues
    5) one of the good points: forest river worked with me to get it into a shop and they fixed most of the issues , and even reimbursed me for money I spent on my own to fix the AC, and even paid for me to go by a portable AC while I was fixing my RV Ac , ( had to order parts supply chain delays etc )
    6) which model do I have: I forget but it's not the one with the extra bunk room/office I have the other one. BUT would prefer the other one if I had kids with me and would be nice to use as an office but it cuts into bathroom size & food pantry size so is a trade-off
    7) this thing Has a boat load of storage under it. a big plus
    If you have any more questions feel free to ask
    PS I am still staying in it in Harrisburg PA , I will be done here in a few weeks then I taking this RV to Colorado mountains until winter hits !
    I probably have about a year and a half in this RV at this point . other than a few weeks where I flew back to PHX to go home ( time off work )
    oh one more negative , I like the one level floor plan but its a pain to shut the door because your on the steps above the door and have to bend way over which is not east when you have stuff in your hand. also its a lot of steps all at once might not be good for older people or overweight people ... just saying I'm pretty much both
  • So what do you think cj99, is it a keeper? After 10 months you should have worked the kinks out of it for sure. Do you have the 390 or 392 and any major issues? Do you have central air or three roof units?

    What are three things you like about it and and three things you don’t? Sorry for so many questions but you’re the first person I know that has a River Ranch and has been using it awhile.

    Thanks so much and look forward to your reply.
  • I have a 2021 model . been almost full time ( 10 months a year ) since I got it April of 2021
    pulled it all over the Midwest and staying in PA in it thought winter
  • My coach came in December but due to PDI problems I don’t have it yet.
  • How's your ownership experience been so far? Would you recommend the brand?