Feedback on FW choice.

[Mik68]

We have been looking at FW for sometime now & narrowed down our search to a Rockwood signature ultra lite 8286WS by Forrest river. (Subject to change)!. For many reasons, such as having a GVWR of no more than 10,000 pounds, bunk beds for 3 kids & less than 32' long to name a few.
I know you pay for what you get and it's not in the same class as DRV or Northwood but for the price of $35,000 RRP and being an 'ultra lite'. Has anyone experienced or have knowledge of Forrest rivers ultra lite's or even better, has this particular model & wondering what you think of them?
Thanks in advance Mik

[Slownsy]

Hi Mike I don't believe they have air brakes but suspension, u can reduce GVWR in Australia to 4999kg, our TI has over 12000lbs from manufacturer but is rated to 4999kg in Australia. But alowe yourself say at least 1500 -2000lbs payload.
Frank.

[Mik68]

Slownsy wrote:
Mike why max 10000 GVWR if TV a 350.
Frank.

G'day Frank, as you know we want to bring it home and I've heard that anything over that (4,500kg's) here in Aus, the TV requires air brakes. I'm yet to confirm this, but can't find anything on our Aussie govt. sites as yet.
The Dodge Ram doesn't have air brakes does it? Actually I read recently that the 2014 model has come out with air brakes. But we can't afford a new one. 🙂
Mik

[Slownsy]

Mike why max 10000 GVWR if TV a 350.
Frank.

[Mik68]

Michelle.S wrote:
No one was suggesting you travel with the Kids in the camper, but you will be surprised how much weight pots, pans, dishes, food, clothing, toys, and misc items will add up to. Unless you travel with it empty you will probably surpass the CCC easily. 1500 Lbs isn't much and more than likely will be quite a bit less on the actual delivered unit.

Michelle, I was just being sarcastic to goducks10 quote "With kids and everything else you may put in it would be maxed when towing". Of course he wasn't suggesting it but it surely could be read that way. :W
Yes it's amazing how things do ad up rather quickly. There must be a market for these Ultra lite's with a low CCC. So what do people buying these RV's do?
I guess we would really have to watch what we pack it with. My wife & I cycled around your country before kids & carried everything to be self sufficient. As you can imagine everything had to be super lite, It can be done yes?

[texasclarks]

We own a FR Rockwood Signature TT and they are good for the money.

[Michelle_S]

No one was suggesting you travel with the Kids in the camper, but you will be surprised how much weight pots, pans, dishes, food, clothing, toys, and misc items will add up to. Unless you travel with it empty you will probably surpass the CCC easily. 1500 Lbs isn't much and more than likely will be quite a bit less on the actual delivered unit.

[Mik68]

goducks10 wrote:
I would be nervous about the brochure CCC of 1508lbs, which will be less when delivered. With kids and everything else you may put in it would be maxed when towing. Looks like a weak spot.

I agree, this was a concern of mine & a question I asked months ago whether the CCC had any reflection on the build or structure of the RV. Common sense says yes, but because we are limited to our max GVWR of 10,000lbs it's unlikely we will find a FW in this class with a greater CCC. As a comparison we first liked the Sunnybrook Raven which has a dry weight of 9800lbs 🙂 & CCC of 2460lbs, but GVWR is 14,360lbs. 😞
Also, we wouldn't be travelling with the kids in the FW, they'll be riding in the truck with us & didn't think the GVWR was a concern while stationary (set up).

[goducks10]

I would be nervous about the brochure CCC of 1508lbs, which will be less when delivered. With kids and everything else you may put in it would be maxed when towing. Looks like a weak spot.

[ferretgrandpa]

Do your inspection!!!
Mine had a poorly installed furnace, plenum was not correct. Cargo doors never caulked, so floor of basement is soft from water damage. Front cap was not bolted on, dealer was unable to fix, local RV guy took cap off and bolted front cap frame to trailer frame.
Forrest River used good plans, good materials and a worthless workforce.

A poor workforce on Monday is a poor workforce ALL week.

Never again

[Mik68]

All positive responses so far, thank you! We are pretty sure the 8286WS is the one for us as well jonrjen, and this decision was based on being about the only floorplan that we liked that weighed under 10,000lb's there were a few more choices over that weight but that's the way it goes.
Have been onto the Forrest river forum as well and overall people seem pretty happy with there purchases. Of course there was the odd one that may have been built on a Monday. 🙂

[jonrjen]

We just purchased a Wildcat 353LS manufactured by Forest River AKA a FROG Product.
While a Wildcat is far from the top of the high end lines of RVs. It did offer the floor plan that we liked. It has a bath and a half which really appealed to us for taking grandkids along. Trying to find a bath and a half 5th wheels and not being a bunk house or toy hauler is pretty tough to do. There are three different manufactures that offer them, one being the Wildcat (which has discontinued the floor plan) The other two would have cost almost double what we paid for the Wildcat which I wasn't willing to spend until I make sure that we use the new RV enough to justify the purchase.
Once the Wildcat arrives we will begin to make it ours with a little make over of some trim and décor choice.

[mountainsam]

we have the 8281ws and are looking forward to an 8000 mile trip in the spring. I really like the floor plan for our grand kids. and when they aren't along we have a walk in closet

[Merrykalia]

We ended up finding a used 2009 Wildcat 32QBBS that was being traded in at our local RV dealer on the day that we were looking at new fifth wheels. The couple that was trading it in had come to transfer their stuff from the old to the new.

It is a Forest River product and we felt confident in purchasing it. I fell in love with the front bunkhouse with the rear master bedroom. We spent 107 nights in it from April until the end of October, so we definitely have gotten use out of it. We camp hosted two months at Virginia State Parks and another one in a Maryland State Park.

2009 Wildcat floorplan

[4huskers]

We had a 2005 Rockwood 8283 for 7 years and were very happy with it. We had just a very few issues with it. Our needs outgrew it, otherwise we'd still have it.