Forest River Issues

[Saneuman]

We have owned our FR Cardinal for about 2.5 years now. Out of that time, it has been in the shop to be fixed for about 480 days! On our first trip out, the hydrolics FAILED! We had to have a mechanic come out and repair before the trailer could be moved. It just keeps getting better and better. We have talked and talked to FR, and are so frustrated. Little problems like moldings falling off, stove not working, fan breaking, wrong size tanks put in the trailer.....the list seriously goes on for 6 typed pages, I was thinking about starting a Diary of a Cardinal Lemon! Our most recent problem, we took it in for new tires, about 25k on these, and the mechanic changed out the tires. The mechanic told us the trailer is NOT ROAD WORTHY! The shackles holding up the rear axle are BOTH BROKEN! They didn’t even want us to take it the 13 miles home! In addition, the mechanic said our 5th wheel looks like it has a quarter of a million miles on it!! After paying A LOT $$ We are done! Anyone have suggestions? Anyone else have problems?

[wowens79]

Had a buddy with a leaking toilet on his first trip, took it back to the dealer, and they told him it would take a month to fix it. So he started walking around the new campers and talking to people looking at campers and told them about the issues with his new camper and how they were taking forever to fix it. about the time he got to the 2nd family the service guy came up and told him it his camper would be fixed in 15 minutes.

You've got to get them where it is painful. It takes not time to reply to an email, but when you start costing them sales and making them look bad, it gets their attention. Although the way campers are selling now, it may not affect them.

[C_Schomer]

Try to get FR to allow you to take it to an independent trailer shop and have them pay for, so you can at least use it. As far as the tires, I always put on LT’s and get rid of the ST’s and then no more tire problems. Craig

[Saneuman]

Thank you! I was not aware of the rules, understandable of course.

[BarneyS]

Saneuman wrote:
snip...
Has anyone contacted an attorney and had luck?

FYI - As soon as you mention you have contacted an attorney or post anything legal here I will have to close your thread down or delete it. Our rules do not permit ANY type of lawsuit post.

My heart breaks to read posts such as yours and I would hate to have to close it due to the above issue so please be very careful what you post about your rig. Good luck!
Barney

[Thermoguy]

On a trip this summer I had the shackles on my Forest River Sierra break. Not good, but the repair was just over $100. They aren't expensive. Tires are expensive. But the shackles are not. Since my rig is 14 years old, not sure how long those last or if these have every been replaced before. Seems like since they are inexpensive, they should be changed more often. When getting new tires a few weeks ago, had them repack the bearings, at $35 each, seemed like a reasonable cost.

[Saneuman]

Thank you all! Yes we have emailed and talked with FR. It has been to Indiana and come back with most of the issues unresolved. We have had to cancel several trips - due to the Cardinal not being road worthy.

Not my idea of the great trailer we had in mind! We definitely got one made on a Friday afternoon, apparently after a liquid lunch!

Has anyone contacted an attorney and had luck?

[midnightsadie]

x2 he said it all.

[jrs1871]

Sorry to hear of your problems. Some unfortunately go with the territory. You better be handy with basic tools to handle things like molding coming lose, misaligned drawers, blinds falling down. I wish it weren't so but unfortunately it is. You have to remember that pulling these things down the road is probably equivalent to a small earthquake. And on some roads, Illinois comes to mind, it is more like a major earthquake.
Now all that being said, some of the things that you listed are a manufacturer problem, not the assembler problem. Try contacting Lippert about your shackle problem. That is a known problem and they have been taking care of. Contact the manufacturer directly about your stove, fan, etc. It is probably best to email them supported by pictures of the issue. Be persistent but polite. Part of you problem could be your dealer. They are known to try to blame Forest River when it is actually them dropping the ball.
Cardinal is ordinarily a pretty solid trailer but every now and again, they lay an egg. All RV manufacturers have issues, some more so than others. Have you tried contacting Cardinal directly with some of your issues? I don't have the contact information for that line, but I am sure it is available somewhere. Have you checked the Cardinal forum for other owners' comments and issues?
Like I said, I am sorry you have had a bad experience. But hopefully you can get resolution soon.

[RetiredRealtorR]

One idea is to post as many online reviews as you can -- on every platform that you possibly can. The internet is a powerful tool, and can make or break a business. Enough negative reviews just might make the manufacturer take notice. Who knows.

That being said, I have come to the conclusion that unless someone is spending in the neighborhood of, say, $400,000 or more, the market is full of nothing but poorly assembled low-quality components --- and RVers keep buying them like there's no tomorrow, so the manufacturers have no incentive to change a thing.

Sorry to hear about your problems. Hope they get resolved soon.

[Lwiddis]

Post is fine! No need for assistance. Try 5er forum?