Rockwood Signature Ultralite

We have a 2014 8289WS took delivery 12/30/13. After the first year of things like a couple of bad grease seals, bad gear pack under one of the slides, under rated bad tires, some trim coming loose and a bad vet valve under the bathroom sink all has been well since. I did all the repairs except for installing the tires, discount tire did that. All was warranty items but didn't want it to sit at the dealers for several months. FR was good about sending me what I needed except the tires, they sent me $300 for replacement. 2015 and 2016 have been trouble free, we now love our 8289WS.

Have a 2012 Flagstaff and have no issues, other than the "C" tires. Replaced with "D". Been to South Dakota, Texas, South Indiana, North Wisconsin, and many shorter trips. All totalling around 20K moles towing.

Owned one for week and a half between my 32' Chapparal and the 35' Crossroads I currently have. It was horrible. The interior was nice and the wife liked it, but the towing was terrible. The goofy sidewinder pin box flexed and chucked, and there is no way to add air ride to it. Also, the torsion axles made the whole thing bounce. I took it on two trips of about 500 miles each and returned it to the dealer. Worst camper I ever over owned.

We have a 2014 8281WS. we have had it for a little over 2 years now with no problems. It's a great fifth wheel for having kids with the bunk room and half bath.

We have the same trailer in Flagstaff. It's been very nice, no problems. Yes the ccc is low, make sure it suits your purpose. We stay mainly in RV parks. If it has Torflex axles, make sure the unit is level when towing

Forgot to mention, the front cap was replaced as well. It flexed and buckled. It's completely hollow with no support behind. I have seen several others with the same problem.

We bought a new one spring of '13. Many issues first 2 years ! After that it has been very good. Biggest issues were AC related and tire related. Unit came with C rated tires and we had a few failures, determined clearance between tires and frame was too close. Dealer agreed and convinced FR to put a 3 " lift kit. Changed to D rated tires and tire issue went away. AC is loud and this unit could use 2 AC's. Good news is we really like this 5 th wheel Very comfortable and gets a lot of use.

camp-n-family wrote:
Search the forum, I recall several other posts on this fiver.

I had heard decent things about the Rockwood fivers and was happy with my Forest River tt so I recommended the line to my parents when they were looking. They settled on an 8289ws and it has been a nightmare since day one. From what I have seen and what they have been through I couldn't recommend one.

It's in the shop for months at a time. In the first year it had the entire roof replaced at the factory due to leaks and rot. It came back from the factory with large gaps between the roof panels and rough edges that were poking slivers through the new membrane. The fiver is brown with a black roof, it came back with white caulking all over it. The axles and tires had to be replaced (upgraded) as they were underrated from factory which led to one bent axle and a blowout. It was nowhere near gvwr. The radio failed and the antenna is poorly located with the wiring laid across the slide under the rubber roof. The water heater failed. Front jacks failed twice requiring complete replacement. One slide was crooked in the tracks and gouged the floor. It's so bad you can see daylight through the seals and water pours in if driving in the rain. Too many other problems to list. The design and build quality is some of the worst I've seen.

We don't have a lemon law here so it ended up in a court battle with the dealer and Forest River. Parents won the lawsuit but it wasn't worth the stress and hassle for 3 years. I couldn't ever recommend one.

Thanks for the post!

Search the forum, I recall several other posts on this fiver.

I had heard decent things about the Rockwood fivers and was happy with my Forest River tt so I recommended the line to my parents when they were looking. They settled on an 8289ws and it has been a nightmare since day one. From what I have seen and what they have been through I couldn't recommend one.

It's in the shop for months at a time. In the first year it had the entire roof replaced at the factory due to leaks and rot. It came back from the factory with large gaps between the roof panels and rough edges that were poking slivers through the new membrane. The fiver is brown with a black roof, it came back with white caulking all over it. The axles and tires had to be replaced (upgraded) as they were underrated from factory which led to one bent axle and a blowout. It was nowhere near gvwr. The radio failed and the antenna is poorly located with the wiring laid across the slide under the rubber roof. The water heater failed. Front jacks failed twice requiring complete replacement. One slide was crooked in the tracks and gouged the floor. It's so bad you can see daylight through the seals and water pours in if driving in the rain. Too many other problems to list. The design and build quality is some of the worst I've seen.

We don't have a lemon law here so it ended up in a court battle with the dealer and Forest River. Parents won the lawsuit but it wasn't worth the stress and hassle for 3 years. I couldn't ever recommend one.

K Charles wrote:
Do a web search for forest river RV construction and you will find lots of videos.

I did that but didn't find anything for specifically for Rockwood. Since FR builds many of its product lines very differently from others, those videos dont tell me much.

One thing I'm concerned with is a rather wimpy CCC. They wont even reveal what size axles they use.