Looking For Feedback on Forest River Rv's

chucked wrote:
I like how this thread went way off topic.

All done for your reading enjoyment!

As to topic, like others have said, there is no rhyme or reason for any TT to be better or worse than another equivalent unit. Find your floor plan, then go over it meticulously.
I only have a Skyline because the floor plan worked, all the numbers worked, and it was right there. I went over it as best I could top to bottom with a moisture meter and a flashlight. So far, so good.

chucked wrote:
There are 2 dealers close by, they have a small selection, very poor reviews, and lots of action on BBB. There is a dealer I'd like to visit, they have a great selection, a youtube page, good reviews, but is 1.5 hours away.

Heck, around here a 1.5 hr drive is just going around the block.

It's been quite a while since I've logged onto this forum. (Years I think) I find it funny there's still fresh threads about Forest River and their quality. IMO based on my own experience and close friends who own FR products, it's anybody's guess on how well your particular trailer will hold up. Back in the early 2000's, I had a very negative experience with FR and their lack of quality and customer support. Long story short....I purchased a new 2002 Wildwood. By the beginning of the 3rd season the roof rotted out due to it not being finished and properly sealed before it left the factory. I had to sick my lawyer on them before they'd admit it was their fault (FR tried to say it was my lack of proper maintnenence) and they had to get the repairs done. Even at that, I had to take it down to Goshen, IN myself and they had it for almost 3 months before I got it back. They did do a good job with the repairs. Even so, I promptly drove it home and traded up for a 2004 Sunnybrook 3310 that's still going strong today. That was my experience. I know of folks that have had zero problems with their FR products and I know some who have. It's really hard to say. Best thing to do is go over the rig with a fine tooth comb and don't settle for any defect or problem you find. Open cabinets, check under counters, look behind access panels, etc. Best of luck to you and happy camping!

mikakuja wrote:
We have owned our FR Surveyor since Nov 2016. We are happy with it overall, but like all of them it is not perfect. Structurally there have been no issues and the overall quality is good (better than some, not as good as others)... For the price I would expect perfection, but that's not the case with the RV industry. My biggest complaint with our particular unit is the cabinetry. Most of the cabinet door hinge screws were too short and stripped leading to the doors coming off, and where two screw could have been used there was only one... The pantry closet with it's adjustable shelving is a joke.... The shelves regularly fall out while traveling and the adjustable plastic tracks barely hold the weight of shelve alone let alone anything on it... It also doesn't help that the pantry walls are not strong enough to support anything inside the pantry without bowing enough to pop the paneling and trim off of the outside of it...
Long story short, I am not having the cabinets repaired under warranty, I will repair them myself... I have no faith that the dealership will repair the defects to my satisfaction...
All in all (other than the cabinets) which is minor in the grand scheme of thins, or FR has been great.

I did the same thing when my FR Rockwood was new - reinforced certain cabinet bottoms, sides and slide rails. A few sticks of wood, a few screws and Gorilla Glue and haven't had much of a problem since! (you would think the manufacturer would know to use longer screws and reinforce certain things, but . . . guess I didn't have enough to do! ;) )

There are 2 dealers close by, they have a small selection, very poor reviews, and lots of action on BBB. There is a dealer I'd like to visit, they have a great selection, a youtube page, good reviews, but is 1.5 hours away.

We have owned our FR Surveyor since Nov 2016. We are happy with it overall, but like all of them it is not perfect. Structurally there have been no issues and the overall quality is good (better than some, not as good as others)... For the price I would expect perfection, but that's not the case with the RV industry. My biggest complaint with our particular unit is the cabinetry. Most of the cabinet door hinge screws were too short and stripped leading to the doors coming off, and where two screw could have been used there was only one... The pantry closet with it's adjustable shelving is a joke.... The shelves regularly fall out while traveling and the adjustable plastic tracks barely hold the weight of shelve alone let alone anything on it... It also doesn't help that the pantry walls are not strong enough to support anything inside the pantry without bowing enough to pop the paneling and trim off of the outside of it...
Long story short, I am not having the cabinets repaired under warranty, I will repair them myself... I have no faith that the dealership will repair the defects to my satisfaction...
All in all (other than the cabinets) which is minor in the grand scheme of things, our FR has been great.

I like how this thread went way off topic.

myredracer wrote:
Besides the questionable quality of these things (to put it nicely), the "quality" of the dealer is also important. Some (most?) are inept at fixing things properly, if at all. Some have terrible customer service. After 2 dealers, I can't believe how bad they can be.

Also important is how well a factory supports their brand and warranty issues. Some can be great, many can be bad.

Not an easy thing to research tho.

One brand/model owner can rave about how good their TT has been while the next guy has had nothing but grief.

Next time I'm gonna buy a boat or a small plane or a cabin in the woods. Guaranteed to be waaay less grief.

LOL.
Boat- hole in the water into which money is thrown.
Plane- as above, but hole is in sky.
Cabin-open door, throw money inside, close door, leave.

Wife and I bought a new 2018 forest river wildwood 33ft TT 14 months ago. Zero issues so far except a small rip in flooring that was repaired under warranty. I learned early on how to inspect, maintain and repair things myself. Overall happy with the purchase.

WNYBob wrote:
I'm not a brand hater here, but I do have an issue with to frequent delamination. YES! I believe the industry has done us wrong, by offering this type of construction as a viable siding on a camper. Building a siding od a skin coat of "fiberglass" over thin sheet of plywood is not acceptable! This is NOT a fiberglass exterior! Slight moisture or high humidity with a little stress will cause the skin to pop. I wish I had enough money to start a class action suite against the industry, as my camper has been devalued at least $3,000 due to delamination! End of rant!

Azdel backed fiberglas seems like a better construction, IMO.

Boy you've got something here! My TT front end Fiberglas has been severely loosening up the past couple years. It does sit out in the Arizona sun year around, with the front facing south. And a place along the side also has some delamination from a very minor skylight leak. It does make you wonder why they use a glue that will release with just a little moisture! I've been seeing a ton of RVs these days with this issue. (Let's find some ambulance chasing lawyer who's willing to go after this on his nickel! LOL)

Now on to my FR product. It is a 2006 Rockwood 2502 ultralight, which we purchased new. It has seen about 3-6 weeks camping each year, and done a number of trips over 2-5,000 miles. There have been no major failures in any appliances - they all still work fine, and the TPO vinyl roof is holding up well (surprisingly so in the AZ sun!). There have been no structural issues (except as stated below). As stated above there is some fiberglass delamination here and there, but that seems to be fairly widespread in the industry.

I would certainly agree that you have to look things over real carefully before purchase, and point issues out in writing. After going on a short "shakedown cruise," note anything that's not right (you will find things, most likely). Our unit had a few little things here and there. Some I handled some things myself with a screw here and there & Gorilla Glue (like a couple cabinetry supports). But other things I let the dealer do, which they were very good about (Orangewood RV in Phoenix). But most all these things were were minor and easily taken care of.

The biggest thing was actually found by the dealer. It seems the factory didn't secure the box to the frame as well as they should, and it shifted backwards maybe 2". He said they had seen this before in various brands of trailer, and now know to look for it - I don't know that I would have noticed it. They pushed the box forward where it belonged and added a big U-bolt in the front compartment to secure the box. Never had an issue since.

So I would say our experience with this 13 year old Rockwood has been quite good overall.