multiple problems with new Forest River

[Campin_Family_o]

We purchased our new Forest River Heritage Glen 26 RL last May from Creaticebus sales based out of Chino CA. When we started using it on various trips I noticed several major flaws:
BATTERY: It only came with one battery and it does not hold a charge! I keep it plugged in at home and the first night camping the meter is down to 1/2! We FROZE in Yosemite last week because the heater would shut off. This was after running the genny for 6 hours to recharge and bringing a second battery to help. Could there be a short or draw in the system reducing the charge?
FRESH WATER TANK: Our old Wildwood had a 50 gal tank with no problems and this new one says it has 40 gal. I leave with a full tank but I think half of it goes out the overflow tube as we're driving! It's frustrating getting to a campsite and running out of water by the third day! We are very frugal too, mostly using it for flushing and brushing. Anyone else notice water coming out of the new overflow tubes? Can I put a shut off valve on it?
HEATER: With the new LED Dometic thermostat, I end up having the heater go on but also the AC is blowing too! Not too cold of air but still it goes on. The heater vents are a joke too, not much air flow in the main area and bedroom. The small circular vent in the bathroom is the one that's working well, but who wants to sit on the toilet with your wife on your lap trying to keep warm??
Sorry for the long post, I thought I'd throw these problems out there to see if anyone has some ideas. The customer service is a joke, they don't return calls and they don't have a dealer around Northern Ca to help. Any ideas?

[Ralph_Cramden]

Lantley wrote:

drsteve wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
so how is a cheap battery forest river? Have you bothered to check your crappy wfco converter for proper output seeing its as well not forest river.The ac thats not forest river needs taken off auto to stop coming on.The non forest river heater might need properly sealed

Would you be this forgiving if, say, your new truck's outsourced transmission blew up? Of course not--you would expect the manufacturer to take responsibility and fix it, and rightly so. It's Forest River's choice to use these parts, and it should be their responsibility to repair the unit.

Auto's and RV's are 2 different things, with very different assembly procedures, warranty policies and consumer protection laws.
The sooner you separate the 2 the sooner you will have a better understanding of the challenges of RV ownership.

Horse Poopage.

They may be different things but a warranty is a warranty.

The difference is if the transmission go's out in your Ford, you go down to the dealer, they order another, and most likely for something major like that you're back on the road in less than a week, two weeks tops.

With most RV manufacturers if the cooling unit in the fridge lets loose, you take it back to the dealer and drop it off. They get around to looking at it two weeks later. They take pictures of the ruptured cooling unit and send them to the manufacturer. The manufacturer takes a few days or a week to review and approve them. The manufacturer approves the request then the dealer needs to order the new fridge from the manufacturer, thats a different department on both ends so no taking care of it all at once. The manufacturer does not keep them laying around and will not pull stock from production runs, so they order a new fridge from Dometic. It takes a few weeks for the new fridge to arrive at the manufacturer from Dometic. The manufacturer now waits until they have a new unit shipping to the dealer, and cram the new fridge inside to save shipping costs. The new fridge finally arrives at the dealer and now you get put on the schedule to swap it that may be a few weeks or more booked out. Youre new rig was at the dealer for 4 moths for a warranty repair which in actuality it takes what to swap out an absorbtion fridge? 1.5 hours at most?

[drsteve]

Lantley wrote:

drsteve wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
so how is a cheap battery forest river? Have you bothered to check your crappy wfco converter for proper output seeing its as well not forest river.The ac thats not forest river needs taken off auto to stop coming on.The non forest river heater might need properly sealed

Would you be this forgiving if, say, your new truck's outsourced transmission blew up? Of course not--you would expect the manufacturer to take responsibility and fix it, and rightly so. It's Forest River's choice to use these parts, and it should be their responsibility to repair the unit.

Auto's and RV's are 2 different things, with very different assembly procedures, warranty policies and consumer protection laws.
The sooner you separate the 2 the sooner you will have a better understanding of the challenges of RV ownership.

So you accept poor design, lousy assembly, nonexistent QC, and crummy customer service, and call it a "challenge"? LOL... some of us expect value for our money. Instead, this industry, which becomes more of a monopoly by the year, continues to pump out junk and blame it on their suppliers and customers. As an example, the floor in my new Coachmen creaks and flexes worse than the floors in my 130 year old sticks & bricks. They tell me this is normal, never mind the effect it has on resale value. I can either live with it and hope it doesn't fall apart, or fix it myself.

FR in fact now expects their customers to inspect roof seals and caulk every NINETY DAYS for maintenance purposes. Here in the snow belt, that is pretty much impossible, but you can bet they'll use this provision to get out of as many warranty claims they can. Prices rise while value falls, enabled by the attitude that all this is somehow normal.

[Lantley]

drsteve wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
so how is a cheap battery forest river? Have you bothered to check your crappy wfco converter for proper output seeing its as well not forest river.The ac thats not forest river needs taken off auto to stop coming on.The non forest river heater might need properly sealed

Would you be this forgiving if, say, your new truck's outsourced transmission blew up? Of course not--you would expect the manufacturer to take responsibility and fix it, and rightly so. It's Forest River's choice to use these parts, and it should be their responsibility to repair the unit.

Auto's and RV's are 2 different things, with very different assembly procedures, warranty policies and consumer protection laws.
The sooner you separate the 2 the sooner you will have a better understanding of the challenges of RV ownership.

[mobeewan]

I didn't loose a lot of water through the tank fill opening or vent tube but I did find that I was loosing some. I bought some small corks and a rubber stopper from the assorted specialty hardware drawers at Lowe's or Home Depot. I use one of the small corks to plug the vent tube opening. I added a small picture hanging D-ring that only uses one screw to the large end of the rubber stopper and use it to plug the water fill opening. The rubber plug is large enough to fit smug so it won't slide down the fill tube and the D-ring gives me something to grab to pull it out. I haven't lost any more water while bouncing along down the road or while making right turns.

[Campin_Family_o]

Thank you all for your help, your tips and suggestions. This is our 4th travel trailer and I was divided into having the dealer fix these issues (since it's new and under warranty) or just give it a go and try to fix these issues myself and get them done right. It would be a major hassle to tow it to a repair facility and with your suggestions I am going to put on my "fix it" hat and start diagnosing the issues. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted on what I come up with. I've learned so much on this forum over the years, thanks

[NanciL]

drsteve wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
so how is a cheap battery forest river? Have you bothered to check your crappy wfco converter for proper output seeing its as well not forest river.The ac thats not forest river needs taken off auto to stop coming on.The non forest river heater might need properly sealed

Would you be this forgiving if, say, your new truck's outsourced transmission blew up? Of course not--you would expect the manufacturer to take responsibility and fix it, and rightly so. It's Forest River's choice to use these parts, and it should be their responsibility to repair the unit.

I agree one hundred percent with you

Jack L

[Ralph_Cramden]

drsteve wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:

Common sense tells one dont buy a mid or low wnd trailer and expect it to be the same as a upper end unit there is a reason theres a peicepoint set on each line of trailer

LOL... Nobody expects the same level of materials and amenities as, say, a Prevost, but lousy build quality is not OK just because it's a less expensive unit. They should ALL be put together properly by the factory, regardless of options, trim level, etc.

LOL......x2

Not to mention Heritage Glen is not the bottom of the line when it comes to FR Wildwood.


Just go to their website and they'll tell you "we left nothing out on quality". They may however have forgot to put some things in like enough staples or un stripped screws LOL. Seething with quality, their cup run
eth over with quality, pooploads of quality!

[drsteve]

newman fulltimer wrote:

Common sense tells one dont buy a mid or low wnd trailer and expect it to be the same as a upper end unit there is a reason theres a peicepoint set on each line of trailer

LOL... Nobody expects the same level of materials and amenities as, say, a Prevost, but lousy build quality is not OK just because it's a less expensive unit. They should ALL be put together properly by the factory, regardless of options, trim level, etc.

[temccarthy1]

newman fulltimer wrote:
so how is a cheap battery forest river? Have you bothered to check your crappy wfco converter for proper output seeing its as well not forest river.The ac thats not forest river needs taken off auto to stop coming on.The non forest river heater might need properly sealed

Regarding thermostat, it is the OPPOSITE of this.. You need to set it to AUTO not ON. That way only your furnace will run with heat and not the top fan on the ceiling which is for A/C.

[newman_fulltime]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
th op should have caught all this in that PDI that he paid for instead of taking ten minute run through so he can hurry up and take his trailer.

Seems like a lot of assumptions on your part?

#1 Did the OP get a true PDI or what a lot of dealers pawn off now days known as a "tour"? A lot of them attempt to pawn it off on first time buyers, the unknowing, or the unsuspecting.

#2 Did the owner pay for a PDI as a separate line item or up charge after they settled on a price?

#3 How do you know the OP "took a 10 minute run through so he can hurry up and take his trailer"?

#4 What's the intent, to belittle the OP?

1. if he would have done a proper pdi he would have turned the heat on and asked about the problem
2. all new trailer sales have a pdi in their charges as it is the dealers way at hidding the delivery charge
3. the op had how many trailers to choose from. Then buts a foeest river product that at tine of purchase was happy with or would not have baught it .
Common sense tells one dont buy a mid or low wnd trailer and expect it to be the same as a upper end unit there is a reason theres a peicepoint set on each line of trailer

[Ralph_Cramden]

newman fulltimer wrote:
th op should have caught all this in that PDI that he paid for instead of taking ten minute run through so he can hurry up and take his trailer.

Seems like a lot of assumptions on your part?

#1 Did the OP get a true PDI or what a lot of dealers pawn off now days known as a "tour"? A lot of them attempt to pawn it off on first time buyers, the unknowing, or the unsuspecting.

#2 Did the owner pay for a PDI as a separate line item or up charge after they settled on a price?

#3 How do you know the OP "took a 10 minute run through so he can hurry up and take his trailer"?

#4 What's the intent, to belittle the OP?

[drsteve]

newman fulltimer wrote:

As far as everything but the water the op should have caught all this in that PDI that he paid for instead of taking ten minute run through so he can hurry up and take his trailer.

Blame the customer for manufacturing defects? A decent dealer finds and fixes this stuff prior to delivery. RVs are the only big ticket item where these quality issues are routine. The manufacturers only take responsibility for the most egregious failures, all others are routinely blamed on suppliers, and/or left for the customer to deal with.

[goducks10]

Sounds like you're using the pump for water from the fresh tank. Are you positive you're actually losing water out the overflow. It could be that the pick up tube for the fresh water tank isn't down in the tank far enough and you're not able to suck all the water out. When you get home do you drain the fresh water tank? If so how much comes out.

[dodge_guy]

guidry wrote:
Yes, two batteries will help; but, if the AC is blowing and the heater is on, that will run a single battery down faster. You will need to check the vents to make sure one didn't fall off and is just blowing hot air under the floor somewhere, that would explain why it was cold too. Others gave you good advice on the water.

A/C runs off of 110V. If your not plugged in the A/C cannot run! The heat however will because it runs off of 12V (battery).

[newman_fulltime]

Ralph Cramden wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
so how is a cheap battery forest river? Have you bothered to check your crappy wfco converter for proper output seeing its as well not forest river.The ac thats not forest river needs taken off auto to stop coming on.The non forest river heater might need properly sealed

A cheap battery is installed by the dealer but if it has a draw somewhere due to wiring done by FOREST RIVER it's a FOREST RIVER issue just the same as if their is a problem with the crappy WFCO converter chosen and installed by FOREST RIVER. Perhaps FOREST RIVER wired the thermostat wrong (they seem to have a major problem wiring up a simple set of speakers correctly so something as uncomplicated as a stat may be impossible) and not sealing the furnace they, FOREST RIVER, installed, is solely a FR issue also. I suspect however rushed construction and collapsed heat ducts.

OP, you can try posting over at Forest River forums but be prepared to get blasted by the FR Kool Aid drinkers, as everything is always the buyers fault. You'll no doubt be told to drag it 2/3's of the way across the country to their owners group / manufacturers sponsored rally in Goshen IN next August and everything will be fixed. If youv read through the travel trailer section there, specifically the Wildwood section, you'll find you are not alone in being handed a host of build issues.

Forest River can make a decent unit once in a great while, but most are shipped with a myriad of problems.... Any perception that some lines are better than others is simply fantasy. RV's are a by product of their main business which is making money, and keeping Warren and the Berkshire Hathaway investors happy.

I have owned 2 Forest River products, a Palomino and our current Rockwood, and will never own anything manufactured by them again. Attempting to get resolution at the factory level is an exercise in frustration with most of their divisions. You need to be attempting to contact Wildwood division who makes the Heritage Glen line and not the general Forest River contacts.

In regards to the other post by the OP about the plant location, it's 900 County Rd 1 Elkhart IN. Wildwood / Heritage Glen has dealers around Northern CA, however most Forest River dealers will not service a unit they did not sell. There is a reason for that and I won't get into it. Unfortunatly two of them are Camping World who carry Wildwood.

The thermastat in That model in ALL trailers is programed to come on with heat on auto as a air circulator.You read your book it says to turn to hi or low to stop this feature .

As far as everyrhing but the water th op should have caught all this in that PDI that he paid for instead of taking ten minute run through so he can hurry up and take his trailer.