New power awnings on Rockwoods

[scouts1us]

DW and I are looking to purchase a 2014 Rockwood 2604WS. It comes with the power(electric)awning. While it looks "neat", I'm not sure about it's reliability or failure rate. Of course,salesman claims they have great performance track record. Anyone have a good/bad experience to share, especially with a recent Rockwood model?
Thanks...
Steve

[wannavolunteerF]

Was just talking to my local dealer about this on Friday, he said when they first started putting them on trailers and motorhomes, he was a bit skeptical. but now he is a firm believer in them and wouldn't have another MH as his personal RV without one.

[_tiredTeacher]

VELDASELLERS wrote:
We are looking at buying a 2014 Rockwood 2604WS. We all but signed on the deal but wanted to research the product more.

Buy it. Penny and I love ours.
I'll list the things that have gone wrong in the first year for you.
1) Rear stabilizer jack motor and power jack motor failed due to water incursion. Both Lippert components with a history of this. Improved models installed under warranty.
2) Broken plastic knob on stove igniter. Part shipped to me by Dometic - no cost
3) Gas strut on bedroom door failed (another Lippert). Part sent to me - no cost
All of these things could've happened to any number of makes and models as Lippert and Dometic supply to everyone.
The only problems we've had that can be said to relate to the assembly process at the Rockwood/Flagstaff plant are a piece of plastic trim popped partly off a built-in side tabl and a small, slide window sticks now and then.
Our Rocky has had over 3000 mi. of pounding down the rode this past year. We are happy with our trailer's performance.

Teach

[rbpru]

We like our power awning as it does not require any extra supports to set it up.

I will however roll up leaves and other debris that stick to the morning dew if we forget to roll it up the night before we leave.

[wmoses]

Agree 100% on the above 2 posts.

[pappcam]

Love the Dometic power awning on my 2012 Flagstaff. It has the adjustable arms and the auto-dumping feature. I get a kick out of the "old school" RV'ers on here who think anything but manual is crap.

[handye9]

VELDASELLERS wrote:
We are looking at buying a 2014 Rockwood 2604WS. We all but signed on the deal but wanted to research the product more. We saw 161 complaints on FR's RVs and service on the Pissed Consumer website and were horrified by what we read. We are now re-thinking our decision. Has anyone purchased an RV from FR before? Did you have it serviced for problems? If so, was your experience favorable? Please let us know your thoughts on this brand or model as we are ready to purchase NOW and don't want to make a huge costly mistake.

First ... Welcome to the forums

The original post was regarding the power awning. Had nothing to do with general opinions about Forest River Quality. Your question should have been a seperate thread.

For the number of RV's built by Forest River, I would say 161 complaints, is a very low number.

The Pissed Cunsumer website, is just that. Happy consumers are not going to post there.

Some of the complaints about awnings, jacks, appliances, entertainment systems, etc, were only installed by Forest River, not manufactured by them. Some of these same systems are used by all RV manufacturers. These types of complaints, would have happened, no matter who put the RV together.

Does Forest River have a bad one occassionaly, yes. Does Thor industries have an occassional bad one, yes.

There is also, a high probability that, many of those complaints were made by people who don't understand that RV's take a pretty good beating, while being dragged down the road, or sitting year round, out in the weather. They all require regular maintenance. Things are going to come apart, caulking is going to crack and cause leaks, and, if you don't know your way around a tool box, you're not going to be happy.

[scouts1us]

Thanks for all your replies!I will look into wether or not the arms are adjustable. Looking forward to camping with new rig this year....

Steve

[MackinawMan]

The power awning on our Jayco Eagle has always worked fine. It's very easy to just push the button to extend or retract.

[VELDASELLERS]

We are looking at buying a 2014 Rockwood 2604WS. We all but signed on the deal but wanted to research the product more. We saw 161 complaints on FR's RVs and service on the Pissed Consumer website and were horrified by what we read. We are now re-thinking our decision. Has anyone purchased an RV from FR before? Did you have it serviced for problems? If so, was your experience favorable? Please let us know your thoughts on this brand or model as we are ready to purchase NOW and don't want to make a huge costly mistake.

[MM49]

The new awnings are much better that the fixed position versions. The new awnings allow a certain measure against failure during wind events. They can blow over the top of the RV without damage. When the awning blows over the top of the RV it unloads the wind like a sail and rests on the roof. This has been a controversial topic, but the truth is the truth.
MM49

[goducks10]

We've had power awnings for 4 yrs. Had manual before that. Each has it's pros and cons.
Make sure the awning has tilt adjustable arms. Our 1st one didn't. It just went straight out. If it rained then it had to rely on gas struts to retract when the awning got full of water. Had to make sure you weren't on the end that the water dumped on. Also we couldn't tilt it to get more shade if needed.

On our currant power awning it has adjustable arms. We can lower one side for rain or shade.

JMO but if it's not adjustable I would look else where.
I would get a manual before a non adjustable power.

[_tiredTeacher]

scouts1us wrote:
Anyone have a good/bad experience to share, especially with a recent Rockwood model?

Only negative we experienced was on a cold (near freezing) morning after a rain. The awning started to roll up then stopped. I grabbed the tube and twisted while my wife hit the switch. It twitched twice then rolled on up. I'm guessing the cold and wet were the culprits.
We have added rolling the awning up the night before departure to our cold-weather SOP list.
I really like the convenience. It will encourage you to roll that bad boy up when setting out to sight see for the day in thunderstorm season. The auto-dump feature is also comforting.
Get the awning.

Teach

[Steeljag]

Three years with only one issue which was handled under warranty. Very easy to use, can be closed in seconds if a wind storm moves in. The shocks allow auto water dumping, could not see going back to the old manual type.

I have the twin to your unit also made by FR under the Flagstaff name / decal.

Use due care when closing the awning in winds, and ensure the tracks close within the groves.

[wmoses]

I only have a good experience to share - works as designed.