NEW 318BHS issue

[rbowles]

Picked up my brand new '14 Lacrosse 318BHS tonight. Towed it home from the dealer, no more than 8 miles and the doors to the front bedroom broke free, one door broke both track latches and flopped around tearing off the bottom door track and the trim around the 'master bedroom' bulkhead.

Anyone else experienced these 'pocket door' slide failures?

Seriously, 6-8 miles of towing and it's self destructing? I haven't even been able to open the thing all the way up to see what else may have gone awry. That was just tow it home, open the door, and SURPRISE!

[cyclepuck]

Was there straps holding the doors.

[rbowles]

No straps, just a drop pin type locking mechanism holding the 2 sliding track doors together in the closed position. Does not appear to have a strapping configuration, didn't see a strap in any of the other trailers they had in stock that I looked at either.

Prior to delivery, one of the locking mechanisms on one of the track slider doors was broken. That part appears to have been replaced with a metal type locking mechanism, the other 3 are of the plastic variety. The door with the one metal, one plastic mechanism remained on track. The door with 2 plastic mechanisms failed during the 6-8 mile trek from the dealer to the house.

[Weezer]

Read this and kept thinking I'd seen someone's pictures about this model;

Forest River Forums - hicks10192's Album: 2012 Lacrosse 318bhs - Picture

Look at the shoddy workmanship his photos show.

Sometimes I'm just speechless....nothing to do but shake my head and say I'm sorry you're going through this.

[rbowles]

Interesting. And to think I haven't come across those photos in all the internet searches I have done over the last 4 days prior to purchase. The majority of the trimout on mine is pretty clean compared to those photos.

I did notice buckling trim in the lower portion of the front storage compartment of mine as well. I was willing to forgive that, but I guess I'll be bringing that to the dealer's attention as well now. Like I said, I haven't even opened the trailer back up since PDI to see what all else could have gone awry on it.

[ironj]

Thats not good. But it was something u probably could not have caught in pdi....that said, the doors on my 12 have a metal lock latch and other than a slight scratch have worked perfectly over approx 6500 miles of towing ive put on since purchase....hopefully this is only a minor issue...my entire door assembly was replaced by FR and shipped to my door since my dealer was so far...

If thats the only type of issues u run into thats great and you should have a great time with your 318-bhs like the other 90+ % of owners I have come across! ..

Good luck, and happy camping!

[rbowles]

Yes, I hope so! I couldn't find a bad review on this model in all the searching I did online. I am hoping that the remaining 3 latches are replaced with the metal units and they fix the trim quickly and without issue. Love the floorplan and other than this one little issue I am hoping to go on my merry way!

[huntr70]

The sliding door catches are a very common issue.

Problem is, everyone wants those solid doors for the bedroom, and that is the system that needs to be used. It's not the best configuration, but if the doors are latched correctly, they usually hold up well.

[ironj]

Originally Posted by rbowles

Yes, I hope so! I couldn't find a bad review on this model in all the searching I did online. I am hoping that the remaining 3 latches are replaced with the metal units and they fix the trim quickly and without issue. Love the floorplan and other than this one little issue I am hoping to go on my merry way!

Which three latches are u referring to ? Does the 14 model have three...?

My 12 only has the one drop pin metal latch at the top and when its latched the doors dont budge...

The only plastic on mine are the little guide tracks on the bottom of door mounted to the wall ?

[rbowles]

By latches I meant the clips on top of the door that 'latches' the door to the glide pins. Sorry, I could see how that could have been misleading.

As far as actual door latch, it still only has the one drop pin latch.

[rbowles]

Took it in, they replaced the other 3 door attachments with the metal clip design and fixed the trim. Happy Camper!

[ironj]

awesome!! another prime 318bhs happy "camper" LOL!! hope everything else goes flawless....i doubt it, its a trailer afterall, but best wishes none the less!!! :-)

J

[howellma]

i have a Solaire with the sliding doors. It has straps with a snap buckle to hold it in place. I have had mine come off though because the road was rough enough to kick the door back against the stop in the track and cause the stop to come loose. i finally tightened the screw up enough to stop that and for good measure i always have a clothes hamper or something i can put on the floor to provide a little extra brace,,, so far so good, LOVE the doors though!!

[Gulfrunner]

I have been lucky with mine. The last camping trip was the first time I ever had the doors come unhooked. But the road that we were traveling was horrible.( I-10 between Breaux Bridge and Henderson Louisiana) There was nothing damaged.

[NeoSys]

Even though we only had had an awning issue which was taken care by warranty the customer service for prime time is excellent and they way you are treated when you call the company just makes you wish you could always do business with them.