Got our new Forester 3051S

JimOneil43 · 05-20-2016, 03:55 PM

Picked up our new 3051S Monday at RV Wholesalers in Ohio, after 2 years of planning and multiple changes of mind.
Arrived early, so detailing and prep was not done yet. We found several problems...scratches in solid surface kitchen countertop, damage to ultraleather material on sofa back and when turning on the water supply to icemaker a flood across the kitchen floor. We have to give credit to Bob and Brian of RVW in doing their best to correct the problems..they did a good job. Countertop and sofa back will have to be dealt with thru Forest River warranty as they were that way when RVW received it from the factory.
Moved to KOA in Wapakoneta and spent all day Tues stocking up at Walmart and Kroeger. Also unloaded a full carload of stuff that we hauled from home.
Headed back to Oregon on Weds wandering all over the road....boy does this thing need a steering stabilizer. Had planned to install a Roadmaster RSSC when we get home, but didn't think it would be this bad....The Bad Interstates in the midwest don't help either. "Farly" the Forester as we have dubbed him has done a great job on this literal "Shakedown" cruise. Nothing has fallen off in all the shaking and bouncing...we just keep finding construction scrap that comes out from wherever...pieces of wire, screws, etc.
First day towing our CRV, we got to our campground and found the battery dead on the car. After calling AAA to get a jump we discovered that I left the Ignition switch "on' and not in the correct "accessory" position. I guess you can't cure stupid!
Stayed last night in LaCrosse, WI..got up this morning and tried to shower...guess what ..no hot water. Campground breaker flipped for some reason last night.
Back on the road today thru MInnesota heading for Sioux Fall, SD for tohight.

We have determined the following:

(1) Forester....We love it!!
(2) Worst highways so far....Indiana and Wisconsin
(3) Best highways so far...part of Minnesota
(4) Biggest mystery...Why the RV industry has the cold water knob in the shower turn the opposite direction (??)

Spending Sat and Sun nights in Rapid City to take in Mt.Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands, etc.
More adventures to come.....

SkipnTerri · 05-20-2016, 05:23 PM

It's good you're really giving it a shakedown. You'll find little bits and pieces that come out from under the slide. We bought a dryer vent brush to use under ours which still comes in handy for pet hair, etc. Incidentally, if you have pets that may throw a treat or toys under the dinette area, we picked up a section of foam pipe insulation at Lowes that fits perfectly and prevents things from collecting under the slide. Enjoy your trip!

sgtlm17 · 05-20-2016, 06:07 PM

Congratulations on your new rig. I couldn't be happier with the Forester. I'm sure you will love it. I have a smaller unit, the 2801, which is 30 feet. I had zero wandering and it drives like a dream. I haven't driven the roads you have though. Good luck and welcome to the family.
2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF

13larry · 05-20-2016, 06:33 PM

Get an alignment it has steering stablizer already. Ours had toe out and made it wander all over.

ORvideoguy · 05-20-2016, 07:48 PM

I agree with the statement about getting an alignment. Our 2015 3011 had a lot of slop in the steering all the time and wandered all over the place when towing our Dodge Durango until we had an alignment.

Start with that and then drive it, you may find that's enough. So far it has been for me.

I noticed that you're from Eugene. I'm a fellow Forester owner in the area over here in Springfield and we bought from RVW. So far so good for us with purchase and help getting service after the sale. We had our warranty work done at Carrier RV Service and they were great. They also arranged for the alignment to be done by a local alignment shop while they had it in for warranty work. I don't know the name of the place but I'm sure they could tell you if you called them.

Good luck and have fun!!

Keithe · 05-20-2016, 08:01 PM

Congrats on your purchase. We're also from Oregon and recently purchased a Forester MBS 2401S from RVW. We found RVW great to deal with and would purchase from them again.

We were going to follow the same route back to Oregon as you took but due to bad weather, we had to take a more southern route. We still had fun on our trip back. Since being back, we've gone to the coast twice and heading to central Oregon over memorial weekend. Life is good.

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Cariley · 05-20-2016, 08:14 PM

Congratulations on your new Forester. We've had ours for a year and love it. Only a couple of dealer warranty issues that were taken care of right away.

Steeljag · 05-21-2016, 06:34 AM

Congradulations!

Have a safe / fun adventure back home! Possible you could improve the handling by adjusting the air pressure in tires, and rear air bags?

Steeljag · 05-21-2016, 06:39 AM

.............and nobody at the factory saw the scratched up counter top before it left the factory ??? Does anybody even look at these units before they are sent out??

Slimjc · 05-21-2016, 11:20 AM

Just a little note on the wandering - one very easy and fairly inexpensive upgrade that you can do to make it drive like an SUV - is get the Hellwig sway bars - it is an amazing upgrade - you can do it in stages - do the rear first and then look at the front. Of course the alignement is a must, but usually done after the suspension has settled, a few thousand miles will do that.

stervin · 05-21-2016, 11:32 AM

I agree we have a sun seeker and love it but continue to find screws, nuts and wires that they left .
Agree that we love the unit and the features Safe travels

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimOneil43

Picked up our new 3051S Monday at RV Wholesalers in Ohio, after 2 years of planning and multiple changes of mind.
Arrived early, so detailing and prep was not done yet. We found several problems...scratches in solid surface kitchen countertop, damage to ultraleather material on sofa back and when turning on the water supply to icemaker a flood across the kitchen floor. We have to give credit to Bob and Brian of RVW in doing their best to correct the problems..they did a good job. Countertop and sofa back will have to be dealt with thru Forest River warranty as they were that way when RVW received it from the factory.
Moved to KOA in Wapakoneta and spent all day Tues stocking up at Walmart and Kroeger. Also unloaded a full carload of stuff that we hauled from home.
Headed back to Oregon on Weds wandering all over the road....boy does this thing need a steering stabilizer. Had planned to install a Roadmaster RSSC when we get home, but didn't think it would be this bad....The Bad Interstates in the midwest don't help either. "Farly" the Forester as we have dubbed him has done a great job on this literal "Shakedown" cruise. Nothing has fallen off in all the shaking and bouncing...we just keep finding construction scrap that comes out from wherever...pieces of wire, screws, etc.
First day towing our CRV, we got to our campground and found the battery dead on the car. After calling AAA to get a jump we discovered that I left the Ignition switch "on' and not in the correct "accessory" position. I guess you can't cure stupid!
Stayed last night in LaCrosse, WI..got up this morning and tried to shower...guess what ..no hot water. Campground breaker flipped for some reason last night.
Back on the road today thru MInnesota heading for Sioux Fall, SD for tohight.

We have determined the following:

(1) Forester....We love it!!
(2) Worst highways so far....Indiana and Wisconsin
(3) Best highways so far...part of Minnesota
(4) Biggest mystery...Why the RV industry has the cold water knob in the shower turn the opposite direction (??)

Spending Sat and Sun nights in Rapid City to take in Mt.Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands, etc.
More adventures to come.....

SkipnTerri · 05-21-2016, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steeljag

.............and nobody at the factory saw the scratched up counter top before it left the factory ??? Does anybody even look at these units before they are sent out??

We had a huge staple protruding through our counter top on delivery -- had to be replaced.

Wandering · 05-21-2016, 02:03 PM

Congrats on your new Forester. Ours will be two years old in July and we love it. Ours drive great with no mods but only 27 feet.

Next trip up to Lake Erie for Memorial Day weekend.

Happy Camping!

Forester 2451s

JimOneil43 · 05-21-2016, 05:49 PM

Long drive today....Sioux Falls SD to Mt.Rushmore area. Came through a patch of rain and fought the strong wind all the way across SD. Forester ("Farly") is covered with mud in the back and our toad is even worse. Good day all around though...went through the Badlands Nat'l Park and stopped at Wall Drug...
Exploring Mt. Rushmore area tomorrow and then heading into Montana on Monday.

radman · 05-22-2016, 12:01 AM

We also have a new 3051. Love it. The first shakedown trip was to Myrtle Beach. We are now on are 2nd trip. Left home in Barnegat NJ on April 25 and our still on the road. /we have gone to Grand canyon, Arches, Canyonland, Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, Antelope Canyon, the Tri Cities area in Washington and now we are at Michigan. So far no major problems. I agree with you about the roads.

Steeljag · 05-22-2016, 04:40 PM

Come on Jim, let's see some pics of your adventure and brand new RV .....LOL !

JimOneil43 · 05-22-2016, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radman

We also have a new 3051. Love it. The first shakedown trip was to Myrtle Beach. We are now on are 2nd trip. Left home in Barnegat NJ on April 25 and our still on the road. /we have gone to Grand canyon, Arches, Canyonland, Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, Antelope Canyon, the Tri Cities area in Washington and now we are at Michigan. So far no major problems. I agree with you about the roads.

The Utah Nat'l parks are one of our next trips we want to do...probably in Sept. Have to recover from this trip when we get home. We've been pushing it hard to get home. Will work on small mods and things like installing the toilet paper holder, installing a towel ring for vanity sink, installing OREGON DUCK logo on the back (the most important addition!). We'll do several other shorter trips in the summer before Utah. Oregon coast, maybe eastern Washington, California, etc.
Radman, do you have any recommendations for good RV parks in the Utah area that would be central to the parks?

Can't post any pictures until we get home as I can't figure out how to transfer photos from my phone to the chromebook that we use when traveling. I'm older and not tech savy. Montana coming tomorrow.

Slimjc · 05-22-2016, 08:59 PM

Careful with that Ducks sticker round these parts.....remember what the UTES handed ya! If you need some suggestions for parks and such, just holler

radman · 05-23-2016, 08:43 AM

If you want to see Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon in Page Az. I would highly recommend Lake Powell - Page Campground. It has full hookups, heated indoor pool, gravel sites all for 27.00/Night plus with GS it is only 24.70. I stayed in the KOA in Moab to see Canyonlands and Arches and in the KOA in Panguitch (spl ?) to see Bruce Canyon and Zoin. Both campgrounds were nice.

JimOneil43 · 05-24-2016, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by radman

If you want to see Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon in Page Az. I would highly recommend Lake Powell - Page Campground. It has full hookups, heated indoor pool, gravel sites all for 27.00/Night plus with GS it is only 24.70. I stayed in the KOA in Moab to see Canyonlands and Arches and in the KOA in Panguitch (spl ?) to see Bruce Canyon and Zoin. Both campgrounds were nice.

Thanks for the info. So far we have found most of the KOAs to be clean and reliable.
We're in Missoula, MT tonight at Jim & Mary's RV Park (Good Sam). Very nice, lots of trees, good rates, etc. Just got set up and heard a sqealing train go by, evidently pretty close. We'll see how it sounds in the middle of the night. Our new 3051S Forester did a great job getting here....lots of long grades on I-90 from Billings. That V-10 engine is quite a screamer and it sounds like those 10 little pistons were really moving like crazy.
One more night in the TRiCities area in Washington and then home to Eugene.

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