Forest River workmanship??

[mb2011]

Originally Posted by lindy

Come on people, everything will have problems when it's new if it is at all detailed or complicated. Wiring splices can easily come lose if the solder was not exactly the right temp, or maybe a hose clamp wasn't torqued fully tight, I mean everyone of us has a bad day now and then where things are just off a little bit. I've owned 2 different FR products, and yes I had small issues with both (that's to be expected), and I fixed them all in short order right at home. It's not like a stick build home (which even new ones have major issues) your RV is rolling down the road flexing and stressing all the time. If you ALWAYS expect EVERYTHING to be perfect, the maybe you'd better never buy anything.

how do you like your 2604?. thinking about buying one!

[Dave T]

Originally Posted by Rugged Brown

In defense of Dave T, not that he needs defending, but I can understand his frustrations with Forest River and him wanting to vent those on a Forest River forum, where it is known that some company reps observe said comments. I would also expect that these company reps look at these comments as an opportunity for improvement with their products. I agree with you also, that most people here are helpful, however, I do believe that it is important to expose flaws and if it takes some animation by posters to get the ear of decision makers, then let's just live with it. All the best to you Dave T. I do hope you get some resolution to your issues.

Thanks. Someone who finally gets it! The factories are never going to get it if people jump in defending them. Jump because they haven't experenced the same troubles. There is no excuse for water fitting to be loose. Period! Also caulking missed! But the factories will never get the message if the ZOMBIES keep jumping in with their take!! Some people do get it & are thankful they don't the same problem. If they have the same rig they are aware of what trouble they could have & the factory's response.
When the fatory can't even tell you how they wired the rig. Unbelievable!

[wayne anthony]

As I said in another thread, after 17 months, I'm still finding problems with my Flagstaff 5th wheel. Wayne

[lindy]

DaveT; What we're trying to say is that EVERYONE makes mistakes now and then/here and there. I redid some forced hot water heating copper pipes in my basement last year, and out of 10 sweated conections 1 leaked. Was that poor workmamship? No-thing just don't go PERFECT every time, we all make mistakes this isn't a perfect world, and if we get so upset over little things then how do we cope with major issues? No matter what it is we buy there will ALWAYS be a chance that the person building it had an off day/was sick etc. That's just human nature.

[F and E Damp]

If things are designed so it takes a definite effort to mess up the assembly, the quality of the end product will be high. After-build QC doesn't solve basic quality issues resulting from bad design.

An absolutely perfectly built Pinto is still a Pinto!

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by Dave T

I hate to complain but I have had it with poor workmanship & bad products from Forest River! I drove down from northern Mn to AZ last week. Lost the tail lights & marker lights on the rig the first day! NOT A BLOWN FUSE! Brian was nice enough to email me a diagram & pictures of where Forest River splices into Ford's wiring. I have had no luck finding the splice because the gas tank is in the way & cables can't be traced with foam covering them! I don't think there is any set pattern on how they wire these units because no clear answers from the factory!
2nd day out I had a water leak on the city water connection that eventually got the carpet wet in the bedroom! The fitting coming in was only finger tight!
Now I have a leak on the black tank flush!! I think that is leaking on the ground not inside! It's almost in possible to get at the joint where I think it is leaking!
This is on top of other things I had fixed while under warranty! I know there are people who didn't have any problems. But that doesn't do me any good because I am having their share of problems. I have to vent because that is all I can do!!

If I may step in and comment. You don't want to start a flame war, but you slam Forest River quality based on potentially (3) loose connections.

I am the one that sent you the wiring diagram. You said you just took a quick look (too hot in Arizona to do much more) and that was the last thing I heard. I had my electrical engineering helping troubleshoot the issue, but we were trying to clarify year, etc. According to the line, this would be the first place they would look.

City Water hook up. Connections do get loose. The dealer is also supposed to do a PDI to verify that after shipping all the connections are still tight. The other side of that coin is if they over tighten the city water connection is cracks the fitting and you get a leak that way as well. We allow warranty labor for the dealer to adjust doors, drawers and tighten fittings. Same goes for the Black tank flush.

Each division of Forest River is run independently. Different lines, different buildings, etc. So to say "Forest River" is this or that, is painting the company with a broad brush.

I apologize for your frustration, but who is the selling dealer? They should have qualified personnel to easily correct those minor issues. You have my email and phone, my door has been open.

[TURBS]

Well that sums it up!

[kbrown1075]

1. I take offense to being called "a zombie" that just follows along. I am EXTREMELY satisfied with our Forest River Product. I am happy with the workmanship, the quality, and the overall experience. I feel I have gotten what I have paid for.

2. I, along with many others, are here on this forum to learn from other members and to share our experiences, good or bad. This is a "users" forum not a factory forum.

If you are so dissatisfied with your experience, I suggest you take it up with your dealer and/or the offer bclemens threw out to you. I very much enjoy this forum and try to participate regularly, whether my post/ response is helpful or not, all deserve a certain amount of respect. The majority of us here are satisfied with our purchases and that is OUR opinion. I am not here to argue that all FR products are without issue, nor am I going to say that one TV or chassis is better than the other, it is all opinion and your past experiences.

I do understand frustration, but reading your responses make me feel that because I don't agree that FR has poor workmanship, I do not need be called a Zombie or any other name.

I feel better now that I wrote this, I mean no dis-respect or ill-will, and I truly wish you the best of luck and you achieve the results you are looking for.

Regards

[gartonhl]

Originally Posted by Dave T

I hate to complain but I have had it with poor workmanship & bad products from Forest River! I drove down from northern Mn to AZ last week. Lost the tail lights & marker lights on the rig the first day! NOT A BLOWN FUSE! Brian was nice enough to email me a diagram & pictures of where Forest River splices into Ford's wiring. I have had no luck finding the splice because the gas tank is in the way & cables can't be traced with foam covering them! I don't think there is any set pattern on how they wire these units because no clear answers from the factory!
2nd day out I had a water leak on the city water connection that eventually got the carpet wet in the bedroom! The fitting coming in was only finger tight!
Now I have a leak on the black tank flush!! I think that is leaking on the ground not inside! It's almost in possible to get at the joint where I think it is leaking!
This is on top of other things I had fixed while under warranty! I know there are people who didn't have any problems. But that doesn't do me any good because I am having their share of problems. I have to vent because that is all I can do!!

Dave T.....sorry for your experience....Please don't have a heart attack over it.

I hear what your saying. But what about the bad products from FR. Have you purchased more than one FR product (RV's)??

I've had three; 2002 GT, 2005 GT and a 2010 GT. All have had problems that have been dealt with by the dealer and FR. The first was lemon lawed and I purchased again. Have had other manufacturer's RV's and had similar issues with them.

In regards to "vinegar versus sugar".........sugar works better when trying to negotiate with your opposing party! You might want to try it unless you've already "burned the bridge".

Life is short; hope you get your issues resolved so you can use your RV without any consternation and enjoy the rest of your life.

[GaeTim]

Hello, newbie here. We just purchased a 2011 2604SS off the original owners who purchased it last year. The unit looked to be in beautiful shape and it is for the most part however I have to agree that some of the workmanship is a bit shotty at best! For example when I used the slide-out the motor gearbox failed, I took it apart and ordered new gears however this shouldn't happen. I also noticed loose trim, skirting shower stall and other things however small could have been done with more care at the factory. Over all we love our trailer and can't wait to get it out of winter storage next year :-D
...To Dave T...maybe the best way to fix your tail lights is to run new wiring from the plug to the lights, that way you'll know they will work. Just an idea.

Tim

[capucine]

Nothing is perfect in the trailers business and I had my share of troubles on my brand new minilite just one week after it was in my driveway. What was supposed to be a dream turned out to be a real horror story and all my $20,000. I invested in that trailer. I dreamed 2 years me and my wife to end up in a disaster. My good dealer understood us and my trailer was sent to Millersburg for a complete rebuilt including a new rear wall etc.etc. I can only praise FR for the effort they did to give me back my trailer the way I was expecting it to be. They did a super job in all the repairs . This fiasco should have never happened but since nothing is perfect it did. We are very happy now.

[wayne anthony]

Don't know if I mentioned this before, but my last 2 (american made) vehicles I bought, 06 Chev pick-up with over 50,000 miles and a 08 Taurus with over 40,000 miles have not had one issue with either one. Can't some of their quality improvement carry over onto rv manufacturers?

[crocus]

In his very first post on this forum, DaveT said, and I quote;
"I was fixing things on my Winnebago, until the day I sold it. I bought it new in 2004."

So I guess it isn't just FR he hates.

[TURBS]

You cannot compare cars and trucks to a camper.
do cars have plumbing or slides or 110 volt wiring?
are cars made from housing materials?
Wood?


Two posts ago the poster said his slide motor went bad on a one yr old used unit.
for one he doesn't know the previous owner didn't abuse it.
and secondly forest river doesn't make there own slide motors they are third party.

As bc said the DEALERS should catch most if not all issues.

I've had a couple minor ones on my two new campers I bought I guess I have a better dealer than most cause he caught
anything wrong.

By the way I thought this was a public forum?

[MSCRESS]

Dave Sorry to hear about your troubles with your 2009 Lexington 295 GTS!

We have a 2009 283GTS, knock wood no real problems to speak of except the darn Fresh Water Tank continues to over flow through the Filler Cap, even though we keep it at 1/3 , plus the Sewer Flush connection leaks like a shieve?

Am sure as we coninue to shake rattle and roll down the road things will work loose.

But I have to agree that FR Quality Control could use some Serius Quality Control maybe Warren Buffet needs to pay a visit to the plant and have a come to Jesus Meeting with Management?

[milloin dollar item]

Sorry about that, I thought I was in the wrong spot!
The wife and I just bought a 30' "2005" Rockwood 5th wheel about 5 weeks ago. What a piece of junk! The workmanship is a joke, their was know quality control on this one, and the design and engineering is something to laugh about.
I have a list as long as my left arm, in short we can talk about the A/C duct system. When we first turned on the A/C, little white Styrofoam chunks blew out of the ceiling registers all over the unit. Very little air was coming out of the forward registers in the overhead. We couldn't believe it! It appears that they used the Styrofoam to create the ventilation passages for the A/C registers. Now, six years down the road, the Styrofoam is starting to come apart. Not only do we have the little white chunks to play with, but it appears that the passages from the A/C to the registers are partially blocked. Day before yesterday I reached up to push on a separated ceiling joint molding and I felt cold air from the A/C coming out of it. "Kudos" to Forest River, they finally solved the long lost art of cooling the roof of a 30' 5th wheel. And theirs more! It's to bad I can't go on wright now, I do have to eat sometime. But I will be back with chapter two!

[TURBS]

7 yr old piece of junk ? if there was known quality controls issues then why did you buy it?
the previous owner must have not took very good care of it if you have an arms length of problems . or you didn't check everything out when you bought it .
styrofoam is common practice in all campers for ventilation routing . Not all but most .
its been out of warranty for 5 years so blaming forest river for quality control is truly ignorant on your part.
cant wait to hear more on a 7 year old second hand 5er !
im going to eat and read chapter 2 .

[Boyd]

[TURBS]

Im sure you'll grow to love your wonderful forest river rv


troll

[milloin dollar item]

I see you are a Charlie Sheen admirer!