Considering a Forest River proud

[PapaBird1952]

Hello all

Thank you all for the feedback on Forest River. We have purchased a 2016 Rockwood 8280WS from a dealer here in Colorado.

[itat]

Congrats! When do you pick it up?

[Terier]

Congrats on your new FR Rockwood!


Get out and camp in it right away if possible even if it ends up being in the driveway. Driveway camping is a great way to refresh your memory of the walkthrough while getting to know your RV.

[smittyams]

Originally Posted by ColoradoRick

Same with us...we visited the big dogs and didn't appreciate the run-arounds and pressure tactics and, finally, purchased from a very small, but awesome, RV business in Colorado Springs. We liked them so much we traded our smaller camper (non-Forest River) for a Rockwood last year and LOVE it!

Wait, are you buying a 5-er as your FIRST RV? You know that violates the rules....you start with a tent, then a pop-up, then a tiny trailer, then a bigger trailer, THEN the 5-er and then a Class-C or Class-A!

But look at a bunch of RVs before you decide....it was a lot of fun for us before we bought our Rockwood last year!

Hey, I did the tent thing as a teen. I had the pass down popup. And the long term reaserch lead me to skip all the extra steps and am hoping to get a 5ver in late winter early spring.

[Gyrogearloose]

Originally Posted by PapaBird1952

Hello all

Thank you all for the feedback on Forest River. We have purchased a 2016 Rockwood 8280WS from a dealer here in Colorado.

We have a 2015 Rockwood and are having lots of fun with it. However there are lots of little problems that really shouldn't have gotten out the door at the factory. Example is the shower leaked because it wasn't properly caulked during installation...had to be taken apart and reinstalled.

Suggest you take a close look at your tires. We had a blowout in the first 1000 miles with no obvious cause at a bad spot on Monarch Pass. Turns out the tires were from an unrecognizable Chinese manufacturer and distributed in the U.S. by 'Lionshead'. The load rating for the tires was less than the GVWR of the trailer. I'm learning that many people seem to replace tires on brand new trailers because they're questionable. I'm now one of them.

[PapaBird1952]

Thanks for the posting on tires.
We plan on getting new tires before our first road trip.

[rmac04401]

Originally Posted by PapaBird1952

Hello all,

My wife and I are considering purchasing a RV and have been looking at Forest River 5th wheel products. We are looking at the Spartan and Rockwood units. Also considering a toy hauler.

When we start looking at reviews on (ALL RV's) there are tons of negatives, we are looking for some feedback from any Forest River owners.

Thanks.

Dick and Jeanne Bird
Golden, Colorado

Don't take all the negatives to heart on here. Some people need to vent. If you buy a new one there will be issues. So far for me Forrest River has come through with flying colors to get it right. I still have a couple of things issues that need to be taken care off once I stop camping to have fixed. Most of us that are really enjoying our RVs are not documenting as much as some that have issues. It is just like anything else you buy. You will need to get the bugs worked out and once you do your good to go. I bought my previous camper used so the bugs were all worked out I had that Tt for 9 years. I had less work done on that then on my vehicles I owned. ILOVE my new toy hauler. It's a great rig. With the modifications I have done it nice and homie and fits us and our love for riding bikes nicely. We bought our TH August 21, 2015. We have had five trips already and two more planned before the end of the month.

Just do your research and get one that fits your lifestyle. I looked at two manufacturers of toy hauler and I picked Forest river because unlike most of the post on here it was built better.

Hope you enjoy your new purchase.

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by rmac04401

I still have a couple of things issues that need to be taken care off once I stop smoking to have fixed.

???

[Gyrogearloose]

Originally Posted by rmac04401

Don't take all the negatives to heart on here.

I agree.
Despite having blown a tire, having numerous minor quality issues, and having had a close encounter between slide out and tree branch, we've had a lot of fun with our new trailer.
The most important issue is the 'fun'.

[rmac04401]

Originally Posted by Evereddie

???

Sorry damn auto correct. Camping.

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by rmac04401

Sorry damn auto correct. Camping.

[hbillsmith]

Short answer, my Wildcat has met all my expectations. New Feb.2015 and dealer fixed 2 minor glitches (window seal, caulk line near king pin). Now 8000 towing miles later I am working up the second list for warranty repairs and all I can find is a loose screw or two. So never mind the dealer, I will just fix myself and keep on traveling.

[aceinspp]

Congrats on your purchase. Enjoy and Later RJD

[leefl]

Originally Posted by ColoradoRick

Wait, are you buying a 5-er as your FIRST RV? You know that violates the rules....you start with a tent, then a pop-up, then a tiny trailer, then a bigger trailer, THEN the 5-er and then a Class-C or Class-A!

Haha, we broke the rules a bit too. Skipped a couple of steps ... tent to pop-up to fifth wheel

Papabird1952: congrats on the purchase. We bought an end of model year 2015 Rockwood 8281WS a couple of months ago, so fairly similar to yours in many ways, but with the small bunk room, and love it so far. Happy camping

[aceinspp]

[QUOTE=ColoradoRick;999718]

Wait, are you buying a 5-er as your FIRST RV? You know that violates the rules....you start with a tent, then a pop-up, then a tiny trailer, then a bigger trailer, THEN the 5-er and then a Class-C or Class-A!

No NO i did it the other way started in a tent to pop up to MH then to 5er then to tt. Later RJD

[ColoradoRick]

When I was a kid, our camping was always in tents. I remember only being inside an RV once when a neighbor rented a big Class-A for their vacation.

My wife, however, had an amazing camp on a lake-shore in Maine. So for me to get her camping required a compromise and that was a small (18-foot) travel trailer. We both fell in love with RVing and now have a 33-foot and can't camp enough...it's never enough!!

[heavynlori]

[QUOTE=aceinspp;1011930]

Originally Posted by ColoradoRick

Wait, are you buying a 5-er as your FIRST RV? You know that violates the rules....you start with a tent, then a pop-up, then a tiny trailer, then a bigger trailer, THEN the 5-er and then a Class-C or Class-A!

No NO i did it the other way started in a tent to pop up to MH then to 5er then to tt. Later RJD

We really broke the rules - first RV for non-hunting use was a fiver....didn't look at anything else ever !!

DH said it pulls better, blah blah ....so that was my only choice - of course, first one we looked at had a slide way back in 1997 so we never considered one without slideout after that one we bought and had it for 14 years !

On our third one now with three slides, last one had two so guess next one will have to have four slides 😃

Not looking for new one yet though

[abomb]

Originally Posted by ColoradoRick

Same with us...we visited the big dogs and didn't appreciate the run-arounds and pressure tactics and, finally, purchased from a very small, but awesome, RV business in Colorado Springs. We liked them so much we traded our smaller camper (non-Forest River) for a Rockwood last year and LOVE it!

Wait, are you buying a 5-er as your FIRST RV? You know that violates the rules....you start with a tent, then a pop-up, then a tiny trailer, then a bigger trailer, THEN the 5-er and then a Class-C or Class-A!

But look at a bunch of RVs before you decide....it was a lot of fun for us before we bought our Rockwood last year!

Haha....we broke 2 rules! 1.) First camper was a 5th wheel. 2.) First tow was a 16 hour 850 mile tow from dealer in Michigan to Long Island NY....only stopping for gas (food and bathroom breaks while gassing up).....did have expirience towing small flat trailers, so I knew about stopping distance and turning.....but to answer original question, love my Forest River 5er.