How many are having to make return trips to dealer for repairs to their Crusader

[imabmwnut]

Well we wandered on to the RV lot and wandered around most of the day with my wife saying "we are not going to buy a RV today" I like a good husband walked behind her saying "yes dear" well She got it down to 2 units a Crusader 260RLD and another one. after walking back and forth several times (on a really big lot) she picked the 260. couple of minor things that we figured out ourselves and had one of the handles on the tanks broke.being a maintenance guy i cut it down some threaded the inside and put it back on. Its supposed to have the artic package in it but when its cold and the wind is blowing on the side with the slides its gets chilly in it I don't care who says it don't. gonna check on a couple of space heaters so save propane but the biggest thing is we use my mother in laws 1 ton to pull it with so the biggest issue has been fuel costs..........I just put in fuel and head down the road. This is our first Trailer and so far we love it!

[Terier]

Originally Posted by imabmwnut

Well we wandered on to the RV lot and wandered around most of the day with my wife saying "we are not going to buy a RV today" I like a good husband walked behind her saying "yes dear" well She got it down to 2 units a Crusader 260RLD and another one. after walking back and forth several times (on a really big lot) she picked the 260. couple of minor things that we figured out ourselves and had one of the handles on the tanks broke.being a maintenance guy i cut it down some threaded the inside and put it back on. Its supposed to have the artic package in it but when its cold and the wind is blowing on the side with the slides its gets chilly in it I don't care who says it don't. gonna check on a couple of space heaters so save propane but the biggest thing is we use my mother in laws 1 ton to pull it with so the biggest issue has been fuel costs..........I just put in fuel and head down the road. This is our first Trailer and so far we love it!

Congrats on the new trailer!
Sort of sound like my story. I had left a deposit to hold the price on an Aliner but changed my mind once I drove off the lot. Since I didn't have a TV I thought it would be safe to asked my sister to come along. And guess what she found while I was picking up my check? A FR unit that fits my needs and budget. For the first 10 months I borrowed my sister's Yukon to tow with.

[LKicklight]

As the owner of a brand new Crusader 270 RET and someone who has posted his share of problems, we have experienced with said coach, I too will be the first to say, thanks for the management of FR coming forth to help us out.

Since everyone knows by now the problems we have shared, I will not waste anyones time rehashing old stuff.

Most the the problems we have endured, could have been corrected by the dealer who sold us this unit, if they had only completed their Pre-Deliver Inspection Correctly.

To date most of our issues have been taken care of, some not in a timely manner, but it's winter time, who's going any where, right.

We have two issues remaining, one will be taken care of on March 7th, 2012 by our dealer, that is the day we have an appointment. Like some others have stated, heck I could take care of this issue myself, but since I have never removed one of these Hot Water Heaters, I am to old to learn now.

The last issue, for those who have the RCA DVD/CD/Stereo, we have a problem in that the unit turns itself on all by itself, usually early in the morning, and if by chance you and the miss's were partying the night before and had some really good Rock-N-Roll Music playing, well around seven AM the unit will come on all by its self..RV GUY was checking on that for us..no word as yet...We have checked with three other Crusader owners with the unit, all have the same problem.. Yesterday I read the manual from cover to cover...nothing to turn it on, only off..

In closing let me say this on quality, we also own a 2003 30' FIS Sunnybrook T/T, she has been back to the dealer twice in nine years...quality, even today is just about perfect...this is after some fifty-plus trips over these many years..good unit
Thanks, LKicklight

[Mountainmanbob]

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

I'd much rather fix some of the problems

You just need to be relatively handy and have some tools.

that's where I'am at
if at all possible
I will tackle the job myself
have recently seen some shabby repairs made
by our local RV repair store
their 700 repair a few years back to our Super Chief
if I would have known beforehand
how sloppy it would turn out
I could have done the same repair for around 250

last repair to our new to us trailer
cost me prox 40 dollars parts
would have been closer to 200 just labor
in the friendly repair shop

took me about two hours I will admit
100 buck an hour -- I'll take it
plus I used much better hoses

Mountainman

[sbreen]

my wife and i are looking at upgrading to a larger fifth wheel with a large bunk house.. right now we have a 25 foot puma and looking at the 2014 crusader 360BHS the dry weight is about 12400 and after we load it it will be pushing 13500+. my question for all members is i have a 2006 dodge 2500 with the cummins 2wd is this two much for the truck we do live in louisiana and will not be hauling in the mouintans but maybe once a year but i dont want to invest in this kind of unit if i cant pull it. any sugestions?

[hockey dad]

Hey SBREEN --- that's a lot of camper for any 2500/250! If your loaded weight is 13500+ then you're looking at 2700lbs or so of pin weight plus the weight of the hitch (200lbs roughly). That's pushing 3000lbs in the bed. Since you're looking at a bunkhouse, I'm assuming you have a crew cab and will have kids and all their necessary junk along for the ride - even more weight. Check your truck for the max payload (weight of passengers + cargo not to exceed ****lbs), then subtract the pin weight, hitch weight, passenger weight, extra junk weight, and see where you are. IMO, too much for any 3/4 ton.... The 360BHS is an awesome coach, it was on our list, but it's also huge and you'll really need to watch the weights to be safe.

I'll recommend the 335BHS - another great family camper!!!

Good luck, and cheers!

[LKicklight]

Check to see what your load carrying limits are with the Dodge. Should fall in the range of what you need. Of course you could always move up to a 2014 2500HD Duramax (two wheel drive), that way you are home free, but for now, try the Dodge and see....also, do you have a Butch Service King Pin Lock on your 5th wheel hitch plate. If not, get that on there right way: Our is a 270RET Crusader and weighs something like 7780..we use a 2500HD Gas..no problems at all...

Originally Posted by sbreen

my wife and i are looking at upgrading to a larger fifth wheel with a large bunk house.. right now we have a 25 foot puma and looking at the 2014 crusader 360BHS the dry weight is about 12400 and after we load it it will be pushing 13500+. my question for all members is i have a 2006 dodge 2500 with the cummins 2wd is this two much for the truck we do live in louisiana and will not be hauling in the mouintans but maybe once a year but i dont want to invest in this kind of unit if i cant pull it. any sugestions?

[Tiggerdad]

Your truck is way under capacity to pull that camper. Don't believe for a minute the dry hitch weight posted by Forest River. I believe it is much closer to what Hockey Dad posted. My 330MKS posts a hitch weight of 1794. Actual weight when I bought it was 2,060#'s. Not even a new GM 2500 is capable of towing the 360BHS.

The maximum GCWR for your Dodge is 15,000 #'s . Payload is 1958. If FR was correct on the pin weight, that would leave you 156 capacity for people and what ever else you decide to put in that truck.

Good Luck

[vacationer]

we have a few issues ,fridge fan making noise dealer said take fuse out if to loud at night for now. The tv has a pink line down the middle, one tire has slow leak since I picked it up. No biggy

[davidjb]

Originally Posted by vacationer

we have a few issues ,fridge fan making noise dealer said take fuse out if to loud at night for now. The tv has a pink line down the middle, one tire has slow leak since I picked it up. No biggy

No fuse..no cold

[LKicklight]

Did you complete your Pre-Delivery Inspection prior to leaving the dealership?

Originally Posted by vacationer

we have a few issues ,fridge fan making noise dealer said take fuse out if to loud at night for now. The tv has a pink line down the middle, one tire has slow leak since I picked it up. No biggy

[Tiggerdad]

Typical dealer. I have read many complaints on this forum about noisy fan. Mine is noisy, more so when door is open. I have learned that it means the fridge is cooling