Flagstaff 23FBDS SuperLite

[kcdelan]

Decided to downsize from 2015 Flagstaff V-Lite 26WRB and now have a 23FBDS SuperLite on order. This was mainly because the V-Lite's 29' 7" length was difficult to fit in our yard. Loved the ease of towing of the V-Lite. Had a number of relatively minor warranty issues with the V-Lite namely, one outside speaker not working. Dealer attempted to fix but to do it properly it was going to mean ripping a large amount of the interior apart. As we were never going to use them the dealer wired the one that was working directly to the bad one. The "Suburban" range's oven never worked properly, even after installing new parts. Dealer still waiting for more parts from manufacturer. Fresh (potable) water tank leaked during first month and would only hold about 1/2 tank. Dealer fixed that one. Anyway we are hoping to have better success with the SuperLite 23FBDS. We feel that the Murphy Bed will be the best solution for giving the feeling of spaciousness in a small TT, along with the double slides.
So, question is, are there any issues that anyone might have had with this TT? We would appreciate any advice regarding this particular unit.

[tipakajohn]

Murphy Bed is the best in a limited space trailer like ours. It opens up the floor space wonderfully. A plus is we gain a seating area when the bed is stowed.

[windsurfdog]

I hope you love your Murphy as much as we do ours. With the deep dinette slide in our "little" 21DS, 6-7 peeps are quite comfortable inside when conditions outside are uncomfortable. Good choice!

[vinceigo]

We purchased our 2015 23FBDS in May of 2015. Only problem was with the dinette slide blowing fuses when we first picked it up. Our dealer corrected that by replacing with a circuit breaker. Problem was solved. Only other problem was that the factory had forgotten to install the seal behind the refrigerator which let hot air in from the outside. Dealer fixed that as soon as we discovered it.
Wife and I, as well as our 85 lb German Shephard highly recommend this camper.
Easy to pull and plenty of room.



Sent from my iPad using Forest River Forums

[sewingcybermom]

Originally Posted by kcdelan

Decided to downsize from 2015 Flagstaff V-Lite 26WRB and now have a 23FBDS SuperLite on order.

Did you get this yet? We are looking at one right now, have to order it. We currently have a nice big Roo 23ikss hybrid and I'm really tired of the bunk ends, climbing over my husband, and packing up wet.

I can't find anything there isn't in this that we don't have right now. I really, really would like to know, though....where are the outlets near the stove/counter? Are they under the overhead cabinets? Pllleeaassee tell me there's outlets in this area.

[vinceigo]

The outlet is in the bottom of the overhead cabinet to the right of the range hood.
There is also one to the right of the sink.
This camper has ample and well located electrical outlets.
I really think that you will be very happy with this camper.
Really love the roominess

[Sheamar]

Bought a flagstaff super lite 2016 5 Th wheel and under the vanity in bedroom is a hole that goes into the cargo hull dealer could not tell me what belonged there any on put would be appreciated .

[Vpierce]

Sheamer I imagine it's the laundry chute. You put a basket in the cargo to catch dirty clothes.

[Moparman1230]

Originally Posted by Vpierce

Sheamer I imagine it's the laundry chute. You put a basket in the cargo to catch dirty clothes.

X2

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Vpierce

Sheamer I imagine it's the laundry chute. You put a basket in the cargo to catch dirty clothes.

Yep... one of the first things I closed up on my unit.

[sewingcybermom]

We stopped by to look at a new unit that had just come in for someone else. I was so excited to see it in person! My husband agreed that we wouldn't miss the large floor plan in our 23ikss, as this is just as roomy. After camping in our Roo this past weekend, I think I would like the open floor plan better than my island. I never noticed before, but many times we got in each other's way and had to go back around the island to get into our out of the bathroom.

Here's a couple of questions for you:
When the slides are in, can you get to the fridge and bathroom if we stop along the way?

If we chose an interior with a leatherette couch, does the ottoman always match the couch fabric, or does it match the upholstered fabric of the dinette?

I've been looking at pictures of 2017 models from flagstaff and am confused about what fabrics are available to choose from. The dealer showed us what is available, but they were in black and white...duuuuhhhh. But the photos I'm looking at for 2017 models aren't the same ones the dealer has. Is the Forest River site up to date?

For the foodies out there....I cook a lot, and quite a bit in the camper. How does the sink being in the back work out for you? It seems quite awkward and has my husband concerned that there isn't enough counter space around it. thoughts?

[vinceigo]

With both slides in you can still access both the bathroom and refrigerator
We prefer the sink separate from the cooking area. Someone can access the sink not bothering someone that is cooking.
As for as colors your dealer should have up to date selections or use Forest Rivers website.
I can't answer any questions on the fabric of the couch and ottoman. We have a leatherette couch, but no ottoman. We also have the u-shaped dinette as opposed to the table and four chairs. We wanted the option of additional sleeping area

[sewingcybermom]

Originally Posted by vinceigo

With both slides in you can still access both the bathroom and refrigerator
We prefer the sink separate from the cooking area. Someone can access the sink not bothering someone that is cooking.
As for as colors your dealer should have up to date selections or use Forest Rivers website.
I can't answer any questions on the fabric of the couch and ottoman. We have a leatherette couch, but no ottoman. We also have the u-shaped dinette as opposed to the table and four chairs. We wanted the option of additional sleeping area

Wait..you don't have an otoman in front of your couch? It's standard in this unit. Did you not what it?

[vinceigo]

Our's was an early model 2015 purchased in May of 2015.
Ottomans were not an item that was offered. I feel it would be in the way anyhow. We share the interior with our 85 lb Grrman Shepard. We need the space for his bed.

[sewingcybermom]

Originally Posted by kcdelan

Decided to downsize from 2015 Flagstaff V-Lite 26WRB and now have a 23FBDS SuperLite on order. This was mainly because the V-Lite's 29' 7" length was difficult to fit in our yard. Loved the ease of towing of the V-Lite. Had a number of relatively minor warranty issues with the V-Lite namely, one outside speaker not working. Dealer attempted to fix but to do it properly it was going to mean ripping a large amount of the interior apart. As we were never going to use them the dealer wired the one that was working directly to the bad one. The "Suburban" range's oven never worked properly, even after installing new parts. Dealer still waiting for more parts from manufacturer. Fresh (potable) water tank leaked during first month and would only hold about 1/2 tank. Dealer fixed that one. Anyway we are hoping to have better success with the SuperLite 23FBDS. We feel that the Murphy Bed will be the best solution for giving the feeling of spaciousness in a small TT, along with the double slides.
So, question is, are there any issues that anyone might have had with this TT? We would appreciate any advice regarding this particular unit.

Did you get your camper? I have a question about the dinette large window. Does it open? I can't decide if I want the framless windows or not, but the pictures look like it's a large window. I don't see a slide option on them, so maybe they open from the bottom? If so, is there a screen on them?

[vinceigo]

The large window in the dinette area of the 23FBDS is an awning style window with screen. Awning means that the bottom of the window opens out.
In addition there is a window (single hung) on each end of the dinette slide out which raise up and too have screens.

[kcdelan]

Originally Posted by sewingcybermom

Did you get this yet? We are looking at one right now, have to order it. We currently have a nice big Roo 23ikss hybrid and I'm really tired of the bunk ends, climbing over my husband, and packing up wet.

I can't find anything there isn't in this that we don't have right now. I really, really would like to know, though....where are the outlets near the stove/counter? Are they under the overhead cabinets? Pllleeaassee tell me there's outlets in this area.

Just got the Flagstaff Super-Lite 23FBDS yesterday afternoon from the dealer. To answer your question, yes the one duplex power outlet near the stove/counter is indeed under the overhead cabinet! It would have been nice to have been in the wall but it is easy to see why this would not be possible. We can live with that though. It took the dealer some time to figure out just how to turn on/off the LED light's over the stove/counter and the sink counter as there was no wall switch... They are controlled from a small button in the center of the lens. The main living area lights are controlled from a switch on the control panel and it would have been nice if these could be controlled additionally just like the under-counter lights so that you could choose to have some on and some off.
The PDI went well and everything we could see appeared to be working well. What we did not have time to check out is not really a problem as our dealer is excellent at correcting any problems for us.
The unit towed home (about 50 miles) exceptionally well. Our tow vehicle is however somewhat overkill, it being a 2015 Ram 3500 Diesel!! We used a few back roads that in places were a bit rough and upon arriving home found that the Murphy Bed had come loose and was resting against the couch back cushions and the dinette slide wall!!! Must admit that the latching mechanism that holds it up in place is pretty "rinky-dink" to say the least and I will have to come up with a lot better method of securing it, very soon! Would appreciate any suggestions in this regard.
Not having to have had much time to go over it very closely but will keep posting on both positive and negative observations. I can attest that, initially it would appear to be a major improvement in quality, fit and finish over our previous Flagstaff V-Lite! One observation I have made is that our particular unit has a reduced cargo capacity over that which is advertised by Forest River. Advertised it is 1,403 lbs. Our unit states that it is only 1,205 lbs. Guess we must have put 198 lbs of options on it! Probably the "Corian" counters took up a lot of that! We will not be able to carry very much cargo once I get my two 6-volt batteries loaded, propane tanks full, at least some potable water and my Hensley Arrow hitch loaded aboard!! Be lucky if I will be able to load much more than 700 lbs. of "clobber"! I am sure that our 1 ton truck is will get loaded down pretty good on the longer trips to Southern Climes in winter!!

[sewingcybermom]

It took the dealer some time to figure out just how to turn on/off the LED light's over the stove/counter and the sink counter as there was no wall switch... They are controlled from a small button in the center of the lens. The main living area lights are controlled from a switch on the control panel and it would have been nice if these could be controlled additionally just like the under-counter lights so that you could choose to have some on and some off.

upon arriving home found that the Murphy Bed had come loose and was resting against the couch back cushions and the dinette slide wall!!! Must admit that the latching mechanism that holds it up in place is pretty "rinky-dink" to say the least and I will have to come up with a lot better method of securing it, very soon! Would appreciate any suggestions in this regard.

**********************

Thanks so much for responding! We just spoke with a dealer today and I think we're gonna order next week. Just a few questions/comments.

*Do you have the tinted frameless windows? If you do, how dark is it in the camper. I am worried that they will make it kind of smaller feeling. We currently have a hybrid, so we have quite an open feeling. (I will NOT miss climbing in and out of those bunks though...no matter HOW dark it is!)

*Did you get the emerald package with the oyster exterior? I'm not sure how I like that, and the dealer says we can order the white exterior, but every picture I see of the white, it has the older rubber seal windows instead of the frameless tinted ones. If you have the white exterior, what kind of windows do you have?

*Does your ottoman match your sofa? My dealer wasn't sure if it matched the dinette or the sofa.

*What interior color/fabric scheme did you order. I am sooooo confused about what I want. I know I don't want a fabric sofa, and I want to keep it light inside. Help!!

About the lights - my husband wasn't too keen on the new lighting, and the inability to turn on/off individual lights. We may have to do a work around on that. If one of us is watching tv and the other is wanting to read...does the entire camper have to be lit up??? Seems like FR would have thought about that option. Our 234ikss has lights (LOTS of them, that you can turn on/off individually)

We also got the corian (Emerald) package. I didn't think about the additional weight. Do you have one solid cover for your double sink, or are there two individual covers? Is the sink cover plastic or corian?

I'm so sorry for all of the questions, but there are NONE of these anywhere around me to look at, so I'm grasping at any info I can get. My dealer just happened to have one delivered that I looked at, but I didn't want to impose on someone else's new camper, so I made my visit short and sweet, not really paying attention to detail.

**Last question. We upgraded to the 5.1 dolby digital surround sound option. Does this come with a larger 32" TV? Again, my dealer said.."I think so" I want to KNOW so before upgrading.

Again, thank you soooooo much for any info you can give me. I have never ordered a camper before, and I'm quite anxious about it. It looks like your's was delivered quite quickly. What was your actual turn around from order to delivery? I'd hate to not get it in time for at least 1 or 2 shakedown trips!

Sincerely,
DeAnna

[kcdelan]

Originally Posted by sewingcybermom

Thanks so much for responding! We just spoke with a dealer today and I think we're gonna order next week. Just a few questions/comments.

*Do you have the tinted frameless windows? If you do, how dark is it in the camper. I am worried that they will make it kind of smaller feeling. We currently have a hybrid, so we have quite an open feeling. (I will NOT miss climbing in and out of those bunks though...no matter HOW dark it is!)

*Did you get the emerald package with the oyster exterior? I'm not sure how I like that, and the dealer says we can order the white exterior, but every picture I see of the white, it has the older rubber seal windows instead of the frameless tinted ones. If you have the white exterior, what kind of windows do you have?

*Does your ottoman match your sofa? My dealer wasn't sure if it matched the dinette or the sofa.

*What interior color/fabric scheme did you order. I am sooooo confused about what I want. I know I don't want a fabric sofa, and I want to keep it light inside. Help!!

About the lights - my husband wasn't too keen on the new lighting, and the inability to turn on/off individual lights. We may have to do a work around on that. If one of us is watching tv and the other is wanting to read...does the entire camper have to be lit up??? Seems like FR would have thought about that option. Our 234ikss has lights (LOTS of them, that you can turn on/off individually)

We also got the corian (Emerald) package. I didn't think about the additional weight. Do you have one solid cover for your double sink, or are there two individual covers? Is the sink cover plastic or corian?

I'm so sorry for all of the questions, but there are NONE of these anywhere around me to look at, so I'm grasping at any info I can get. My dealer just happened to have one delivered that I looked at, but I didn't want to impose on someone else's new camper, so I made my visit short and sweet, not really paying attention to detail.

**Last question. We upgraded to the 5.1 dolby digital surround sound option. Does this come with a larger 32" TV? Again, my dealer said.."I think so" I want to KNOW so before upgrading.

Again, thank you soooooo much for any info you can give me. I have never ordered a camper before, and I'm quite anxious about it. It looks like your's was delivered quite quickly. What was your actual turn around from order to delivery? I'd hate to not get it in time for at least 1 or 2 shakedown trips!

Sincerely,
DeAnna

**************************

In answer to your questions. Yes, we do have the tinted frameless windows and I must admit that the TT is quite dark inside. However, this is not so much due to the dark tint of the glass but due more to the limited quantity and size of the windows. One of my first reactions was that a skylight in the living area would have been a nice option. One that has a shade. Perhaps if we find it too dark we might consider having one installed later.

Yes, we did get the "Emerald Package" with the "Oyster" exterior. We have always had white RV's in the past and I must admit the "Oyster" is a welcome change. As we keep our rig at our residence, and in sight of some of our neighbours, it is far less obtrusive and blends in a lot better than white. Another plus for us is that it is a very similar colour to the exterior of our house!

Agree with your husband on the lights and I will be looking into the cost and practicality of replacing the living area units with those similar to the under counter units.

Yes, the ottoman does indeed match the sofa. One of my first jobs has been to remove the flimsy caster wheels and replace them with fairly large felt pads. When travelling the wheels can permit the ottoman to move around at will if it is left upright on the floor. We plan to place non-slip material under the thing when travelling.

Regarding our interior colour choice. We went with the following, WOOD: "Maple". COLOUR SCHEME: "Cashmere". FLOORING: "Optional" choice (wood plank look). Only the sofa and ottoman were "Leather Look". We elected to go with the Dinette rather than the Table & Chairs. One disappointment, at least for me, was that the Dinette cushions were not the rounded corner ones, that are shown on most of the units both on-line and in brochures, but rather just regular 90 deg cushions. If you would like the rounded type I suggest you see if you can request them. We have seen other units in other colour choices and they were quite dark, so hence our choice. We don't think we are going to regret it.

There is a two piece "Corian" cover for the sink. We like this as we had it in our V-Lite. The cheap plastic, one piece, units we have seen on rigs with laminate countertops are very flimsy, most were warped and don't fit very well.

Our unit came with a "iRV Technologies" 2.1 sound system and a "Furion" 32" TV. Have not tried either of these units yet so unable to comment on performance. (Electronics usually supplied are the cheapest that the manufacturer can get)

You should note that the tires that come on the unit are an obscure Chinese ("bombs") brand called "Castle Rock" and supplied by the infamous Goshen, IN supplier, "Lions Head Tire & Wheel". They are the cheapest of tire and appear to have little if any warranty. I had asked our dealer if I could order our unit with upgraded tires, like "Maxxis" or "Carlisle" and was informed that this was a definite NO! I expect to have to replace them within a year or two at the most. My advice is that if and when you replace them make sure to have the wheels balanced and if you can afford it, get a tire pressure monitoring system. If a tire "explodes" it can do an awful lot of damage to your rig!

Our turn-around time was as follows; Ordered, 14th. April. It arrived at our Dealer's, on a flat-deck, on 22nd June. Outside of Alaska, we are about as far away, geographically, from the manufacturer as you can get in North America, on Canada's West Coast.

Trust all of this helps and don't mind about all your questions. You want to get it to your liking if at all possible.

Kev.

[sewingcybermom]

Trust all of this helps and don't mind about all your questions. You want to get it to your liking if at all possible.

Kev.


Thank you soooo much! Your answers are a big help. We are looking at the cashmere with maple also. Next time you are in your camper, would you mind taking a picture for me? I cannot find that combination anywhere to look at. No hurries, we won't order till we sell our camper. Hopefully won't take that long!!