Input needed on Flagstaff 831RLBSS

[wmtire]

Ed, do you have slide toppers (covers) on your two slideouts? I was camping in January when it rained, and boy was it loud when it hit on the roof of the slides.

I told myself then, that would be my next improvement, but haven't got to it yet.

[semlohde]

I don't have them and the cost to add them is for me prohibitive! I wish the slides did have the covers though. Staying under the pines is a mess and I always have to climb on top to sweep or use the leaf blower. I keep meaning to being my ladder so I can just sweep from the sides. As for noise, i can't stay awake when those heavy rains come down. Recline in that good LazyBoy, get Directv, add the rain - I'm out!

[youroo]

Originally Posted by semlohde

Good to get replies so fast on an old thread! YOUROO (replying at 3:20 am!!) is correct on the spongy shower. I checked that out right after I was spongin' around! And yes, they cut WAY TOO MUCH out of that shower floor and the plywood is WAYYYY TOOO THIN to support anything. POOR CRAFTMANSHIP FLAGSTAFF (like they're reading this or care). I did take it back to Smallwoods in Jackson, TN and they did what they could I guess. Always had pretty good service from them, bought this and the 831rlss from them. But I didn't have this in the 831rlss or in any of the trailers I walked into at the Southaven RV show last month. Pretty disappointed in that squeek and shower though. BUT - it's a nice size, good inside storage, winterizes quickly and easily - open the inside faucets and then unscrew the low point drain covers. That also seems to drain the hot water tank as I've taken that rod out after doing this drain and nothing drains out. Gets hot as blazes in July and August in upper Mississippi. This 15,000 btu just can't cool those 3 digit days. One other thing - when I got mine the radio went out and they swapped out one for me. It works fine other than if I put a DVD in, plays fine, take the DVD out and go back to AV1 for my directtv - there is a hiss that developes in the front speakers. I have to change the input and go back to AV1 to clear that.

WMTIRE - enjoy your Arkansas trip and let us know how it did. be sure and chock both sides of your tires. I chocked just my right side and was at Enid lake, MS when that storm passed through last week. Twisted the trailer and it came off my wooden blocks at the front, raising the trailer some 3 inches in the rear. Bought those expanding breaks that squeeze between the tires - for both sides!
ed

Semlohde,with our (FOAM) floors cut out to large under the shower,we will have to build a (truss) to span on both sides of the hole to solid floor area for proper support. Then make up spacer blocks to place under the shower where they are in mid air! I know this will take so time & effort but do you know a dealer who would repair it correctly? Youroo!!

[semlohde]

I have no idea who would fix these showers right. I gave Smallwoods a chance - it was still bad and I never looked again. I didn't want to see the nothing they did. There ought to be a recall - HAHAHAHAHA - I actually said that word. I thought of putting plastic cups in and shoot them with foam - talk about dumb! The showers are cheap material and can't possible last, especially with the no support. I have an extenede warranty, probably as bad as the shower though. So no, I don't know anyone who would fix this. One couple at Enid has fixed their shower though and this might help. They stretched a bar across the top - AND MADE IT THEIR CLOSET!!!

To change the topic, isn't this 831rlbss supposed to be an all aluminium frame? So our floors are? So maybe a good shot of glue somehow by that squeek could fix that? I'd sure like to see the frame to know exactly what it is and where it is!

I like the trailer, but it Flagstaff sure seems to be the cheapest (certainly not the less expensive) made out there.

[Rubbersidedown]

I realize that this is a little bit of an older thread, but thought I might chime in on the squeaking floor issue. We took ours back to the dealer and had them look at it. They told us it is actually the metal ductwork that is rubbing up against the frame or other stuff where it comes up out of the floor by the recliners. Between the dealer and myself we eventually got it "tamed down" but not completely eliminated. by cutting some of the excess metal off of the metal elbow section right below the vent and putting some rubber type tape between the metal parts and then retaping over the joint where they meet with the aluminum duct tape. Not perfect, but way better!

Have another unrelated question for the group... (I will fully admit my stupidity for this before I even ask it, but....) We bought our 831RLBSS about this time last year. Love it very much and have made some nice mods. Vent covers all around, slide toppers, even added a couple of AC outlets to the kitchen areas where it seemed like they should be anyway. We traded up from a 2006 Coachmen with a single slide and loved the extra space and really nice interior, especially the leather recliners!! Well, I now have a 2008 Silverado 2500HD, and have started thinking about 5th wheels... (I know, I know!) Anyway, we saw a nice middle of the road Sierra that would be withing the weight limits of this TV at the dealer we bought both of our TT's from. I went in just for the heck of it to see what our trade would be worth. If you are reading this thread you know what these trailers were going for last year. I was shocked when the dealer offered $12,500.00!!! I knew that I was going to take a hit for being stupid and trading in a 1 year old trailer, but Holy Moly! I walked out...

This wa nothing like the offer we received on our last trade which I felt was way more reasonable. Just curious, is this normal? Has anyone else had a similar experience, and did you feel like the offer was way, way, to low on a trade for another new TT or 5er?

[semlohde]

I bought my 831rlbss in Feb last year also. I traded my 831rlss that was a year old - and was perfect in every way - and took a similar beating. I would suggest you NOT DO IT! these dealers are worse that used car guys ! I lost thousands and they sold it in just a few weeks. My 831rlbss has the good weight and room I like. If you get a bum knee that climb to the bedroom is the pits - my wife just couldn't do it. I also liked those 5th wheelers - but I have what I'll have I guess. I did talk with my insurance people though and it took some pulling for the info. I had a friend who lost his trailer near the Tennessee River in the floods and his insurance didn't pay off his loan - left him with some $1200. But they said about 23,000 for mine- not seeing the actual trailer. So you are getting about half.

DON'T DO IT! Of course I did it also and just let it haunt me once and awhile - what would I have done with that extra 3,000 or 5,000, or 10,000?!?! aaaarrrgggggg. But I paid this thing off so I'll just "pooky" that cheap shower floor and as I get older I'll just get a tick as I walk over the squeek. I was going to look at those vents today when I vaccuum them out.

[Rubbersidedown]

Semlohde:

Yep! No way I am going to trade for that kind of a beating! I may try to investigate selling privately, but my fear is that the potential buyer may need to finance. Not sure what options are available for folks that have banks that don't do RV loans. I checked with mine when we went to buy the 831RLBSS last year, and they don't do RV loans. I thought about checking with the bank that has the current loan (Arranged by the local delaer)... I figure my only way to pull this off would be to try to somehow pay off the current loan, and ask that same bank if they would finance the potential buyer (pending credit approval, of course).

The unit is in better than new condition, and also has the remainder of a 5 year extended warranty. (Almost a full 5 years) I've never tried to sell a used RV, so I'm not sure how much trouble it is...

One thing for sure, I will not be going back to the local RV dealer for anything. I checked, and the RV Wholesaler price is about $4 -5 K cheaper for the same 5er that we are looking at. I don't think they do trades, but my local dealer isn't any help with this either. So much for the local dealer trying to keep any repeat customers. I am always the guy that tries to support local business, but I won't be doing it this time.

I have had to "re-repair" most of the minor warranty issues that the dealer botched anyway. Forest River has been very good to work with directly as far as any part required for repairs, but the dealer has done poor quality work on every repair they have performed.

Kind of a bummer to find all of this out the hard way, but I now have a trailer that is in good condition, and I feel lucky compared to some of the other horror stories I have heard on different forums. I will probably just end up keeping the 831RLBSS. It is a very nice trailer, just wish it had some more outside storage...

[great white]

Hmm, not sure what everyone else has going on with thier showers, but the Duo-form shower enclosure in my 2011 831rlbss is rock solid. we actually had the wife and myself in it and it still was solid. Yes, it was a tight fit.......

I do have a minor squeak in the rear floor though. Never bothered me that much, at least not to the point of doing anything about it.

A little trouble with the Concertone (part to fix the jumpy video on the way) and a chaffed wire in the slide that kept popping a fuse is about all I could complain about.

Threw a coupe maxxair II vents on it and various hoses, cables, household bits, etc and called it done.

Really, it was pretty much ready to go right off the dealers lot.

Chucked on a Husky Centerline WD sway hitch and after a proper setup, it tows like it's not even there behind my 1998 K2500 Turbo Diesel (well, you do notice the weight ans MPG drop, but nothing else!)

Price?

Well, too much I suppose. It didn't go cheap and there's no way I'd get anything near what we paid if we traded it. But we intend to keep it for at least 10 years and see what happens after that. We did opt for the full boat model- power tongue jack, power stabilizers, both slide awnings, rear ladder, atrium slide, etc, so the price reflects the option level we chose. Still too much I suppose, but at least we enjoy it when we use it.

Actually, we're in it in the campground right now!

[wmtire]

Well, I took the camper out for a full weekend shakedown. I had a few probs right off the bat. I couldn't get the rear power stabilizer to retract, before I even hooked it up to the vehicle to leave the house. I wiggled the wires going to the motor and it started working. It came down fine at the campground, but I had to wiggle them some more to retract them before leaving.

This was the first time I actually hooked up to water, and the kitchen faucet started leaking out the top. I was walking by the counter and noticed a pool of water on the counter. I wiped it off, then watched for awhile and could see the water coming out in small drops at the faucet ball. I couldn't get it to stop no matter what (and wasn't going to let it ruin my weekend), so I stopped by a local Home Depot and got a "real" faucet. Saw the 'made in China" stamp on the bottom of the leaking one when I replaced it. I wasn't really thrilled with that fact.

Looks like I will be heading back to the dealer about the power stabilizer. I"m not going to worry about the faucet, cause if they replaced it with the same Chinese junk, it will most likely do the same thing. I replaced it with something dependable.

These are the things I kind of expect, and want to make sure I get corrected......at least while it's still under warranty.

That creak in the floor really did annoy me more and more as the weekend progressed. Maybe the leaking faucet and stabilizer wire wiggling increased my hearing sensitivity. LOL It also seemed that my front power jack motor was awful loud. Sure wouldn't want to arrive at a campground late and disturb the neighbors with it.

I may see if the dealer can help out on that creak, while I have it over there.

I also encountered something at the campground I stayed at (that is totally unrelated to the trailer). When I booked the spot online, it said it was a pull-through camping spot. I thought that would just make it easy. It was actually a double pull-through, which means you have two campers side-by-side, each facing different ways. The guy who was there first, actually had to move his RV over some, so we both had enough room to extend our slides out without touching. Being so close together, whenever one moved inside their camper, it sounded like they were inside yours. I bet my weekend neighbor also wished my floor didn't creak so much too. I definitely won't get a spot like that again.

I still had a fun weekend and look forward to many more.

[MtnGuy]

Good report, Bobby. Looks like you made the best of a couple of problems.

[wmtire]

Is anyone else's power tongue jack extremely noisy? Mine would wake up the campground. I said something about this when I was purchasing the trailer, and they just said they all sound like that..........but I am finding that harder and harder to believe.

[rlwestbrook]

Yes mine is very noisy. My trailer vendor is working on getting it replaced under warranty.
Time to go camping here in Michigan

[Rubbersidedown]

Our power jack is pretty noisy too. It has been that way since it was new. I just figured it was noisy because it was a small motor that had to be geared down so far to lift the weight. I would be interested to hear if everyone else's are noisy too...

[youroo]

Yes,ours too! Youroo!!

[semlohde]

I just had another problem come up, 2010 831RLBSS - the electric awning motor. Got the awning out fine but it wouldn't roll up. It gave a grunt and it tugged but that was it. Each time I pushed the button it grunted and tugged the awning - but wouldn't roll back any. Since I didn't have anyone to help so I could maybe roll it as they held the button, I smacked the support out the door as I held the button. It finally rolled in and I haven't had it out since. It's hitting 98-105in the shade, 117 direct sun light here now and with no awning the coolest it can get is 80-87 inside. The shower is still spongy as ever, the floor squeeks some, and now the awning. I have an extended warranty. Was told they'd have to inspect it for $125. Then decide the cost and order the part. I thought they'd order the motor and I could come in and get it fixed in a day. NOPE. My happy feeling for Flagstaff isn't really there any more... I'd certainly get that manual awning over automatic if there's a next time. Ed H

[youroo]

Originally Posted by semlohde

I just had another problem come up, 2010 831RLBSS - the electric awning motor. Got the awning out fine but it wouldn't roll up. It gave a grunt and it tugged but that was it. Each time I pushed the button it grunted and tugged the awning - but wouldn't roll back any. Since I didn't have anyone to help so I could maybe roll it as they held the button, I smacked the support out the door as I held the button. It finally rolled in and I haven't had it out since. It's hitting 98-105in the shade, 117 direct sun light here now and with no awning the coolest it can get is 80-87 inside. The shower is still spongy as ever, the floor squeeks some, and now the awning. I have an extended warranty. Was told they'd have to inspect it for $125. Then decide the cost and order the part. I thought they'd order the motor and I could come in and get it fixed in a day. NOPE. My happy feeling for Flagstaff isn't really there any more... I'd certainly get that manual awning over automatic if there's a next time. Ed H

What is the 125.00 for? Are you under the 2nd year warr? Have you removed the shower inspection cover to check the floor suports? Youroo!!

[semlohde]

I've had the trailer 17 months now and lived in it about half that time. Southaven RV of Southaven,MS said they had to inspect the awning to get the price for repair to give to this extended warranty company - they wouldn't order the motor until after looking at it. The extended warranty company is XTRARIDE, it's their platinum coverage for 7 years. Southaven is about 60 miles from where I have it, and Smallwoods in jackson,TN where I bought it is some 150 miles. Smallwoods said they could get me a motor in 4 days or so. I'm frustrated, to be kind about it! But it sure seems like if I want to raise _)()*(&*^% and get the coverage I'll have to take it back to Smallwoods for the awning and get pushy over the shower. Guess it's like medical insurance - you think you're covered until you try and use the coverage. But I live in this thing. It's really a problem dropping it off for a week or more.

[wmtire]

Ed, are you confident that it is the motor that is going bad, and not anything kinking in the arms? I'm just throwing ideas out there, that may be easy to fix,

I did have one of my power stabilizer motors go bad, from where water was getting into it.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ter-12879.html

As I stated in the forum post above, it probably wouldn't have been the best scene, if I had taken the trailer back to the dealer 90 miles away, than have them tell me it was unwarrantable because it had water in the motor......which was caused (IMHO) by faulty installation at the factory.

Of course, this is all supposition on my part, and they may have took care of it, no problem (although highly doubtful). Luckily, I was able to fix it myself.

Being just across the Big Muddy from you, and sharing the same temperatures, I'm concerned about what you said that you couldn't get the trailer to cool off no better than 80-87 degrees inside. Do you have any tree cover, where you are parked at?

[semlohde]

I'd answered earlier and then I pawed it and all my good reply was flushed!

Nope - I'm not sure it isn't water, or binding somewhere in it. It looks ok from the ground. It extends like nothing is wrong. It will only give a slight kick when retracting. So all I can do is rattle the brace out the door as I press the button. It made it up with several shakes. Once up about half way it came up fine, tending to point to binding.

I moved to another spot today - my time at the lot was up. More shade, no view of the lake but now I need shade. AC is working prefectly - of course until I wrote that. HEAVY rain and storms passed through today. Sardis had a lady and child killed in their trailer as a HUGE tree fell through it. Sardis is some 12 miles north of Enid,MS. One tree fell in Enid but I heard Persimmon Hill on the south side of the lake had many trees blown down.

As for the heat and sunlight. Direct sun is a killer in this thinly insulated thing. Open your door and look at that 1 inch or so insulation. I can only imaging its the same for the roof - no where I've found shows the exact insulation numbers. I put some solar mesh from Lowes in that big back window. Helps some, guess window tint would work better but it's so permenant. At best I get a 15 degree temp difference one it hits 98 and up. Well, even a bit lower temps taxes the one AC. When it taps that 117 there isn't anything cool inside and that 15,000btu is kickin it! Friends had a guy come down and put another AC in their bedroom vent. Then he snaked the power plug for a shore line outside plug. PERFECT. Doesn't hamper the inside electronics. Run a cord from the 120v or step down from the 30amp plug. I always use the 50amp plug with a stepdown to 30a. That leaves the 30A open for 2 space heaters in the winter. I run 2 extension cords through that small 6 inch or so window at the dinner table slide and nothing taps my inside power. Doesn't look real pretty but when it's 19 outside and propane needs refilling - free and clean electric heat is just fine.

Enjoy that trailer! It's pretty good. Someone said one of your happiest days is getting the trailer (or boat) and the next is getting rid of it. Shade seems to come with no view or ventilation. Open areas has sun and WIND with the storms. And be careful about storing things. Last year I had a 5 gal gas can and coleman stove stolen. This past week is was another 5 gallon gas can. Guess I'm just going to have to set someone up with a mixture.