We own a 2014 Rockwood 8289WS that we purchased on August 22, 2013. We noticed the passenger side slide (dining & entertainment slide) has a weak floor. Dodd RV (Joey) called Rockwood’s factory in October of 2013 and we got a verbal confirmation by Sheila at Forest River that it need to be repaired at the factory. We said we would bring it to the factory if we were reimbursed for our costs. Sheila informed us that FR would not pay our costs to the factory. The next day, we found out that Sheila had left Forest River. The floor has gotten worse. The level of the floor has dropped. See attached pictures. We brought the rig back to Dodd RV on May 7, 2014 for many repairs. They still have it. We are back to the issue that the factory needs to recall this unit. At that time, they could replace the fireplace, CD/DVD player, oven, stove grate, counter tops, window screen, awning lights, wood vent in step, ceiling slats, letters on front of rig, all of which are broken, not working properly, or peeling.
However, we can’t go anywhere until the tires are replaced. The rubber is literally rubbing off the side walls and the tires are weather checked with less than 2,000 miles on them. We are waiting for approval from FR for replacement of tires.
We have also had many issues with our 2013 8289. We bought it at Dodd RV and I have to say they do everything possible to make it right. Our slide does slope a bit, not as much as yours, so I'll probably live with it unless it gets worse. Issue with tires. We had 2 fall apart, both rear passenger. We started to push the fact that there was no clearance between tires and unit body. With the help of Dodd RV, Forest River agreed to install a 3 " lift kit. RV has much more clearance now. Tomorrow we get new tires, going to LRD. Our cost. Friday we leave for 7,000 mile 2 month trip around the country. Look at your clearance, you may be rubbing and wearing out tires. Good Luck.
We've had our 2014 8289WS for about a month. Only issues with the slides I've noticed are that they sag a bit when extending or retracting, but always seem to square up at the end of travel (in or out). I get the feeling from other posts that you can't let'em ratchet at the ends of travel without risking shearing of the gear? pins. Takes a little while to get this down pat.
The Dometic cooling fan is a little noisy, as noted from other posts, and the rear stabilizer locked up once; Subsequent manual cranking seemed to re-align the mechanism and fix.
Will put the level to the slide(s) and check a little more thoroughly..
We have also had many issues with our 2013 8289. We bought it at Dodd RV and I have to say they do everything possible to make it right. Our slide does slope a bit, not as much as yours, so I'll probably live with it unless it gets worse. Issue with tires. We had 2 fall apart, both rear passenger. We started to push the fact that there was no clearance between tires and unit body. With the help of Dodd RV, Forest River agreed to install a 3 " lift kit. RV has much more clearance now. Tomorrow we get new tires, going to LRD. Our cost. Friday we leave for 7,000 mile 2 month trip around the country. Look at your clearance, you may be rubbing and wearing out tires. Good Luck.
Thanks for your reply and information about tires and Dodd RV. One question about the lift kit. Won't this change the height of your hitch assembly? We have not found the tires rubbing, they are just falling apart. (Chinese Junk) We're asking the factory to give us a credit for our tires and will upgrade to light truck E's and get away from ST's which seem to be causing all the tire problems on various threads that we have read.
Hope you have a wonderful and safe trip!
Except for the rear passenger tire, other 3 have approx 8,000 miles on them with no issues and still look good. There was an issue with the tire and unit clearance and apparently this was the first tire to rub ? Raising trailer 3 " showed no difference in level of trailer to truck ! I thought the same thing when it was raised, pleasantly surprised and think my problem may be solved. If there are other things lurking we should find them in the next 2 months.
Wow will watch this. Knock on wood, other than shower door needing adjustment our 8289 has been trouble free.
Tom - 2014 8289ws, 2011 Chevy 2500HD
Our door needs adjustment too! The letters on the front have been replaced an others are coming off now, adding this to the Goshen repair listThe only other issue is the water bump check valve leaking, dealer has ordered a replacement. Hope they resolve all the issues for the OP.
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B and B
2022 Venture RV SportTrek STT 302 VRB Travel Trailer
2018 Heartland Landmark 365 Louisville 5th Wheel
2015 Heartland Bighorn 5th Wheel
2013 FR Rockwood 8289WS 5th Wheel
2012 FR Rockwood 2703 SS Travel Trailer
Repairs made on sagging floor, waiting for reimbursement
An update to our post from June-We received approval from warranty to replace the tires, but only received $300.00 for the replacement. We also received approval to bring our unit to the factory, and they would pay our expenses. After new tires were installed, we made the trip to the Rockwood factory. Delivered our unit on Monday, July 14, 2014. We were pleased with everyone there. Repairs were made within 2 days. They even repaired/changed some things that weren't on our original list. The slide floor was rebuilt and seems much sturdier now. Extra braces were installed under the main floor of the camper. We were very happy when we left the factory!
THEN-only a few days later, (500 miles away) 2 of the items they repaired were broken again. (wood vent in step is broken & light above kitchen island is dangling)
AND-Instead of paying us mileage, they insisted that we turn in fuel receipts. It has been over a month since our trip. I emailed Ashley at warranty service about the broken parts we asked to be sent to us (I'll replace them myself, rather than make the trip to the dealer.), as well as questions about when we will be reimbursed. She recently replied to us that it will take at least 4 weeks to process everything. This is ridiculous! A commercial hauler would't wait that long to be paid!
We bought our 8289ws July 2013 from Wana RV in Shipshewana, Ind. in a heavy rain, the wardrobe slide leaked. Wana was unable to fix it so we drove 18 miles to the factory. Nice folks had it fixed and us on the road in two hours. Towed it home to Cal and now have about 8500 miles and 115 nights in it. We have the Chinese tires but no problems yet. I check them frequently and always keep them aired up to 50 lbs. Bought a Tiretraker monitoring system for piece of mind. The wooden air return slats on the stairs kept breaking and I replaced them with metal ones I found at Home Depot. I removed and bypassed the water filter. It was defective and leaked. It was also poorly located and the filter hard to change. The dining room/entertainment slide mounting/slide hardware loosened up and it was repaired under warranty. I don't think there is an RV bought new that doesn't have issues. Ours have been minor. We love this rig and the floor plan.
You did not ask me but since I am watching the Chinese made tires very closely I will throw my observations out also.
On ST 225/75R15
I have been using the tireminder tpms system for about 4 trips now. All of the sensors seem to read 2-3 pounds less than what 2 different gauges show. I air to 50 pounds and they all show around 47 to 48 once they sync up. It was a concern on the road until I figured this out and I did that by checking them again once we stopped. My main purpose was detecting a leak or a catastrophic failure anyway. Tireminder guarantees accuracy within 2 to 3 percent so I am close to their "expected" error margin.
What I am seeing going down the road in Texas on a 90-100 degree day is starting with a cold pressure as indicated by tireminder of 47-48 (actual psi of around 50) I see an increase to around 52-54 as indicated by tireminder (an actual of around 54-57) depending on the side. Temps start out at around the mean temp and increase to around 105 to 110 with temp being higher on the side facing the sun.
I don't think there are any ST tires made in the U.S.A. Most are from China and some from other Asian countries. Hence when someone has a tire problem it's because of the Chinese junk, there mostly Chinese so yes it's lets blame it on China. Even the GY Marathons, some are made in the china plant or one of several other plants in Asia
The attached photo shows the metal replacements I installed. The originals were wood composite that broke when hit by the heal of your foot. I believe these are the return vents for the heating and AC system. Our 8289ws is a very early 2014, manufactured in June 2013 and I believe Forest River corrected this problem by moving these vents on later models.
Regarding my Tire Traker. I have found that when the tires are cold, in the morning, this system registers about 47-48 psi. At this same time, three different digital gauges show 50psi.
On the road the pressure and temps, of course, vary based on ambient temperatures. I'm generally seeing the Tire Traker reflecting a psi of about 55-57. Temps, as I recall, are 80-105.
Bottom line for me is that it will hopefully give me a warning in time to pull over and prevent injury or damage.
We have a 2014 8989WS and were down in Utah when I noticed that the right rear tire was well worn, but only about one third of the outside edge, and after only 1500 miles. We decided to replace these C rated tires with better quality E rated tires at a loacal RV repair place in Bryce Canyon. We noticed an immediate difference. Gas mileage improved and the RV was much sturdier going into switchbacks in the mountains. We brought the bad tire back to the dealer and they worked with Forest River to get us a $300 refund. We also had: a wardrobe slide leak and the dealer pumped a whole tube of silicone into the bottom left corner and while less frequent, rain still enters from time to time; our dining slide also sagged however the dealer was able to adjust the supports so that it now sits level; our kitchen island light has fallen off several times therefore I decided to replace the original thumb wing bolt with a normal bolt which sits flush with the collar so that it dissappears; our landing gear motor died and is going to be replaced by the dealer; the fridge fan made a lot of noise on hot days until the dealer moved it; the shower door would not close properly; the fantastic fan's exterior cover sticks and will not open easily and; after all these little issues the unit is back with the dealer as the roof membrane ( a 4 foot section along the front edge where it meets the front cap) has separated and pulled away from the nails and the sealant. It appears a new roof is in order...we will see how that one is handled by Forest River. All this and the unit only hit the road in May 2014! I agree that there is not an RV out there without some issues....we are just beginning to think that we may have ended up with a lemon, probably built on a friday late afternoon!
Had my hybrid two weeks and already have a laundry list and it hasn't had it's maiden voyage yet. Some items I fixed just because. Door swung into awning arm Unscrewed the strut and remounted it. radio was wired so that the left channel powered 3 speakers and the right only one (and that was outside). But what just got me is...two out of the four outside cubbies had their key holes upside down. When I went to turn them around I noticed all had the knurled end of the nut facing in and not against the door. I turned them around.
I don't expect the system to be 100%. Only hoping to improve my chances! FYI we now have over 10,000 miles, over 14 months, on the original Chinese tires. No problems so far. I do check the pressure before every outing and during extended trips. Also do a regular visual for separations, bubbles, etc.
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