First adventure with our 8289

drstimpy · 03-28-2016, 05:25 PM

So the day finally came for us to pick up our first RV. Raining buckets of course!
Went to the dealer and got hitched up no problem. Since this was our first tow, we took someone from the dealer and headed around the block. All was well until I got a trailer brake warning on the DIC of my truck...then the service trailer brake message. Ugh!

We stopped and the smoke caught up with us.

Can you friggin believe it? The trailer deadman switch had pulled out!
When the rig made a tight turn, there was enough redundancy in the cable that allowed it to loop under the foot of the 5th wheel hitch and pull out when the rig straightened out after the turn.

Talk about bedding in the brakes!

Started the truck 2 times and the code cleared and we had no other mechanical issues.

Made a one million point back in to get it into the space in front of the house

Home safely and fired up the furnace and all the other electrics...everything ok.

Some must watch while others must sleep

53flattie · 03-29-2016, 07:24 AM

Very nice unit!

I, too, have a very tight parking space in my driveway that requires a multi-point back in. I always wonder if the neighbors are gathered around the window, watching the show!

2015 Rockwood 2306
2015 Tundra CrewMax

tdidad · 03-29-2016, 11:08 AM

Very nice! We have the same unit, purchased new last year...can't wait to get out this year😀

kaz1 · 03-29-2016, 12:53 PM

Congratulations on you new unit! The 8289WS has been on my wish list for two years now..went and checked one out last month and really like it but we, unfortunately, were in a catch-22 position. We needed to upgrade our tow vehicle in order to pull the 8289. Got the new truck but now will need a while to get that payment down before upgrading our camper..lol. That's okay with us though, we still enjoy our current camper.

Happy camping!

CraigBean7672 · 03-29-2016, 02:46 PM

Nice...great minds think alike

RollingDownTheHighway · 03-29-2016, 03:09 PM

Nice Rig, we were just looking at that model over the weekend

5picker · 03-29-2016, 03:17 PM

Congrats! Hope you enjoy!

MeepMeep · 03-29-2016, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaz1

Congratulations on you new unit! The 8289WS has been on my wish list for two years now..went and checked one out last month and really like it but we, unfortunately, were in a catch-22 position. We needed to upgrade our tow vehicle in order to pull the 8289. Got the new truck but now will need a while to get that payment down before upgrading our camper..lol. That's okay with us though, we still enjoy our current camper.

Happy camping!

Towed my 8289 with a RAM 1500 5.7L shortbed gasser for two years before we upgraded the rig and the truck......from your post your 2500 Silverado should be more than capable

jrlogan10 · 03-29-2016, 05:53 PM

Congratulations on your new 8289WS! This will be our 3rd season with ours and we absolutely love it! I hope you enjoy yours as much as we do ours. Happy Camping!

kaz1 · 03-29-2016, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeepMeep

Towed my 8289 with a RAM 1500 5.7L shortbed gasser for two years before we upgraded the rig and the truck......from your post your 2500 Silverado should be more than capable

Yes, the 2500 is our new truck that we recently bought. The previous was a 1500 Silverado with a 4.8 engine which would not have made it. Will need to pay this down for a while before we can upgrade the trailer...unless we come win the lottery soon! lol

CraigBean7672 · 03-29-2016, 08:22 PM

Ours has a slide out table extension and we did not realize there is a snap towards the back and underneath to keep it in-place (closed position), it would slide out going down the road. After a few trips the top developed a crack. Do not really know if being unsecured while traveling caused or contributed to the crack but FR sent us a new one anyway. There are some posts of owners having trouble with warranty issues, but not for me, they shipped it to me without hesitation.

We've had our "little house" since Thanksgiving and we are enjoying it tremendously and as often as we can. We tent camped for 25 yrs so in comparison the 8289WS is more like the Taj Mahal to us.

Enjoy

pontiacdan45 · 03-30-2016, 12:01 PM

The is the third year with a 2015 8289. Our first stab at camping. I have a Reese Revolution hitch. Just the wife and dog and we're not kids, but we decided to go for it. I bought a GMC 2500 HD crew cab gasser. It does the job. We tried to take it very slow at first. because not only did we not know much going in but the dealer wasn't very helpful. My wife is a pro at spotting for me or driving it while I spot. We learned how to level and when to back into the trailer to free the king pin to unhitch and the best way to hitch up. None of this came easy and there was some damage to pay for, but all of a sudden we had confidence and that made all the difference. Good luck to you and post any questions as they come up. We love our 8289 WS and feel it is perfect for us.

Rsharrer · 03-30-2016, 01:23 PM

We bought our 8289 July 5, 2013 from Wana RV in Shipshewana, Ind. Towed it home to California and have put over 15,000 miles on it so far. Only real issue I have, and I knew this going in, is the insulation. As an Ultra Lite, there isn't much and it gets pretty warm inside. We love the floor plan. Wana was a good dealer to work with and gave us a great deal. They also gave use five free nights at a nearby RV park. We also toured the factory and watched them being built. Forest River has been great to work with on warranty issues. There are two things I would pay close attention to. There is a plastic, bendable support for the slide wiring and it will probably break and have to be replaced. The more important issue is the tires. Ours just would not hold air and then they began to split near the rim. FR gave us $75 per tire and the new ones are great.

Appalachian Ed · 03-30-2016, 03:26 PM

Congratulations! We purchased our 2015 8289Ws last year. I have a Ford F250 gasser and it pulls ours fine. You will learn to use "momentum" when a hill is coming up. Those mountains in NC make me wish I had the diesel on occasion. But you will be fine with your TV.

Only trouble we have had is a leak on the toilet valve (replaced easily under warranty) and the radio is not much count. It cuts in and out at low volume. Dealer looked at it and made some adjustments but it isn't really much better. A lot of folks on this forum have posted about it.

Enjoy your rig! We love ours. We are headed out next week to California and then to Yellowstone.

rocky4765 · 03-31-2016, 03:01 AM

This is a question for any owner of a Rockwood 8289 ws. We bought ours new last summer and have had nothing but problems with our A/C. It seems that whenever outside air temp exceeds 88 the A/C cannot keep up and the unit ices up and stops cooling. A/C output is same as outside temp. We had a mobile RV repair come out and take a look at it and they found that it was drawing only 6.9 amps instead of the 11.5 amps. This is the third time this has happened. We have had numerous problems. It all started on our first trip. Our batteries did not charge while we were hooked up to shore power. Dealer found that the converter was wired incorrectly, they fixed that. Various trim pieces on the slider have come loose. Seems the staples they used are too short and barely stick into the surface they are attached to. Has anybody had A/C problems like this. The unit is a Coleman.

scootingranny · 03-31-2016, 07:22 AM

DH is not on this forum so read the original post to him. He made the comment that you probably need to check all your tires very carefully to make sure they are ok. And next time we hook up, we will be checking out how that brake cable moves around our hitch.

drstimpy · 03-31-2016, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaz1

Congratulations on you new unit! The 8289WS has been on my wish list for two years now..went and checked one out last month and really like it but we, unfortunately, were in a catch-22 position. We needed to upgrade our tow vehicle in order to pull the 8289. Got the new truck but now will need a while to get that payment down before upgrading our camper..lol. That's okay with us though, we still enjoy our current camper.

Happy camping!

Over 15 years it hurts less...
Anyone else have an adventure like ours with their breakaway cable?
Can you guys elaborate on the slide wiring issue...pictures?
Thanks
Ps my storage spot is about 2-3" out of level left to right. Backing it in was hard enough that I don't want to do it. More than I have to. Question is...any consequence to storing it slightly out of level side to side?

Some must watch while others must sleep

rockfordroo · 03-31-2016, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drstimpy

Over 15 years it hurts less...
Anyone else have an adventure like ours with their breakaway cable?
Can you guys elaborate on the slide wiring issue...pictures?
Thanks
Ps my storage spot is about 2-3" out of level left to right. Backing it in was hard enough that I don't want to do it. More than I have to. Question is...any consequence to storing it slightly out of level side to side?

Some must watch while others must sleep

Unless you put a substantial sum down, 15 years will have you upside down for a significant number of those years.

bob caldwell · 03-31-2016, 10:13 AM

There is a breakaway cable available that looks like a coiled stretch telephone cord ( from the old days) that works really slick at keeping the cable away from hitch

CraigBean7672 · 03-31-2016, 02:07 PM

@ Rocky

Sorry to hear about your A/C issue. Here's a suggestion that may get some traction with it. Try starting a new post with a title specific to your A/C problem and see if any of resident experts will jump in to help sort this. I followed their lead on installing a hard start cap with delay timer for the fan, this will not help you situation but worth doing anyway. Here are two links for that and those guys know RV AC units for sure.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ch-100154.html

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ac-100548.html

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