Looking at 8289WS

[B and B]

Originally Posted by Appalachian Ed

Thanks for so much good info. You folks "rock". I am not sure what comes standard for tires on this unit. Do you think it is a big enough issue to basically throw away the new tires it comes with to upgrade? That seems expensive to a man on a budget but I want to be safe and would hate to do damage to the trailer from a blowout. I saw another thread where a lot of folks are installing Goodyear D LR tires.

Ed

I ran mine for the first year and when I did replace them the beads were rotten so a wise move is to replace.

One thing i did have added was a lift kit on the axles, gives more trailer /bed clearance also more ground clearance when running in rough park roads.

[Appalachian Ed]

Originally Posted by tdidad

Be careful with the front cap! Ours has been pushed in due to an assembly issue. It spent the month of August at my RV dealer, still unresolved.

Was this on delivery or did it happen after you purchased it? I have seen the front cap and I did not see any dents in it. We walked through it when picking it out. Another poster said they also had small dents. Same question.

Maybe I am picky but I won't make the big delivery payoff without the entire trailer being dent free. In fact I I fear the dealer may not like me much after my PDI as I have 2 pages of notes to check on from the amazing info. I am getting on this site. So far they only have a down payment giving me maximum weight for those couple of hours with that check in my pocket. Best suggestion I saw was make a morning appointment so they have plenty of time before closing so I can wear them out with questions.

I am very happy that so many of y'all love your Rockwoods. I look forward to joining the community.

[B and B]

Mine is a 2013, the 2014 had cap issues from what I was told at Goshen. Next door sister trailer Flagstaff was a 2014 and the cap was replaced i believe. Some options are to brace the top with expanding foam to support it. Newer models have been corrected according to Rockwood.

[tdidad]

This is how we rec'd our 8289WS from our dealer. Looks sloppy, no dents until I took it for our first outing.

[Appalachian Ed]

Do the dents come from road rocks?

[tdidad]

Apparently from having no back support behind the cap and the cap material being made too thin, that is what I have been told.

[robertew]

tdidad

That is amazing how that self-leveling caulk ran down the cap. I just did a patch from Alpha Systems with their self-leveling caulk and it grew more in height with little self leveling! If that caulk is as sticky as mine, it would be good to get that run cleaned off as soon as possible. I found ether was the least aggressive solvent to cut it.

[PhoneDude 8289]

This is what mine looked like before I opened it up at the roof line and stuffed it with styrofoam. I have seen some not as bad and others much worst. Can't see anything wrong on a new unit at the dealer, after several hundred miles of travel in summer heat the dent appears. Combination of heat and wind will do it in. Pictures of dent and the repaired dent in my album.

[WFD]

Originally Posted by Appalachian Ed

Do the dents come from road rocks?

Appalachian Ed...the indentation comes from a lack of backing behind that front cap and the heat causes it to bend inwards from the lack of support. So far Rockwood's fix has been to "stuff" the area with styrofoam to provide backing but it involves opening it up from the top.

[WFD]

Originally Posted by tdidad

This is how we rec'd our 8289WS from our dealer. Looks sloppy, no dents until I took it for our first outing.

How could a dealer feel right about letting that go to a customer like that??? Hate to see what they would do with a repair where you can't see the repairs that were done!

[B and B]

Originally Posted by tdidad

This is how we rec'd our 8289WS from our dealer. Looks sloppy, no dents until I took it for our first outing.

Did you dealer patch it? Local to Waterloo Region?

[tdidad]

Good news, looks like Forest River approved to have my dealer replace my defective front cap.
Yes I'm in Waterloo Region however my dealer is not.

[Appalachian Ed]

I am really getting uncomfortable with the tire issue. The RV dealer is not able to help much as they are not a tire dealership. They did get a tire dealer they work with to take the c rated OEM tires and put d rated Hi Run tires on for $100 per tire. I don't want Hi Run tires though. Discount Tire will give me $25 per tire towards replacement tires. No one else I have spoken to will give me anything for the Hi Run C's. Can't say I blame them frankly. The $25 deal seems better to me than messing with CraigsList though.

They have:
Carlisle Sport Trail LRD1 ($79)
Hartland ST radial LRE1 ($89)

I like the E rated tire and seems like a good $10 extra per tire to spend. However it is supposed to be aired to 80 psi. I have read the wheels are rated at 60 psi. Should I stick to D rated tires? They are still recommended to be at 65 psi.

This is very disappointing to me that Forest River are selling tires on these expensive fifth wheelers that frankly seem unsafe. I know this is all rv companies. I am not happy that I am contemplating picking up my new 5er Friday and taking it to a tire dealer to buy tires on Saturday.

Thanks again for all your experienced help. I would have not known this issue until I experienced a blow out in probably the most remote area possible. I am planning to go from NC to CA this spring. No way on C tires though.

Ed

[B and B]

Maxis or GY Marathons preferred.

Third choice is Carlisle.

I bought GY Marathons $525.00 mounted, balanced no trade. FR gave me a cheque for $300 after taking pictures of the defective tire beads.

[WFD]

We went with the Goodyear Marathons...D rated.

[Appalachian Ed]

Originally Posted by B and B

I bought GY Marathons $525.00 mounted, balanced no trade. FR gave me a cheque for $300 after taking pictures of the defective tire beads.

How do you get the $300 B and B? Do you have to prove the tire defective to get FR to cover that? I would love for them to keep the new tires and give me $300.

As a reminder, I am picking up my new 8289WS Friday. I haven't made final payment yet.

[woodguy00]

Not sure how long ago your model was actually built but we've been told by the factory that the 8289WS now come with load range D tires. We pick up ours this weekend and will let you all know.

Also the company is changing the island to something similar to the new 8299 model. Doors are on the fridge side. It was the one item my wife didn't like in the 8289.

[B and B]

Yes, the beads were crumbled and when removed just fell apart. My dealer helped with the process, we have a good guy on getting warranty approval. Others sold them on Kijji there is no way I could sell defective tires.

Funny I never hear any griping from them about Forest River, coverage or money allocated for repairs.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by woodguy00

Not sure how long ago your model was actually built but we've been told by the factory that the 8289WS now come with load range D tires. We pick up ours this weekend and will let you all know.

Also the company is changing the island to something similar to the new 8299 model. Doors are on the fridge side. It was the one item my wife didn't like in the 8289.

Ours is a 2013 and the doors are on the fridge but small ones at the bottom. Hope they are larger ones making access easier for storage.

[Appalachian Ed]

Originally Posted by woodguy00

Not sure how long ago your model was actually built but we've been told by the factory that the 8289WS now come with load range D tires. We pick up ours this weekend and will let you all know.

Also the company is changing the island to something similar to the new 8299 model. Doors are on the fridge side. It was the one item my wife didn't like in the 8289.

We are purchasing a 2015 (got a great deal I think at $13K under retail). It has the doors on the island facing away from the kitchen which I did find a bit awkward but not too big a deal. I was not smart enough to inspect the tires when we saw the trailer and said "we'll take it". I called our sales guy (whom I really like) and he said it came with C LR tires.

I am still concerned about the E tire pressure on these rims. Anyone have any expertise (experience) at running E rated tires at 65 pounds or higher pressure on the OEM rims? The E LR tires are recommended at 80 psi. Would I be better off sticking to D LR tires? I see a lot of folks are running E LR tires but I have not seen any discussion about that exceeding the rim psi spec's.