very disappointed with Forest River Windjammer

[pelago]

I purchased this unit to enable comfortable living while competing High Power Rifle under NRA and CMP formats and rules. Need to travel to Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Purchased new in 2013 (Aug)
This is second one from same company, purchased first one 4 year used and found it satisfactory, not super good but livable. But it got killed by a tornado on July 29 in North Carolina
This one is not same, 2200 miles so far, three blowouts, not road hazard, locking support for torsion bars failed on one side, and almost lost whole rig.
7 drawers had to be rebuilt, bottom fell out. Lots of little things that just do not make sense. towel rack just came out of wall, but when you look at what they used, no wonder
I Wonder about the tires, wonder how much the OEM paid for them $1.98 each
if they did it was too much, they are not even worth that. I could not find a reason for blowouts, nothing visible at all,
none at all, they just came apart. Left side torsion bar bracket just let go, and the torsion bar came loose, caught it, and we were close enough to a RV dealer to find replacement parts, (replaced both sides) ($120.00)
Horrible workmanship on cabinet drawers, all of them! Had to repair a bunch after the staples holding them together let go. Wound up taking all of them to my shop and cutting 3/4"X3/4" oak pieces and gluing and screwing them in as additional bracing on inside of all three sides. Had they been properly made I would not have had to do it, Staples for crying out loud!
less than 6 months into ownership I had to replace kitchen faucet due to serious leak!
but it is what it is, and I am stuck with it, so trying my best to make due, I plan on replacing the tires with US made truck tires, and sell the ones i have on Craig s list, maybe someone wants them, not sure about rims, due to the fact i had to take the socket and weld it to a regular tire tool
real cheap skate on the tire changing stuff!! so am not sure, might go with the same type rim used in spare tire. Do not know about any one else, but you have to trust your tires, just have to and I DO NOT trust any of these!

[RSchleder]

There are many negative comments/experiences on this forum about the quality of the tires being used on new Forest River RV's. Blowouts are a common occurrence and many owners of new FR products head to the tire store shortly after the purchase. Unfortunately, your experience is not unique and replacing all the original tires with a higher quality US made tire is a very good idea. Best of luck, I hope your FR issues are behind you at the juncture.

[SaskCampers]

Tire blow outs is not unique to FR products. That is an industry wide thing.

[pelago]

Originally Posted by SaskCampers

Tire blow outs is not unique to FR products. That is an industry wide thing.

maybe so, but the cheap shoddy workmanship i have seen in my wind jammer has no excuse. lazy, incompetent? who knows, but fact remains workmasni8p sucked, and there is not one single excuse for it

[tinkerman]

We have Lexington 255gts and experienced the same situation with the kitchen draw bottoms falling out or becoming loose. No glue or nails just
staples.
Had to re-do draws myself.

[Weezer]

pelago, I'm sorry to hear about your problems with your windjammer, but to be fair, try doing a search on Winnebago problems regarding fit and finish. That's supposed to be *THE* top of the line in RVs. I think you'll be as surprised as *I* was to find there are just as many angry owners of that brand as there are with FR products.

I'm not making excuses...just saying it's industry wide.

I'm surprised your Windjammer came with the towel rack installed. DH and I have bought two new RVs (TT and 5er) in the last 18 months. Neither came with the TP holder or towel bars installed. They were stored in the cabinet for us to install...if we wanted them. Reason? "customers complain that children rip them out of the wall"

We use an over-the-door towel bar and a free standing TP holder. RV walls are *thin*. Everything in an RV is designed with weight in mind. If RVs were built like S&B homes you'd need a bull dozer to tow it.

[pelago]

and a model railroad link also, small world, another expensive hobby i pursue.
add high power rifle competition (service rifle class), and ham radio, don't tell me you are also a retired Marine?
When i was growing up, i had this beat into my head. You are known for your word and your workmanship. both have to be straight, both have to be right. It seems as if we have lost that in our country, and that is sad

[ChooChooMan74]

First, I am not making excuses. But, the tire issues are across the industry. One thing that many owners don't realize is to check them to make sure they are aired to specifications and that they are only rated for 65MPH. I personally tow at 60 max.

You said that the "locking support for torsion bars failed on one side, and almost lost whole rig". Are you talking about a part on your torsion axles? I am confused about that.

The workmanship on the interior is all Forest River, and the bad workmanship there is inexcusable. I would bring it back before your warranty is up, as it looks to be very soon, and have all that fixed.

[Seasonal]

Whatever happened to built in America quality and pride in workmanship? These threads are common and eventually someone mentions the quality assurance department. That seems too late to me. Reminds me of the crap cars the USA produced prior to the Japanese butt kicking we took in the 80s.

[dcheatwood]

Does not make it right or relieve frustration but it is industry-wide. I've had 4 tire failures on 2 fivers all less than 5000 miles. Hope things get better for you.

[Platokidd]

As long as we keep buying em....they will keep on making em.

[awellis3]

Originally Posted by ChooChooMan74

The workmanship on the interior is all Forest River, and the bad workmanship there is inexcusable.

On this subject I have to say my 2604WS has nary a workmanship issue. Fit and finish are better than I anticipated. Interior, exterior all assemblies fit and appear to be sturdy and well made. All my probs have been with Lippert-supplied electic motors, oh, and a stinky Dometic toilet.
Apparently the workers who assembled my unit have some skill and pride in their jobs. I salute them.

[Cowracer]

Originally Posted by pelago

maybe so, but the cheap shoddy workmanship i have seen in my wind jammer has no excuse. lazy, incompetent? who knows, but fact remains workmasni8p sucked, and there is not one single excuse for it

the workmanship you got was exactly what you paid for. I'm amazed at the never ending tide of people who buy a $20k FR camper and then get upset because its not built like an $80K Airstream.

Tim

[Weezer]

OK, I've been putting this off, but I'm going to ask:

What were you storing in those drawers where the bottoms fell out? Ever checked how drawers are built in a mobile home? ...particle board stapled together. And mobile homes are crafted for *full time* living.

You can NOT put heavy items in those drawers.

I just went out to check our 5er....the drawer bottoms are solid wood (nope, not layers glued together).

IIRC our V-Lite's drawers were the same.

Now, regarding tires:

We just put all new tires on our 5er...with less than 500 miles on the original ones....which are sitting in the back yard. If someone wants 'em for a utility trailer I'll sell 'em cheap.

Bottom line: be PRO active instead of RE active.

If I sat here and bashed FR/Flagstaff and my dealer for every issue I encounter with our RV, could I *really* expect them to jump through themselves to help me?

[Timex]

Originally Posted by Platokidd

As long as we keep buying em....they will keep on making em.

Then there is only 1 way to stop'em from make'n them!

[Sharon.72064]

We just purchased a 2015 TT. Not happy with the tires so called FR to see about reimbursement on load range D replacement tires. ONLY if you ask, they gave us $75.00 per tire reimbursement. Selling the new load range c that came with trailer so broke even on exchange!

[Timex]

After 3 years and probably 5K miles or so, I replaced my tires with Load Range E. Yeah, I'm not overly impressed with some components of the TT but that didn't stop me from buying it. If I could build one myself, I would. But I can't. And I realize I will have to customize it to my specs. Maybe if I had hand picked the features and placed an order, I may have been able to demand certain quality products. All I can say is be sure you know as much about the camper as you can before buying and hope things work out for the best. If you have any reservations about the quality, don't buy. I understand that this is a box on rubber tires with many different features, built by many different manufacturers, assembled by imperfect people. Mistakes will be made and missed in quality inspections. Most dealers will(or should) be willing to correct any imperfections. If not, there is contact information available to Forest River(who want to know if dealers are not doing their part in satisfying customers).

It's easy to get frustrated but stay calm and work out the problems because Forest River is a good company. And there are good fellow campers on FRF that can give good advice on getting through the rough spots.

[asquared]

I feel your frustration. We bought our Sabre less than a month ago and it is already in the shop getting repairs. That said, our crossroads zinger was also in the shop getting repairs within the first month. I have seen a redwood (crossroads/thor) with major issues and those are high dollar 5ers. I have seen trilogy owners post with issues. I have friends with a Montana that had issues. Doesn't make it right or acceptable by any means, I just post this to show you it really is industry wide. Typically the best thing is to catch and fix the worst issues under warranty and then have a good dealership to work with you. If you have issues where the work isn't getting forecast the dealership (even if the dealership blames the manufacturer) contact customer service at the manufacturer directly. This usually resolves many issues much quicker. I wish you well and hope you have many trouble free years after getting these problems resolved.

[sail2liv]

When we bought out 5 er we spent time going to campgrounds and asking people about their trailers and tow vehicles....that had them at least 3-5 yrs and used them to snowbird in....a trailer like a boat that is not used is nothing but problems...I see the many trailers in the storage yard sitting on tires that are all but flat, and no compressor in sight when being picked for vacation on a high speed rush trip...and expected to have all systems working perfect.....we bought new because we did not want other peoples problems....and Forest River Flagstaff has been wonderful and prompt in taking care of any problem that was due to mfg....we have had our unit 2.5 years and feel that FR has done a great job on backing their work....not sure why we have not had tire problems, but see almost everyone pass us three times on a 4 hour interstate trip with stops at almost every rest area....maybe if we drove so everyone passed us, instead of us passing everyone there would not be so many tire posts...good luck to all who tow.....your house is with you so what is the hurry????

[fil564]

I can honestly say that we have been pretty happy with our Windjammer so far since getting it in April. We have been in it pretty much every weekend since and took it on a trip through Virginia with the temps in the low 90's. I do a quick visual or a walk around after every stop in case some is awry. My tires are Nitrogen filled, and so far they have been holding pressure just fine and seem to be wearing evenly. As far as fit and finish there is a few nickel and dime stuff with trim but nothing major except for the cabinet next to the shower.The staples in the Luan panel between the cabinet and the shower backed out a bit and the panel is loose. It really is not noticeable except for the couple times I have had the trailer in my driveway since is slope down hill, the torque on the frame causes the panel to buckle out a bit so you do notice it. In the end, I cannot really complain so far about anything.