First trip in 2014 Roo 233S

[jerkin]

We finally had a chance to do some camping in the new Roo and I thought I would share my experience. We picked a campground that we had not stayed at previously that had full hookups for our first trip. Setup was fairly painless until I got to the cable tv hookup. I've read the forum enough to know to turn off the antenna booster (FIL was not so fortunate but now I look even smarter, lol), set the tv to cable and did the auto channel search. Came up empty. Went through the menu a few times and couldn't find anything I thought I was missing.

After messing with it for 30 minutes or so I went outside to check my connections. Everything looked good but I decided to switch the connection on the trailer. There are two inputs marked cable/satellite. I was plugged into the one on the right so I switched it to the one on the left and got a signal. Not sure if it's supposed to be like that or if it's wired incorrectly but it works. It is sort of annoying how long it takes the tv to change channels though.

The next thing to happen was the inside handle on the screen door broke. I removed it and found the break, looks like a casting flaw. You can see at the break about 2/3's of the material is rough and sort of gray colored but the other 1/3 is still black and shiny. I have a call in to Forest River and I'm sure they will send me a new latch.

The only other problem we had with the camper was the toilet got clogged but I think that was our fault. We just bought cheap Scott tissue and one of the kids probably used too much. I poked it down with a stick and it was fine. We bought a few packs of bathroom tissue made for campers now to see how it works.

We had a nice level spot with fine limestone so I decided to crawl under the camper to check everything out and noticed two other issues. One is where the copper tubing for the propane runs through the frame there are no grommets. I will either buy grommets to fit those holes or cut a couple pieces of heater hose and stuff those in the holes. I don't think the other issue is a big deal but I'm going to ask the Forest River rep about it when he calls me back. Underneath the very front of the slide out there are two long bolts with lock nuts on them that came loose and almost fell out. They point straight down and are easily noticeable when looking at the bottom of the slide. I'm not exactly sure what they do but my guess is that they are used to make some adjustment on the slide and don't really hold anything once the adjustment is locked down.

Overall we are extremely pleased with the camper. I would order the same camper again with two changes. First I would order it with the slide topper so that it was factory installed and under warranty. I didn't look into it enough before we bought ours and didn't realize I would have to drill holes in the camper. The second thing is I would order the power awning. I ordered the manual one because I assumed it would be a heavy duty awning like I see on other campers but it's not, it is a light duty awning pretty much just like the power awning without the power. I noticed there are power wires ran up to the cylinder so I may check into adding the motor if that is all there is to it but I'm not sure if the wires are inside the switch panel.

We looked at every 3 bed expandable we could find before settling on this one as it had the best layout for us but there are several changes I think Forest River could make that would really set it apart from the competition. First I would like to see it offered in the tan color with the frameless windows like they have on some of their fifth-wheels. The Kodiak line is in this color and look much better than the Roo's in my opinion. Second would be to add removable shelving to the closet like what is in the pantry. I see many owners doing this mod but it would be much nicer if Forest River took it upon themselves. The third thing would be the crappy outside speakers. I would have gladly paid an additional $25 or $50 for a decent set of outside speakers so I didn't have to turn off the inside speakers and crank the volume to hear them. Surround sound inside would be nice also but not mandatory since I don't spend much time inside camping.

Sorry for the novel I wrote here but I just wanted to convey my thoughts while everything was still fresh in my mind and a big thank you to all the regular posters, I learned a ton about my new Roo before I ever picked it up just by reading all the posts on this forum.

[bikendan]

glad you enjoyed your trip.
one thing, you should be contacting your dealer, not the FR rep for your issues, like parts and such.
the FR rep will just refer you to the dealer you bought it from.

[Campcation]

Glad to hear you like your Roo. I just bought mine and getting ready for my 3rd trip. We looked around for 3 years and realized that this was the one. I have issues with my shower surround. They put it in crooked and caulking wont fix it. I have not decided yet if I should have the dealer fix it. I am afraid this will cause more problems then it is worth.
Where did you camp?

[Triguy]

Nice write-up! Glad to hear your life your Roo!

Originally Posted by jerkin

Underneath the very front of the slide out there are two long bolts with lock nuts on them that came loose and almost fell out. They point straight down and are easily noticeable when looking at the bottom of the slide. I'm not exactly sure what they do but my guess is that they are used to make some adjustment on the slide and don't really hold anything once the adjustment is locked down.

Is this the bolt you refer to?



If so, I believe the actual name for that bolt is the vertical adjustment bolt.

Here's a good manual from Lippert. They cover a lot of useful information regarding electric slide out systems. Forest River Forums - Downloads - Lippert Electric Slideout System

[jerkin]

Originally Posted by bikendan

glad you enjoyed your trip.
one thing, you should be contacting your dealer, not the FR rep for your issues, like parts and such.
the FR rep will just refer you to the dealer you bought it from.

Dealer is 4 hours away and I'm not real confident in their abilities, I've had a hard time getting answers to even fairly simple questions through them but the Forest River rep I spoke with before I bought the camper was very friendly and knowledgeable and told me not to hesitate to call him with any issues so I'll see what he says.

Originally Posted by Campcation

Glad to hear you like your Roo. I just bought mine and getting ready for my 3rd trip. We looked around for 3 years and realized that this was the one. I have issues with my shower surround. They put it in crooked and caulking wont fix it. I have not decided yet if I should have the dealer fix it. I am afraid this will cause more problems then it is worth.
Where did you camp?

Funny you mention the surround being crooked, I noticed mine is also but it didn't seem to affect anything. My daughter was the only one that used the shower and hated it, she used the camp shower from then on. The wife and I used the camp shower the whole time, they were very nice and clean. I doubt I'll ever use that shower, it's just too small.

We camped at the Mercer/Grove City KOA in Western Pennsylvania. It's right off I79 between Pittsburgh and Erie. Really liked the campground but not crazy about the management. We drove up there a month ago to pick out campsites and made our reservations for 4 nights paying for the 1st night. When we got the email confirmations there was neither site numbers or a balance due on the confirmation. I replied and asked for both to be added so that we had no problems at check in. The replied and stated specific sites were not guaranteed and completely ignored the request for balance due.

2 days before we were due to arrive they called and told me one of the sites was no longer available and gave us two different sites. When we showed up the sites they gave us were small, not level, weedy and had no septic so we had to take two out near the road where we heard traffic all day and night and didn't have near as much shade. Then when we checked in we figured we should owe them around $140 and they tried to charge us $270. Their excuse was the owner sometimes changes the prices without telling them. We pulled up our email confirmation with the one night we paid for and they honored that price. Liked the campground but doubt I'll stay there again after all that.

Originally Posted by Triguy

Nice write-up! Glad to hear your life your Roo!




Is this the bolt you refer to?



If so, I believe the actual name for that bolt is the vertical adjustment bolt.

Here's a good manual from Lippert. They cover a lot of useful information regarding electric slide out systems. Forest River Forums - Downloads - Lippert Electric Slideout System

That is exactly the bolt, there are two of them, one on each side. Don't have time to check out the link right not but I will tonight. Thanks for the info.

[rockfordroo]

The third thing would be the crappy outside speakers. I would have gladly paid an additional $25 or $50 for a decent set of outside speakers so I didn't have to turn off the inside speakers and crank the volume to hear them.

Someone on the forum just had the same complaint, that the outside speakers weren't loud enough. Turned out the wiring to them was backwards. Don't have the link, but you could do a search for outside speakers.

Also, NEVER use regular toilet paper. You need to use TP made for use in RV/Marine toilets.