New member researching forest river rvs-any help?

[beachbum107]

Good morning all-I just joined the forum because I am looking to purchase my first rv and am really interested in the forest river sunseeker 3170ds. I am hoping to get some feedback from members about the forest river company, I know it is one of the largest manufacturers but I want to hear positive or negative experiences anyone has had with them. Anyone out there with an opinion would be helpful-I'm really looking forward to getting started "rving".
Kim from the Jersey Shore

[hockeytownmom]

Welcome!!

I've only had my HTT for a couple months, but so far so good.

[miatared]

Welcome.

With a beverage of your choice, kick your feet up, relax and start searching and reading here, you will find much information. A lot of information.

By the way HTT stands for Hybrid Travel Trailer - 'cause it's a cross between a standard travel trailer and a pop up trailer, it has fold out beds at the extremities, canvas beds.

Regards,

[tmmar]

Can't help you with your question but wanted to Welcome you to the forums!! You'll find a great deal of info here so take a look around!

Good luck making your selection!

[rracer5]

Check out Prime Time Manufacturing, Manufacturers of travel trailers and fifth wheels. They are a new company with a different approach - OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE. And a great product lineup to boot. Read through the post in the Prime Time section of this forum and see what owners have to say about the units, quality and customer service (when we've had to contact them) they are GREAT. They are under the Forest River "banner" but, operate completely independant of FR.

Check them out. I think you'll be pleased!!

[Sand duner22]

I've had my FR for about 10 months now and am very happy with it. One piece of advice when you decide to purchase; pay close attention to the orientation when taking delivery. Ask lots of questions and take notes, especialy if you are new to the RV world. God luck and hope you find the right one.

[RetirededTX]

Welcome BeachBum,
I'm also a new member to this forum. I've been on other FR forums in the past and am on my second FR trailer. The first was a Flagstaff DS21 TT and the current one is a 8280SS 5r. I've stuck with FR despite several issues, the main one being the dealership's ability to perform maintenance (warranty or not) in a reasonable amount of time and quality. Find a good dealer.

In the ultra-light category I think FR has produced a pretty good product. There are compromises to be made to keep it light, sometimes they went cheap, others they designed light. My experience has been that RV stands for Repair Vehicle, and it hasn’t changed over the years. A lot of experience and help by reading forums has kept me out of most trouble, and solved many problems.

Since I'm a consummate DIY’r getting parts has been a bit of a hassle, but can be done. Sometimes I was able to get parts shipped directly to me, other times I was forced to go through the dealership (they say patience is a rewarding virtue, I’ve had to wait enough to gain one heck of a lot of virtue). Judge your own capabilities in this area, if it looks cheap, or under built can you fix it, or do you need to pay someone to do it for you?

Shopping list (just a few things to think about):
Layout – think about traffic and comfort, can you sit anywhere and see the TV, is that seat more than a bit too firm, can you get to everything when the slide is in, how much storage do you need? Can somebody cook and not get run over?
Size – can your tow vehicle handle it, with a reasonable degree of margin? I towed the 8280SS with a highly modified F150 for almost 2 years, but I wouldn’t recommend it for most, now I’ve got the 3500 Dodge diesel and have no problems with power and capacity.
Fit and finish – look inside the cabinets, and under the sofa, how’s it put together? I’ve seen considerable difference with models on the same lot.
What axle and tires does it have, are the tires really new, compare the posted weights (somewhere inside the kitchen cabinets usually). Mine came with tires that weren’t rated for a full load, and my personal experience with Carlisle tires was not good, so the week after I bought the trailer I sold them and bought new ones with a much larger safety margin. After some 14,000 miles of travel, one of the 3500# AlKo axle decided to bend and wear one side of a tire down in less than 1600 miles. So now I’m replacing the axles (not with AlKo).

No matter what you buy, there will be headaches, but research, planning, and thought should minimize them.
Good Luck and Happy RVing.

[Glenn5995]

Welcome to the forum! We have had our Rockwood 8281SS for 5 years now, bought it in May of 2006. Our fifth wheel was very problematic for the first two years. If you had asked my opinion of Forest River during that time frame, I would not have spoke very favorably of them. However, they did stand behind their product and get everything right finally and it has been trouble free for three years now. I am quite sure they made no profit off our unit and most likely took a loss after all the costs of repairs.

I am not saying this to discourage you as it seems all RV manufacturers crank out some "Friday before a holiday" units, but rather to let you know my experience is that if you do have issues, they will work to get it right. Good luck with your decision.

[bikendan]

IMHO, FR makes the best quality for the price.

found other brands that were cheaper but the quality was lacking. found some brands with slightly better quality, but were more expensive.

FR strikes the balance between the two, better than any other brand i've found.

[janegraves]

I just received my Sunseeker 2300 3 weeks ago. My first real trip was over Memorial Day weekend. I decided on the Sunseeker because it had a nice queen size bed and I upgraded to the Serta pillowtop mattress. LOVE IT! The Forest Rivers were one of the few that included a gas oven in addition to the microwave oven. Everyone who has seen it is amazed how much I got for the price. The 2300 is small enough to be an easy drive yet loaded enough to be comfortable while stopped. So far I am happy with my purchase.

[bclemens]

First off I am biased since I work for the company, but I'm sure you'll find a ton of objective information on the forums. Having said that...

One of the biggest advantages for the Sunseeker has been product testing. We sell to one of the largest rental companies in Canada. I handle that account and they have been nice enough to invite me up every year during their "product meetings". We spend (2) days every year in the fall (for 8 years now) discussing what worked and what didn't. (They send (2) service techs from 5-6 different locations)

As a rental, each Sunseeker is seeing probably 4 years of typical "RVer Usage" in a single season. We get a really good picture of what is going to break...really, really quickly. I take their list of complaints & praise back to the plant. We then look for alternative suppliers or better parts and better construction methods to withstand the harsh environment they're exposed to. Again, we have done this every year for 8 years. As a result, the Sunseeker has evolved into arguably the best built Class C on the market.

By no means are we perfect, they are still built by human hands, but that is always the end goal.

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about the construction process, quality control, floor plans, etc.

[Al Fresco]

As the owner of a new Sunseeker 2300, I am very favorably impressed with the workmanship and quality of construction – including the fit and finish of the cabinetry. Admittedly, with only 2500 miles on the odometer, the motor home is barely broken in. Nonetheless, after thorough testing and use of all the various plumbing and electrical systems, I encountered only one operational problem. That problem involved interference of the door closer with the awning arm when the door was open. The problem was easily corrected by repositioning the attachment of the closer on the door frame.

There are no water leaks (that I am aware of), no missing screws, no short circuits, no falling fixtures, no stuck drawers, nor any of the other problems that some owners experience with their new units. Based on my experience with my new motor home thus far, I give the Sunseeker an excellent recommendation.

[prof_fate]

When I asked around about brands I got no strait answers - it was all 'just go look and judge for yourself' as if I were an engineer or QC expert or something. Why so many brands was one thing I wanted to know and have yet to get an answer.

My concern was construction quality - almost all use the same appliances, windows, are built in the same place and often different brands on the same line by the same folks/management. I found very little difference in the structure from brand to brand, once you get past what the salesman tell you (or don't).

We got a Cherokee Grey River, a less expensive model/line/brand from FR. After using it a few nights we found out why is was cheaper (and lighter) - not a big deal but at no point did any salesman (at 5 different dealers) point out such differences - perhaps we'd have bought a $5000 more expensive trailer had we known what we know now.

Little things - like light switches. They are only on the lights on the ceiling, not on the walls. Who cares? My 5' tall wife and the kids do. There are places for doors and drawers that are just blanked off - a mod I can do if I so choose, but it'd be nice to have a few of them as storage spaces.

Our water heater is manual light gas only. Auto light and elec would have been nice. Had we ordered ours that might have been on the option list.

Many of these details you only find out after you own it. The salesman talked about construction, warranties, windows, cabinet construction (ok, ours isn't solid wood, so what? It's not in our house either...). We noticed better trailer got better mattresses on the beds but for the 3 weeks a year we'll use it I can 'suffer' along as can the kids. Hey, it's a lot better than sleeping on rocky lumpy ground in a tent, right?

I didn't get into the axle and tire bit and hope everything is good. My father in law had issues years ago with a camper were all the heavy stuff was on one side so the tires on just that side were overloaded.

I'm sure as you spend more money you get better grades of cloth and vinyl and carpet, but if we use it 3 weeks a year for 10 years that's only 6 months of real use and even the cheapest goods last that long.

The only issues we've noticed with ours is the vent hose ffrom the freshwater tank wasn't installed at all and after a couple of nights camping I had to tighten the drains under the bathroom sink, but I'd been warned to check things as bumping down the road can loosen almost anything at any time. We had some issues with water pressure on the kitchen sink our first night but that has since worked itself out.