2017 Sandpiper 379FLOK

[BillM.]

Wow! Just ordered a new 2017 Sandpiper 379FLOK yesterday. I did not know there were so many negative thoughts out there regarding Forest River RV's. I can still change the order. Anything else I should know about the AC units or?

[Mdaniels4]

All campers are going to have issues. They're alot of money so naturally we focus on the negative and hope for the best. But having said that, it is possible of course to get a total lemon. Just like anything else. All of the rigs share common componentry for the most part, and individual components can fail. We just purchased a Cottage 40 CRS. I'm of course hoping it's basically a good one. Good wiring, sealed well on the outside. But I know some things are going to fail. We've had 3 5rs in 11 years, and now the tt. All told I've probably spent only about 1500 or so on various repairs. Some seemed more serious at the time but in reality was not that bad. One refrigerator way out of warranty failed, dual fuel. Ripped it out, put an electric only apt model in its place, which I liked better anyway.

But look your trailer over carefully when it comes in. Something doesn't feel right don't take delivery. Order another one. Ours had a glass stove top that didn't fit ptoperly, and the stereo was crooked in the bay. Both fixed. But that lack of attention when it went out the door bothered me. But it takes weeks yo build a camper, so perhaps the last crew was finishing up on a hot late Friday afternoon. I have 2 years of warranty to see if it's OK or not. If not that thing is gone. I'll take the hit if it's really a poor build. But seriously I think it will be fine.

[brad2388]

Originally Posted by BillM.

Wow! Just ordered a new 2017 Sandpiper 379FLOK yesterday. I did not know there were so many negative thoughts out there regarding Forest River RV's. I can still change the order. Anything else I should know about the AC units or?

Just be aware that the dealers suck and be prepared to work on it yourself.

Ive found our furnace fan/duct work is undersized as well as the a/c ducts are undersized as well.

I posted a howto add a 3rd ac if your going to do much camping in the 90 degree and up weather.

There quality control are 0.

[Sierra360PDEK]

Don't listen to all of the naysayers. We are on our second FR, first a 2012 Sierra 366FL and now a 2015 360PDEK. Yes, we've had some issues but nothing that couldn't be fixed. We live in and camp in Alabama and our A/C's will freeze you out. I did have to repair some holes in the ductwork but no big deal. You can drive off the lot with a $500000 Class A and have problems. Just remember your only hearing from 1% or less of FR owners. Good luck and happy camping. That's a great looking unit by the way.

[chop249]

Us "NAYSAYERS" are merely telling him what to watch out for. Brad and I have 2 different models that are kindred spirits. We both have issues with a/c and heating. I also had my fridge fall over going down the road and hit the sofa, had a bad breaker on the hydraulic system and I forget what else. LOOK EVERYTHING OVER at delivery. They'll run you through it as fast as they possibly can. Buy the $300 second year policy from FR. You only have 10 days to contact them and purchase it. Ask your dealer or look in all the paperwork from the factory. To be frank I've owned my unit for 14 months and it was in the shop for warranty work 6 of the first 12 months. And that's no lie. My a/c still does not work correctly even though the dealer says it meets specs. At a 92* exterior temp it will only get to 78* in the main cabin and run all day long. Call me a naysayer but THAT is not right at all with 28,000BTUs of cooling power on board between the 2 A/Cs.

[brad2388]

Originally Posted by chop249

Us "NAYSAYERS" are merely telling him what to watch out for. Brad and I have 2 different models that are kindred spirits. We both have issues with a/c and heating. I also had my fridge fall over going down the road and hit the sofa, had a bad breaker on the hydraulic system and I forget what else. LOOK EVERYTHING OVER at delivery. They'll run you through it as fast as they possibly can. Buy the $300 second year policy from FR. You only have 10 days to contact them and purchase it. Ask your dealer or look in all the paperwork from the factory. To be frank I've owned my unit for 14 months and it was in the shop for warranty work 6 of the first 12 months. And that's no lie. My a/c still does not work correctly even though the dealer says it meets specs. At a 92* exterior temp it will only get to 78* in the main cabin and run all day long. Call me a naysayer but THAT is not right at all with 28,000BTUs of cooling power on board between the 2 A/Cs.

Yes i too was unaware of the 2nd year warranty from forest river until about a month or so after we had ours. Found it in our book of papers they had.
Im not sure i would have bought it because we bought ours out of state. I cant get any warranty work done.(not thag i want anyone else working on it). It would have been a piece of mind of knowing i had it for another year.

Ive had to get two shades replaced as they wouldnt latch into the down positon but they shipped me those.

[rockfordroo]

BillM: Forums tend to draw people with issues; they come looking for answers. People with no issues tend to stay away.

There are lots of us who have had an issue or two, but nothing major. A few of us have had major issues.

Make sure you do a good PDI with the dealer and make sure everything works before you drive off.

I'm guessing that someone buying a 43 ft 5ver already knows a few things about RV'ing. So I wouldn't be too worried about it; you should know what to look for during the PDI.

On the other hand, if this is your first RV, then you're a braver man than I.

[chop249]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

BillM: Forums tend to draw people with issues; they come looking for answers. People with no issues tend to stay away.

There are lots of us who have had an issue or two, but nothing major. A few of us have had major issues.

Make sure you do a good PDI with the dealer and make sure everything works before you drive off.

I'm guessing that someone buying a 43 ft 5ver already knows a few things about RV'ing. So I wouldn't be too worried about it; you should know what to look for during the PDI.

On the other hand, if this is your first RV, then you're a braver man than I.

Yep a 43' 5er is not a 1st time RV! I had a TT before the 5er and have 20 plus years of experience pulling trailers between my father's business and my own business on a daily basis. I hooked up to my 5er and had total pucker factor for the first 300 or so miles on the 1000 mile trip home!! Even after 5000ish miles under my belt now with the 5er I still second guess whether or not I can navigate some situations. I did notice that I get more respect from semis with the 5er. They tend to help you out with lane changes and such if you run into a situation where you're in traffic.

[head gamez]

Originally Posted by brad2388

Yes i too was unaware of the 2nd year warranty from forest river until about a month or so after we had ours. Found it in our book of papers they had.
Im not sure i would have bought it because we bought ours out of state. I cant get any warranty work done.(not thag i want anyone else working on it). It would have been a piece of mind of knowing i had it for another year.

Ive had to get two shades replaced as they wouldnt latch into the down positon but they shipped me those.

I agree. I don't seem to be having the heating issue, but certainly have the AC issue.

Other then that, I have only had minor nags that I have or will fix myself. My previous RV (a Fleetwood DP) was getting to the age were I was always doing something to it while the family was on the beach... so I'm used to it! Wasn't an issue for me, cause I hate the sand!

I also opted to not buy the second year. Why would I buy it? It seems that 90% of buyers are dissatisfied with the work and service they get with the first year warranty. I would hate to drag that out for another year. Besides... I can do my own half a$$ed work if I really want the dealership experience. My warranty runs out in March. It has not been back, nor will it barring anything stupid!


2016 Sandpiper 376BHOK
2500HD Chevrolet

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[chop249]

Originally Posted by head gamez

I agree. I don't seem to be having the heating issue, but certainly have the AC issue.

Other then that, I have only had minor nags that I have or will fix myself. My previous RV (a Fleetwood DP) was getting to the age were I was always doing something to it while the family was on the beach... so I'm used to it! Wasn't an issue for me, cause I hate the sand!

I also opted to not buy the second year. Why would I buy it? It seems that 90% of buyers are dissatisfied with the work and service they get with the first year warranty. I would hate to drag that out for another year. Besides... I can do my own half a$$ed work if I really want the dealership experience. My warranty runs out in March. It has not been back, nor will it barring anything stupid!


2016 Sandpiper 376BHOK
2500HD Chevrolet

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Ha ha! I agree but I would have liked the second year to keep dragging the damn thing in till they got tired of me and did something about the a/c........ I wasn't fortunate enough to have the "plant manager" bend over and kiss my a@$, wash and kiss my feet and then rip my roof off and remanufacture my duct work due to a design flaw.......... Notice that guy hasn't said squat since I called him out?

[Volvodriver]

Is there anything you actually "like" about your Sandpiper? All I read is AC AC AC.

Dave

[brad2388]

Originally Posted by Volvodriver

Is there anything you actually "like" about your Sandpiper? All I read is AC AC AC.



Dave

Not really. My wife and me both regret buying it.

We dont even like the floorplan. The bathroom is to small. The sliding glass door is good except the air coming in around it.

Just wished we would have bout a montana like we wanted to at first.

[chop249]

Originally Posted by Volvodriver

Is there anything you actually "like" about your Sandpiper? All I read is AC AC AC.

Dave

I actually love my unit. BUT it's really frustrating that you can't get cool in the thing in the summer. Pretty much ask anyone in the South and ask them if 78* with the A/C running all day is acceptable. I bet you'd get 90% or more tell you no it isn't acceptable. What's more frustrating is having a guy pull up next to you with a similar rig at about 3pm and telling you his unit is already down to 72* inside after an hour. An outdoor temp of 92* as it was that day is NOT extreme here either. I would understand the 78* and running all day in 100* PLUS weather. By FR and Dometic's own claims you only get about 20* of cooling, so 72* that day should have been attainable even if the unit ran constantly all day or with a 10% margin of error 74*........ Nope.. 14* differential was what I got and it struggled to do that. So next time yeah I probably won't buy a FR product because they've played their hand and showed me their customer service. I realized that there most likely were going to be warranty issues and I am TOTALLY fine with that and happy with everything that they actually FIXED. They did NOT fix the a/c therefore I'm going to talk about that. Yes, my experience is just 1 person's experience however judging by all the a/c threads I've followed I am not the only one left with sub par cooling. Spending the amount of money we do on these things and buying what is supposed to be a mid class unit one would think that you would have a fully functioning unit post warranty repairs. If I wanted a "fixer upper" I could have saved thousands and bought used.

[rockfordroo]

I'm assuming you have ducted AC. If so, you should check the air flow opening from the cold air plenum into the ducts. A number of us have found that the manufacturer didn't really cut out an appropriately sized opening between the two.

In the pics, I'm looking down my duct at the opening into the AC cold air plenum. The first pic is the "as delivered" opening. In the 2nd pic, you can see I've chiseled out some of the foam. It's hard to tell that the opening is bigger, but I think you can see the opening is a bit "brighter." I really need to do some more work on it; I was trying to do it from the top (roof). I didn't want to drop the inside AC cover because they had caulked around it to the ceiling, but I'm thinking I may have to do that.

[Computer Nerd]

We love our 2016 Sandpiper 35ROK. We've had two issues; the front AC controller board went and the connection to our inverter became disconnected. Neither caused us to miss a camping trip and both were fixed under warranty by the dealer.


Computer Nerd
2014 Chevy Silverado 3500 HD Duramax
2016 Sandpiper 35ROK

[Kimber45]

Good luck Bill. I looked at the Flok. but saved 10k$ 1 slide and 2k pounds and went with a Heritage Glen 372RD. I to just ordered and am waiting for it to come in. Ive owned 4 campers in the last 8 years and have minor issues. I'm a little nervous the more i read. Very Jealous that Flok is a good looking unit.

[Jayfro04]

We love our 2017 381RBOK with the exception of the ac which is well documented in the other threads. Will either need to install a Third ac, or hope the fixes by dometic work (doubtful).

[ohiomatt]

What ply tires do they put on a 2017 sierra 379FLOK

[Russ40]

Took our 2018 379FLOK out this last weekend for its maiden voyage. Temp outside was 95 degrees. humidity was high. set the temp in the trailer to 70. Trailer stayed cool. got down to 71. Rear AC never shut off until late at night. Front AC would kick off and on.

[ohiomatt]

Originally Posted by Russ40

Took our 2018 379FLOK out this last weekend for its maiden voyage. Temp outside was 95 degrees. humidity was high. set the temp in the trailer to 70. Trailer stayed cool. got down to 71. Rear AC never shut off until late at night. Front AC would kick off and on.

Was the bedroom door shut