MBS specific forum?

[ericlakin]

What is the process for requesting a new forum? The MBS platform deserves its own home rather than being split between the Solera (which is being discontinued) and the Forester forums.

Thank you!

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by ericlakin

What is the process for requesting a new forum? The MBS platform deserves its own home rather than being split between the Solera (which is being discontinued) and the Forester forums.

Thank you!

Requesting a specific forum is the start, just like you have done.

The site administrators try to keep the forums as tidy as possible so the members don't have to see the forums overwhelmed (so to speak) with 100's of brand/models, as Forest River, Inc produces.

Every now and again, there is basically a spring cleaning of sorts, and specific forums (brands/models) that really don't have much activity sometimes are grouped into the Forest River manufacturing hierarchy to keep the site more streamlined.....especially if they are very similar in characteristics as many are.

The administrators try their best to accommodate everyone the best they can, and is fully aware that many members do want a forum specifically for their RV's. The admins will attempt to see if there is a lot of a particular type of RV being manufactured; if a new brand/model forum would be utilized by many, or just a few; and how many members on this forum have that particular brand/model.

The admins will now look into these MBS and see if we can make you more pleased with the site, but I believe we may have already broached this subject before.

[ericlakin]

I appreciate the response. With the Solera going away and the Forester MBS and SunSeeker MBS becoming the standards, it seems this is a good opportunity to consolidate so that members can benefit from the shared experiences of others with such similar equipment.

Eric

Originally Posted by wmtire

Requesting a specific forum is the start, just like you have done.

The site administrators try to keep the forums as tidy as possible so the members don't have to see the forums overwhelmed (so to speak) with 100's of brand/models, as Forest River, Inc produces.

Every now and again, there is basically a spring cleaning of sorts, and specific forums (brands/models) that really don't have much activity sometimes are grouped into the Forest River manufacturing hierarchy to keep the site more streamlined.....especially if they are very similar in characteristics as many are.

The administrators try their best to accommodate everyone the best they can, and is fully aware that many members do want a forum specifically for their RV's. The admins will attempt to see if there is a lot of a particular type of RV being manufactured; if a new brand/model forum would be utilized by many, or just a few; and how many members on this forum have that particular brand/model.

The admins will now look into these MBS and see if we can make you more pleased with the site, but I believe we may have already broached this subject before.

[ericlakin]

Thought I'd give this another bump. Attracting a larger community of MBS-based Forest River products benefits us all. My dealer says they can't keep Sunseeker and Forester MBS units on their lot, so the population is growing and they will be looking for trustworthy guidance regarding their new toys. Has there been any more discussion on renaming this forum to include all of the Forest River MBS models?

[RedLdr1]

I'll second that bump!

I also believe we need a combined MBS variant forum as well. Today I need to check the Solera, Forester, and Sunseeker forums for new posts on what is basically the same motor home. That isn't very efficient from a members view point or the forums overall structure for that matter.

From everything I've read from FR's reps the Solera brand name is going away and being superceded with the Sunseeker and Forester brand names. Doesn't it make sense to keep all the MBS specific info in one place? This situation is only going to get worse as more Forester / Sunseeker MBS owners start joining the forum.

That's my $.02 worth plus a little probably! And thanks to the forum staff for looking in to this concern.

[ericlakin]

Since taking delivery of my Sunseeker MBS 2400R, we have spent a lot of time on organization of the inside and outside storage spaces. I'd really like to share what we've done, but I'm not sure where to post until these are combined. If I post in the Sunseeker forum, the Forester and Solera folks may not see it. Perhaps there is a more unified forum somewhere that ties them all together to avoid confusion. Or should we be cross-posting to all 3 forums?

[Hexnut]

I agree with all the above. I have a Sunseeker MBS 2400R on order and have been using the wait time to find out all I can about it. The MBS is a different breed of MH and deserves its own place in the forums. It would be a valuable resource for other MBS owners to share information. Based on the fact that delivery times are many weeks for these units, the numbers are rapidly growing.

[MtnGuy]

The site team is again evaluating the MBS vs. individual Sunseeker and Forester forums.

The problem arises that if the Sunseeker and Forester are grouped in a MBS forum, what happens to the gas Sunseekers and Foesters ?? And would Sunseeker and Forester MBS members want individual forums ?? Specific brand members tend to want to see there brand as a separate forum. Case in point is the Rockwood and Flagstaff brands, which are identical units (except for colol schemes and decals), and even manufactured in the same facility.

The site team will make the decision reflecting what is best for the majority of our Class C members.

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by MtnGuy

The problem arises that if the Sunseeker and Forester are grouped in a MBS forum, what happens to the gas Sunseekers and Foesters ??

Absolutely nothing. They would continue working just as they were before FR made the MBS name change. And if there was a MBS specific forum they would not have the MBS folks muddying up their forums.

Originally Posted by MtnGuy

And would Sunseeker and Forester MBS members want individual forums ??

I would not...but that is just me. Per bclemens there is no significant difference in the brands except for some trim. All the mechanics, electrical, chassis, etc is the same. I don't see the need for two forums when the only difference between brands is trim and colors.

Originally Posted by MtnGuy

Case in point is the Rockwood and Flagstaff brands, which are identical units (except for colol schemes and decals), and even manufactured in the same facility.

Bingo! The MBS variants fit that same description perfectly. Since similar popups and A-Frames are not separated by brand on this forum, why should the MBS brands be any different? IMHO you just helped make the case for having one MBS forum in that statement...

Right now I have to look in three forums for information about one vehicle... That does not make any sense from a members viewpoint nor from a forum organization view. And as the other MBS variants become more common it will be even more of a mess for new members trying to find information.
I'll get off my soapbox now...

Thank you, and the other members of the site team, for looking in to this issue.

[Still Kickin]

What ever you decide, keep in mind a good percentage of posts currently deal with specific reference to the Sprinter chassis. Be it maint., accessories installed, etc. So you need to segregate Sprinter based Forest River products on that premis, and meld that with the wealth of knowledege already resident in the Solera forum. Just sayin'

[ericlakin]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

Absolutely nothing. They would continue working just as they were before FR made the MBS name change. And if there was a MBS specific forum they would not have the MBS folks muddying up their forums.



I would not...but that is just me. Per bclemens there is no significant difference in the brands except for some trim. All the mechanics, electrical, chassis, etc is the same. I don't see the need for two forums when the only difference between brands is trim and colors.



Bingo! The MBS variants fit that same description perfectly. Since similar popups and A-Frames are not separated by brand on this forum, why should the MBS brands be any different? IMHO you just helped make the case for having one MBS forum in that statement...

Right now I have to look in three forums for information about one vehicle... That does not make any sense from a members viewpoint nor from a forum organization view. And as the other MBS variants become more common it will be even more of a mess for new members trying to find information.
I'll get off my soapbox now...

Thank you, and the other members of the site team, for looking in to this issue.

Thanks for the well thought-out responses. I think the benefits of an MBS-specific forum far outweigh any problems that would occur. I'm seeing more and more of these on the road, and new members will quickly give up on this site if they have to bounce around to multiple spots to find pertinent information. I personally have a lot of good info to share from my experiences this year with our Forest River Forester 2400R MBS. If I put this in the current Forester forum it gets lost among the non-MBS models very quickly. I hope the decision makers vote in favor of this. It will make the forum more valuable.

[MarsMan]

I vote for a MBS section. would be helpful vs hunting elsewhere

I have a Coachmen Prism MBS

[wmtire]

OK, please help me out here, so I fully understand this...as I don't have a motorhome.

1. Forest River is building several different brands/types on a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (MBS) chassis?

2. These include the Forester and/or Sunseeker which are basically the same two, just badged with two names. Are there others like this under the FR umbrella?

3. The Solera, is also built on the MBS?

4. What other FR products utilize the MBS?

5. The Forester and Sunseeker currently also utilize the Ford and Chevy chassis. Does/has the Solera? If so, what year models?

6. Ya are asking for a MBS specific forum, that would encompass the Forester, Sunseeker, Solera, and other FR brands that may use the MBS.....but leave the Ford and Chevy chassis grouped together under their respective brands?

To be fair and non-confusing, we "might" could do something more along the lines as Forest River:

[RedLdr1]

I'll try to answer this to the best of my knowledge. But asking bclemens or jcavitt at FR about the brand history and new direction is a probably going to be much more accurate. And I am not well enough versed in the Prism product to offer many comments.

FR has been making the Solera on the MBS chassis for several years. Due to a marketing decision by FR the Solera name is going away. The exact same MBS unit the Solera was is now being sold as the Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS. All three names are made on the same line, same chassis, and share the same floor plans. The only difference among those brands is minor trim and paint colors.

Coachman also makes a MBS variant, the Prism. I am do not know where the Prism is assembled but it shares some similar floor plans, but not all, with the Solera / Forester / Sunseeker versions. It still has the same MBS chassis as the other three versions.

The Solera was always built on a MBS chassis to my knowledge. It and the Coachman Prism were the only two MBS products until FR made the marketing decision to add the Forester and Sunseeker name plates this year.

Let me be very clear here, I'm not asking for a new forum. I'm asking the existing Solera forum be "opened up" by renaming it to add the new FR products. Here are my reasons why:

1. My 2016 Sunseeker MBS is identical in all functional areas to a 2016 Forester MBS or a 2016 Solera MBS. Per bclemens the Forester MBS is a new higher end version while my Sunseeker is a direct replacement for the Solera. This is just marketing badge engineering on the part of FR. These three names are all the same units with minor trim changes. Why should they be scattered over three forums here when they are 99% the same?

2. There is a vast wealth of information in the Solera forum that directly applies to the Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS. That info is Mercedes Benz specific when it comes to the chassis. No one else, except the Prism folks, is particularly interested in M-B issues when they own a Ford or Chevy chassis based Forester or Sunseeker.

3. The Solera name is being retired. As more people with Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS join this forum they will not necessarily know the answers to many of their questions are in the Solera forum. They will be looking for answers in their "umbrella brand" area rather than a MBS specific forum. That just causes member confusion, frustration, as well as a number of duplicate posts on the exact same issue.

4. As an example of similar brands being placed in the same forum take a look at the A-Frame and Pop-up Forums. The Flagstaff and Rockwood products are grouped together due to their commonality. This is another case where FR markets two brands that are twins under the skin. Nothing different here except paint, trim and maybe an option or two. The forum structure treats them as one entity, as it should, and all the info is one spot.

5. Simplicity. Today I read the Forester, Sunseeker, and Solera forums looking for info on my unit. Now I know I should be reading about the Prism as well! Three of those are the same thing and one, the Prism, uses the same chassis! Shouldn't they be grouped together?

I'm asking for the renaming of the existing Solera Forum to something along the lines of:

"Forester MBS, Prism MBS, Solera MBS, and Sunseeker MBS
All M-B Chassis based motor homes."

That rename would help get new users, regardless of their MBS brand, to the right place, get the M-B "stuff" out of the parent brand forums, and keep the MBS information base growing.

I hope this helps. Hopefully some folks with more experience than me will chime in as well.

Thanks for looking in to this...

Regards,

[ericlakin]

I think RedLdr1 has summed it up perfectly. A new forum is not needed. Let's rename the Solera forum appropriately to become the de-facto location for the MBS-platform vehicles. As mentioned, other than some trim levels and options these units are mechanically identical in many ways. Yes, there is already a smattering of MBS-platform info across the Solera, Forester, and SunSeeker forums. But going forward we have a great opportunity to consolidate into one forum and further build this strong and vibrant community of MBS owners. Thanks for your consideration of this request!

[wmtire]

OK, that may be more of a do'able thing. The site team and site owners will see what we can get accomplished. Thanks for the help and insight of the brands and chassis platforms.

There would still be overlapping forums though.

We're trying to get it all figured out.

[wmtire]

Site Team questions and statements in RED below

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

FR has been making the Solera on the MBS chassis for several years. Due to a marketing decision by FR the Solera name is going away. The exact same MBS unit the Solera was is now being sold as the Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS. All three names are made on the same line, same chassis, and share the same floor plans. The only difference among those brands is minor trim and paint colors.

Coachman also makes a MBS variant, the Prism. I am do not know where the Prism is assembled but it shares some similar floor plans, but not all, with the Solera / Forester / Sunseeker versions. It still has the same MBS chassis as the other three versions.

The Solera was always built on a MBS chassis to my knowledge. It and the Coachman Prism were the only two MBS products until FR made the marketing decision to add the Forester and Sunseeker name plates this year.

Let me be very clear here, I'm not asking for a new forum. I'm asking the existing Solera forum be "opened up" by renaming it to add the new FR products. Here are my reasons why:

1. My 2016 Sunseeker MBS is identical in all functional areas to a 2016 Forester MBS or a 2016 Solera MBS. Per bclemens the Forester MBS is a new higher end version while my Sunseeker is a direct replacement for the Solera. This is just marketing badge engineering on the part of FR. These three names are all the same units with minor trim changes. Why should they be scattered over three forums here when they are 99% the same?

If we combined the Solera, Sunseeker, and Forester together, then that would include every chassis..... but keep all the other items that pertain to the box part together, so a member wouldn't have to search three forums for an answer to say a fridge, sink, door, bed , slide or something. Is this correct?

2. There is a vast wealth of information in the Solera forum that directly applies to the Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS. That info is Mercedes Benz specific when it comes to the chassis. No one else, except the Prism folks, is particularly interested in M-B issues when they own a Ford or Chevy chassis based Forester or Sunseeker.

If we had combined the three brands together as above, now how do we separate the MBS specific stuff away from the Ford or Chevy Specific stuff. If somebody posted a question pertaining to say a microwave in a Forester, wouldn't the same answer apply to if it was on a Chevy or MBS chassis?

3. The Solera name is being retired. As more people with Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS join this forum they will not necessarily know the answers to many of their questions are in the Solera forum. They will be looking for answers in their "umbrella brand" area rather than a MBS specific forum. That just causes member confusion, frustration, as well as a number of duplicate posts on the exact same issue.

If we separate the Ford, Chevy, and MBS chassis into separate groups, then again, wouldn't a member still need to search separate forum groups to find answers to things that aren't chassis specific related? A microwave question on a MBS chassis should be the same for a Ford Chassis. Is this correct? Is someone going to post the answer in multiple forums, which is the same problem we seem to have now.



4. As an example of similar brands being placed in the same forum take a look at the A-Frame and Pop-up Forums. The Flagstaff and Rockwood products are grouped together due to their commonality. This is another case where FR markets two brands that are twins under the skin. Nothing different here except paint, trim and maybe an option or two. The forum structure treats them as one entity, as it should, and all the info is one spot.

5. Simplicity. Today I read the Forester, Sunseeker, and Solera forums looking for info on my unit. Now I know I should be reading about the Prism as well! Three of those are the same thing and one, the Prism, uses the same chassis! Shouldn't they be grouped together?

I'm asking for the renaming of the existing Solera Forum to something along the lines of:

"Forester MBS, Prism MBS, Solera MBS, and Sunseeker MBS
All M-B Chassis based motor homes."

That rename would help get new users, regardless of their MBS brand, to the right place, get the M-B "stuff" out of the parent brand forums, and keep the MBS information base growing.

This is the conundrum, since they are different but share the same stuff that is not chassis related. The Rockwood/Flagstaff share everything the same except for colors/stickers. It's a different animal.

I hope this helps. Hopefully some folks with more experience than me will chime in as well.

Thanks for looking in to this...

Regards,

We're trying to find a solution, that doesn't placate one group but then riles up another.The points are well taken, and we are trying to find a way to do something different from the status quo that is beneficial to the members.

Would combining the Class C Solera, Sunseeker, and Forester (and possibly Prism) into one main forum...then have chassis specific subforums in it as Ford, Chevy, and MBS be a viable solution? That way all similar things would be in the parent forum, and then chassis specific things would be in the appropriate subforum?

[RedLdr1]

I think some folks may be missing the main point. The existing Solera MBS platform is being renamed, and now marketed and sold, as the Forester MBS and the Sunseeker MBS. New members with a Forester MBS or Sunseeker MBS, formerly exclusively named the Solera MBS, may not even know what a Solera MBS is! Doesn't it make sense to rename the existing Solera MBS forum to keep it in sync with FR's naming conventions?

Originally Posted by wmtire

We're trying to find a solution, that doesn't placate one group but then riles up another.The points are well taken, and we are trying to find a way to do something different from the status quo that is beneficial to the members.

I understand, and appreciate, your constraints.

Originally Posted by wmtire

Would combining the Class C Solera, Sunseeker, and Forester (and possibly Prism) into one main forum...then have chassis specific subforums in it as Ford, Chevy, and MBS be a viable solution? That way all similar things would be in the parent forum, and then chassis specific things would be in the appropriate subforum?

Yes, in my opinion that layout concept makes excellent sense. And if used properly it would be much more effective than the multiple posting, for similar non-chassis issues, being posted today across multiple sub-forums.

My only concern is how would the current threads in the existing Solera forum be merged? That info is well worth preserving as it now directly applies to the Forester MBS and Sunseeker MBS as well as the original Solera MBS.

"The Rockwood/Flagstaff share everything the same except for colors/stickers. It's a different animal."

I respectfully disagree with that statement, it is the same animal here. The Solera MBS, Forester MBS, and Sunseeker MBS also "share everything the same" except for paint colors, decals, interior colors, and some minor trim features. They are made on the same line, at the same time, by the same folks, using the same parts and same M-B chassis. You can confirm this with bclemens or jcavitt. FR is basically selling the same motor home under three names until the Solera name is phased out.
Thanks again to all the Site Team for considering this....

[RedLdr1]

It's been a while since this renaming request was made so I thought I'd give it a "bump" to see if a decision has been made.

Thanks,

[ericlakin]

Wow, I really didn't think this would be such a big deal. It seems like an obvious way to provide much needed clarity between the MBS, Ford, and Chevy chassis. It is frustrating because I really want to contribute more to the community regarding my 2016 Sunseeker MBS 2400R but I get lost in the mix with the other Sunseeker products in that forum.

Is this still being debated?