Riverstone Legacy 39RBFL Issues

[Michael M.]

My wife and I have spent a lot of time in our fifth wheels over the years. I travel for work, and it's a lot nicer to live the RV life than stay in hotels. Out last 5th wheel was a Keystone Laredo 350FB. When it came time to start looking at upgrading, we spent MONTHS investigating what we wanted, who had the best build quality, who had floorplans we liked, basically what would suit us the best. We settled on the Riverstone Legacy 39RBFL. By all accounts, it was supposed to be constructed to a much higher standard, and had all the bells and whistles we were after.



Despite falling in love with this unit on paper and after what limited inspections you can perform on the sales lot, we have been incredibly disappointed with what we received due to the numerous issues we continue to find on it. I'll list them below just so this post doesn't just look like a rant. It's not. I want to warn off anyone else that might be looking into purchasing a Riverstone right now due to poor quality and customer service (We've had no response from them yet. I'll edit this post if that changes). So far we've found the following:


- The trailer brakes don't work. The actuator does not come on with the brake controller. It does not come on with a direct 12V supply. When a technician tried to troubleshoot it, he pulled the breakaway to see if it was just an issue with the signals from the truck, and the wire bundle from the hitch into the front compartment started smoking, melted, and burned the interior wall of the front compartment. To answer the questions that will likely follow this statement, we were not towing it ourselves. I don't have a suitable truck yet. The dealer brought it to us, and never bothered to mention they didn't work until after this happened and we called him to ask if they worked for him. "Now that you mention it I don't think they did." was all we got. It was the company we paid to move it after that that told us about the brakes. That's when we stopped to have them looked at and almost burned it down.



- The levelling jacks are leaking. The entire unit creaks and pops as they lose pressure and the frame shifts, and occasionally you can feel a little movement.


- The cable bundle for the front television was never terminated. The coax doesn't even have a connector on it


- The subwoofer is blown


- The Living room TV HDMI2 port is broken


- The bedroom front HDMI port doesn't work


- The front AC barely moves air (possible blockage?) and freezes up and drops ice into the living room. We're not running it for long periods, and it's only set to 70, so there's no reason the coils should be frozen.


- There is daylight showing through the seals. You can see it from inside the unit.


- The water lines for the washer are kinked, and were never tightened


- The washer and dryer weren't plugged in. I had to figure out how to fish the cable out from the back and plug them in.


- There's a propane leak somewhere that we have not been able to find. We burned through half a 40 pound tank in 36 hours when the furnace was running (set to 65)


- The bedroom blinds are crooked and don't sit right.


- The floor vents are PLASTIC? We've already broken one. I really don't understand this choice. They aren't exactly out of the path of traffic.



- Theres a big bulge in the panel on the right side of the cap, I don't know if there's water in it or if it's just come loose.


I'm sure I'm forgetting some items, and I understand some of this might sound minor, but for a unit we spent 6 figures on, this was just incredibly disappointing. It would take some of the sting out of it if I could get a response from Forest River, but so far no dice.



Long story short, if you're considering a Riverstone right now, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. I'm guessing the COVID related delays and increased demand have put them in a position where they are unable to provide a quality product.

[Defiant530]

I don't mean to be critical here so don't take it personal , I understand your frustration, but did the dealer you purchased from from do a PDI ? And may I ask who the dealer was ? More than a few of these issues would have been caught before delivery to you , second did you go and stay in the rig for a couple of day to try out everything and I mean EVERYTHING ? I have had 5 rv's in 11 years and a Riverstone is #6 , I have had a class c , class A gas , a fifth wheel and 2 class A diesel pushers ,ranging from 60k to 300k and even the 300k DP had issues so no RV is totally issue free, and I have upgraded too many things on all of them to list here , my choice as I like to tinker and have done numerous repairs on them myself. but all of that being said it is your responsibility and in your best interest to have made sure everything worked and you were happy before taking delivery , i've done it on all of my rigs except the first one (we were rookies) and if it isn't right it won't be leaving the dealer until ALL issues are corrected . I do feel bad for you guys , and your dealer really let you down and gave Riverstone the proverbial black eye .

[dblr]

I assume seeing it is a Legacy you have the disc breaks, if so some trucks need a adapter to work with that system, I believe it was the GM trucks.

Do you see hydraulic fluid leaking or do you assume because you hear the creaks and such they are leaking, some folks have added fork oil or a anti friction additive recommend by LCI to solve this issue.

Not sure where you are located but when you get a truck suitable for towing you might want to look into maybe taking a trip to Indiana to visit either the factory or a service center that maybe the factory could arrange for you under warranty, I assume you purchased this unit new? We try to arrange a visit at least every other year to have ours inspected for any issues that might appear that I can not handle myself. Trust me it will be worth your time to try and make it to Indiana, one for service and two to visit the area and all the tourist type things to see and do.

Stay calm if you speak to the factory and you might be surprised how much they will help you, good luck and keep us posted.

[Michael M.]

@Defiant530 - We actually travelled from the Billings Montana area to Spokane Washington to look at this unit at Clickit RV. We decided to buy while we were there. Since I had to take time off to go look at it, we agreed to do a walkthrough inspection on site that day, and submitted all the findings to their service manager with photos. He said he did his own PDI before sending it out and found numerous items, but considering he addressed maybe 20% of the issues we found, and what we've seen since, I'm dubious.



I don't disagree I share responsibility on items that were missed, but I'm not sure how I could have checked the brakes without it being hooked up to a truck I don't have, or stayed in the camper for a couple of days without purchasing it.



I am well aware RVs come with their own special issues, and I have no problem fixing minor items as we go. It's just.....the sheer quantity of things we've found that has left me so utterly disappointed.


@dblr - You're correct assuming it's a Legacy. We did consider a disparity between the truck and the brake actuator, that's why we tried pulling the breakaway switch. It should have triggered no matter what that way. It didn't, and that's when the camper started billowing smoke from all the melting wires and almost caught on fire. I'll look into getting it to the factory, but as it is, I'm going to have to eat a bill from a mobile repair guy just to get the brake system functional just so it can go down the road, and pray Forest River reimburses me.


Appreciate the responses.

[Defiant530]

That dealer did let you down for sure , I do hope you can get the remaining issues taken care of soon !

[eaglecrest]

I was thinking about upgrading my 2018 CC to a Legacy earlier this year. Having seen on this forum and Facebook groups I decided not to pursue it any further because of the issues just like yours. There is such a backlog of ordered RV's from every manufacturer they just can't get them out the door quick enough. Quality appears to have taken a back seat. There are some good posts too so some units get more attention - perhaps a different shift of workers. I bought mine three years ago new and 3 months later one of the wheels passed me up on the freeway - lack of grease on one of the wheel bearings. I had to fix myself and several months later got a payment from Forest River.

[RookieRV]

Quality across the board in not only RV's, but everything else made in the USA or imported has gone to the crapper! It is sad that you paid 6 figures for a TT and expected a quality product, but instead received a lemon. I have heard that production on TT's has been ramped up due to covid shutdowns. They are spitting them out at a feverish pace, so the result is crap!

Yes, some of the blame is on you for obvious items that were missed, but the vast majority of the blame is on FR for building and releasing a defective camper such as yours. If only manufacturers took pride in their quality/workmanship of campers instead of their bottom line ($$$) then we would not be seeing posts with problems such as yours.

I just got back from a trip to southern Florida and passed MANY dealers whose lots are crammed full of campers. Makes you think about how many of those campers are going to have a multitude of problems which will be a result of pressure to produce them as fast as possible w/o regards for quality. Turns me off on buying a new one for sure...
Hopefully, you'll get an acceptable remedy from FR and can enjoy your unit...