Forest River QC

[Great Laker]

After purchasing my 4th Forest River product I expected to find a few surprises here and there. Pretty much used to finding saw dust, plywood clippings, clipped ends of electrical wires and the legendary rats nest of electrical behind radio/DVD system. After taking delivery of my new Salem a couple weeks ago I ran some water through it tonight to check water system and hot water heater. To my surprise every hot/cold water line was loose going into the faucets and leaking. All of the plumbing fittings were loose and leaking. Nothing like breaking in a new wood framed trailer with water leaks. I recall finding a notice in my paper work that stated "this unit was produced using the seek a leak dry test method for the water system using air pressure so there is no reason to winteriz e as a stock unit"…

[ccarrington99]

I just had sort of the same issue. We traded our Roo in on Thursday for a Salem 27dbud and we had camped there to check everything out. Low and behold the pump hose was not tight and we had water seeping under the fridge cabinet. So looking for the leak I found cut cable ends, pieces of the outside aluminum siding where the fresh water intake was and just regular crap. You would think they would clean that up, while building these campers.

[shagginwaggin]

I just bought my first ever travel trailer a 26 T BUD and I was not surprised to find out how much fun it was but I was more surprised to learn that all the hoses had a leak at the fittings in every compartment, but then they go on to tell you how satisfied and excited they are that you chose their product. I would like to think they could spend an extra five minutes per camper with the shop vac or something like that or do a proper pressure test in the fittings just as part of good quality controlQUOTE]

[mjones12]

I just got my second FR camper, and the RV tech who prepped it at the dealership and did the walkaround with us said that they set up the camper just as if they were going camping in it before they deliver it to a customer.

They even filled all the holding tanks with water and then drained them.
On our weekend shakedown cruise (I'll do a detailed review later on the Surveyor forum) we found no problems other than a cable connection that doesn't work. As they don't have have cable TV at the dealership, I guess they couldn't check that, but they'll have to figure out a way to fix it.

In any case, my point is that while there's no excuse for products coming out of the factory with loose connections and such, the dealership can and should try to correct problems like that before they reach the consumer.

[Terier]

Originally Posted by shagginwaggin

I just bought my first ever travel trailer a 26 T BUD and I was not surprised to find out how much fun it was but I was more surprised to learn that all the hoses had a leak at the fittings in every compartment, but then they go on to tell you how satisfied and excited they are that you chose their product. I would like to think they could spend an extra five minutes per camper with the shop vac or something like that or do a proper pressure test in the fittings just as part of good quality controlQUOTE]

Sorry and surprised to hear that all the hoses were leaking. This couldn't been fun at all. Hopefully you are now able to enjoy your new camper.

In my case I didn't have any leaks or even anything that needed attention after I took delivery but then I had a good PDI too. Except for a bit of factory dusk showing up after traveling I haven't come across any hidden *trash* treasures.

[Lynkage]

Good luck with that. They are trying to get customers used to the fact that it is the Customers job to do these things.

[Triguy]

Lots written about QC coming out of an RV factory. Its often hit or miss and the issue is not just the factory, but a combination of the factory, the dealer and the buyer.

As mjones said, a pre-delievery inspection (PDI) is a chance for your dealer to correct the inevitable problems trailers have coming out of the factories before you get to do your walk through with them.

The only time I bought new, the service manager explained to me that a full inspection (along with any subsequent repairs) is a necessity if they want their customers happy. They do this for every trailer of every brand they sell, too.

Also, during the walk-through, we owners need to run all the systems before we sign on the dotted line.

To the first three posters, I assume that your dealers did not do any kind of PDI nor a walk-through with you.