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Kinder Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 3
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Forum Newbee
Hi everyone,
My name is Sirena and I have just joined the Forest River Forums. I welcome feedback based on your experienced situations, good or bad and once you read my long list of mishaps, I am sure that I will get some.
Believing in the Forest River products, I purchased a Wildwood X-Lite TT, Model 241QBXL in February 2015 and picked up the unit in April due to additional installation of equipment, such as a Reese Weight Distribution/Sway Control system RP66153, hydraulic lifts below bed board and other user-friendly gadgets. The dealer added a Friction Sway Control Bar which although an 'overkill' it adds more control to the possible swaying. My unit's dry weight is 4,135 lbs. with cargo allowance of 3300 lbs. and tongue weight of 499 lbs.
With that, I will tell you all that I have experienced so far:
#1 - I went on my first camping trip in September, 2 hours away from home....thank God! When I scooped down to place the wheel chocks, I saw a very unusual metal plate with a letter and numbers coming out of the side wall of one of the two tires. I went to the other side and saw the rubber markings where there would have been another one, but somehow must have gone out on the road. I pulled out the metal plate and contacted the dealership the next morning. Tires: Ridgway Sport ST205/75D14.
To make the story short, they contacted FR who told them that they don't warrant tires as they buy them from a tire manufacturing company and gave them the contact information there. The dealer contacted the tire company who advised them that there was a form to be completed by owner. I filled in the form immediately and that started a two-week communication back and forth with the tire manufacturer. I sent them 10 photos of the tires and requested for them to replace ALL 5 tires because I no longer felt safe! Afterall, this was a brand new TT, first trip and this happens on 2 of the 5 tires. Well, it boiled down to: the machine that stamps the serial numbers on the tires 'lost' the metal tab and embedded it inside the side wall. Can you imagine? 2 of 5 tires; they must have gone crazy looking for the metal tab.
The tire company maintained a civilized communication but very simply told me that this was a 'cosmetic blemish not affecting the integrity of the tires' and therefore, not be covered by the warranty. We went back & forth and they very nicely agreed to replace the two tires but would not pay for the labor required to install them; the dealer had to assume those charges! When they removed one of the 'blemished' tires, it also had a huge hole on the threads....I am blessed it did not blow out. They 'visually' checked the remaining tires and I am praying that all goes fine on my next trip.
#2 - Came home from my first trip and the electric stabilizer jacks would not work. After patiently fooling around with them, they finally went down. When it was time to retract them, they wouldn't come up. Once again, I had to fool around with the switches until they came up. Can you imagine? A brand new TT. Well, once again, the dealer has had to order new switches because those are faulty.
#3 - Given the time frame between purchase, delivery of unit and the few months elapsed, the dealer advised me that it was time to do maintenance on the roof and indicated that there was a small portion in the front that needed re-sealing and by the time the switches come in, I will need to re-seal the whole roof....amazing! How can the original caulking be bad already? OK, granted, I am in Florida, but so soon? This will be like a regular expense at the dealership level; I can't climb on the roof due to a vertigo problem.
#4 - Whoever installed the toilet pipes ripped the panel cut-out and left it just like that with wood shavings on the floor. I'm telling you, what has happened to professional workmanship of the Forest River products?
#5 - The dinette tabletop made of solid cherry wood was cracked in three places. It had been covered with a poster, but when I saw it, you know that I requested for it to be replaced immediately. All Wildwood X-Lite units on the lot had the same problem. I requested for FR to send me a different type of tabletop, a formica one that I had seen online. Well, they did send one, but it shows these awful scratch marks which is not the pattern. After many phone calls and correspondence with FR, I believe they have a new tabletop for me, but the person is on vacation and I won't know for sure until the end of October - the saga will continue and I will update you at that point.
The tire situation is very scary. I can attach a couple of photos if you tell me how to do it on this forum site. For those who may have experienced a similar situation, communicating with etrailer, they have a TT tire that could be better, for one, it is a Radial, holds more weight and it fits the rim: Karrier Kenda ST205/75R14 with a Load Range D, 8 ply, 2040 lbs and 65 psi.
Thank you for listening, but I feel that everyone should be aware of these types of mishaps. I want to continue trusting the FR product; however, I can't anticipate what else will go wrong on this brand new unit!
Sirena
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