2015 Surveyor 240 RBS Long Term Review

[memsu]

I thought I would do a review of my 2015 model 240RBS after having it a few years.


Starting off I had several issues and I learned my selling dealer service department is horrible. To make a long story short they didn't fix a single issue the entire 4 months they had my RV for repair.


I had to escalate my case to Forrest River corporate to get any response and a year later take it to another dealer that did eventually fix a majority of my issues.



All I can say is to take pictures of any and all issues you find while under warranty and give your dealer a copy of this. This way they can't say it happened out of warranty. You'll also have proof that your dealer didn't fix anything if they were as horrible as my original dealer.



I use this camper for work mostly staying in it 3 nights a week. So, I probably spend more time in it than most people do.



Here are the biggest issues I had.



1. Slide out leaked bad. Luckily I lived in it during the week and was able to monitor this. I eventually requested Forrest River to provide a slide topper because it still leaked after supposedly being repaired. The 2nd dealer I took it to found issues with the seals in the slide out. So, the original dealer didn't do anything and now I've got the extra insurance against leaks with the slide topper.



2. Slide out seal was torn in upper corner closer to shower side. My original dealer gave me some excuse why they didn't fix it is that the tear helped it conform around the corner better. The 2nd dealer replaced the seal. My leak wasn't coming from this area, but hey a new RV shouldn't have a torn slide out seal.



3. Front cap is fading bad. Found out Forrest River knew about these issues just as my warranty was going out, so I never had it addressed. When it gets bad enough I'll have a vinyl wrap done. I can't afford to leave it a the dealer for months while the dealer and Forrest River fight out a warranty claim.



4. Replace every single one of your clamps that connect the flexible water PEX hose to the ridgid PEX fittings in the camper. I had leaks at 3-4 connections where the flexible pex met the ridgid pex. You have one at the main water entrance, and 2 going to the sink. Use the screw clamp style. Mine would drip drip drip from these fittings and it took me awhile to figure out where the water was coming from.



5. The power tongue jack is vulnerable to water intrusion. I keep mine covered with a 5 gallon bucket now. Before I used the bucket my switches were going out and it took a few tries to get it to work. I'm going to replace it with a much better weather resistant design when it finally craps out.



Best thing ever to buy for your RV is an adjustable water pressure regulator. Newer RVs are rated to 55-60 PSI and those cheap regulators will reduce the water pressure to 45 PSI or less. This makes your shower head work much better when you can bump up your water pressure.


https://www.amazon.com/RVAQUA-M11-45...70_&dpSrc=srch


Overall now that most of my issues are resolved it's not a bad camper. Resolving those issues though took a good year working with Forrest River.

[Gadget81]

Quality control has been replaced by a quantity goal. We purchased our first trailer in 2016, a Surveyor RBS. We have found water leaks coming in from the front gel cap along the roof line as well as water leaking from a drain pipe under the kitchen sink. The drain pipe under the sink was cut to short, eventually working free from the p-trap. The issues with gel cap were due to lack of sealant under trim work leading vertically from the roof down. Both leaks were not minor. They were steady streams!
I've found skinned insulation on "hot" wires under the bench in the kitchen than were laying in a nest of wires that included bare copper ground wires. One wire had more than two inches of insulation missing. Fortunately, there wasn't an electrical fire! These were found after searching for a high-pitched whine coming from the charge controller while it was connected to shore power.
The gel cap on the front of the trailer has turned an ashen grey due to oxidation. From what I've read this is a known issue with the 2016 model. An issue that is difficult to correct under warranty....
I've found screws, scraps of wood, piles of saw dust and assorted debris inside cabinets and under the kitchen bench. Again, this leads me to believe that there is a rush to complete construction without concern for the finished product.
The lift supports under the bed fell off within the first two months. Screws holding the lifts in place barely extended into the ply wood surface. How could quality control not know this would eventually lead to failure?
Minor issues included an unfinished wooden block sticking out from under the kitchen counter that was used to support a drain pipe. Scratched trim work as well as the shower backing not being connected to the wall at the top. This left a three-inch gap for water to splash behind. Splintered wood along the top of drawers and stripped screws holding panels in place give the impression of a driven construction pace.
Flawed construction and poor planning seem to be the rule not the exception. One major concern I have is with the bump out. After talking with our local service department, I realized that the only way to get this models bump out in if the motors fail is to have several people push it in manually. Great plan if you're looking from new friends at an RV park. Crapping plan if you're in a remote location by yourself! Really, the designers didn't feel it was worth spending a few dollars more to build in a manual crank?
I wish Forest River would take the time to weigh the cost of quantity over quality. I would like to say I'm proud of our purchase but feel the best I can do is say "you get what you pay for". Too bad, this could have been a great trailer.