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Old 06-18-2010, 06:31 AM   #1
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My 2011, sv291 slide-out Leaks!

Is anyone having any problems? Dealer is currently working on a solution, but is anyone else having trouble?
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Old 06-18-2010, 09:05 AM   #2
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If I set my camper up level or curb side low and it rains, water will seep under the seal and and run down the side of the slide wall. I always have slide side slightly lower than curb side so water will run away from seals. Also, check that seam tape on slide joints isn't coming loose or seems are exposed.
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Old 06-18-2010, 11:28 AM   #3
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Thanks for reply bamasurveyor . that's a good tip about the slide out, i'll be doing that from now on. However as a customer buying a brand new surveyor it shouldn't leak at all. I thought they tested for that stuff at the factory before hand. "Reason why i bought a surveyor"
Also just got back from the dealership and the owner showed me a defect where the interior white enveloping seal was protruding outward too much, thus breaking the seal between the black rubber against the slideout. Has anyone else had this problem? and What ever happened to quality control?
Currently i am waiting for some parts to fix the problem. Another trip to the dealer great way to start the summer. oh boy.....
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Old 06-18-2010, 12:34 PM   #4
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Don't feel too bad. I'm currently camping at the dealership beacuse we found a hole in the floor. Of course its right in the main travel path and about the size of a softball. I'm waiting for the dealership and FR to work out the plan of attack. Trust me I feel your pain in having a new toy and not being able to play with it.
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Old 06-19-2010, 07:45 AM   #5
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Our Surveyor has always been leak free at the slide unless as I said before, I had the slide side set higher and the water "dammed up" against the seals. It is now 4 years old.
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Old 06-19-2010, 08:00 AM   #6
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During our last camp out, we had a deluge of rain one night. No leak on the slide.

Our only leak was in the bathroom vent fan. I later found a very small crack in the plastic frame while looking at the problem from the roof. it is amazing how much water will enter the camper through a 1/4" crack! Next time it rains, we'll see if new caulking was sufficient to remedy the problem.
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Old 06-20-2010, 03:42 PM   #7
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How do you guy's rate Forest River's Quality control? and/or does it even exist? any ideas anyone?
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Old 06-20-2010, 09:17 PM   #8
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Horrible quality control!!! I can't believe how many issues we have with our 2011 Sunseeker! We picked it up 4 weeks ago and it has been at the service shop for almost 2 weeks. Won't get it back until middle of next week and not all service will be complete at that time. (We have a trip planned so some work will have to wait). I feel your pain!!
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Old 06-20-2010, 11:04 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Logan's Run View Post
How do you guy's rate Forest River's Quality control? and/or does it even exist? any ideas anyone?
Unfortunately, their quality is about average in this industry. Therefore, I am not at all surprised or disappointed. Before I even laid eyes on this camper, I knew it would have problems, I knew it would continue to have problems, and that it would be in a continual need of some repair. Thus is the norm among inexpensive campers like the Surveyor.

My goal is to do my best to avoid damaging this camper through use, to repair any problems as quickly as practical, and to keep it in good working order.

This is one reason I appreciate good forums like this one with so many helpful and courteous contributors. I visit often looking for tips, tricks, and warning about potential problems. This forum does not disappoint. It is made up of people who love their Forest River product despite their problems.....just like me.

During my initial inspection, we found the following problems with my Surveyor:
1. Leaking sewer drains that were dry fit, but never sealed closed.
2. A disconnected water line. When we first fired up the water pump, We heard a fountain of water that we had to hunt down.
3. A hot-water-heater bypass valve was open which prevented the hot water from working properly.
4. An unplugged refrigerator that would not work on AC power.
5. A faucet clogged by some junk the pump sucked in from the fresh-water tank.
6. A broken battery box that I literally had to fasten closed with bailing wire that the dealer happily supplied for me before I pulled off the lot.
7. Under inflated tires, which the dealer said I would have to fill myself.
8. A dead battery that the dealer said he didn't need to charge, because, "It will charge when you hook up the cable to your truck." Fortunately, he was right.

AND, I pulled it off the lot anyways!

On the plus side, I knew this two-year-old 2008 camper that the dealer said was "brand new" was an absolutely true statement. No one could have possibly used this trailer even once with all the problems it had.

Bottom line. Will I consider a product form Forest River again? Yes absolutely. If I buy a product from a competitor, will I expect it to be any better quality? No. Do I trust the dealer to take care of me as a customer? No. I never have, and I never will. I have no use for dealers no matter what product they are selling. If they have what I am looking for, I will buy it. The only two things any dealer will ever do well is collect money and deliver the title work. No matter what you think of dealers, the only way they can stay in business is if they have at least one honest accountant on staff to collect money and deliver title. It appears that nothing else is required.



Sorry about that everybody. That's all for now. I have put away my soapbox for today.



I hope all of your problems are resolved quickly and as pain free as possible so you can have a nice time enjoying your new RV.
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Old 06-21-2010, 05:26 AM   #10
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Your best bet Logan is to report it to the dealership & get it on file so any damage caused by the leak is not a surprise to the warenty dept. That way they can start negotiating the warrenty repair corrective action now and minimize your down time.

You do need to remember that unlike your house, these campers do move and that movement down our well manacured gravel, I mean paved, roads will cause things to work loose and or break. The one saving grace of these campers is that for the most part they are at least look better constructed with better parts as compared to the other brands in the class.

When you buy a camper it's mortgaged and treated like a house and just like a house there's going to be problems lurking in the shadows waiting to pop out at the worst possible times. My camper had a few loose threaded water connections and a hole in the floor where a knot in the luan poped out. My house was missing a 1/3 of the bathroom floor due to water damage. Both situations were missed during "thourough turn over inspections" both by myself & the "qualified inspector".

The thing to take away from this rant is that Forest River for the most part will bend over backwards to help make it right if the dealership/shop are willing to work. There are hundreds of posts on this forum to that end.
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Old 06-21-2010, 09:04 AM   #11
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Thank's for your responses guys! I'm keeping my fingers crossed this week hoping this is the right solution to slide-out leaking (third trip to dealer). Leaving this weekend leak fixed or not. Man-O-Man, What is it about camping that puts us through this torture? Happy trails everyone!!
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Old 06-24-2010, 01:39 PM   #12
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I have a 2011 Sv 291 and have not had a problem with anything.

My dealer did an excellent job of going over the unit b-4 i took delivery. I was told , by the dealers tech, that there were several small issues like loose water lines but they caught everything and I have had no real issues.

I had a small amount of water come in around the slide out when it was power washed but when you get too close to the seals with 2500 psi pressure washer that can be expected.
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Old 08-10-2010, 08:37 PM   #13
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2011 Surveyor 264 - Have you-all had any of these problems: I picked up my trailer on 7/31, towed it home via the interstate, the trip took 2.5 hours, parked it in the driveway and leveled it. The first thing I noticed was after rain on 8/7 that both storage compartment doors leak. Dealer told me to check the seals. they are fine. On 8/9 it rained again, more leaks. The slide must leak because I had pooled water on the floor underneath the corner of the slide nearest the bedroom. The slide and all vents were closed during the storm. Dealer said that happens sometimes and not to worry about damage as long as I got the water wiped up. 0n 8/10 again had water but this time it dripped into the plastic container that I had put under the corner of the slide. The bottom of the decorative wood trim was damp as was the carpet that is under the cupboards at that end of the slide. I found pooled water in the pocket of the white rubber trim that is around the slide at the bottom or that corner. The dealer told me to poke a small hole in the bottom of the rubber so the water would drain out. I did that and put a fan blowing on the whole thing. I am very disappointed in the quality of the seals as we have not even taken the trailer out of the driveway yet and we have all these water problems. At this rate I'm going to have a ruined trailer before I even get to use it. I'm worried I have a lemon or something.
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Old 08-10-2010, 08:58 PM   #14
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Is it leaking when the slide is or or in?

I had some water issues with our Rockwood 2605 which has the same type above floor slide when the slide was in. I was able to adjust the slide drive motor stop so it wouldn't pull the bottom of the slide in too far as it was pulling the top of the slide away from it's outer seal.

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Old 08-10-2010, 09:15 PM   #15
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Wow, a reply already, this is great! I'm glad I joined.
The slide was in both times when it rained.
After I cleaned up all the water an put a fan on it for awhile we put the slide out. I got up on the roof and cleaned out any dirt and stuff which there wasn't much of, and put some silicone lubricant on the top seals. It shouldn't need lubricant since it is so new but we thought that it couldn't hurt. I noticed that the rubber flap seal on the top of the slide was not uncurling all the way so fixed that and put the slide in and out again to test it. We have closed up everything for the night (slide, vents and windows) so we will see what happens. I thing more rain is expected tonight.
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Old 08-10-2010, 10:22 PM   #16
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So it leaks when the slide is in. When you were on the roof, did you see if the top of the slide is making good contact with the outer seal and compressing it? You can also check the amount of gap you have between the sidewalls and the outer flange of the slide...the gaps on all 4 sides should be similair. If they're not, the slide room needs to be adjusted.

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Old 10-25-2010, 10:37 AM   #17
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Logansrun did you have your leak fixed ?

My SV-291 is leaking at the slide I found out. It is either entering the gasget from the top corners when the slide is out, or low chance that water is moving in from the bottom corners when it rains enough and if the curb side is a tad low. If you had a solution I would be VERY interested to hear what your dealer did to fix it.
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Old 11-02-2010, 01:23 PM   #18
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Goomph: We did get our leak fixed on the SV-264. We took it back to the dealer who fixed it under warranty work. I believe they said the seals were bad. One of the fascia boards on the slide out had some water damage so that is being replaced also. They didn't have one in stock so have had to order one. They showed us how to install the fascia board and are sending it to us to install ourselves. We have had no leaks since the fix. YEA! I would take yours back to your dealer.
So far we are very happy with our SV-264. We looked at the 291 but wanted the 80" bed length. We are glad we took the 264 because the mattress that came with the trailer is terrible. When we take the trailer out we transfer our full size pillow top bed to the trailer and put the trailer mattress in the house. It makes for a good nights sleep. We have used the trailer mattress less than 10 times and it looks like it has worn depressions in it already.
I hope your 291 came with a better mattress. Good luck getting the leak fixed, it will probably be warranty work.
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Old 11-02-2010, 01:33 PM   #19
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I am taking it to the other Surveryor dealr in Ontario this weekend, Niagara Trailers, who promised to fix it under warranty. I am hoping that they will really fix it under warranty. Did they tell you exactly where it was leaking from ? Was the water pooling where mine did, if you checked my pictures in my thread or was it a leak happening when the slide out instantly ...

The mattress in my SV-291 is pretty good. I did not have a reason to complain about it, guess I am lucky

I am glad you got it fixed ! Except the leaks I do not have many complaints left after fixing a bunch of stuff myself
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Old 11-02-2010, 05:23 PM   #20
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Goomph: I checked your pictures and yes water was indeed pooling in the white gasket. My dealer had me poke a small hole on the bottom of the white gasket so it would drain into a dish pan I had placed underneath the corner of the slide out in order to keep the water off the floor. After a big rain one night we had 2 inches of water in the dish pan. So glad it was in there rather than all over the floor. The slide was in during the rain storm.
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