Forest River build quality

[MilCop4523]

Covid put a huge dent in quality of units being built and the items used to finish the units off was worse. and the pride shown reflects that.
these companies cranked them out with tons of issues like no glue for roofing, structural issues.
shortages in propane and electric fridges, AC units, etc.
we had wall panels literally secured by 1 inch seam tape only in our 2021 trailer along with fridge and freezer doors which were so poorly adjusted they wouldn't close without forcing them.

scratches everywhere in wood trim - if the trim would stay in place.
our axles were greased with about 2 spoon fulls and the bearings burnt up on the way for the dealership.

we had a hauler take it back to Ontario where we purchased it in the fall of 2020 to work on it over the winter.
this person hauls over 120,000 miles a year and told us he was duct taping windows in place to avoid losing them on the highways and that one of his co workers actually lost the rear end of one trailer when the rear wall fell out.

advise. wait a year or two if you can before getting a new TT from any manufacturer at this point is what I am told be many selling in the industry

[EDR]

I agree with Dan and all of the senior members have posted. Buying a brand new travel trailer is much like buying a new house. Unless the builder has a top-notch quality assurance team, there will be issues that need fixing. We had a walk-through with the builder's rep.and checked everything we could. We both noticed a couple of quality issues that the builder fixed right away.



I should have done a much more thorough walk-through, including a powered-on appliance check when we bought our Clipper Cadet (our dealer is 60 miles from our home). I think a short shake-down trip is the next step. There were builder issues the the dealer should have caught, like water leaks when the kitchen faucet was turned on, outside kitchen vent not screwed in, etc. that ended up costing me time and money later even though they were covered by warranty. I know the old expression is that you get what you pay for, but I believe a lot of posters on this website don't think they got everything they paid for.

[ThruHiker]

IDK how the pandemic builds have been, but we’ve been very happy with our 2019 Rockwood. Overall, I’ve read more good things about Rockwood and sister line Flagstaff over the last three years than I have read bad things about them. Definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a new TT. Still built in a hurry I’m sure, but maybe they at least have workers who usually know what they’re doing.

I was talking to a guy just this morning (we’re on the road for the next six weeks or so) and he had a 2021 Class C, Omni by Thor. I went over because he was working on an awning; he had ongoing problems with it and a few other things, he explained. He was philosophical about it. It doesn’t matter much what you buy, it’ll have issues.

[EDR]

I do agree that the pandemic adversely affected many industries, including the RV industry. However, we bought our Coachman Clipper Cadet before the pandemic, so one should expect that a reasonable level of attention would be paid to quality details. Now I am not saying one should expect BMW or MB quality in a relatively inexpensive "starter trailer". Just saying the build quality level could have been a bit better in ours. Having been the general manager of a small manufacturer for many years and director of quality assurance for another, I have a lot of experience in this area. I learned quickly what customers expect and how they react if they don't get it. If you manufacture products in the categories of good, better and best and focus on price, quality and customer service, you will gain quite a following; especially in these times of extensive social media exposure.

[rfifer]

In support of many of the previous posts, I have developed the strong impression that the quality depends, in large part, on the year of manufacture of the trailer. We have been very happy with our 2019 Grey Wolf 26 DBH. It has been a reliable trailer with essentially no issues. The items that showed up were indeed minor that I could fix myself.

When the pandemic hit and everything shut down in March 2020, the entire industry seemed to change. In recalling many of the items on this community forum, it seemed like the newly manufactured trailers had the most complaints. Supply chain, availability of materials apart from the supply chain, personnel issues, OJT experience, and other factors came together to produce the perfect storm. In all honesty, I don't expect it to become substantially better for at least another year or more based on everything I have been reading. The impact has been universal across many different industries and involving the same major factors. I'm looking forward to getting back to normal, however that will be defined in another year or two.

[Guspech750]

So far so good with our 2021 Grey Wolf 23MK. Bought it new in March of 2021. Been burning the wheels off of it last year and this year. Nothing has failed, broke or let us down yet.

[JoeCampsNE]

We have a 2017 FR Flagstaff Micro Lite 21FBRS that we purchased new. We've been travel trailer owners for close to 40 years and have owned many different types, brands and lengths over that time. Since my wife and I are empty nesters now and weight and size were a factor we went with this unit because it can be towed easily with our Toyota Tacoma. Anyhow back to the point. I found the quality of our unit to be on par with any previous unit we have owned. There are always odds and ends that you need to take care of that I probably just take for granted at this point but the cage, roo, siding, plumbing and appliances have all worked fine. The fit and finish of the carpentry was a little suspect but it is a lite trailer. On the positive side we found it to be very customizable so we've had a lot of fun making it our own.

[MR.M]

Everybody seems to have an excuse for the rv industry lack of quality Forest River included . But in the end it's a poor excuse for putting poor qualtiy units when they have the ability to do better just choose not to . push it out the door get the money and move onto the next pos .. There is not one good excuse just those that seem to want to defend a brand name because they own one . crap is crap if you can't keep up with demand raise prices till demand slows . not enough employees pay better in reality they higher unskilled labor and have for decades. If I did the quality of work the rv indrsutry does i would be out of work fast . people just keep buying because most don't know any better . rant over will get into my last purchase as soon as it gets back from the factory where it had to go back to get finished . all ready taking weeks longer then planned

[hogdooz]

We have a 2017 Forest River Work & Play WRS30. Like someone mentioned previously, Forest River has so many divisions and what we found out is a Forest River Dealer won't work on our RV if they don't carry the line RV you have. Which means the closest dealer for us is 4 hours away. For most of my initial issues, Forest River sent me parts and I did the repair work or they reimbursed me for contractor work. The Work & Play is a very durable line but as a toy hauler is larger than some might want. It's more industrial and easy to maintain. It has served our purpose just fine--we have been all over the US towing it. The build quality was lacking--suspension springs installed without bushings, hold down bolts in garage too short to hold a load, safety chains not securely attached, minor water leaks, etc. All is repaired and we have towed for the last 1 1/2 years with no issues.
Good luck in whatever you decide to upgrade to.

[Johnny Boy]

Shoddy construction seems to be the norm no matter the brand. I read recently there were like 600,000 rvs produced last year due to high demand during covid. Cookie cutter construction, fast unsupervised construction, quality control at its weakest. Lots of bucks for questionable product. Sadly

[Bigmikejones]

Our 2022 heritage glen is a train wreck. Day one 23 warranty issues. Not sure how it passed QA, or dealership checks

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by MR.M

Everybody seems to have an excuse for the rv industry lack of quality Forest River included . But in the end it's a poor excuse for putting poor qualtiy units when they have the ability to do better just choose not to . push it out the door get the money and move onto the next pos .. There is not one good excuse just those that seem to want to defend a brand name because they own one . crap is crap if you can't keep up with demand raise prices till demand slows . not enough employees pay better in reality they higher unskilled labor and have for decades . amish , mennonites doesn't matter they are no better then joe blow out of high school if they are working for a manufature rather then themselves . If I did the quality of work the rv indrsutry does i would be out of work fast . people just keep buying because most don't know any better . rant over will get into my last purchase as soon as it gets back from the factory where it had to go back to get finished . all ready taking weeks longer then planned

Yet, people are still buying RVs at a record pace. Even with fuel prices going up and a possible recession coming, many are still buying them. We've had a big influx in new RV owning members recently, even with the economic issues and bad RV quality being well documented.
So apparently, poor RV quality has not affected the buying public but fuel prices and economic issues most likely will.

[kleatham]

We have a Rockwood MiniLite 2511s we have had for 3 years and absolutely love it. Have not had a single problem with ours.

[wildmanabe]

I think the record #of ppl buying RV's have not been on a RV Forum. Some of the things wrong with my new unit were head scratching, like water lines connected to kitchen sink, were on but not tighten. Something you don't see until u use it (like washing your first dish) and u see water at base of the breakfast nook. A molding stud nail put in but not into the wall, missed it by over an inch. Had me wondering about the lug nuts on the wheels.
But what makes it worst is the dealership. Giving them list of things to fix prior to pick up. wow not one thing fixed.

[Aussieguy]

what happens after a problem is found is what I consider important.


I bought a 24RLXL .... now that layout is distributed by Salem and other manufacturers.
I figure it is probably made at the same factory and simply re-badge it to be either a Salem , Wildwood etc etc.


Had a problem with the microwave ... after initial shakedown trip.
Did not want to go to the selling dealer as it was 3+ hours away.
Contacted FR... who gave me a list of local companies to call.


First repair company I phoned... said they would work with me on warranty claim
but decided NOT to do it after FR gave them the payment amount.


Figured I was on my own and have to start over, but was nicely surprised to find a voice mail from Forrest River (Dave) saying he was monitoring my situation and suggested I call another company....


2 company mobile RV Tech is now booked in for home visit to replace Microwave and to do a recall for the LP gas valve


could not be happier with Forrest River's level of service.

[razzle408]

We have a 2019 WolfPup my wife bought new and we are very happy with it.
The problem we are having is we had to replace the Dometic A/C unit already. And now the Dometic refrigerator is acting up. As far as build quality the unit has been fine. Just Dometic junk giving problems.

[MarkPW]

Have to agree with NevadaMiniLite. We have a 2020 Rockwood MiniLite 2109s and the only issue of note is a furnace issue, but that goes back to Suburban, not Rockwood.

Keep in mind that Forest River is the parent of many different lines of RVs and many of those were purchased by Forest River and have their own factories, reputations, and methods so quality can vary. Research is your friend here.

Originally Posted by NevadaMiniLite

My wife and I love our 2019 2109S Mini Lite and have had no major issues. Our neighbors just bought a 2021 2205S Mini Lite and after using it a handful of times have had no issues. Another neighbor just purchased a 2019 2104S and have been very happy with it. Rockwood Mini Lites generally have a pretty decent reputation, and I would buy another if I were in the market.

[dagwood18]

I have owned 6 campers in my life. I recently bought a 2022 Coachman Adrenaline. Poor workmanship period. Purchased late April and got it back from shop mid June. Major slide rebuild, door mounts pulled out of ceiling, leaking toilet, torn slide seals, folding queen bed hinges pulled out, not proper mounting. Some of these I fixed myself. Great response from warranty department and local dealer getting repairs done. Bottom line is poor workmanship from the factory...period!!

[Eric H.]

I am active on several RV forums and Facebook owner groups because I do a little work on RV's and I like to keep current on major brands and technology. They all have the same complaints including Heartland, Grand Design, and Jayco.

[Bob K4TAX]

While someone said Forest River doesn't make travel trailers, OK, so they have a division of Forest River that makes various models. Ours clearly says Forest River Wildwood X-Lite. So, it is a Forest River or is it a Wildwood, or is it an X-Lite?

The bottom line, is they all come from the same block of wood or whatever. They all use the same RV refrigerators, they all use the same RV AC's, and they all use the same RV water heaters, but the difference is in size, features, layout, and a host of other things. While there may be a couple of different brands in each of those items, they are all about the same, work the same way and perform the same functions.

Structurally, the "lite" trailers are made from lightweight materials in order to reduce weight. After all, one needs or wants a lightweight trailer to tow with a smaller vehicle. There have to be some compromises along the line.

Our Wildwood X-Lite sure suits our needs and quality for the price and weight.