Excited but Concerned New 2021 Sierra 2990TRIK

RV Bicyclist · 02-09-2021, 12:57 PM

Hello FR Forum. As title highlights, we are excited as heck to be new RV'ers, but I have been reading all the Forum Reviews and many nightmares of brand new FR RV owners with sometimes significant system problems and defects. Am I going to regret this? I am adept at working thru issues but I want to enjoy using this RV. I ALSO enjoy some maintenance and know I should use first year warranty to find/resolve any issues..... Hoping many of you had few/no issues with your Sierra and/or FR 5th Wheel.

**ependydad** · 02-09-2021, 04:53 PM

I’m in my second Forest River fifth wheel. First a Sabre and second a Spartan. I had a few issues here or there and have always been happy with my RVs. They were not perfect and had some issues from the factory and others self-inflicted.

We fulltimed in both and that puts extra stresses on each.

RV Bicyclist · 02-09-2021, 05:25 PM

Thanks for the encouragement Ependydad. I haven't been this excited in quite some time. I pick up the RV in the next couple of weeks. I will be using some of the good advice surrounding PreDelivery Inspection/PDI, and intend to be as thorough as possible. Again - thanks for the encouraging feedback!

**ependydad** · 02-09-2021, 11:31 PM

I’ve used this checklist a few times now. It’s been great for giving a thorough test of all systems.

The only thing I feel like it’s missing is take a DVD to test each player out. Most of mine have been mis-wired in some way.

http://www.angelfire.com/trek/buenav...PDI_V113_2.pdf

aceinspp · 02-10-2021, 07:26 AM

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your up coming purchase. Yes make sure to do a good PDI. This forum can be found by going to the green header bar above and click on library then look for the PDI forum. Good luck. Later RJD

RV Bicyclist · 02-20-2022, 02:52 PM

This thread was regarding my concerns regarding quality of our new Sierra 2990TRIK Fifth Wheel. I thought it may be helpful to some if I posted (after a full year w/ the RV) an overview of all quality issues we experienced and the resolution. Note: After 11 separate trips in the RV including one trip from Oregon to Colorado and back I no longer consider us newbie RV'ers. Hope this thread is helpful to some of you.

Also please note that our authorized Forest River repair center are NOT an RV dealer and do not sell RV's. I found them online and checked out their Yelp reviews etc. and they have proven to be an EXCELLENT source to resolve all of my issues (that I did not resolve myself).

Overall Conclusion: We are VERY happy with our Sierra Fifth wheel. The quality was not as bad as I feared from reading some of the Forum Posts. I am not discounting the posts of frustrated owners.... if one or some of these issues caused me more heartburn I'd not be happy either.

Issues List and Resolutions:
1. Refrigerator does not cool.
Warranty repair diagnosed and fixed by repair center. Leaking refrigerant caused by pierced compressor cooling system. We noted during PreDelivery Inspection that the fridge was maybe not cooling but we thought maybe it just needed more time.... Turned out to be more serious.

2. Overhead fan noise.
I believe the hanging chain got caught up in fan and caused some misalignment. Our repair center diagnosed and repaired it under warranty. I shortened the chain so it does not happen again.

3. Bedroom AC cycles on/off way too frequently. (1 of the 2 AC's in the RV)
Our Repair center diagnosed a bad thermostat and replaced it. Works great now.

4. I installed an EZ Start soft starter on Bedroom AC.
This is actually just to be helpful/inform readers regarding this. I purposely waited until AFTER the bedroom AC was diagnozed/fixed before this install to avoid any warranty questions regarding the AC resolution. My EZ start install works flawlessly, and I am now able to start and run both AC's when on my generator power only. (Start first AC that does not have an eZ start, then start the 2nd AC afterwards).

5. Schwintek slide on bedroom faults out and does not close.
This was resolved by reading the Schwintek manual and following the "alignment troubleshooting" guidelines to make sure the motors are in sync. There are no hardware problems just need to be very diligent with these slides making sure to not start/stop in the middle of a cycle to keep them in sync.

6. Bathroom door latch not holding door closed.
Minor craftsmanship issue. I fixed it.

7. Shower door off it's tracks.
This is a pain that we will need to live with and I will be futzing with for a while I think. No big deal really.

**bikendan** · 02-20-2022, 03:10 PM

Moved from Welcome Mat section to the Sierra sub-forum since OP is giving model-specific review information.

tomkatb · 02-20-2022, 03:46 PM

Go to Lowes and get a circuit tester. $6 have the DW check them all.

Take a meat thermometer to test ac should be below 60 degrees. Furnace well above 100.

Take 2 bottles of antifreeze. I would want to test the water system. You can dump the water easily at your parking site as the tanks should only have water in them. Dump the water in a 5 gallon bucket/lid. Pour it down the toilet. I remove the water heater anode rod and dump the water anywhere.

Likely you are to get an electric fridge. It should run like crazy. Easily cool in 2-3 hours to the 32 degrees. As these are normally not trailer refrigerators they are not built for Earthquakes or Hurricanes.

Say no to take it home and pay for it then bring it back for repairs. We have sort of a no return to the dealer for less than $200 of repairs attitude. By the time you make an appointment for service. Take it in for evaluation. return again when the parts are in. It then takes several more weeks for repairs. So three trips to the dealer. Likely 4-6 months.

Did you order enough extra batteries to allow overnight stops? Unless you make arrangements the dealer will install a marine/car battery to allow the trailer emergency brake to work. Not a lot more. Many a Dear Wife has awakened in the new trailer at 0 Dark 30 when the heat stops. Batteries are the weak spot in the modern rv.

RV Bicyclist · 02-21-2022, 11:20 AM

2 other items forgot to mention.

1. We purchased the AP Products Propane Tank Level Indicator system that sends bluetooth tank level information to app on my phone. I really like knowing tank levels.
2. Also purchased a Tire Pressure Monitoring system. Love knowing status of trailer tire pressures.
3. Also procured a camera for the back of the RV. This is helpful when backing up and also while driving down road to see cars immediately behind us.

You may also like: