FOREST RIVER Complaints

Factory weight measurements show rear axle at 14,310 lbs (GAWR: 15,500 lbs). Adding required fluids (80 US gal fuel @ 480 lbs, 24.5 US gal LPG @ 103 lbs, 85 US gal fresh water @ 705 lbs, 10 US gal hot water @ 84 lbs) increases rear axle weight to 15,579 lbs, exceeding GAWR by 79 lbs before any cargo loading. This creates significant safety risks through axle overload during normal operation. Forest River now builds this model on 26000# chassis, validating the original chassis as inadequate. Suspension upgrade costs approximately $28,000 USD. Request investigation for safety recall of all 2021 GT7 36K7 units on 24000# chassis. Issue previously raised with Chad Defrees (factory) and service center management.

On [XXX] while driving down [XXX] in Jacksonville Fl my living room/dinning room slide fully extended. No prior warning was given. after getting to the side of the road we called a mobile rv tech. He checked everything and found a code for the parking brake not set. Going down the road it would not be set. We found a way to over ride the slide and get it back in. We left the power to both slides unplugged so it could not happen again. After arriving at our destination we plugged the slides back in and they worked fine. After a couple of hours the slide that gave the problem retracted all by itself. Lucky there was no one inside and nothing was in the way so no damage was done. At 5:00 AM the slide fully extended again while we were in bed. I got up and unplugged it again. I have contacted Forest River, Lippert, and Percision Circuits to try to get help and answers to this problem. No one has been able to help as of yet 1-14-2025. We have had to mobile techs look at the problem at a total cost of $685.00 out of pocket and still haven't figured anything out. We could have had a very serious accident causing harm or death to us or other travelers when that slide came out. My dogs could have been injured or killed had they been inside when that slide came in by itself. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

“Frameless”, rear, fixed, upper window pane (Lippert brand), detached from its bonding and flew off the motorhome while in motion on the highway. Fortunately no one was struck with this. Unable to retrieve since we never knew exactly where and when it happened..

2015 Forest River Sandpiper 365asqb 42’ 5th wheel RV Frame Failure - Our RV has been stationary 90% of the time since it was purchased brand new. Initially the cabinets began opening while in motion and the doors scrubbed as they closed. Within two weeks the center of the roof had a gap where the front cap meets the top of the roof. This was repaired immediately. Over the past four months the center of the RV has progressively gotten worse sagging in the center. While pulling the RV four days ago the RV became uncontrollable while in motion. The RV couldn’t safely be towed back home. The RV is being taken back to our house 4 hrs away on an equipment trailer after finding frame failure. This is dangerous and had my husband not regained control I likely would not be submitting this report today. There are many reports of Lippert’s frames failing on 5th wheel RV’s. They refuse to repair the defective frames leaving consumers with useless dangerous RV’s they paid in excess of $30,000 for.

slide out was activated but only left hand side moved right side was bound up. The guide came apart on the right side h column and completely bound it up. It took 3 people to assist me at the campsite to force the one side back in so I could get it home without obstructing traffic. This was an end of season purchase we only used the camper on 1 trip, I calculated that we have used the slide out on this new RV a total of 13 times always following the instruction on opening and closing it. That seems like very low usage for wear and tear to be a factor. Additionally this slide out system was recalled on similar 2022 RVs for this exact issue. The recall need to be expanded to all manufacturers that these defective parts were installed. This is a parts quality issue and lippert is aware of it. I was told that it was not covered and paid to have this fixed myself, while trying to address this issue with lippert they told me they need a sticker off the old part, when I picked up the unit the service department told me they did not keep the old parts. Lippert has told me I’m out of luck because of that. Please consider investigating just how many units and consumer were truly affected due to lipperts negligence.

On [XXX] , a little before [XXX], my wife and I heard a loud "CRASH"-sound outside our house. Upon investigating the source of the noise, we discovered that the awning of our 2022 Forest River Shasta 18FQ travel trailer had completely fallen off the unit. Please note that this occurred on a sunny day with no wind, so weather was not a contributing factor. The awning at the time was totally retracted. We can only attribute this damage to structural failure of the awning's attachment to the body side of the trailer. We are very thankful that the trailer was stationary in our driveway and were not on the highway with it when this happened, as it could have resulted in an accident, very serious injury to someone, or even worse. We are providing photos of the damage referred to, for review. The manufacturer, Forest River RV, subsequently has paid for repairs and replacement of the entire awning assembly under vehicle warranty. Photos of the damage were provided to Forest River as well. Before the occurrence, there was no indication at all of imminent component failure. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While I was driving the motorhome on a narrow highway pulled over as soon as i came to a exit when the check engine light started flashing. I immediately pulled over as soon as it was safe and the code read failure on #1 fuel injector. I pulled into a campground and had the motorhome towed to a repair garage since it was not driveable the engine had a knock and did not want to do any damage to the engine . After getting it diagnosed it now needs a new engine the failed fuel injector caused sever damage to the piston. The motorhome only has 29,000 miles on the engine. This stranded me 2000 miles from home. After doing research I found that the Ford V-10 triton engine has a history of faulty injectors. The mechanic said that the engine damage was caused by a injector stuck open.

Leaf spring fractured and failed twice on the same side of RV following NTHSA mandated recall repair 16V579, and safety modification kit part# 425750. This time the leaf spring failure caused the tire to rub the wheel well and create enough friction to start the interior wheel well carpeting and a garment bag on there to ignite and smolder filling the interior cabin with smoke. Contacted manufacturer Forest River regarding this issue and to obtain information including torque settings and recall kit spacer dimensions on their installed recall modification kit. After not hearing back from Andrew at Forest River- Cherokee customer service for a week regarding (claim reference # [XXX]) I contacted him again and he claimed to have no resolution/answers for me. Following that telephone conversation , It has been well over 2 weeks and he has not responded back to my request regarding the NHTSA safety recall kit issues. If my personal safety is at risk while pulling this travel trailer I would like to know about it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

* On the way back home from the dealer in PA for a water-tank recall service, the right leaf spring on the trailer broke on the highway and caused the trailer on fire. The less than 3-years old trailer was totaled. Police and I took photos of the damaged trailer and spring. I also kept the broken spring for inspection. * It could be a FATAL incident. We were luckily stopped for gas otherwise the fire could be breaking out when we were driving on highway! * The spring was permanently broken and was confirmed by the police and towing/service center. * The trailer was inspected by police/fire department and Rossnagle's Service Center (police called). * There were NOT any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. We didn't feel any abnormal behavior of the trailer until we stopped for gas when we saw the smoke start to come out. I don't know how long the trailer body had been sit in the moving tire before the fire started.

The ladder bracket attached to the rear of the RV was not installed into anything structural it was only attached to the RV fiberglass using 4 small screws. When I attempted to climb onto the roof the bracket broke off the RV causing me to fall appx 8-10 to the ground. I was injured as a result of the fall and I needed to go to an Emergency Room for tests and treatment. This ladder is extremely unsafe and will cause bodily harm possibly death to anyone that uses it.