FOREST RIVER Complaints

Owners of a 2020 Georgetown GT Series 34H5 reported cracks at the welds and at the 90 degree bend in the rear (right when facing) propane tank mounting bracket. This is an ASME tank that I believe can contain 19.5 actual gallons of propane. There were also reports on the Georgetown RV Owners Group on Facebook of cracks in the welds on the front propane bracket. One post reported that an owner of a Georgetown had a tank that one side had dropped completely when driving. There was also a post shared from another group where a Georgetown FR3 may have lost a propane tank while driving. This was reposted at the following link: [XXX] After inspecting my own tank on my 2019 34H5, I discovered a crack in the rear (right side facing) mounting bracket of the propane tank. The crack is in the 90 degree bend. The crack appears to be completely through the depth of metal and is approximately 2" to 3" long. There may be a crack in the weld on the upper corner as well however I cannot tell if it is just that the actual corner that was not welded or if it cracked. The RV is available for inspection if required but note that I have scheduled a repair in early December with a local RV repair facility and will ask them to inspect the entire mounting bracket when repaired. It is unknown when these occurred or what caused them but I observed the cracks on November 17, 2023. The major concern I have is that should a total failure of the brackets occur, the propane tank could fall and strike the ground. Should this occur, this could be a potentially dangerous situation as it is possible the propane tank could explode and cause major damage/injury to the vehicle and occupants, as well as other vehicles/occupants. Our motorhome is 5 years old and has a mileage of 22316. It was built in September/October of 2018. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This tire was mounted on my Forest River XLR Micro. The vehicle tires are rated for 2450lbs each @ 80 PSI. I was traveling with less than 8000lbs weight of the RV, and I had two of these tires blow out from the Sidewall/ tread area with in 20 miles of each other. This was the 3rd tire to blow out of the 5 original tires. I ALWAYS check my tire premeasure prior to traveling with my RV, and I know this trip I had 78-79 PSI cold. The tires were in very good shape, and had approximately 6400 miles on them. I have contacted the manufacture of tires, and they refused any warranty. I have also read online that other RVers have had the same issue with these tires. There should be a RECALL or something done.

Another owner of a 2020 Forest River Georgetown GT5 model 34H5 just posted a pic of a crack at the 90-degree bend in the rear propane tank mounting bracket. This is an ASME tank that can contain 19.5 actual gallons of propane. Previous ASME propane tank mounting bracket cracks reported by owners of Georgetowns were all on the front propane tank mounting bracket and were broken welds that allowed one end of the propane tank to drop almost to the road while driving. They were NOT a crack at the 90-degree bend in the bracket and also NOT on the rear bracket. I just cut three tie wraps to expose that bend on our 2020 Georgetown GT5 34H5 and my rear propane tank mounting bracket is cracked in exactly the same place. The crack is full depth at the exposed end of the bend. The crack appears to extend 2" to 3" through the bend of the 8" long bracket. There is some rust in the crack at the end so the crack started a while ago. A total failure of the bracket would allow one end or both ends of the ASME tank to fall and strike the ground. That could be like a bomb exploding when driving, the same as the previously reported front ASME tank bracket failures could cause. Our motorhome is four years old with about 17,000 miles. It was built in May 2019.

Due to faulty welding of the supports for the onboard propane tank, the tank fell out the bottom of the rig on I-70 outside Kansas City on June 6 2023. The tank bounced around, knocking out one one of the drive shafts before bursting into flames. There was no warning before this happened as there are no sensors for that. With the rig being a total loss, there is no way to reproduce the problem. My insurance company hired a fire investigator, but findings were inconclusive due to the extent of the fire damage. I have since found others that have had this issue, but mine is the first that led to a fire that I am aware of. [XXX] . Forest River has been contacted, but they deny a problem exists. All five passengers made it out safely. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Tire size ST225/75R15 Camper was purchased in 2021. Luckily, it was a dual axle. We left on a cross-country trip in 2023 with the original Castle Rock tires. Tires were in good shape and had good tread and pressure. On 7/28/23 @1PM (Day 1), the passenger side front tire blew out near Sparks, GA causing damage to the skirting. It was replaced with the spare Castle Rock tire. We purchased another tire at Five Star Tire Service for $107.41 to replace the blown tire and the spare was put back underneath the camper. On 7/29/23 @10:30AM (Day 2), the passenger rear tire blew in Glenrose Heights Atlanta, GA. We replaced it with the spare tire. We purchased a new spare from T.P.S. for $160.50 to replace the blown tire and put the spare back underneath the camper. On 7/29/23 @5:30PM (Day 2), the driver side front tire blew in Ringgold, GA causing damage to the water barrier and cracking the sewer tube holder under the camper. We replaced it with the spare tire. On 7/30/23, we purchased a new Carlisle tire at Walmart for $101.00. We put it on the driver side front and put the spare underneath. We travelled through South Dakota, Wyoming, Oregon, and into Utah. On 9/22/23, the driver side rear tire blew out and ripped through the floor of the camper. This caused enough damage to delay our trip to get an estimate; and get a repair that required two insurance claims. We purchased 4 new Carlisle tires from LES Schwab at $158.78 each, keeping the previously purchased Carlisle tire as the new spare. We are reporting this as we feel the Castle Rock tires are not safe. The tires were not even 2 years old, had less than 4000 miles on them and were well taken care of. Luckily, we had dual axles, and no one was hurt, however, it was very costly. We feel that Forest River should discontinue the use of Castle Rock tires made in China.

Castle Rock ST Radial ST 226 - Tire Size 205/75R14 - Load Range C - This tire had never been used and was stored with a cover over it - on the back of our camper. The tire blew - see attached pictures - when it was not in use. Concern - someone could have been hurt - and we have 4 more of these tires on our camper. Am concerned after reading all the reviews - this will happen to the other 4 tires while we are in transit.

Tire size: st 205 / 75 R 15 Returning ng home from a camping vacation. Traveling on interstate 10 east of San Antonio. Experienced a right rear blowout in a tandem axle camping trailer. Upon replacing damaged tire with included spare noticed considerable damage to wheel well from exploded tire. The tire’s tread had seperate exposing broken and separated belts. I was confused why brand new tires would explode as this one did. Also noticed that the 3 remaining tires looked different from the exact replacement spare tire. Spare tire looked normal but the three remaining tires looked like their center tread wanted to separate as well. We made it home. The tire is still available to inspect. Our lives were in danger because we had to pull over on the side of interstate and change tire. The tire was available for inspection by the insurance company but no comment was made.

*The large coroplast panels that line the underbelly detach and fall off while driving. These panels are very large (about 4 x 6). * These panels came off while we were towing it on the interstate and mountainous roads. They could potentially cause an accident. * The camper is set to be inspected Nov. 16th to assess why they are falling off and to order replacement panels (They are necessary to protect the wires and lines underneath from wildlife and weather and therefore will have to be replaced.) * These are just coroplast panels that are screwed in. We did not know they had come off until we reached our destination and saw some remaining panels were hanging. These were resecured with duct tape. The 2 pictures attached are from our camper. They show what the panels look like, how they are attached, and an area where some are missing.

Lionshead Castlerock st225/75r15 tire. We had 3 tires fail in 5 weeks, I filed seperate reports on the two that caused damage and high risk situations since it asks location of tire and doesn't give multiple as an option so I will focus on just this one in this report. We found the missing tread and delamination when we inspected and replaced this tire after the other 2 blowouts. This did cause a risky situation as we had to drive on damaged tire for 30 miles in the dark to find a dealer and sleep in their parking lot util they opened since we had already used our spare on the blow tire. At this time we have contacted the mfg of both the tires and trailer, filing warrantee paperwork with Lionshead. We have not heard anything back from them as of today.

Lionshead Castlerock ST225/75R15 Tires on XLR Boost Toy Hauler Trailer. Within 5 weeks we had 3 tires fail in 2 incidents. I have already filed on the 2nd incident, but since it asks for tire location I am filing this second complaint for first incident. In the incident in which the front passenger side tire failed, we were traveling along Hwy 2 outside of Monroe Washington headed up Stevens Pass to a campground in Eastern Washington. The tire blew out traveling about 55mph on a paved highway. When it blew a large section of tread turned into a flap that damaged the underside of the trailer tearing off insulation and vapor barrier. We had to change the tire on the side of the road with traffic passing dangerously close. Since it was almost dark when we were done and we did not have a second spare in case of another incident we took it slow up pass and had to sleep in a rest are until tire shop opened. It was dangerous changing tire on the side of the busy road and nerve wrecking crossing pass without spare, however at that time (5 weeks ago) we did not bother with reporting or contacting mfg. as we thought it was a isolated incident and maybe we ran over something. When we had 2 more tires fail within such a short time leaving us stranded again with more damage we realized this is probably a defective tire situation. At this time we have reached out to the mfg of both the tire and trailer but have not heard anything back. We had this tire replaced by Les Schwab in Wenatchee WA and put it back as the spare. There was no warning before the blowout and we check pressure and visually inspect tires regularly. This was only about about 30 miles into our cross country trip.