FOREST RIVER Complaints

The contact owns a 2021 Forest River Georgetown RV built on a 2020 Ford F59 chassis. The contact stated that while operating the RV, the suspension was extremely unstable making it extremely difficult to control the vehicle. Additionally, while driving over bumps in the roadway, the RV would sway from side to side. The contact indicated that the GVW of the RV exceeded the weight limit for the chassis, causing the driver’s side of the RV to sag approximately 3 inches. The contact stated that all four wheels were sitting on the bump stops of the suspension. The RV was taken to the Forest River Service Center where suspension air bags were installed, but the failure persisted. The contact stated that the RV and chassis manufacturers confirmed the safety defect, but neither agreed to resolve the issue. The failure mileage was 500.

While driving down the road at highway speeds (65-68 M.P.H.) the "under belly" of the 2020 Cedar Creek 5th wheel trailer became dislodged and fell onto the freeway. Large sections of plastic (Estimating 36" X 48") as well as insulation was thrown onto the highway. After further inspection one could see the brackets holding the wooden cross member beams into place were only fastened with one sheet metal screw. The brackets were designed to have two sheet metal screws holding the bracket to the frame of the trailer. It was also noted wooden cross member beams were never fastened to the brackets. (There are no screw holes present indicating the beams were ever secured to the brackets.) The underbelly would have been secured to the cross member beams which may have been the cause of the failure resulting in the plastic and debris to be dislodged and falling onto the freeway.

The windshield has started cracking due to a seal defect. The crack started on the bottom driver's side. Upon inspection of the crack it was discovered that the seal on the interior of the windshield is defective, it sinks down unlike the rest of the seal. Note that after an online search it was found that other georgetown owners have had the same problem in the same area of the windshield. I since contacted Forest river Inc. and explained to them that the windshield has cracked and that it wasn't damaged by a rock or other debris. And that I discovered the defective seal, I also sent pictures detailing the claim. They however refuse to except responsibility for the problem. Note as the windshield cracks further it can weaken the integrity of the glass. This could become very dangerous if left unattended.

The contact owns a 2022 Forest River Rockwood. The contact stated that while the RV was parked, there was a short circuit causing the RV to catch fire from the inside. The fire marshals extinguished the fire. There was a police report filed. There were no injuries. The RV was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed with electrical system failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

We purchased four new National brand Road Max E trailer tires (ST225/75 R1S) on 08/26/22. Since purchase, we have driven less than 750 miles. On 01/06/23, while driving on a county road at approximately 45 miles per hour, the front passenger side tire on the trailer blew out. The entire tread came off in one piece causing superficial damage to the side of our trailer but ruining the rim. Prior to leaving our home, my husband checked the tires’ pressure and visually inspected all four and found no issues. It does not appear we ran over anything. Luckily, we were travelling at a slower speed, otherwise, we could have been injured and/ or injured others on the road. A basically new tire with very little use should not blowout in that manner. Given we are unsure of the safety related to the remaining three tires, we are having all four replaced with a different brand. Further, we cannot find a wheel to match the other three tires, so we are likely having to replace all four wheels, costing an estimated $1,800.

The message center displayed “Service Advance Trac” and the cruise control stopped working. Right after this event the steering wheel was no longer straight when driving straight but angled counterclockwise about 30 degrees. After this happened the warning always comes back and the cruise shuts off after starting the engine and driving a minute or two. The steering wheel has remained at the angled position when driving straight.

The RV came with a heated mattress which I would often used to pre-heat the mattress before going to bed. On 11/23/2022, I turned the mattress heater on level 4 & went out of the camper. After about an hour, the smoke alarm went off & I came into the camper to find a very strong toxic odor. I found the smell was coming from the mattress & immediately turned off the heater. Upon further investigation, I saw a burn hole in the bedding & discovered the mattress smoldering. I feel fortunate that I was not sleeping with the mattress heater on when this occurred & fear the various alternative situations this may have caused. I have notified the RV dealer, as well as the RV, mattress & heating control manufacturers. They have responded but have not notified me as to a resolution or further investigation. The mattress, bedding & the heater control unit are available for inspection. I have made no contact with the fire or police department or my insurance company as I discovered the smoldering mattress before it actually caught fire.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH and descending a steep road grade, a 2016 Forest River Amera-lite box trailer that he was towing, the two supports which are welded to the trailer tongue had failed and the trailer separated from the hitch. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact pulled over as soon as he was aware the trailer was no longer attached to his vehicle. The contact stated that the trailer tongue was still attached to the trailer hitch ball on his vehicle. The contact stated that the trailer had drifted across two lanes of traffic and hit a guard rail on the front end of the trailer and then settled along the left side and slid down the guard rail and stopped. The contact stated that the front end of the fiber glass box trailer was cracked and the left side of the trailer was also cracked and gouged. The contact stated that he had the trailer towed back to his residence. The trailer had not been diagnosed by a dealer or independent mechanic. The trailer had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

The fresh water and waste water holding tanks are not sufficiently supported in the trailer. We have had the black water tank replaced by the dealer because it shifted and fell out of the supports. The fresh water tank is now also showing signs of "sagging" where is should be supported. When inspecting the issue, it was noted that the tanks are only held in place by two support rails running between the main frame, much like a ladder rack or bed frame. The tanks are inserts between these rails and supported by a 2 inch lip on either side of the tank with no central support across the 7 foot span of the tank. This leaves a significant portion of the tank unsupported and subject to bouncing or shifting under normal travel down the highway. The tanks are designed to hold 30 gallons of water in this manner. Forest River has acknowledged that there was a safety recall for this issue on previous year's models but has denied any issue with my particular model year. They have advised that I should simply run a support between the front and back support bars to lift the center of the tank, as this is what they did with the recall previously.

On the first trip out, We had a tire blowout. There was no warning on the TPMS, and the tire tread peeled like a retread. It caused major damage to the rv slide out, and threw tire tread across the highway putting other motorists at risk. Forest River refused to cover any of the damage. The tire manufacturer covered less than 30% of the cost of a new tire. After the repairs, we made another trip. This time we had two more blowouts. This damaged the other side of the rv and also took out all of the brake wiring, leaving us with no brakes on the rv. One tire blew across the entire tire from side to side, the other peeled the tread like the first blowout. It also threw tire parts across the interstate. Once again there was no warning on the TPMS with either tire. We then replaced all four tires with US made Goodyear tires and repaired the rv again. The tire manufacturer says it is going to pay for partial reimbursement of the four tires. Forest River will not even acknowledge my emails to these incidents other than to ask for pictures. They no longer responded after that. No brakes, tire parts flying across the highways into other motorists and having to change tires along busy interstates are all safety concerns that Forest River refuses to address. The tires are Lionshead Ridgway Sport ST LH-001 size ST235/80R16. Since there were three incidents in total, I only put the date of the first one below. The others occured on 11/29/2022 at 50mph and 12/4/2022 at 65mph.