FOREST RIVER Complaints

On the morning of June 11th, while traveling along Interstate 90, west of Billings, Montana, our travel trailer had a tire disintegrate within a matter of seconds. This unexpected event was alarming and placed our family in a very dangerous situation. Fortunately, we heard the tire blow and were able to pull off onto the shoulder of the interstate immediately. We assumed this was an isolated tire incident and continued with our family trip. Then on June 20th, while traveling through Beaver, Utah and stopping for gas at a Flying J Store, our inspection of the trailer tires revealed that the rear, driver’s side trailer tire was showing signs of uneven wear – to the extent that the steel belts within the tire were visible. Fortunately, the service station had a tire service shop that was capable of inspecting the tires and suspension system. Upon further inspection it was visibly apparent that the leaf springs were overloaded. Furthermore, the springs were deflecting in a manner that was compromising the tire alignment, which likely caused the uneven wear on the rear trailer tires. We had just traveled over treacherous mountainous roads that had very little, or no room to pull off the road. If a spring had broken or tire blown on those roads, my family could have been in a very serious and life-threatening situation. It also concerned me that we could have been sitting on the side of Interstate 15, in a remote area and over 2000 miles away from home. After further inspection we found that the axles which are rated for 3500 lbs per axle are on a travel trailer that is rated to be able to handle almost 8000 lbs. This seems to mean the axles are overloaded from the factory. I believe this is a safety issue not just for my family, but every family that uses this type of unit. I need to add that we took every precaution to not be overloaded, and we still had issues.

Tire Blew out. Tread coming off inner tire and metal wire every where. Less than 4k miles on the tires

This report is rather unusual as I actually represent over a 1000 people currently with this problem/concern. We are group of a few thousand members who own Forest River Products in various trims models and sizes. What is similar on those products is Castle Rock ST tires. Those tires are extremely hazardous as they blow up without warning and they need to be recalled asap. We started a petition which has over 1000 signatures that wants this issue to be brought up to light. Here is a link to petition: https://chng.it/tHtrcwwJKD Please let us know what could be the next steps in hopefully removing this product from the Forest River products under a recall?

Fresh water tank sags and is not secured to the frame, Due to the sag the water tank could slip through the beams and detach from the trailer.

The contact owns a 2021 Forest River Wildwood Travel Trailer equipped with Castle Rock tires, Tire Line: ST226 Radial, Tire Size: 205/75/R14, DOT Number: JUJTYMT2920. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver's side rear tire had tread separation. The contact was able to pull over and replace the driver's side rear tire with the spare tire. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4,800.

The contact owns a 2018 Forest River Rockwood equipped with Castle Rock tires, Tire Line: Radial ST226, Tire Size: ST205/75/R14, DOT Number: JUJTYMT2817. The contact stated while driving 58 MPH, the driver’s and passenger’s side rear tires experienced blowouts and thread separation. The contact was able to pull over safely and replace the tires. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

The contact owns a 2022 Forest River East to West Alta. The contact stated that she discovered water leaks coming from two separate areas of the RV. The contact stated that water was leaking from the roof of the middle room in the RV and in the living room. The RV was taken to the dealer for repair and remained in the dealer possession. The contact attempted to reach the manufacturer by phone and email; however, had not yet received a response. The RV was not repaired. The failure mileage was 0.

I am a new owner of a Forrest River Rockwood Extreme Sports Package Pop-up single axel RV camper trailer. Purchase date was 05/27/2022. Incident occurred on June 23rd 2022. (27th day of ownership) During this trailers very first trip out my husband, our kids and I had a catastrophic Lug Stud/Lug Nut failure on the driver side tire which caused the trailer to lose the entire wheel and tire and caused so much damage that I fear my new trailer is going to become totaled out once an insurance adjuster comes to inspect it. Without warning, this incident caused the trailer to bounce and then slam on the highway and then lose control. The sheer forces involved caused the slide out dinette to become unlocked and spill out all over the side of the highway, destroying the plywood structure of the trailers livable space on the drivers side which included the furnace, propane lines, electrical lines, and even the cable system which is needed to fully raise the pop up. While talking to the Highway DPS and the tow truck driver, they both were in agreement that either the Dealership or the Manufacturer over tightened the lug nuts. This is because 3 of the 5 lug studs were completely sheered off, so much so that they were flush with the mating surface of the hub. After looking at the rim of the wheel that was involved it looks possible that the remaining 2 lug nuts may have shattered or failed in some way from the forces that were placed on them from not having those other lug studs to distribute the weight. The trailer was towed to the dealership, where it was purchased from, and they looked at it and were heard speaking to each other that the axle looks to be bent and that the damages look to be a total loss. The dealership person who I am working with does not want to admit that it is a defect and wont let my husband and I get our belongings out of the trailer until an insurance adjustor/inspector comes to look at the trailer and the damages.

The contact owns a 2019 Forest River Puma equipped with Lionshead Tires, Tire Line: Castle Rock ST, Tire Size: ST225/75/R15, DOT Number: JUL1MX3318. The contact stated that the rear driver’s side tire experienced a blowout while the vehicle was stationary. The following day, the front passenger’s side tire experienced the same failure. The contact stated that the thread had blown out exposing the steel belts on both tires. Upon inspection of the other tires, the contact noticed that the tread on the passenger’s side rear tire were misaligned. The contact feared a third blowout was imminent. The contact had all the tires and the spare tire replaced. The approximate failure mileage was 6,000.

We have been sold a new 2022 Forest River Forester 2401BSD that has a safety recall. Part 573 - Safety Recall Report 22 V - 131 from NHTSA: "torsion bar on certain Sprinter vehicles was not bolted to the torsion bar linkage by the component supplier during front axle assembly in accordance with design specifications. The shim on the torsion bar was incorrectly installed between the nut and the torsion bar, rather than between the ball stud and the torsion bar. Due to the incorrect assembly, the torsion bar may not meet operational strength requirements. Settling effects may occur between the journal flange and the torsion bar. These effects might reduce the bolt preload at the connection, which could increase fatigue on the journal and lead to a fatigue fracture of the journal, which could increase the risk of a crash. An authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer will correct the position of the shim and replace the torsion bar linkage." The RV Dealer says it is a Mercedes Benz problem - Mercedes Benz says parts are not available. This is a safety issue and we cannot drive the vehicle until these safety issues/repairs are made. The RV dealer did not warn us of a safety recall at time of purchase.