FOREST RIVER Complaints

The contact owned a 2020 Forest River Cherokee. The contact stated that while inside the vehicle, while it was parked in the driveway, an abnormal chemical odor was emitting from the interior and exterior of the vehicle. In addition, afterward, a fuel-burning odor was emitted from the interior and exterior of the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle and noticed black smoke emitting from the battery area. No warning lights were illuminated. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. The fire department informed the contact that the fire may have started due to a failure of the solar connection. The front end of the vehicle was consumed by the fire. The insurance company was notified. However, no claim has been filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V654000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM).

The frame is failing. Had it repaired last year and same problem is back. There’s side wall flex when connected to truck.

While connecting the fifth wheel RV to the tow vehicle, the “Vegatouch Mira” iPad application (version 2.18.4) was being used to connect to the Firefly Integration system (LC version 2.16) to control the Lippert LevelUp hydraulic leveling system that lowers the front end of the RV to the proper height for hookup to the tow vehicle hitch receiver. In the iPad application, the front hydraulic control minus button (“Front (HYD.) -“) is pressed to momentarily engage the hydraulics to lower the RV front end to the appropriate height. However, if that minus button is pressed twice in a row, the front end goes into a complete hydraulic retraction mode. This happened twice, and the RV unexpectedly and dangerously dropped onto the truck bed/sides, which could easily resulted in serious injury or death. Unfortunately, accidentally double tapping an iPad button can occur easily, and is an action very close to the normal hitching procedure of tapping the - (or + to raise) button as needed until the hydraulic motor engages, and then quickly letting go to allow for a fine-tune adjustment of the RV height. A fine tune drop to the correct height, +/- 1 inch, would usually call four several 1/2 inch fine tune adjustments, which if happen too quickly turns into a double tap.

When I bought this camper I paid extra for an extensive warranty including the tires. On a recent trip I blew a tire on the trailer and contacted the warranty company. Was instructed to take the trailer and tire to an authorized service center. Upon doing so the service center notified me that the axles were bent because they were insufficient for the size of the trailer. The gentleman I spoke with said that regardless of what the tags read on the camper the axles were not sufficient for the load rating listed on the tag inside the camper. Thus they put excessive strain on the tires and one blew while I was traveling on the highway. He told me another one was ready to blow out. I reached out to the RV dealership where I bought the trailer and they referred me to the trailer manufacturer who denied any responsibility and claimed that the axles were sufficient for that trailer. This is a recurring issue with these travel trailers as I have friends who have the same models and one has already had to replace his axles because they bent and a tire blew out and damaged the side of his camper and the other one changed his tires and springs to help offset the weight issue. I even reached out to the axle manufacturer who supplied these components to the RV company and all they provided was this measurements I needed to order new axles. All I wanted from the RV manufacturer was even a pittance of an offer to help me with this issue but all they did was claim that all the parts were good and they weren't responsible. I have ordered new heavier duty axles and larger tires to accommodate the weight. As I stated the RV repair center that is working on my trailer said the axles were insufficient and the tires were actually too small for a trailer that size. Apparently the only way an RV company will do the right thing is if they are threatened with a lawsuit. Forest River has already been implicated in a lawsuit for other issues. So they are aware that they have issues!

The trailer was bought in April of 2021 brand new. By August there was rust or dark spots inside at the front of the trailer. September 8th 2021 the trailer was dropped of at General RV to be looked at. It did have a leak in the front wall. General RV finally took it in April 10th finally put it in a bay on June 8th still not fixed on June 20th. Because they left it outside for two months the damage got worse along with mold. May 2025 the roof is leaking, soft , and falling in at the air conditioner above the bed.

Found that two separate brake lines became disconnected from the brake units allowing all of the brake fluid to spray out and put zero pressure on the brake pads. There is a Facebook page for Riverstone owners. I found that there are a handful of other reports of similar brake failure on other Riverstone 5th wheel trailers, and some users report repeated failures. The problem seems to be a systemic one in that the brake lines are barely secured on their path from the pumping unit to the individual brakes and there is no provision to deal with the normal vibration that they experience. These are large trailer units that pose a significant risk to others when their brakes fail.

After a trip I found a crack in the fiberglass under the slide out, the dealer sent me to a Bodyshop. They have determined that the welds for the frame have broken. I have contacted forest river they will not try to help with the repair. I believe this is a safety issue with their product.

I setup my camper and turn the hot water heater on using the propane setting. I left the camper and came back and could smell something hot/burning inside the camper. I looked at the rubber propane line connected to the hot water heater was on fire. I opened the cover to the hot water heater and blew the flame out. Propane was leaking from the rubber line that was cracked. I turned the gas off to prevent additional fire. The gas line appeared to by dry rotted. The camper would have burned if I didnt catch the line on fire. The line was replaced, but should have been a better line. I made the repair myself and did not report it to the manufacturer or anyone. There was no warning of the fire until I bought the fire outside.

We traveled from Clermont, FL to Green Cove Springs, FL. We went through some construction, and when driving, we noticed the passenger side back bunk slide was sitting out from the camper. Then, when we arrived at the campground, we saw our axles were completely shifted to the driver's side. The shift was so extreme that the tires were outside the camper's fender (on the driver's side), and the extreme opposite on the passenger side. This then caused issues with the main slide coming out, as it was hitting the tires. In addition, the slide we noticed sticking out can no longer operate properly, as it seemed like the framing around it had completely shifted. We immediately called our insurance (Progressive) and started a claim regarding what happened after traveling on the road. Then, they told us it would be covered under our plan and considered a collision due to the uneven ground and potholes while driving in the construction zone. Per their request, we uploaded pictures of the damage. While taking pictures, we noticed the extreme bending in our RV frame. We check over our camper before every trip, and the frame did not have this issue when we left our campground in Clermont, FL. In addition, we now had walls separating inside, and the cross bars under the main living completely broken. Insurance came out and told us that because they cannot find a direct impact location, it will not be covered. They are labeling the issue as "frame failure." They will also no longer let us take the camper on the road, as it is not safe to drive. Now, we have our home, which cannot be insured, and insurance that will not support a solution for fixing, as they are stating this is a manufacturing issue.

I have driven on these tires 1800 miles since my purchase of the Forest River 5th wheel trailer in 2021. While driving on narrow country road at 35 mph, driver's side rear tire blew. It had little tread wear and blew the tread/belt off of 12" of the tire with a gash on the interior portion of the tire from sidewall to sidewall. The tire pressure was checked prior to driving the 15 miles until the incident and was at 80 psi per the tires limits. The tires are rated to be driven up to 75 mph so I was way under that limit. Replaced with the spare and continued the 80 miles home. While the trailer was sitting in my sideboard on asphalt 5 days later, the tire in front of the one mentioned above blew! This time it blew the fender off the trailer and across the road. Again the same damage is seen to the tire with about 10" of the belt/tread blown off and the interior portion of the tire has a gash from sidewall to sidewall. Will now be replacing all the tires as this is very worrisome to a single woman driver. I am concerned how I would have handled my 32' trailer at hwy speeds of 60-65 mph. Neither incident caused any damage to other drivers luckily. First tire was replaced by Les Schwab Tires and employee was surprised as the tires looked brand new to him with extensive damage seen. No truck warning lights were issued prior to hearing the loud noise and seeing pieces of tire flying down the road. I am attaching the photos from the tire that blew in my driveway. Tire size: 235/80R18