R-pod Owners Forum : RV industry quality issues https://www.rpod-owners.com/ This is an XML content feed of; R-pod Owners Forum : Reviews and General Information : RV industry quality issues Copyright (c) 2006-2009 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Thu, 28 May 2026 13:06:09 +0000 Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:42:55 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 9.64 360 https://www.rpod-owners.com/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=16226 R-pod Owners Forum https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_images/web_wiz_forums.png https://www.rpod-owners.com/ RV industry quality issues : Making economy trailers (and RVs... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154974#154974 Author: GlueGuy
Subject: 16226
Posted: 30 Sep 2025 at 11:42am

Making economy trailers (and RVs for that matter) is a cut-throat business. The pandemic pushed at all the pressure points because suddenly a whole lot more people wanted them (pushing demand for them), plus workers were in short supply (constraining production).

Maybe things will get better in the coming years.
]]> Tue, 30 Sep 2025 11:42:55 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154974#154974 RV industry quality issues : Unfortunately, marketing writes... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154973#154973 Author: StephenH
Subject: 16226
Posted: 29 Sep 2025 at 9:54pm

Unfortunately, marketing writes such stuff, but the memo does not seem to reach the production department. We both bought trailers that are toward the economical end of the market. One does not get luxury quality at FR prices. Consider though that even Airstream trailers have problems, and they cost a whopping lot more than we paid. I know someone who has an Airstream. He was telling me about repairs that he needed  to have done on it.

Edited by StephenH - 29 Sep 2025 at 10:05pm]]> Mon, 29 Sep 2025 21:54:11 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154973#154973 RV industry quality issues : Well, that would explain the list... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154972#154972 Author: MarsStubblefield
Subject: 16226
Posted: 29 Sep 2025 at 5:26pm

Well, that would explain the list of 15 issues, some major, that we immediately had with our new 2026 R-Pod 171. I wonder if anyone at the company has noticed this on their website:

"At Forest River, we have a passion for the great outdoors and want to enable our owners to experience all the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer. That is why we build quality, dependable recreational vehicles. Plus, with manufacturing facilities throughout the Midwest and west coast, we are able to fill your orders promptly without cutting corners or rushing through the production procedures. This ensures that each Forest River product is conscientiously built and undergoes thorough, detailed inspection before being shipped."

Because after two nights in ours, we noticed little else but cut corners and a quality build. We are regretting the purchase. Sadly, the company cares very little about their product. We traded a 16 year old Nash for this one and, at 16 years old, the Nash turned out to be a better unit than a brand new R-Pod!
]]> Mon, 29 Sep 2025 17:26:32 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154972#154972 RV industry quality issues : That is a failure of the supervision... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154642#154642 Author: StephenH
Subject: 16226
Posted: 25 Jun 2025 at 10:29am

That is a failure of the supervision then. Work ought not to be accepted as complete unless it is done correctly. It always takes less time to do it right the first time than it does to have to re-do it. If the QA is inadequate, then we get what we see, the combination of really great features and "what were they thinking?"

Add to that the making of something cosmetically good looking that does not reveal that the underlying structure is inadequate. In our FR Grey Wolf 24JS, for example, there is a shelf adjacent to the dinette where the support was just screws into the thin plywood with no backing. The shelf started sagging and I found the holes for the screws had become slots. I added a cleat into which the screws could get a good grip so the flaw is fixed. In the cabinet in the bathroom, there was just a huge space. The floor was just a sheet of the thin plywood with no support so the first bump with anything more than a couple of towels would have cracked it. I added a grid of wood support to that shelf and while I was at it, added another shelf so that the space would be more usable.

It was much the same in our prior R-Pod 179. I had to do a number of modifications to address the shortcomings of FR's design and construction.


Edited by StephenH - 25 Jun 2025 at 10:35am]]> Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:29:41 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154642#154642 RV industry quality issues : On 6/25 the on-line version of... https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154641#154641 Author: jrbelding@gmail.com
Subject: 16226
Posted: 25 Jun 2025 at 9:27am

On 6/25 the on-line version of the Wall Street Journal has an article on quality issues in the RV industry generally and Forest River specifically. I have had 2 FR trailers and both are a frustrating combination of really good features and construction with baffling defects in basic quality control.

The problem appears to be in the way workers are paid - "Employees are often paid by the unit instead of a straight hourly wage and can leave once they hit their quota. Some former workers say the system encourages speed over thoroughness."

For as long as this pay policy exists (and hopefully the industry will go to a straight hourly wage) much is revealed and the necessity of carefully looking over the construction of our RVs is clear.]]> Wed, 25 Jun 2025 09:27:13 +0000 https://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16226&PID=154641#154641