Outriggers Forest River parts

Originally posted by StephenH On mine, the sagging seemed to appear only on the slide side. I will keep watch on the door side though now that you mention it. My two home-built brackets which I bolted on so far seem to be working okay. I might order a set from FR and add them for further support.

The damage to my 2017.5 179 was a little more severe. I first noticed a small amount of buckling in the fiberglass along the lower trim rail on the slide side. Took it to the shop and while it was on their lot, the other side (door side) developed the same type of buckling. The side walls had dropped on both sides. The repair shop said that they had never seen a trailer without the outrigger supports. They are a FR dealer but don't sell R-Pods. They contacted FR and were told that it is a known issue. So after 3 months of discussion, all FR was willing to do is provide the supports and compensate for one hour labor. However, the shop could not get them to send the supports. I told them to fix it before it go worse. I'll be picking it up this week and the bill is $5800. About $900 for jacking up the sides and installing 10 custom made brackets that were welded on. The remaindrr if the cost covers repairing the fiberglass and installing black diamond plate over both sides to "hide" the repairs. It's a KNOWN ISDUE, for which there was no recall and collateral damage can and does occur.

SkiPod, Lippert makes the chassis on which the floor is mounted.  Their stuff is painted black.  FR made the floor, including the aluminum framing.  If the chassis, assuming it was shipped "FOB," had a bend in it before it was loaded at the Lippert plant, then their warranty may apply.  If it was bent during FR's handling of it, then there is no defect in materials or workmanship, but rather damage by a 3rd party, i.e. FR or the shipper.

Based on the fact that FR told me that Lippert "denied" my claim, I am presuming that Lippert is at least manufacturing the floor, but it could be based on FR specs. Either way, it looks like FR may be blaming Lippert since they sent my claim to Lippert. There's no question that bringing a lawsuit would exceed the cost of the trailer.  But the law in some state allows attorney's fees and treble damages to be recovered where misrepresentations relied on by the buyer can be proven, even if the warranty coverage is waived or not applicable.

I think Lippert just manufacturers the steel frame and axle, FR does the floor and slide.

Try to get a clear understanding of the location and extent of the water damage. That will tell you whether the trailer is salvageable or not. Since the walls are built off the floor it that is compromised it can be very difficult to repair.