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RV industry quality issues

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Printed Date: 10 Oct 2025 at 9:19am
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Topic: RV industry quality issues

Posted By: jrbelding@gmail.com
Subject: RV industry quality issues
Date 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.

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JRB

Replies:

Posted By: StephenH
Date 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.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: MarsStubblefield
Date 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!

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Always remember to do your own thinking!

Posted By: StephenH
Date 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.

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: GlueGuy
Date 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.

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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost