2021 Forest River Cedar Creek

On the first trip out, We had a tire blowout. There was no warning on the TPMS, and the tire tread peeled like a retread. It caused major damage to the rv slide out, and threw tire tread across the highway putting other motorists at risk. Forest River refused to cover any of the damage. The tire manufacturer covered less than 30% of the cost of a new tire. After the repairs, we made another trip. This time we had two more blowouts. This damaged the other side of the rv and also took out all of the brake wiring, leaving us with no brakes on the rv. One tire blew across the entire tire from side to side, the other peeled the tread like the first blowout. It also threw tire parts across the interstate. Once again there was no warning on the TPMS with either tire. We then replaced all four tires with US made Goodyear tires and repaired the rv again. The tire manufacturer says it is going to pay for partial reimbursement of the four tires. Forest River will not even acknowledge my emails to these incidents other than to ask for pictures. They no longer responded after that. No brakes, tire parts flying across the highways into other motorists and having to change tires along busy interstates are all safety concerns that Forest River refuses to address. The tires are Lionshead Ridgway Sport ST LH-001 size ST235/80R16. Since there were three incidents in total, I only put the date of the first one below. The others occured on 11/29/2022 at 50mph and 12/4/2022 at 65mph.

NHTSA ID

11498946

Incident

Jul 5, 2022

The contact owns a 2021 Forest River Cedar Creek. The contact stated that he noticed that the spare tire under the vehicle was missing. The contact stated that he replaced the spare tire however, the contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, he noticed that the spare tire was shaking. Upon inspecting the vehicle, he noticed that the spare tire was loose and hanging, and the carrier winch was also loosened. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11491781

Incident

Oct 1, 2022

The automatic awning did not have proper backing plates installed, so the first time going out caused the awning to collapse completely against the full glass wall. The wire harness system was not the correct gauge wire, which posed a potential fire hazard. The fuse was pulled out because the motor to the faulty awning was overheating. The front entry (only) door for entering the RV and existing safely was not mounted correctly, so the owners (occupants) were locked inside during the daytime hours when the door expanded with sun/heat. The owner is disabled and was oftentimes locked inside. ALL within the warranty division and build team were aware of my disability; and did nothing to assist or mitigate the potential life-safety hazard. Forest River knew I was living in the coach for an extended period of time; and they knew I was unable to travel the rig. I/We were repeatedly told that the issues would be addressed, but they did little to nothing in assisting us by securing a qualified field team. I/We were forced to secure various RV vendors to assist, to no avail. I was forced to have it trailered into a facility; whereby the wiring issues continue and the Forest River warranty division forced me to pay the vendor over $4k for warranty items that they were supposed to cover. This rig had a poor build and Forest River refuses to take the necessary steps to cure the deficiencies. I am told by the repair shop that the wire harness became a "RECALL" item; which solidifies my concerns, as others were having the same issues. Forest River did not install backing boards for the awning that could have killed someone when it came crashing down (all caught on my Ring Doorbell), plus the array of photography taken to show the shoddy workmanship during the build. They need to be held to a higher standard or an unsuspecting customer (aka: victim) may be severely injured and/or killed. Cedar Creek Champagne 38EKS / Paid $113K / Disgraceful & Unsafe Products

NHTSA ID

11484655

Incident

Nov 15, 2021

While towing our 5th wheel cross country on a trip in July 2020 our front hydraulic jack legs starting coming down several times while driving and contacted the road surface which could have possibly resulted in loss of control. Some how the hydraulic system was applying pressure by itself while towing .I first tried disconnecting electrical power to the hydraulic system and keeping the jack legs up with a 400 lb rated ratchet strap and the legs would still come down on its own with enough pressure to break the 400 lb rated strap. I was finally able to keep the leg secured up with 2 x 600 lb rated ratchet straps. While in Indiana we took our new 5th wheel to a Lippert componets service center and they replaced both front jacks and drained and replaced all the fluid under warranty. The service tech said this issue happened sometimes. Searching the internet it appears this a fairly common problem. This is a safety issue and Lippert should be responsible for coming up with a permanent solution.

NHTSA ID

11458311

Incident

Jun 24, 2020

2021 CEDAR CREEK RV. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO WARRANTY ISSUES. THE CONSUMER STATED UPON PICKUP OF THE VEHICLE AFTER PURCHASE, IT EXPERIENCED SOME WARRANTY ISSUES. THE VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO THE OWNER SEVERAL MONTHS LATER. AFTER ANOTHER FOUR MONTHS THE CONSUMER WAS OFFERED AN IDENTICAL REPLACEMENT VEHICLE. THE DEALER DID NOT HONOR THE REPLACEMENT AND STATED THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN REPAIRED. THE DEALER RETURNED THE VEHICLE WITH BEDROOM SLIDE STILL UNREPAIRED. THE SLIDE NEARLY FELL OUT OF THE RV. THE CONSUMER STATED THERE WERE ISSUES WHEN ATTEMPTING TO LEVEL AND OPEN THE SLIDES AS THE POWER WOULD CONTINUOSLY SHUT DOWN THE CONTROL SCREEN. THE CONSUMER STATED WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE THERE WAS AN ODOR THAT TURNED OUT TO BE BATTERY ACID. THE BATTERIES WERE SMOKING AND COULD BE SMELLED FROM 1000 YARDS AWAY. THE CONSUMER STATED THE DEALER WAS MAD AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND OFFERED TO BUY THE VEHICLE BACK IF, THE CONSUMER SIGNED WAIVER NOT TO REPORT THE INCIDENTS. THE CONSUMER REQUESTED THE VEHICLE BE BOUGHT BACK IN FULL.

NHTSA ID

11438865

Incident

Nov 1, 2021

WE PURCHASED OUR BRAND NEW FIFTH WHEEL FROM A DEALER AND PULLED IT ACROSS THE STREET TO A CAMPGROUND FOR A FEW DAYS. ON THE DRIVE HOME WE PULLED OFF INTO A GAS STATION WITH A VERY SLIGHT INCLINE. THE BACK END OF THE CEDAR CREEK 35LFT IS SO LOW THAT IT SCRAPPED THE PAVEMENT AS WE PULLED IN AND DAMAGED THE BACK WALL AS WELL AS ALL THE BRAKE WIRING. DO TO THIS DESIGN FLAW, WE'RE UNABLE TO TAKE OUR RV ANYWHERE IN FEAR OF DAMAGING IT AGAIN. *TR

NHTSA ID

11328822

Incident

May 23, 2020

Per the TSB received from FireFly: Firefly Integrations has identified that fluid tank sensor readings will display 100% after being filled but will incorrectly change to 67% once the tanks have settled.

It was discovered that the manufacturing plant did not cut a stress relief line in the upper deck Driver Side and in on certain models, Passenger Side under the slide room(s). The upper deck in the Impression Fifth-Wheel needs to flex, without the "stress relief cut" the sidewall filon may crack under the slide room(s).

Per the TSB received by Lippert Components, Inc.: This document outlines the inspection (and correction) of Thule Regal Awnings to determine if there is too much gap between the roll tube and end plates, which could cause the fabric to extend over the edge or the roll tube could shift along the axle plane.