RoadVitals

2021 Forest River FR3 Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
5
Latest Oct 7, 2024
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
1
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Nov 1, 2021

What this page shows

Our database holds 5 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Forest River FR3. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–5 of 5

Interior & seats
Filed Oct 7, 2024

The contact owns a 2021 Forest River FR3 built on a 2020 Ford F-53 Chassis. The contact stated while driving and exceeding 45 MPH, the contact noticed that the dashboard was bouncing. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the bottom of the dashboard fractured and separated along with the parts attached to the dashboard. The RV was taken to the dealer, where the cause of the failure could not be determined. The dealer provided an estimate for the repair. The dealer notified the manufacturer of the failure, but the manufacturer informed the dealer that the repair could not be covered because the RV was not covered under warranty. The RV was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.

NHTSA ID
11618460
Incident
Oct 7, 2024
Mileage
36,000 mi
Filed Mar 12, 2024

LP brackets are cracked at the welding

NHTSA ID
11576757
Incident
Mar 11, 2024
Filed Nov 2, 2023
Fire reported

Due to faulty welding of the supports for the onboard propane tank, the tank fell out the bottom of the rig on I-70 outside Kansas City on June 6 2023. The tank bounced around, knocking out one one of the drive shafts before bursting into flames. There was no warning before this happened as there are no sensors for that. With the rig being a total loss, there is no way to reproduce the problem. My insurance company hired a fire investigator, but findings were inconclusive due to the extent of the fire damage. I have since found others that have had this issue, but mine is the first that led to a fire that I am aware of. [XXX] . Forest River has been contacted, but they deny a problem exists. All five passengers made it out safely. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID
11553249
Incident
Jun 6, 2023
SteeringSuspension
Filed Nov 1, 2021

Our 2021 Forest River FR3 34DS is built on the 2020 Ford F53 V8 chassis. When bringing the RV in for other service, the Ford dealer noticed that one of the bolts was missing from the rear sway bar. Further inspection showed that the coupling used to attach the sway bar was seriously deformed. This had a negative impact on the steering/handling of the RV in windy weather and when being passed by semis, RVs, and local delivery box trucks. We had to wait about a month for the parts to come in and be installed. A quick google will show this is a wide-spread problem across multiple brands of RVs that are built on the F53 chassis. This seems like either a design issue or a need to torque those bolts to a specific value.

NHTSA ID
11438906
Incident
Aug 31, 2021
BrakesDriver assistance
Filed Nov 1, 2021

Our 2021 Forest River FR3 34DS is built on the 2020 Ford F53 Chassis with the V8 engine. Our unit was recalled for potentially insufficient axle lubricant. After Ford replaced the bearings, our anti-skid, ABS, and cruise-control stopped working with indicators showing that on the dash. The Ford dealer believes the problem is with the tone ring. It has been several months and the Ford dealer is unable to obtain a tone-ring. Meanwhile, the RV continues not to have these important safety features.

NHTSA ID
11438904
Incident
Aug 30, 2021

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .