2019 Forest River Vibe

This travel trailer is dual axle. Each side has 3 couplings welded to the frame. The leaf springs bolt to these couplings. During a routine inspection on 9/30/2023, found cracks on the aft passenger side coupling. The aft welds are cracked all the way through and the front welds are cracked half way through. The coupling is pulled away from the frame. This coupling has less than 1 inch of the weld intact holding it to the frame. If the remaining weld failed, The aft section of the leaf spring would become free. This could cause the travel trailer to become unstable and possibly crash. This is the second serious issue we have had with this travel trailer. (See complaint 11493254, dated 11/12/2022). Tomorrow (10/2/2023) will be contacting welding shop to see if it is reparable and get an estimate.

NHTSA ID

11547590

Incident

Sep 30, 2023

On Friday, November 11, 2022 while traveling to North Carolina from Ohio, our travel trailer suffered a catastrophic incident. One of the axles broke while driving on I64E, resulting in the tire coming off, damaging the body of the camper, and leaving my husband stranded several hours from home. After waiting for hours, he was not even able to find anyone to tow the vehicle, so he had to make his way to a repair shop 23 miles away. Thankfully, no other vehicles were involved, and there were no injuries. This is the second issue we have had with this particular travel trailer. The camper is only 3 years old. In late 2020, a leaf spring broke, rendering the camper unusable. Subsequently, during repair, it was discovered that a second leaf spring was on the verge of breaking, and it was replaced. We have reported the incident to our insurance company, as well as the extended warranty company. I have also contacted Forest River, Inc. and I am awaiting their response.

NHTSA ID

11493254

Incident

Nov 11, 2022

The propane stopped working, I had just installed new refilled tanks and was troubleshooting so I turned on the refrigerator propane and waited outside for it to light. When it tries to light there is a big whooshing noise coming from the burner. I have never heard that before when running my refrigerator off of my propane. I went to listen at the tanks to see if I can hear propane going through the lines, I do hear propane, but the burner will not light. Nothing propane wise currently works. I did some internet research and came across the Jayco recall with the exact same regulator part that I have. I called Forest River and they said since they do not have a recall on that part, they will do nothing about it. They gave me a number for the distributor, which I called, he told me they also do not have a recall on it and also will not replace it he also said the manufacturer will also not replace it because they also do not have a recall on it. I find this to be a huge safety issue, as reading the recall Jayco put out it appears that the regulator could put out to much propane and cause a fire.

NHTSA ID

11448839

Incident

Jan 5, 2022

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 FOREST RIVER VIBE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE RV WAS LEAKING WATER FROM THE CEILING ONTO THE WALLS. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT THE SHOWER, TOILET, AND EXHAUST PIPES WERE ALSO LEAKING. THE CONTACT TOOK THE RV TO CAMPING WORLD TAMPA (LOCATED AT 4811 MCINTOSH RD, DOVER, FL 33527, 1-888-851-2832) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE WAX RINGS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE RV WAS REPAIRED; HOWEVER, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE LEAKS CAUSED MOLD. THE RV WAS RETURNED TO THE DEALER WHO STATED THAT THEY WOULD PROCEED WITH FURTHER TESTING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED.

NHTSA ID

11255382

Incident

Sep 15, 2018

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 FOREST RIVER VIBE. WHILE THE RV WAS PARKED WITH THE HEATER ACTIVATED, THE CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM SOUNDED. ON A SECOND OCCASION, WHILE THE CONTACT WAS SLEEPING, HE WAS AWAKENED BY THE NEIGHBOR ALERTING HIM THAT THE CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM WAS SOUNDING AGAIN. THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE HOT WATER HEATER WAS NOT ATTACHED TO THE FRAME, WHICH CAUSED THE LEAK. THE RV WAS TAKEN TO CARSON CITY RV (4550 N CARSON ST, CARSON CITY, NV 89706, (775) 882-8335) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE HOT WATER HEATER NEEDED TO BE REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THERE WAS NO MILEAGE.

NHTSA ID

11185444

Incident

Feb 2, 2019

The furnace was installed without the duct plate, whereas the particular application requires the duct plate to be installed for proper air circulation within the recreational vehicle. The furnace may not perform as intended, resulting in nuisance furnace cycling.

As Per Lippert Components; Specific 8800 Series windows installed in your recreational vehicle may potentially leak. The windows will be remedied by a Forest River Dealer.

A limited number of outer dome skylights (V1422CLOD/V1422BROD/V1422WHOD) have displayed cracks soon after installation. Cracks may originate at the flange of the skylight and extend outward. This issue has been known to occur within 2 weeks of installation.

Per the service bulletin from Dometic ?Dometic Corporation has identified a visual cosmetic defect that has occurred on our Dometic DM2652 refrigerators up in the freezer compartment. This does NOT occur on all units, but may be present on units with serial numbers starting with MB between 805xxxxx and 820XXXXX. The visual cosmetic defect in no way affects the performance, operation, safety, or function of the refrigerator and does not represent a non-compliance issue to one or more of the FMVSS standards or result in a risk of personal injury, death, vehicle crash, or property damage.?