A true story of Rockwood Tent Trailers

Submit search form

Enter your search terms

Web

handheldshell.com

Index
Pyring
BtGPS
sms-sentry
FreeRunner Bluetooth Scripts
Openmoko Bike Mount
PalmPix
PixTransfer
SerialLogger
VeoTransfer
802.11b Antenna Hacks
Motorola DCT 2000 Hacking

The Purchase - First service deparment encounter

I purchased a Forest River - Rockwood Freedom tent trailer in the spring of 2005. The style was the 2318G without the shower option. The slide out side gives you an enormous amount of room inside and I recommend the upgrade if you can afford the cost and weight. However you might want to consider a manufacturer other than forest river.

When I purchased the trailer from Highriver Autoplex, they were supposed to install the wiring harness, brake control and a weight distribution hitch. They told me to get the the factory hitch put on and they would install the weight distribution part when I picked the trailer up. They neglected to mention the weight distribution system would only fit in a hitch with a 2" receiver. The standard Kia hitch is only a 1.25" receiver. So instead of getting the weight distribution that I wnated, they ended up selling me on an anti-sway bar. It's not even close to the same thing, there are very few instances where the anti-sway bar might come in handy.

So I'm waiting for them to finish the wiring and get my trailer ready. I'm waiting cause they told me it'd be about 2 1/2 hours ( it really took over 5 ). They tell me its out back and are just waiting for the sales guy to get there and show me how to use it. So I go out there to look at it and the service tech is just showing up to install the anti-sway bar part onto the trailer. He starts drilling into the frame of the trailer on the left side ( he's already gone to look at the hitch twice to check which side ). I'm sitting in the Van reading the manual waiting for the sales guy to show up. I decide to go and look at the hitch and figure out how this anti-sway bar hooks up. There's a little hitch ball to the right of the regular hitch, yup to the right. I go over to the trailer where he's starting to bolt on the other side of the anti-sway bar and point out the fact the ball is on the right side. He goes over and checks and then starts undoing the bolts he's just finished tightening. Now he's getting ready to drill a second set of holes in the brand new frame on the right hand side, this is when I point out he could just undo the bolts holding the hitch together and swap that over. He decides that will be too much work as it requires going back into the shop for a couple of other tools.

Here's how he fixed the holes he made.

And this is what it was supposed to look like.

Something else I found when I purchased the trailer was some spots where the paint on the frame was already peeling. The sales guys said no problem he'd get the guys in the shop to touch it up. The first of many items to be dropped by the sales guy.

Weekend 1 - Quality Control

When you buy something you assume it has be built with care and attention to detail. Forest river's website even claims they "build better rv's" and have the production capacity so as to not cut corners on quality.

Our first weekend out with the tent trailer we had two problems. The first was the fridge wouldn't light. After a little investigation I found the ignitor wire had come disconnected next to to pilot light. I managed to slip it on enough to get the fridge lit. Because the heat shrink around the outside wasn't tight I knew it would fall off shortly.

The second problem was after using the sink water would leak out from the floor boards. I'm not a plumber but I was pretty sure that's not supposed to happen. So to fix the problem I opened one of the access panels below the sink. The problem was the joint between the u joint and the flexible pipe hadn't been properly sealed. I tightened it and that helped but it still need to be properly fixed.

While I was under there I noticed that some of the cabinet screws hadn't been driven all the way in. After looking inside a couple more cabinets and finding screws loose I decided the trailer was going in for some warranty work to get all of the issues fixed.

So you expect a few bugs when you buy something new ( Well you shouldn't but thats the way it is now days ). Even so 3 things that should easily have been caught by quality control. Who was the moron that put this together and which idiot checked his work ( my guess is it was that same person which makes the check useless ).

Weekend 2 - Highriver Autoplex Service Deptatment encounter 2

So I've got a couple of issues and call the sales guy about them. He says no problem bring it in we'll get it fixed up for you and you can pick it up on your way the the campsite next week. Excellent so even if the quality isn't that good it looks like they are willing to stand behind it.

I drop it off to fix about 6 screws, a leaky sink and the fridge ignitor. We stop by on the way out to Little Bow Provincial Park. The service manager comes out greet us and assure me that they opened every compartment to check for loose screws and had finished driving all of the ones I pointed out. He them helps me hitch up and plugs in the wiring harness for the trailer while I disconnect the charger. He tells me to jump in to do a tail light check, all good. He takes a last look at the hitch and tells me I'm good to go and gives me a thumbs up. Remember he's the manager, supposed to know what he's doing and in charge of the whole shop.

Alright we're on the road, flushed out all the bugs and should be a nice relaxing weekend. I wonder why I can't see the trailers running lights anymore, no problem I'll check as so as we turn off the highway. Five minutes later when we turn onto the secondary highway I jump out to see what the issue is. What the $%^&, the cable has been dragging since we left the shop and is now in two pieces. Who the hell is in charge of this outfit. Oh yeah its the guy that plugged it in and said we're good to go.

I've got either 1/2 hour to the campsite or 1/2 hour back to the shop. We decide to go to the campsite and get a hold of the sales guy to get me a new cable. I get out of cell range before I get a hold of him. After dinner I decide to fix the cable while hanging out around the campfire so even if I don't get a hold of him I can still drive home safely. Two hours with a blow torch when I'm supposed to be relaxing ( good thing I brought that tool kit, its a necessity if you own a Forest River Tent Trailer ).

This time they've fixed the fridge ignitor and it works no problem. While I'm done there lighting it I notice that one of the screws I told them about still isn't driven. So even when you send a picture of the problem ( you're looking at the same photo I sent the sales guy ) they can't fiure out how to fix it. update: Since then I've found two other cabinet spaces they were supposed to check that have unfinished screws in them.

I finally get a hold of him around 9:30. Again he's so sorry this happened he'll have a new cable for me at the sales center ( which is closer to the campsite than the shop ) first thing in the morning. It's our second time out so we've forgotten some things we needed. We'll be going into town, Nanton, for them and can pick it up while we're there. No problem.

Can these guys get anything right ? - Highriver Autoplex Service Department encounter 3

We go into the sales center to pickup the cable and yes he's got cable but its got no friggin plugs on either end. Can you tell I'm starting to get fed up with these guys, they still ( 1 1/2 years later ) haven't figured it out.

Now I'm heading back to the service center to get some plugs. When I get there they tell me they didn't put plugs on because they weren't sure which one it needed. So they've got a yard full of Rockwood trailers and the service department isn't sure what kind on plugs they have on them, not very reassuring. After I show them what I need on both ends of the cable they tell me they'll build up the cable while we get our groceries and to come back in 1/2 an hour.

We come back to get it and they charge me $36.50 for a cable they had been responsible for hookig up. The guy who hooked it up is standing behind the counter so I ask if he's serious that he expects me to pay for it. He says yes and tells me to take it up with the owner after the weekend if I've got any issues. This is when I found out the sales guys in Nanton is also part owner with his brother. Although they've told me on at least 3 seperate occasions they will reimburse me for the cable it as yet to happen (7/25/2006).

So I'm back at the campsite and I'm about to hook up the new cable when I start thinking about it. Twice I've been into the service department and they've either screwed it up or not done it. So just to be on the safe side I pulled out the multimeter to check thier cable against the one I'd rebuilt. You're not going to believe this but they wired it up wrong. I couldn't believe it either so I checked two more times and then spent more of my time fixing thier third mistake. Had I plugged the cable in I would have blown the wiring in trailer and possibly the van too. So now the service department was truely 3 for 3.

At that point I chose to no longer deal with the Highriver Autoplex Service Department and find another place to do the warranty repairs on the trailer. I did however ask that they send me out the proper sealant for the fridge access hole so I could fix the remaing screws myself. I have since asked 2 more times and even though they agreed to send it, they have yet to do so (7/25/2006).

Design - if it's badly designed it doesn't matter how bad your quality contol is

On weekend 2 I also discovered the first design flaw in the Rockwood tent trailers. We lit up the RVQ for the first time. Let it warm up a little and then put dinner on to cook. After it heated up a little I opened the lid check the food and then put the lid back down again. To my suprise the lid had melted the side of the tent trailer. So the way this thing was built the hot lid rests against vinyl fabric.

Highriver Autoplex Employees were contacted about this issue. They told me they would check with the manufacturer to find out whether it would be replaced under warranty and they would get back to me. They never did get back to me but after I called them back a number of times they finally told me in December 2005 that it would be replaced. I would need to wait until they got thier shipment of trailers in February 2006 and that the canvas would come with that shipment.

So February rolls round and I decide to get it booked in to get fixed. I call Highriver Autoplex and first nobody there has any recollection that this is going to be done ( reminder: GET IT ON PAPER with a signature ). After bugging them for week they finally get it figured out. I tell them to send the fabric up to another Rockwood dealer in Calgary so I can go there and get it replaced. They say what fabric. You need to bring it into the shop we'll take the fabric off and then send it back to the manufacturer. WHAT ??. Ok how long will that take. They're not sure because the manufacturer has to send it off to the fabric supplier but they tell me the minumum will be 6 weeks as long as customs doesn't tie anything up. I don't know if you've ever dealt with Canadian customs, they've made an industry out of delaying shipments. So let me get this straight its going to be end of April or probably May before I get this back. Our first camping trip is always near the begining of May. I'm not going to risk the first trip of the season on thier timeline.

So one final kick at this cat, I ask if they could possibly do it at the end of the season. They say sure no problem but you'll have to pay for it because it will be out of warranty. NICE !!

I ended up fixing this by attaching a cedar 1 by 2 onto the top of the RVQ rack which keeps the lid for touching the side. Welding a 1/2" piece of metal to the top of the rack would probably also work

Other Issues - since those first fateful weeks other things have come up

Door jamb fell off. Sorry no pictures of this. I just fixed it because it was significantly less stressful and quicker for me to do it right the first time. I've actually fixed all of the remaining issues below and some of the ones above.

The base of the man door on the side of the trailer has a hook to keep it in place during transport. The rivet holding this hook is far too loose so it keeps folding down and locking the door shut. The fix for this is cut most of the catch off so it doesn't catch the door. If you leave about 1/8" it will still hold tight for transport.

The couch down the one side of the trailer folds out into a bed and at one end of the bed there is a little wooden rail the bed should rest on. The bed has never been opened and the couch has slid out once into the rail. There is nothing except laminated faux wood grain to hold it in place so it has ripped through the wall and is sagging. Good thing no one was sleeping on it. The detailing around the edge has also decided to come loose.

Sink started leaking again. This time it was the taps and not the drain. I thoung is was going to be leaking next to one of the green marks. It turns out it was leaking around the aerator threads. So make sure your aerator is tight before you dismantle the sink :)

More paint peeling

Year 8 - the good news is the trailer is still useful for camping

Issue #1 - there has always bee a small leak from somewhere in the drain system but I've never been able to pin it down. This year it suddenly got to catastrophics levels so I could no longer ignore it. Every year before I take it out I test the major systems and I was testing the water pump, sink and drain. Water started coming out around the fuse box and 15 AMP plug on the outside.

What happened is the u joint of the drain inside the electrical compartment had come loose. I inspected it and they had used the correct yellow ABS cement but they hadn't remove the vanish cover of the abs so the glue could join the two parts ( my plumber friend tells me there are 2 ways to do this correctly, either sandpaper or there is a special solvent ). Water had been seeping around the edges for eight years and then it had finally just fallen off. I'm suprised to still be finding QC issues this late in the life of the trailer.

Issue #2 - With the floods in June we had a fair amount of rain. During one of those downpours I noticed the trailer running lights were on. The trailer was not plugged into to a vehicle so that should not be happening. It was shortly after That I noticed the white smoke coming from the trailer. I disconnected the battery and started diagnosing once the rain stopped.

Water got into the cable that attaches to the tow vehicle and shorted it out. The cables was only taped together with electrical tape. The was no water barrier of any kind.