Hoping to get some of the ARF reviews on a 5th wheel. We just listed our house and were looking to take the proceeds and buy a trailer. I went by my local dealer and they've got a Forest River Sierra Luxury 391FLRB for a good price, its a 2022 model but still new. We've got a Ram 2500 to tow it with, only need a hitch. Idea was to buy the trailer with proceeds from the house sale and pocket the rest. The trailer has small solar panels, for the battery, then we would add the washer/drier and I'd like to add a generator and maybe Starlink for internet. Oh yeah my wife is pregnant, we have 3 dogs and 3 cats. We're also moving from TX to NH and renting an apartment short term is more than our mortgage currently without a pet deposit.

Whats the good/bad of Forest River? I've owned a Jayco Jayflight 27ft before, from what I believe Forest River is a step up from Jayco. How is it living in one of these during the winter? Past two years in TX we've had snow and ice, I'd prefer not to freeze to death in the first winter. This trailer seems to have a heated water tank and 4 seasons insulation, plus the electric fireplace.

Our other option was to look at the destination style bumper pulls, but this seems like our best cost to function ratio.

Welcome to NH.

Our first RV was a Forest River product that I have nothing bad to write about.  I would suggest that if you haven’t, get on the iRV.com sub forums for Forest River.  You’ll get more anecdotal info.

I have no winter camping experience however, my research on our former FR TT and our current 5th wheel, both with 4 season “rating” is that the tank heaters, floor insulation, etc are only rated down to zero degrees.  We have more than a few nights in NH where the temps drop to zero or below.  I’ve seen campers in local campgrounds that set up skirts to limit the airflow under the rig as well as additional insulation.  Also, don’t forget a heated water hose and heating your sewer line.  

Good luck with the purchase and your move to NH.  Oh, yeah, for what it’s worth, Black Flies are the un-official state bird.

Do yourself a favor and search ForstRiver reviews/quality,  this should provide you with the info you need to make the decision.  As a HM owner, I can’t talk to a 5er or trailer, but the overall company reputation of FR isn’t great.  I also assume you’ll begin to see better deals as interest rates increase. You would probably do better buying form an individual seller vs. a dealer price wise.  Good luck.

As someone who’s been in the RV industry for eight years now, I’ll do my best to answer this: the problem with FR and trying to determine quality is that they have tons of product lines and they are all produced in different facilities by different teams with different quality control standards and to an extent different materials. That being said, from what I recall, the Sierra is a decent mid range fifth wheel option. There are quite a few dealers with inventory that needs to be cleared. It’s become a buyers market again.  

5 year Forest River Rockwood owner here

Couple of points to make.  

1. You pay for what you get and each brand has various makes and models at various price points.
2. Just like Mt Bikes half the quality is in the components.  Fridge, toilet, water pumps all come from various vendors and quality

I've had very good luck with Rockwood (Flagstaff is the same thing, different name )   Dexter torque axels (independent and dampened )  aluminum framed walls and dinettes and bedframes, 5/8 flooring, laminated composite walls.

So one of the more aggravating issues was with a Dometic toilet, the series ended up having a design flaw, so I change it out for a Thetford.  

Other than that is is tightening screws, taking care of the black tank and normal stuff.  

Advice, the all weather campers are easier to keep cool, keep warm.  If you camp in hot areas, get the second AC unit, get the slide toppers.  

Good luck

We just bought a Forest River Impression 315MB. It was a left over 22 model. For us, it is quite the upgrade from the 1998 Fleetwood Mallard 33 foot bumper pull we have. The FR is a fifth wheeler, and has 4 slides. We had the washer and dryer added on. It had a few minor issues that we addressed and they were taken care before the purchase. I found a couple of mi nor issues the first weekend we took it out( I fixed those myself) and a few more the second weekend we took it out. I fixed those myself as well. Next week we get a weeklong trip with the new unit. I am certain something will pop up, but I can tell you having been using the old one for so long, that that is a perpetual thing to contend with. Luckily they are easy to work on. My advice is do a couple of short trips and get most of the bugs worked out prior to longer trips. The Forest River warranty sucks by the way. Be mindful of the expiration dates.

That model is 43’-6”! I don’t think the 2500 has the payload for the hitch weight. Is your truck gas or diesel?

We have a 2018 Forest River Rockwood.  We had a few little things at first, all were cosmetic really.  

Since then we really haven't had any issues.  For 5 years we've camped April to November, including 2 longer trips each year.  

The Rockwood and Flagstaff are more upper end models.   In our shopping 5 years ago, they seem to have better build and components.  Cabinets and drawers are glued and screwed together.  The  Torqueflex axels do a good job.  We tow on I95 a couple of times a year and that will test any suspension.

I think to a degree you get what you pay for.  FR customer service has been good to me.  I had a fender skirt crack, they got me the correct part no and where to order it for less than what they listed it.

Look at an outdoors rv or an arctic fox.

You will pay more, and the interiors will not seem as luxury but they are way better built than any of the other brands.

If you don’t have big panels, a hell of an inverter, lithium batteries, and some very high end appliances, your factory solar setup will not be good for much more then lights and a radio.  It also won’t work well in tree cover.

We have a Minnie Winnie flx with what I would assume is the most legit solar package optioned from the factory on any brand and we can camp totally off grid to include running the ac if we are in full sun.

Forest River is the largest manufacturer of towable RVs so they have the most complaints more due to volume. That said when they are bad it’s really bad. I’m on my second FR camper. The first one was trouble free for 8 years. The second a 2022 Impression 280RL I’ve been full time living in for 1.5 years. This one is just okay. Not terrible not great.

As for that trailer it’s more than I would want to tow with a 3/4 ton. I’m in a 4 door diesel dually with a 12k loaded trailer.