Looking for Owner Feedback -- Forest River Riverstone - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Looking for Owner Feedback -- Forest River Riverstone

LarryW21 · RV-Dreams Family Member

Claimed "shipping weight" of almost 18,000. That's a big boy!

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

Full disclosure ... not a Riverstone owner ... never have known a Riverstone owner, but I have seen them at RV shows. They seem to have pretty good running gear (17.5" wheels and Goodyear G114 tires). I think it is a good looking rig, at the top of Forrest River's 5th wheel food chain ... I think. That said, I am guessing that you are going to have a hard time getting an objective report from most owners. There seems to be both ends of the spectrum (love it, hate it), but not a lot in the middle. Human nature stuff. Your best friend is KNOWLEDGE. Know what "good" looks like so you will recognize it when you see it. If you get serious about a brand, it is worth the time to visit the factory ... and by all means get on the FROG (Forrest River Owners Group) website. Lots of info for you there. Good Luck.

-- Edited by RonC on Wednesday 7th of February 2018 05:13:30 PM

rocketman · RV-Dreams Family Member

i've had 2 forest river products and both of them were poorly made.....lots of problems with both......

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

if you don’t mind me asking, which products did you own.

Bertastitgen · RV-Dreams Community Member

Check out the VanLeigh line. Great quality

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

We looked at the Van Leigh. Do they have any toy hauler options? We haven’t seen any.

Rickl · RV-Dreams Family Member

Grand Design makes a toy hauler very similar to the Riverstone model you are looking at. It’s the Solitude 374TH ( if you look any model with an “R” designation is set up more like a residential unit). Haven’t heard much since Winnebago bought them, but prior to the purchase people raved about Grand Designs response to thier customers if there was issues.

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Ricki. The Grand Design Solitude 374TH-R had been our leading contender until we saw this one. We toured the Grand Design factory last year and love their responsiveness to customer issues. When we look at the 2 objectively the Riverstone seems to be better built but. We’re heavily swayed by service and follow through

Rickl · RV-Dreams Family Member

Our original choice was a Solitude, but the more I kicked things around the lack of carrying capacity, no 8,000 lb axles, no 17.5 tires, low fresh water capacity made me look elsewhere. We really fell in love with the Riverstone Legacy rear living room but couldn’t get it to our price point.

Almost all trailers have issues when new so expect them (however I was extremely spoiled on my first 5th wheel when I bought one in 1980. It was a NuWa Hitchhiker and believe this or not I had ZERO issues the first 4 years. Finally in year 5 I had a heat limiter go out in the furnace. In the 6 years I owned it that was the only issue)

I agree that service is going to be key and so far our dealer, Wade’s RV Clinic has been more then responsive to our issues. We take it in next week for a whole list of small items to be addressed so I’ll really see how well they do on a list as opposed to a single item or two.

-- Edited by Rickl on Thursday 1st of February 2018 07:41:25 AM

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks Ricki. The Grand Design Solitude 374TH-R had been our leading contender until we saw this one. We toured the Grand Design factory last year and love their responsiveness to customer issues. When we look at the 2 objectively the Riverstone seems to be better built but. We’re heavily swayed by service and follow through

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

What do you have now Ricki?

Rickl · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have a 2018 Landmark Oshkosh. The wife loved the fireplace in the bedroom and we both loved the large area the additional slide provides in the bedroom. One area that was an absolute for me was having sufficient room around the bed so you didn’t have to crawl into bed, but be like more of a “normal” bed. In many units with a king size bed you have to either crawl or do a shuffle to get in. I’m too old for that and as this now our home I didn’t want to do the shuffle.

As far as room, we still have plenty of room for storage left over. Not that I feel the need to fill the empty space but it provides us options/opportunitiesgoing foward. Being new to full timing I am going to assume we will jettison more items rather then add to them. Just my guess.

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

We so agree on the issue of being able to get around the bed. We would only have a queen bed and the walk around space is okay on the GD Solitude so we’re assuming the Riverstone would be the same if it had a queen. I’m with your wife in that I like the fireplace in the bedroom. Riverstone needs to fix the closet in the one we’re considering but otherwise having a hard time finding reasons not to go with it — other than price and Forest Rivers bad rep on customer service

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just a note about the fireplaces. Over time they become less "silent". The blowers are a little noisy anyway but as they age the roller motor that provides for the artificial flames begins to quietly hum. It's not loud, but when the TV is off, you can hear it. If you are a light sleeper or sounds bother you, this is a consideration for the fireplace in the bedroom.

(I should have mentioned that this only became noticeable AFTER I got my hearing aids 😂😂😂).

-- Edited by RonC on Sunday 25th of February 2018 08:44:00 PM

jayc · RV-Dreams Family Member

We had a fireplace in the living room in our last Landmark and it never made any noise. We used it a lot in the winter in Texas for over 6 years. We also have a new Oshkosh and love the fireplace in the bedroom. We're finally not having to use it too often in the RGV.

There is a great dealer that's not too distant that I highly recommend.

RonC · RV-Dreams Family Member

RonC wrote:
Just a note about the fireplaces. Over time they become less "silent". The blowers are a little noisy anyway but as they age the roller motor that provides for the artificial flames begins to quietly hum. It's not loud, but when the TV is off, you can hear it. If you are a light sleeper or sounds bother you, this is a consideration for the fireplace in the bedroom.

Please ignore my comments ... as JayC pointed out, I'm mistaken.

-- Edited by RonC on Monday 5th of February 2018 04:35:25 PM

rocketman · RV-Dreams Family Member

I've had 2 fifth wheels made by Forest River...the build quality is not good...i've now had an open range for a couple years and the build quality is like nite and day,they build a quality unit and so far we love it..

hutchman · RV-Dreams Community Member

We have been living in a RiverStone 39FL since August.

We have owned RVs of all persuations since the early 80s and the last two were a 38Tksb3 Mobile Suites and an Arctic Fox 29-5T. This RiverStone is the tightest, best quality of them all. Since last August, I replaced a water pump and insulated around the bottom of the LR slides. If I was shopping today it would be for another RiverStone.

Everything works as it should and it appears to be a well insulated, tight coach. So far we have seen extreme temps from 108 to -10 and have been comfortable in both. Our propane bill was $68 over the 20 days when it got cold. It is very stable in the wind. The leveling system works as it should

Is it perfect....nope. I don't think the frame is nearly as sturdy as either the MS or the AF. It's just not built as heavy. That might be a concern if you plan to beat it up and down the Alcan a few times. However, we will not use ours that way so it is not a concern to me.

In the end I have nothing bad to say about this coach. For us, it is the perfect one.

rocketman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Had a Salem Hemisphere And a Flagstaff both Fifth Wheels...

hutchman · RV-Dreams Community Member

Forrest River does not have a good name in the industry for quality. When we were looking, I was very concerned about that....but very few manufacturers have a quality reputation.

Mobile Suites used to have a good reputation, but ours was not a good one and DRV refused to stand behind it. And ours was from the time before the Thor buyout, so that gave me even less confidence.

Our Arctic Fox had several issues that were not good....most cosmetic, but one two I was afraid would be serious. Northwood is going through production/quality issues now like the entire industry is. However, Northwood is the best company I've ever seen for customer service. They are easy to deal with at a distance or will work on a unit at the factory.

We chose the RiverStone after researching their build process and the first hand experiences of owners. I hope we remian satisfied with the choice.

rocketman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Take a gander at HIGHLAND RIDGE,MESA RIDGE....MADE BY OPEN RANGE..

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

rocketman wrote:
Take a gander at HIGHLAND RIDGE,MESA RIDGE....MADE BY OPEN RANGE..

Thanks Rocketman. Some nice plans there. Unfortunately, none are the toy hauler we are looking for. We've decided that if the Trike doesn't travel with us we might as well get rid of it and we really don't want to do that.

Glad you are enjoying your rig.

Ckerr · RV-Dreams Family Member

jayc wrote:
We had a fireplace in the living room in our last Landmark and it never made any noise. We used it a lot in the winter in Texas for over 6 years. We also have a new Oshkosh and love the fireplace in the bedroom. We're finally not having to use it too often in the RGV.
There is a great dealer that's not too distant that I highly recommend.

Where in the RGV are you located? We're in Retama Village in Mission. We always welcome recommendations for good dealers!

jayc · RV-Dreams Family Member

Hi Carol. Our dealer is the T & S Enterprises in Navasota Tx. Call Tim at 936 355-0588 and tell him I sent you.