Looks like I’m moving on

[Jopopsy]

Well after a few years and a few Jaycos my wife and I are moving over to a Forest River Forester. I’ve learned so much from many of you, and I hope I have given enough back to this forum to balance out what I’ve taken.

I still plan on being active here as some of the manufacturer agnostic tips, tricks, and advice apply no matter what you have. The JOF has always been a great place to be a part of - thank you all for helping me out as you have.

Given how we used our rigs in the past we were able to figure out what we need vs. what we had but didn’t use - so we’re going shorter at 25’. Our 29MV was a great coach, but in the end the back bedroom, while nice, was only used to sleep in. We never spent any time back there besides that. And while I love the idea of having a couch in my motorhome, I have yet to find a couch that was actually comfortable to sit in when it comes to a RV. 90% of the time we sat at the dinette or went outside to our StrongBack chairs and sat under the awning.

So - needless to say our new rig has neither, which made it shorter.

We decided on a Forester 2219S on the Chevy chassis. So far I am impressed w/ the Chevy; quieter, more room in the cockpit, and the suspension floats instead of jars you. 70mph and she tracks true w/ one finger touching the wheel (don’t worry guys it was just the test drive. 62-65 w/ 2 hands is how I roll). So no caster, alignment, other common Ford issues. From what I have read, that should remain the same after I put some weight on her - handling and driver comfort are supposedly a Chevy +. I won’t miss the doghouse.

The rig also has 3500+ pounds of CCC on it - no way I’ll come close to worrying about being too porky. I plan on occasionally towing my custom height 5x8 cargo trailer behind the coach. Custom height being not too tall to get through a standard garage door. Bulky items like the cooler and bikes will not be a problem now.

At any rate - wish me luck though you’re not getting rid of me. Happy camping to all of you !

Jopopsy

[Crabman]

Good luck with the new MH. Yes stick around, I bought a FR and they have not thrown me out here yet lol.

[rosedan]

Looks like they got to you .. they finally broke you down. TRAITOR

[spoon059]

Congrats on the new rig, hope it treats you right. I agree about RV couches being terrible! Have fun, stay friendly!

[SouthCo]

Congrats on the new RV. Post up some pics when you get a chance.

[norty1]

What does nambarc have?

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by norty1

What does nambarc have?

A backpacking tent with the Jayco logo on it.

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by Crabman

A backpacking tent with the Jayco logo on it.

I bet he has no warranty or dealer issues !

[Jopopsy]

So its not a Forester, now its a Sunseeker.

Camping World did to me what Camping World does - they screwed up the delivery of my unit. I had a number of items I pointed out on my walk thru of the unit before we put the deposit down - they fixed none of them. I know the rig I was about to buy was a leftover, but the detail job they did was terrible. Windows still had tape on them from whatever show it was at last, the generator had mud all over the outsides of it, etc.
And on top of that the PDI they supposedly did was either not done or done poorly as we found a number of other items that were in need of attention including a warped screen door. Final nail in the coffin, as I walked the whole roof I found the front corner where the roof meets the cap had the fiberglass lifting a little. I wasn't sure if it was just glue that missed or if there was water intrusion, but I had my last straw.

So we took our deposit back and walked. Right down the road to a non-chain dealer that sells Sunseekers (Forester Twin). Got a 2018 being prepped to go for only $2500 more then the 2017 leftover. The only thing this dealer had to do was special order the Big Foot jacks and put them on for me.

So - as I often say - I hate Camping World !!! At least the one by me anyway. You put your best foot forward when you're trying to take somebody's money - if this is the best they could do BEFORE they took my money I loathe to think what would happen when I had to go in for service AFTER they had my money.

[norty1]

Sorry for the experience you had. It highlights the problem. A great dealer can make the difference.
Wonder what’s the difference between the 2 if Sunseeker is a clone?

[Jopopsy]

For the Forest River C's the seperation between Sunseeker and Forester is very minimal compared to Redhawk/Greyhawk.

The only thing my Sunseeker doesn't have that the Forester did is:
Skirt paint (I fully admit the bottom skirt paint dresses up the rig nicely)
Fiberglass running boards
Cedar lined closet
Lippert RV Tablet (in place of the buttons we're all used to in the command center. I much prefer the buttons to the tablet - buttons don't break very often but the tablet already had a bug that needed a new harness from Forest River to resolve - which of course Camping World did not order even after I pointed out the problem clear as day on the tablet)

And really that's it - I've been down the spec sheet line by line and looked at both units within hours of each other. Compared pictures, etc.

Actually because of the model year change I got a larger TV, better faucets, and the Atwood Air Command Heatpump (which I've read great things about).

[mcole9]

Jopopsy, I have a 2017 Redhawk 26X1 on the Chev chassis. No problems and the handling is great after a few modifications. You don't have to change brands for a Chev!

[Jopopsy]

I know that, but I wanted something closer to a Greyhawk in gear and it helps that this dealer is 20 minutes from me instead of 1.5 hours.

[Greyhawk01]

Before i bought my greyhawk we were looking at a thor at camping world. The salesmen couldnt get anything electrical to work so i looked around the rig a bit and i noticed the main battery cable was cut in half. Thats when i told the salesmen I didnt want anything to do with that motor home and we ended up getting the jayco somewhere else lol.

[Jopopsy]

Found one more difference: Sunseeker has a laminate counter that looks like its solid surface. Forester has a true solid surface counter.