Forest River Fifth Wheel: problems, complaints, bulletins
Summary for the Forest River Fifth Wheel across 1 model years: 3 owner complaints and 0 NHTSA service bulletins, plus repair videos. Pick a year for details.
Model years
| Year | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) | YouTube repair videos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What fails most often
- 1 Equipment 33% of all complaints
- 2 Structure 33% of all complaints
- 3 Suspension 33% of all complaints
- Equipment: 1 complaints (33% of all).
- Structure: 1 complaints (33% of all).
- Suspension: 1 complaints (33% of all).
Components owners complain about
| Component | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Suspension | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 1 | 0 | 0 |
What owners report
Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.
The contact called forest river at [phone] and was informed that the replacement fire extinguisher was mailed, but it failed to arrive at the contact's residence. The vin was unknown. The contact had not experienced a failure. The contact was unware of the fire extinguisher's model information.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 (na) forest river fifth wheel sierra 365 saq (na) motor home. The contact stated that a failure occurred with the weight of the vehicle and it felt unstable. It was diagnosed that both axles were bent. Forest river replaced the axles, tires, and updated the springs.
When owners complained
NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.
What to check before buying
- Structure. Rails, pillars, panel gaps, signs of pulling or welding.
- Suspension. Wheel alignment, control arms, subframe, even tire wear.
Other models of this make
Read also
Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.