Vibe Travel Trailers

[ford_truck_guy]

My daughter and future son in law are now looking for their first Travel trailer. While at the AC RV show last weekend they ran across Forest River Vibe 26RK and really fell in love with it.

I have been out of the TT game for a while and rally have no feedback to give them on the quality of the Vibe....

Can anyone give me some feedback, good-bad towards that line... And what about the distance between those tires? There must be 18" between the 2 tires, WHY ? :h

Joe

[plasticmaster]

I have the 2016 Vibe 308BHS and really like the floorplan. Ours had a leak brand new around the outside kitchen and the dealer had to keep it several weeks right after we bought it to repair leak and dry up the moisture. I was very disappointed that a brand new camper was leaking (rain water) on the dealer lot. I've sadly come to believe that about half of brand new campers have leaks, right out of the factory. A word of advice...get a moisture meter, learn how to use it properly, and go over every square inch of the camper before you buy it. Overall, the build quality is nowhere near as good as our previous camper, 2008 Jayco 28BHS. However, now that we have the leak fixed and minor issues worked out, we really enjoy it.

The spread axle has not caused me any problems. My 2014 Silverado 1500 pulls it just fine. Here's a pic of my homemade x-chocks. They really help with stabilizing the camper.

[ford_truck_guy]

Gator398 wrote:
About these spring hangers ripping off.. this sounds like a serious quality issue since these trailers only weight less than 10k. I have only seen spring hangars separate at the weld on tandem single tire 102" wide goosenecks loaded over 25k we used in oil patch on awful lease roads, and even then the mechanic just welded them back down. Now I'm thinking the first thing I will look for if buying one of these TT is how flimsy the axles are holding on.. is this really that common?

More common than you think, more common that manufacturers believe. tahts because MOST happen after warranty, so the manufacturer has no idea since reimbursement was not made.

NOW, with that said, the sky is NOT FALLING.... Just keep a good eye

[Gator398]

About these spring hangers ripping off.. this sounds like a serious quality issue since these trailers only weight less than 10k. I have only seen spring hangars separate at the weld on tandem single tire 102" wide goosenecks loaded over 25k we used in oil patch on awful lease roads, and even then the mechanic just welded them back down. Now I'm thinking the first thing I will look for if buying one of these TT is how flimsy the axles are holding on.. is this really that common?

[ford_truck_guy]

Huntindog wrote:
I am not a fan of spread axles. I had the spring hangers rip off on my last TT. A spread axle will put even more stress on them. If they buy it, keep a close eye on them.

And yeah, the only reason they do that is so a smaller TV can be used.

That was one of my concerns as well... The stress on the spring hangers while backing/jacking into a spot.

[Huntindog]

I am not a fan of spread axles. I had the spring hangers rip off on my last TT. A spread axle will put even more stress on them. If they buy it, keep a close eye on them.

And yeah, the only reason they do that is so a smaller TV can be used.

[Gator398]

Lynnmor wrote:
They can cut down on tongue weight, use a skinny frame and have better handling so that inadequate tow vehicles can be used.

About inadequate tow vehicles, what is adequate for a 30' bunkhouse that sleeps 7?

We traded in the 2012 9 pass explorer van last year because every trip something broke or stopped working, without pulling a trailer.. my favorite was when the rear view mirror we never looked at fell down while driving through paved Garden of the Gods in CO lol..

[Gator398]

I can tell you all not sure about the axle width, spread axle trailer is always better than closed tandem. Tracks better, smoother ride, distributes weight better for less road wear. Not sure about using it for excuse to make skimpier frame, if so shame on the company's doing this. As a former truck driver with over 1m miles, spread axle should be standard on all trailers by now, the argument for increase tire wear only applies to incompetent operators trying to jackknife their overloaded trailer on rough concrete or uneven terrain (these low TT weights won't make a scratch on the tires).

I also think the Vibe (308HBS) is what we have decided to be our family's first buy. It has a great floor plan and exterior looks aerodynamic enough to hold up and pull well.

[safeman]

Ford Truck Guy

The only issue was the refrigerator cabinet attachment.
Our dealer did a great job of checking everything out and spent time going over everything with us.
Our first "shakedown trip" did not turn up any problems.

As far as the spread-axles, I have seen this on other brands as well.
The advertising hype says that it distributes weight better and tracks better. Can't say that I can tell any difference. I have no more tire rub when backing than I did with other trailers.

At home I use a Power Caster PC-3 Trailer Mover to park the trailer into a tight spot with some sharper turns than you would backing with a truck. There is the usual tire scrubbing but at such slow speed there is no damage.

[ford_truck_guy]

Safeman,

We know what it looks like, thanks for the pics.

How has it performed for you ? how about fit and finish? lost of issues? Any lingering problems that can'r get resolved?

[safeman]

Forest River Vibe 26RK Pics

[drsteve]

bob213 wrote:

drsteve wrote:
It's Forest River, so quality is going to be hit or miss.

Sad to paint a company with 60 brands with such a wide brush. Do you really believe FR is the only company out there that is hit and miss? Your Coachmen is a FR product. 😉 I don't think there is any brand that you can actually count on getting quality.
They should be prepared to have problems with any trailer they buy.:(

What's sad is that my statement is accurate--they are ALL hit and miss, including the high end products like Lance and Airstream.

I'm well aware that FR builds Coachmen, and yes, mine had plenty of assembly snafus and cheap azz, corner cutting material choices and design decisions.

[bob213]

drsteve wrote:
It's Forest River, so quality is going to be hit or miss.

Sad to paint a company with 60 brands with such a wide brush. Do you really believe FR is the only company out there that is hit and miss? Your Coachmen is a FR product. 😉 I don't think there is any brand that you can actually count on getting quality.
They should be prepared to have problems with any trailer they buy.:(

[safeman]

We bought a new one last year. Only had a few trips but everything works well so far. The floor plan works very well for us.

The only issue we have had is the refrigerator cabinet. Our refrigerator is the 12 volt compressor model and it works better than any other fridge we have had but I had to modify the cabinet to hold it in place better. If they get a conventional RV refrigerator this won't apply.
Also, the oven is not a full-size RV oven. It only has about 4" of usable cooking height.

FWIW... I tow with a 2017 Ram 2500 6.4 gas and a Blue Ox Sway Pro.

[Lwiddis]

X2, Lynnmor. Warren wants those checks to keep rolling in to Omaha.