I am submitting a follow-up complaint regarding a previously reported front axle weight and capacity issue on this motorhome (original ODI complaint #11398920). At the time of the original complaint, the front axle was already operating at or above its rated capacity under normal conditions, even after removing factory-installed components and redistributing weight rearward. Despite removing approximately 820 lbs from the vehicle, the front axle weight was only reduced by about 200 lbs, indicating a systemic weight distribution problem rather than a loading issue. Since that time, the issue has escalated into a safety failure. We recently experienced a blowout of the front left tire while operating the vehicle under normal conditions. Based on prior weight measurements and ongoing inability to bring the front axle within safe limits, I believe this failure is directly related to the overloaded front axle condition. This appears to be a known design limitation. Forest River revised subsequent model years of this same unit with increased front axle and tire capacity, suggesting awareness of insufficient capacity in earlier models. Additionally, numerous owners of similar units have reported the same front axle weight issues. The vehicle cannot be operated within safe front axle limits without removing essential functionality (such as fuel or standard equipment), which is not practical or intended use. Given the progression from a documented weight concern to an actual tire failure event, I am requesting that this matter be formally reviewed or reopened as a safety defect investigation. I can provide supporting documentation including CAT scale tickets, prior correspondence, and details of the tire blowout incident upon request.
The worst 2019 Forest River Berkshire problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Lights4
- Electrical2
- Suspension2
- Engine1
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Lights4
- Electrical2
- Suspension2
- Engine1
Recalls 9
Equipment: recreational vehicle/trailer
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Coachmen Cross Country, 2015 Coachmen Encore, 2016-2020 Coachmen Mirada, 2018-2021 Coachmen Sportscoach, 2019-2021 Forest River Berkshire, 2011-2016 Forest River Blue Ridge, 2014-2019 Forest River Cardinal, 2014-2020 Forest River Cedar Creek, 2014-2021 Forest River Georgetown, 2019 Forest River Legacy, and 2017-2018 Forest River Riverstone recreational vehicles equipped with Hehr 6400 Series windows. The adhesive that bonds the vented portion of the window may fail.
- Risk
- Adhesive failure may cause the vent portion of the window to detach, increasing the risk of a crash or injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the windows, and replace the vent if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed September 2, 2021. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑574‑825‑8600. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-1380.
Recall number 21V523000 · Recall details
Tires: valve
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Coachmen Sportscoach and Forest River Legacy and 2018-2021 Berkshire motorhomes built on a Daimler Trucks (DTNA) chassis. The tire valve stem extension for the inner wheel may come in contact with the outer wheel rim opening and become damaged.
- Risk
- Extensive damage to the valve stem extension may result in a loss of tire pressure of the inner wheel, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River will notify owners, and DTNA will inspect the inner wheel valve stem stabilizers, or replace as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 24, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑800‑547‑0712 or DTNA customer service at 1‑800‑547‑0712. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-1228. DTNA's number for this recall is FL-861.
Recall number 20V562000 · Recall details
Exterior lighting: turn signal
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Charleston, 2017-2019 Legacy, 2017-2020 Berkshire, 2017 Coachmen Cross Country, and 2017-2020 Sportscoach motorhomes built on certain FCCC XB and XC chassis that received an inspection-only remedy for recall 18V‑763. The rear mounted Power Distribution Module (PDM) may have been damaged during manufacturing, possibly resulting in the rear marker lights, brake lights, or turn signals not functioning.
- Risk
- Non-functioning exterior marker lights can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest Rivers will notify owners, and Daimler Trucks dealers will replace the old Power Distribution Module (PDM) with a new PDM, free of charge. The recall began January 18, 2021. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1‑800‑547‑0712 . Forest's number for this recall is 51-1203.
Recall number 20V488000 · Recall details
Service brakes, air: disc: caliper
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Berkshire and Sportscoach motorhomes equipped with air disc brakes. The brake caliper mounting bolts may have been insufficiently tightened.
- Risk
- Loose brake caliper mounting bolts can reduce brake effectiveness, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River will notify owners, and Daimler Trucks (DTNA) dealers will inspect and repair the vehicles, free of charge. The recall began April 20, 2020. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1‑800‑745‑8000. Forest River's number for this recall is FL-845.
Recall number 20V161000 · Recall details
Visibility: rearview mirrors/devices
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Orion Class C, Freelander Class C, and Leprechaun Class C motorhomes, Rockport work trucks, and Berkshire Ultra Coach, and StarCraft shuttle buses, equipped with ASA Electronics back up mirror-monitors, model number VOM74MM. The affected displays may revert back to the factory default settings, causing the camera image to be reversed.
- Risk
- If the monitor displays the image in reverse, the driver may unintentionally turn the opposite direction, increasing the risk of crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River has notified owners, and dealers will install a harness/relay/capacitor module, free of charge. The recall began April 8, 2019. Orion, Freelander, and Leprechaun owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑574‑825‑8602. Rockport owners should call 1‑574‑522‑7599 and Berkshire, and Starcraft owners should call 1‑574‑642‑3112. ASA Customer service can be reached at 1‑800‑384‑4400. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-0980.
Recall number 19V202000 · Recall details
Visibility
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Forest River Georgetown and FR3 motorhomes, 2018-2019 Berkshire motorhomes and 2018 Charleston motorhomes. The motorized windshield roller shade at the driver's seating position may unroll without warning while driving.
- Risk
- If the windshield roller shade unrolls while driving, it could block the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will install a fastener to ensure the motor will not allow the shade to roll down during while driving. The recall began November 28, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑574‑206‑7605. Forest River's number for the recall is 68-0822.
Recall number 18V768000 · Recall details
Service brakes, air: disc: caliper
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Forest River Berkshire recreational vehicles and StarTrans PS2 transit buses and 2019 Glaval Legacy transit buses. The brake caliper mounting bolts may have been insufficiently tightened.
- Risk
- Loose brake caliper mounting bolts can reduce brake effectiveness, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River will notify owners, and Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) authorized service facilities will check and tighten the brake caliper mounting bolts, free of charge. The recall began November 21, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑574‑642‑3112. Forest River's number for this recall is 35 and 5C-0897.
Recall number 18V770000 · Recall details
Exterior lighting
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017 Coachmen Cross Country, 2017-2019 Coachmen Sportscoach and Forest River Berkshire and Legacy and 2017-2018 Forest River Charleston motorhomes built on Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) chassis. The rear mounted Power Distribution Module (PDM) may have been damaged during manufacturing, possibly resulting in the rear marker lights, brake lights, or turn signals not functioning.
- Risk
- Nonfunctioning lights can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- The remedy for this recall is still under development. Owners will be notified and be sent to FCCC authorized service facilities for free repairs. Forest River issued owners an interim notification on November 16, 2018. A second notice will be mailed once remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑574‑642‑3112 or Coachmen customer service at 1‑574‑825‑5821. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-0893.
Recall number 18V737000 · Recall details
Equipment: recreational vehicle/trailer
- What is wrong
- Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019 Forest River Berkshire motorhomes. The affected vehicles have entry doors with latch rods that may be improperly adjusted, allowing the door to open while moving.
- Risk
- If the door opens while moving it can increase the risk of injury or a crash.
- Remedy
- Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will readjust the door latch rod, free of charge. The recall began October 9, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1‑574‑522‑1368. Forest River's number for this recall is 40-0853.
Recall number 18V623000 · Recall details
Technical service bulletins for the 2019 Forest River Berkshire 13
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Generic prints for dealers to reference during service.
- Generic troubleshooting documents for dealers.
- Generic drawings to help service centers trouble shoot vehicles.
- Generic drawings to aid in trouble shooting components
- Additional electrical drawings for reference.
- Cummins states per the federal safety agency Recall 21E-032, âThe fuel rail assembly may develop leaks,...
- FCCC X-Line chassis, equipped with a certain rear mounted Power Distribution Module (PDM), may experience...
- Notice of Submission of Defect Information Report/Defect Information Notice
- Damage to the tireâs valve stem may lead to loss of air pressure, which, if unnoticed, could lead to a...
- Cummins states per the federal safety agency 21E-032, the fuel rail assembly may develop leaks, which may...
What 2019 Forest River Berkshire owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The contact owns a 2019 Forest River Berkshire RV. The contact stated that the right turn signal and rear taillights failed to operate as needed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 20V488000 (Exterior Lighting, Electrical System) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
The front suspension and tires are not adequate to hold the weight when there is a full tank of fuel. The issue was addressed with forest river and their response was that they knew of the issue and upgraded the suspension and the tires for the 2020 and 2021 years.
The head lights are completely inadequate to drive at night. If driving at night I have to drive with the brights on. No one even notices the brights are on it is still to dim for safe driving. I am 43 years old with perfect eye sight. There is no excuse for this. The forums online are filled with people complaining about this issue and even modifying the vehicle with LED strips to correct the issue. We have asked forest river about the issue. They said they new about the issue and corrected it in their 2020 and 2021 vehicles.
Factory headlight does not include a low beam bulb. It only utilizes one h9 bulb for high beam and has a LED strip for low beam lighting. This low beam lighting is very dim and looks to be below minimum lumens for road/highway use. Contacted manufacture and was told the unit only has the one bulb. Please comment to is this light legal for road use? Low visibility is dangerously low.
While operating my vehicle, the rear tail lights and brake are completely inoperative making my vehicle unsafe to operate. The engine radiator cooling fan electrical clutch becomes inoperative and no front air conditioning.
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Questions about the 2019 Forest River Berkshire
Is the 2019 Forest River Berkshire reliable?
Owners have filed 6 complaints about the 2019 Forest River Berkshire, 3.0 times a typical Berkshire model year.
What is the most common problem with the 2019 Forest River Berkshire?
Lights, with 4 complaints. Next is electrical (2).
How many recalls does the 2019 Forest River Berkshire have?
9 recalls, covering equipment, tires and exterior lighting.
Was there a recall on the 2019 Forest River Berkshire lights?
Yes, 2 recalls: 20V488000, 18V737000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
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