2016 Forest River Vibe 250 BHS for $8,000

[Ex-Calif]

Sold my Class A a few years ago. Have been wanting a bunkhouse trailer for a while.

Found one in really good shape for $8,000. Everything is in great shape. Electric tongue jack, leveler slide and awning.

Thoughts on this trailer?

 

[CharlesinGA]

Well, its Forest River. That means a crappy Lippert frame for sure. My travel buddy has a 2017 Forest River Surveyor that is about 25 ft and has had two spring hangers rip off the frame. Typical paved roads, nothing crazy.

The frame is not I beam or tubing, but rather looks like an I beam but is made of flat stock welded together to resemble an I beam. One of the spring hangers was welded on at a joint where the strips that make up the lower cap of the beam were butted together, a rather weak place to attach a spring hanger.

He bought it used. We discovered the drain hose for the Dometic fridge was never even pulled out and routed thru the outside vent. It was still coiled up and shoved behind the coils on the back of the fridge, right where Dometic puts them during manufacture.

The water heater is a Suburban gas/electric. Forest River bought the cheap models that have the electric switch on the outside of the water heater, no relay, no inside switch to control the electric element. You want hot water, run outside and open up the water heater, find the switch, hidden behind the gas valve, and switch it on, close it up and run back inside.

However, for $8000 you can afford to fix a fair amount of stuff. Hopefully no hidden water leaks.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Well, its Forest River. That means a crappy Lippert frame for sure. My travel buddy has a 2017 Forest River Surveyor that is about 25 ft and has had two spring hangers rip off the frame. Typical paved roads, nothing crazy.

The frame is not I beam or tubing, but rather looks like an I beam but is made of flat stock welded together to resemble an I beam. One of the spring hangers was welded on at a joint where the strips that make up the lower cap of the beam were butted together, a rather weak place to attach a spring hanger.

He bought it used. We discovered the drain hose for the Dometic fridge was never even pulled out and routed thru the outside vent. It was still coiled up and shoved behind the coils on the back of the fridge, right where Dometic puts them during manufacture.

The water heater is a Suburban gas/electric. Forest River bought the cheap models that have the electric switch on the outside of the water heater, no relay, no inside switch to control the electric element. You want hot water, run outside and open up the water heater, find the switch, hidden behind the gas valve, and switch it on, close it up and run back inside.

However, for $8000 you can afford to fix a fair amount of stuff. Hopefully no hidden water leaks.

It's very dry. My class A rotted so I am severely tuned to rot. I did a full inspection poking everywhere for any soft spots.

I forget the brand of heater (lots to research) but it is a standard gas/electric with inside lighted switch.

The only gigs I found were the bathroom faucet leaks and the tires, while having plenty of tread and no crazing have a 2020 date code.

The brakes work but they have pretty low drag. I am sure they just need adjusting.

The awning also has developed some thin spots and will need replacement soon.

So far no buyer regrets.

I'll make sure to inspect frame when I jack for brake adjustment.

I'll try and post a video or 2.

 

[Ex-Calif]

I forgot how damn expensive it is to provision an rv.

It's like moving into an apartment. Spent $1100 bucks or thereabouts and haven't spent $1 on groceries.

Here's what $700 gets you at Wally's.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Sunday here. Still prepping for first trip on Tuesday. Hoping to yard camp and cook tonight and maybe Monday night.

Photos are sink repair.

Thursday was 90% provisioning shopping. Friday was tanks disinfecting faucet repair and mattress cleaning. Tiday us final ckeanung, shelf lining and loading.

Here's a couple of youtubes.

 

[Ex-Calif]

Pre-Trip maintenance...

Sunday I'm gonna jack all 4 wheels to adjust drum brake clearance and give each tire a shake and spin to detect any imminent bearing issues.

I bought a solar powered rear view camera. Installation should be easy as no wiring. Head unit is cigarette plug piwer tok so that's easy.

Final job is to find a 12v source and wire in the inverter. This is to plug in tv and googletv during generator quiet times.

Then we should be road ready.

 

[Jackiemac]

Safe travels!

 

[Rene T]

Pre-Trip maintenance...

Sunday I'm gonna jack all 4 wheels to adjust drum brake clearance and give each tire a shake and spin to detect any imminent bearing issues.

I bought a solar powered rear view camera. Installation should be easy as no wiring. Head unit is cigarette plug piwer tok so that's easy.

Final job is to find a 12v source and wire in the inverter. This is to plug in tv and googletv during generator quiet times.

Then we should be road ready.

While you have it jacked up, I would repack the wheel bearings.

 

[Ex-Calif]

While you have it jacked up, I would repack the wheel bearings.

Yeah. I'm outta time. I did visit a great RV repair shop looking for faucet parts.

They quoted 1 1/2 hours per wheel to repack. That's 6 hours at $150 and it's tempting but $600 is a lot.

They also quoted clean and reseal the roof with Dicor for $300 so I will definitely do that.

Also 2 hours to install new awning canvass + cost of awning at retail. I'll get a quote for canvass and put it on the to do list. 2 hours is a bargain to manhandle a 20 foot awning.

Road trip starts Tuesday. Today I install rear view camera, adjust brakes, install truck mirrors and an old job to install a new rear bumper on truck.

Monday is provisioning, hook up inverter and power wash exterior.

Launch Tuesday and hit the Cat station on the way out. I'm excited!

 

[Ex-Calif]

I have a checklist app on my phone and jimmied up this departure checklist.

Any glaring omissions?

 

[Utclmjmpr]

Got any money left for traveling??,,>>>Dan

 

[Ex-Calif]

Got any money left for traveling??,,>>>Dan

Yeah, right? 2300 miles of gas is gonna be cheap by comparison.

I did return a few items but bought $140 more things this morning. Organizers and power cord mostly. The devil is in the details.

I got as big a box as willl fit in basement for sewer hose.

The wardrobe cabinets are in the bullet nose. They are 3 feet deep by 11.5 wide.

I found boxes to fit so I can use for clothes and easily pull the box out.

Hangers, laundry bags... the list is endless but I really am done now.

I emptied my home fridge, freezer, souce rack and cabinets and will save in initial trip provisioning. So I got that going for me...

 

[Kirk]

I emptied my home fridge, freezer, souce rack and cabinets and will save in initial trip provisioning.

When do you leave? Keep us posted.

 

[Ex-Calif]

When do you leave? Keep us posted.

Departure tomorrow. My buddy arrived in Tallahassee yesterday evening.

Just a couple jobs to go.

My buddy brought 2 suitcases. He doesn't do minimalism apparently. Gonna have to store 75% of his crap in the basement.

 

[Ex-Calif]

First day on the road. Medium level of drama.

4 days of power burnt and welded my brand new Walmart 30 amp cable. Very disappointed. Had to add a stop at camping world for plug ends.

Hit the weigh station and due to misposition got an error on truck vs. Trailer weight. But got total mgcvw - total rig weight. 12,100 #.

Truck is rated at 15,000# so good headroom.

But forgot to add water to the tank and half the stops were searching for water.

Any way good day...

 

[Ex-Calif]

Today was a hard push. Track rv parking opens at 6am tomorrow. Original plan was to stop 200 miles south of Binghamton NY - 4 hours to track. It was 5pm at the stop so we decided to press to Binghaamton..

First drive at night then for fun we got serious thunderstorms on I81N. Construction, narrow lanes and the worst line markings ever. Almost impossible to see. At times we were all going 35mph with flashers on. No shoulders nowhere to hide up. After a planned 8:30 arrival we arrived at Loves at 9:22. Gased up and went to one WM. Sketchy area and small lot. Went across town to the big WM and bigger lot. Setup and Mall Cop came by and sniffed but said nothing so we lowered the gear, fired up the genny and nuked some groceries. We are 1 1/2 to the track and plan a 5am departure.

Probably no more posts in this thread. 12-1300 miles in 3 days. and the rig was flawless so far. Averaging 11.5 mpg. No gripes at all except solar powered camera died due to battery drain. Finished last 3 hours today old school.

Launched at 7:30 this morning. Dinner 30 minutes ago - 23:30. 16 hour day - knackered (mentally) time for a nap...

 

[Kirk]

Way too may hours driving for me.