Forest River or Gulf Stream

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Mick & Pat

Mick & Pat

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 14, 2006
Posts
293
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Back in UK with RV
Well the second list of approved and oversizes motor homes has been published in the UK see  http://www.smmt.co.uk/motorhomes/  and http://www.smmt.co.uk/motorhomes/Motorhome_Directory.pdf  for the actual list.

You will immediately see that the list contains BOTH British / European and American motor homes.

We intend to purchase an A class 3 or 4 slide-out diesel pusher but having viewed the list the only diesels I see named or know are pushers that are on the approved list are:

Forest River Charleston 360 QS
Forest River Charleston 360 TS
Forest River Charleston 400 QS or TS
Forest River Georgetown 400TS/400Q
Gulfstream  Crescendo 8356 2-slides
Gulfstream  Crescendo 8386 2-slides

If I have missed any please point them out.

Now sometime ago we had taken a shine to the Gulfstream Tour Master but a number of rvforum members suggested that Gulfstream were not an ideal buy.

So what about Forest River in particular the Charleston model?

I would appreciate any advice or observations.

Thanks
 
Mick,

My only knowledge of Forest River products is with their trailers (caravans). The latter are well made, but I've never seen any of their motorhomes.
 
Forest River has been making motorhomes for only a couple years now. They look fine but haven't established a tracjrecord yet.

I know a fellow with a GS Tourmaster that he is very happy with. Bought it used too. It's a very classy rig.
 
I do not have any experience or information on the Forest River but I would think it would be a better bet than any Gulfstream unit.  I cannot recall meeting any Gulfstream ownerthat had a good experience with Gulfstream.  We have a friend that bought a Tourmaster new and ended up in court to get them fix it properly.  IMHO I would not even consider a Gulfstream product based on what Gulfstream owners have told me.
 
Guy's

Thanks for the input so far........ I have placed a similar question on another RVing forum in the hope that there are a few members who can further help who are not rvforum members. :)
 
I work with Forest River, coachmen, damon, products and also have serviced Gulfstream motorhomes.

If you are looking into Diesels motorhomes then you might want to look at the seperate devision of Forest River, Damon products they are made by forest river but have more options but are more expensive.


But if you want to save some money but get a good product Coachmen makes a Cross Country Diesel that aren't as expensive, but has a lot of neat floor plans and you can't even really tell that it is cheaper.
 
Forest River,

Thank you very much for your reply, however my friend  :) I don't think you had a peek at the British Governments approved list of RVs under 2.55m width or 12m length before writing. http://www.smmt.co.uk/motorhomes/Motorhome_Directory.pdf

All the Damon RVs on the oversizes ' side of the list and the only approved Coachman's are the Miranda petrol A class RVs.

The Forest River Charleston RV is looking better by the minute trouble is I cannot find an e-mail address on their web site to write to them, Forest River dealers also appear to be somewhat rare but then I find the search facility that uses zip codes very confusing to use especially if as a Brit I have no idea what zip code goes with what area.

Can you help out with both an e-mail address and the web site of a dealer who sells new Forest River RVs?

Thanks
 
According to the Forest River website (dealer locator), La Mesa RV in Tampa, FL is a Forest River Charleston dealer.  La Mesa web site is La Mesa  Shoul dbe able to get an a mail address there.

You can get the zip code for any US city on the US postal service web site  USPS
Here's the page for zip code look-up:  US Zip Codes
Pick a city, get the zip code and then use the Dealer Locator on the Forest River web site
 
I drove a GS TourMaster and was quite impressed with the ride. --Credit this to the Spartan chassis-- Though it might be worth while to look farther into the possibility of getting one, since we really liked the interior layout. We next went to IN and took a tour of the factory.  Saw three TourMasters in various stages of construction. After seeing the guts and how they go together, we lost ALL desire to own one.

Chet18013
 
Thanks for those tips for zip codes RV Roamer.

Chet18013 & Ron,

You have both given negative details on Gulf Stream but could you possibly give a bit more detail. The reason I ask is when first asking about American RVs in general the normal reply is to expect problems with ALL Makes of RV, so Ron what sort of problems did your friends suffer that required court action and was this on a brand new coach?

Chet18013,

What was so horrific in what you saw in the construction of the Tour Master?

Sorry to be a pain but when thanks to the British Government one only appears to have only the choice of two Manufacturers I have to fully check out every detail before totally rejecting that manufacturer.

Hope you understand that?
 
My main objection had to do with materials of construction, storage and subsequent use. The frame for body sides is made from steel tube. The steel was stored outside and allowed to rust in the weather. The frame was built from this rusted tubing and then immediately had the body sides applied with no rust removal or coating.  The design of the entire electrical wiring system seemed to be as inexpensive as possible.  We have a Beaver Marquis and it's electrical system is hi-grade marine type construction. Each wire has a unique color code and all junctions terminate in screwed together Cannon plugs. All circuts have breakers, not fuses.  The TourMaster had inexpensive push together automotive style connectors and used fuses. Which means if there is a problem you must search for the blown fuse.

In defence of the GS, I should add the when we toured the Monaco factory last June, both the Monaco and Beaver coaches under construction were also welded from tubing that had some minor rust on it. Howerever, after construction, they did apply an electrostatic deposited coating on the entire frame before the next step in assembly. This is a bit of improvement, however I would think that if they stored the tubing under cover, then rust would not be a problem. Both Monaco and Beaver now have gone to the cheaper fused circuts also, but they do include an indicator light that comes on when a specific fuse blows--still not as good as a circut breaker, but cheaper.

Chet18013
 
Chet 18013,

Thanks for the additional information,unless you have actually visited a factory and seen a coach being built a potential owner is none the wiser.

The very first RV we viewed was the Damon Daybreak.

The nearest I got to a factory visit was their short film clips showing their build procedures, all  looked very impressive but they only showed you what they wanted you to see, they also like GS could store their steel outside and place it on a coach untreated.

Trouble is ALL Damon are shown on the list as being Oversized there width being 2565m which is 15mm oversized  :(
 
Mick said:
Thanks for those tips for zip codes RV Roamer.

Chet18013 & Ron,

You have both given negative details on Gulf Stream but could you possibly give a bit more detail. The reason I ask is when first asking about American RVs in general the normal reply is to expect problems with ALL Makes of RV, so Ron what sort of problems did your friends suffer that required court action and was this on a brand new coach?
Click to expand...

Basically many things from overweight on the front axle with nothing but fuel.  No passengers no personal stuff.  This was the cause for some of the problems.  Tag axle had less than 3000 lbs and rear axle way over 20,000.  Components improperly installed, poor wiring, air conditioning problems. many things just didn't work right.  Poor workmanship plus many things that I just don't recall all of what they were having problems with.  I don't believe they ever made a trip without serious problems some of which were due to the overweight problem.  Have heard several complaints from others that own or have owned Gulf Stream.  Like I said thankfully we have never owned a GS and we have no first hand knowledge or experience just what we have been told by others.

 
Ron,

Thank you very much for that additional information.

I have just received another bit of information via another RV forum that places another nail firmly in the Gulf Stream coffin.

This member took a factory tour at Gulf Stream where he witnessed that the steel used was stored outside and allowed to rust, then without any cleaning or treatment the rusty steel was used in the coaches construction.

I do not want to pay $200,000+ then shipping charges for a new rusty motor home..........would you?

Has any member on here taken a factory visit and seen similar or totally the opposite?

Oh, I nearly forgot another RV manufacturer has come to light Triple E http://www.tripleerv.com/  any knowledge of these coaches on here?

Thanks :) :)
 
Hi Mick,

Mick said:
I have just received another bit of information via another RV forum .....
Click to expand...

Chet mentioned that here a few messages back.

I'd not heard of Triple E untill I read your message. They're based in Winkler, Manitoba, Canada. Maybe they service mainly the Canadian market. This coment on their web site would also suggest that:

"Triple E has established a loyal and dedicated dealer network in Canada as well as a presence in the United States."

Like you, I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has had any experience with this brand.
 
Before purchasing our MH we some factory tours.  If one just looks around and make some observations a lot can be learned.

The Triple E is a Canadian made RV and the only owner that I had an opportunity to talk to was very pleased with his.
 
Well after visiting the Triple E web site http://www.tripleerv.com/ and checking out the vehicle specifications I think the RV we would have chosen would have been the Empress A3903 FGB.

Its an 'A' class diesel pusher with 3 slide-outs and the twin settee set up in the lounge. I then set about a bit of Googling to locate any Florida dealers and a price.

I found a couple of dealers but the biggest shock was when I did a Google search to locate any Empress A3903 FGB for sale and discovered its price $356,155.00  ???.........the wife thought it looked really nice though  :(

Ah well the search goes on the Forest River Charleston 400QS is now looking favourite.

Despite its title its 39'-03" in length.

The ALL MIGHTY UK SMMT / DVLA  has it in the approved register as being 11963m long and 2540m wide  :) :)

Now that length is no problem in the USA but in the UK & Europe?? I shall have to have a word with IanH who recently exported a Fleetwood Revolution 38 foot to the UK.
 
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