2018 Forest River Cherokee problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Wheels (6) · Tires (2) · Electrical System (2)
Safety recalls (8)
Trailer Hitches 2019-11-25 · campaign 19V844000 · 328 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2020 Cascade and Cherokee travel trailers. The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of the vehicle exceeds the GVWR of the trailer hitch coupler, potentially resulting in the coupler failing and the trailer detaching.
Risk: A trailer that detaches from the tow vehicle can increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners and dealers will replace the coupler, free of charge. The recall began February 17, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100 or 1-541-995-3447. Forest River's number for this recall is 64-1114.
Equipment:other:labels 2019-05-10 · campaign 19V355000 · 3 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Cherokee ACKT39CL and ACKT39RL travel trailers. The Federal Placard may have incorrect axle rating, cargo carrying capacity, and tire/wheel combination information.
Risk: Due to the incorrect Federal Placard, an operator may overload the vehicle, which may decrease vehicle stability and increase the risk of crash.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will provide replacement placards that contain the accurate information, free of charge. The recall began May 28, 2019. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 17A-1012.
Equipment:recreational Vehicle/Trailer 2018-10-25 · campaign 18V752000 · 3,606 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Cherokee Alpha Wolf and 2019 Cherokee Arctic Wolf recreational trailers. The awnings may have been mounted with fasteners that are insufficient in length and/or quantity, possibly resulting in the awning arm detaching from the wall.
Risk: If the awning arm detaches, it can increase the risk of injury or a crash.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners and dealers will inspect and replace with the correct fastener, free of charge. The recall began November 27, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 75-0867.
Equipment:recreational Vehicle/Trailer 2018-03-21 · campaign 18V186000 · 448 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Forest River Cherokee recreational trailers, models CCKT16BF, CCKT16BHS, CCKT16FQ, CCKT16GR, CCKT16GRH, CCKT17RP and CCKT18TO. These vehicles are equipped with Norcold N306 mini refrigerators that may have a loose or missing propane gas valve test port screw, allowing propane to leak out when the refrigerator is used in 'gas' mode.
Risk: A propane leak increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners, and Norcold dealers will install and tighten the gas valve port screw, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on April 19, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100, or Norcold customer service at 1-800-543-1219. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-0687.
Exterior Lighting 2018-01-22 · campaign 18V066000 · 75 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018 Cherokee recreational trailers. The amber side marker lights are not located as far to the front as feasible on the vehicle. Additionally, the vehicles may also be missing the intermediate side reflex reflectors located at, or near, the midpoint of the vehicle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment.
Risk: If the marker lights are in the wrong location or if the reflectors are missing, it can reduce the visibility of the vehicle to other drivers, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will install amber side marker lights as far forward as feasible, and mount side marker reflectors, free of charge. The recall began on February 16, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 75-0613.
Electrical System:wiring 2018-01-11 · campaign 18V034000 · 223 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Forest River Cherokee travel trailers. On the affected trailers, a 14 gauge and a 12 gauge neutral wire for the 110V Air Conditioning were connected to the same lug in the 120V panel neutral bus bar.
Risk: If both wires were connected to same lug, the smaller wire may overheat and fail due to trying to handle a higher load, thereby increasing the risk of an electrical fire.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will relocate the subject wire to another 14 gauge terminal, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on February 14, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 17A-0609.
Electrical System:wiring 2017-12-21 · campaign 17V838000 · 3,297 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2015-2018 Cascade and Cherokee recreational trailers. The trailer wiring may have been improperly routed, allowing the wires to be pinched between the chassis and the vehicle body.
Risk: Pinched wires may short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the trailers, rerouting the wires, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on February 7, 2018. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-541-644-8072. Forest River's number for this recall is 64-0456.
Equipment 2017-11-22 · campaign 17V756000 · 365,885 vehicles
Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2003-2018 Forest River Berkshire, Charleston, Rockport, Cedar Creek, Cherokee, Riverstone, Salem, Sandpiper, Sierra, Vengeance, Wildcat, Wildwood, XLR Boost, Cargo Mate, Continental Cargo, motorhomes, recreational trailers, toyhaulers, cargo trailers and restroom trailers and 2009-2018 Coachmen Mirada, Pursuit, Concord, Leprechaun, Freelander, Orion and Prism motorhomes, 2009-2017 Coachmen Apex and Catalina recreational trailers, and 2013-20
Risk: In the event of a fire, if the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: Forest River will notify owners, instructing them to contact Kidde for a replacement fire extinguisher, free of charge. The recall began on December 27, 2017. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-800-348-7440, or Kidde customer service toll free at 1-855-262-3540, or online at www.kidde.com and click on "Product Safety Recall" for more information. Forest River's number for this recall is 51-0544.
Service bulletins (1)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Equipment:recreational Vehicle/Trailer 2018-09-28 · 510780 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
per the service bulletin from dometic ?dometic corporation has identified a visual cosmetic defect that has occurred on our dometic dm2652 refrigerators up in the freezer compartment. this does not occur on all units, but may be present on units with serial numbers starting with mb between 805xxxxx
What owners report
2023-10-31 · Tires“castle rock st radial st 226 - tire size 205/75r14 - load range c - this tire had never been used and was stored with a cover over it - on the back of our camper. the tire blew - see attached pictures - when it was not in use. concern - someone could have been hurt - and we have 4 more of these tires on our camper. am concerned after reading all…”
2023-06-15 · Tires · 2,000 mi“the contact owns a 2018 forest river cherokee equipped with castle rock tires, the tire line was unavailable , st205/75r15, dot number was unavailable. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the passenger tire exploded. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the tires were original tires. the failure mileage was…”
2022-10-12 · Suspension“after purchasing the travel trailer near chicago, and returning to kentucky, i noticed that the tires were rubbing the wheel well above them, on one side. the tires had worn through the cover, and had made burn marks on the wood frame. a local dealer replaced the leaf springs on that side under warranty in the summer of , and replaced the covering…”
2022-06-20 · Wheels“on june 12, 2022 my husband and i were towing our 5th wheel on 99w in salem/keizeroregon about 4pm when a car on our left waved us down saying that we had a wobbly tire on the passenger side of the 5th wheel. we got off onto cherry lane and pulled over to inspect and could not readily determine the problem. we went to our final destination for the…”
2020-09-29 · Wheels · 2,000 mi“two tire trailers blew up going down the interstate from a camping trip. first tire blew apart after leaving the camp site around 15 mins down the road. 2nd tire blew when we were standing still replacing the other tire. this is a single axle trailer with two tires. 205-75-r14 castle rock with 65psi and less than 2,000 miles. tires were on tra…”
2020-07-28 · Unknown Or Other“glass panels attached to the cabinet doors will fall and break without warning. the camper was parked, level, and the air conditioning had been running for 2 days. the cabinet had been opened several times throughout the weekend. the glass panel was not loose but popped out unexpectedly when the cabinet door was opened and shattered on the floor sp…”
2020-07-21 · Wheels · 4,000 mi“had castle rock tire st225/75r15, this past weekend 7/17/20, while driving on i40, the first 5 mile the first tire exploded, 38 mile further down the road another tire exploded. then when parked at the home the spare tire exploded and it was just laying in the bed of my truck. i have removed and replaced all for of the tire from my rv. i didn't kee…”
2020-04-14 · Wheels · 800 mi“i was using my truck to pull the trailer along on a 70 mph highway, straight road, going about 70-71 mph with cruise control on when i heard a tire pop. when i pulled over, i saw 3 tires in total had failed. the vin was invalid *dt*tp 1 tire fell apart and i'm unable to find the failure because of the lack of tire remaining. 1 tire had the tread p…”
2019-12-17 · Electrical System · 🔥 fire“rv began smoking from the exterior of the hvac unit. per video recording fire fell from the ceiling igniting the mattress. the entire rv filled with smoke within minutes, and the entire top of rv was fully engulfed in flames. it burnt the entire rv, home and cars beside. it was purchased brand new june 2018. fire occurred july 1, 2019. forest…”
2018-09-20 · Wheels · 2,000 mi“bought this unit in november 2017. by february it was hard to drive, fishtailing and swaying. took it to the dealer, said everything (including axle) was fine. drove to wyoming in april, swayed a lot. moved as much weight forward as possible. parked it for a few months. drove again in july and nearly flipped on i90. dropped it at an alignment shop …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.