Black tank fell from r-pod - Event Date: 03 Nov 2016

Originally posted by cactus My brand new 170 also has significant amount of rust. Shoddy workmanship.

Interesting how often a post of any problem prompts all the "me too" posts.  It is hard for me to believe that the same company that made our Pod made all the junk that people report.  I can't complain of any problem caused by FR.

I put a strap under my fresh water tank, I will put a strap on the other 2 tanks.

I will wait and see what it looks like after the dealer repairs it. If I don't like it, I will put at least one bolt through the frame on each bracket, possibly two per bracket.

Jato,  Overall, I really like my R-Pod 179. The rust I spotted has already been wire-brushed and painted. The worst spot looks like there was something on the spot, possibly a support while the frame was being painted. There did not appear to be any paint on that spot.

This cross-member problem is something that should have been fixed a long time ago. Perhaps the actual number of incidents where tanks have fallen off are so low that the bean counters figured it was more cost effective to repair the ones that broke rather than fix it right on all of them. Everyone who has had a tank come loose or fall of needs to report this to the NHTSA. That is probably the only way it will get enough attention to actually be fixed.

The good thing is that Forest River will cover this defect. The bad thing is that it means an extra two trips to the dealer. Once this week to take it there and another to pick it up the next week. I don't think Forest River will cover my mileage expenses to do this.

On top of that, we had a thunderstorm with large hail that dented up our new car. Some of the hail measured quarter-sized or a little larger. While the dents are not large, there are a number of them.

I crawled beneath my new 179 and found the tanks were properly attached. Several other small items need to be taken care of and that is scheduled for Tuesday.

Those screws are not meant for significant load bearing. I would not trust them with anything more than holding together body or widow panels. Someone threw engineering out the window in favor of saving factory man hours. Through bolt and a few drops of Loc-Tite, that would probably last the lifetime of the RV.