More than 41,000 Forest River fifth wheels and trailers are being recalled for a bad wiring fire risk. Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2004-2024 Cedar Creek and 2006-2024 Puma fifth wheel trailers. The overcurrent protection from the trailer battery may have been incorrectly routed, allowing the wires to be pulled out of the junction box. A loose wire can cause a short circuit, increasing the risk of a fire. A total of 41,353 units are potentially involved.
Remedy
Dealers will reroute the wires to the protected side of the mini-beaker, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 14, 2024. Owners may contact Puma customer service at 1-574-642-0588 or Cedar Creek customer service at 260-593-4000. Forest River’s number for this recall is 51-1786.
Notes
Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
Bad wiring fire risk background
In April 2024, Forest River inspected a 2020 Puma Fifth Wheel trailer. The inspection spotted the overcurrent protection from the trailer battery to the junction box was connected to the incorrect side of the breaker for the 7-way trailer plug. Was it a “one off” occurrence?
From April 8, 2024, through May 24, 2024, all 20 Forest River manufacturing plants looked into the matter. When all was said and done, “It was found that certain plants had not been consistently wiring,” reported Forest River to NHTSA. “On May 30, 2024, out of an abundance of caution Forest River decided to conduct a safety recall to address any Fifth Wheel units in the field from the affected manufacturing plants.”
How could a fire start? The 7-way trailer connector includes wiring for the tow vehicle to charge the trailer batteries. This occurs when the trailer is connected to the tow vehicle. This circuit is protected by a fuse installed in the tow vehicle. With the tow vehicle disconnected, the 7-way does have 12V on the charge line. However, it is not connected to any loads. As a precautionary measure, Forest River supplies overcurrent protection from the trailer batteries to the 7-way connector through a mini-breaker.
In the case of the recalled units, the charge wire to the 7-way trailer connector may have been routed to the wrong side of the breaker in the battery compartment. If the cord for the 7-way connector is not properly routed to the tow vehicle plug, under certain conditions, the cord may be pulled out of the junction box and cause a short circuit, increasing the risk of physical damage to surrounding portions of the trailer as well as “increasing the risk of a thermal event or fire.”
Forest River at top of the ‘Dirty Dozen’
Interestingly, NHTSA runs a graph on its page of vehicle recalls. The pie graph shows the the top twelve vehicle manufacturers with the most recalls for the year. Forest River is now occupies the Number One spot of the ‘Dirty Dozen,” having more individual recalls than even giant auto manufacturers like Ford or KIA. It hardly seems to be an enviable position to be in.
##RVT1161b
Yay ! They’re #1….NOT !!
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 Yes, certainly an unenviable position. I do wonder if “leading” the country in recalls is sufficient to cause Forest River to ask some very hard questions of its most senior managers and make some corporate-wide changes. I cannot see this predicament being ignored by sellers of competitor RVs. Thanks again, have a great week, and safe tdavels! 🙂
On our 09 CC fifth I had to remove the belly covers in order to fix a leak in the water tank fill hose.
A good opportunity to examine everything.
I discovered that the main heavy electrical wire was draped over each steel crossmember from the back of the trailer to the front where the converter is.
The crossmembers having been built out of angle iron meant that the thin edge of the angle was cutting and wearing through the insulation of the cable.
It had already worn through and had exposed copper on one of the heavy wires.
Fortunately the copper exposed was not a hot side!
Not if but when …..there was going to be a fire.