Berkshire Owners....(HELP)

[tamdle]

Hello Berkshire Owners

I am interested in the 2016 Berkshire 38A Bunk Model. This model has the "hydraulic" slides vs. "mechanical" slides like others competitors which I heard many bad things about the mechanical slides.

My question is:
1 - If all the slides on the coach are hydraulic or only on the larger slide.
2 - How reliable is the hydraulic slide compared to the mechanical. Has anyone had any problem with the slide?
3 - How is the quality and workmanship of the Berkshire coach compared to other manufacturers such as Thor?

Many thanks, I will sit back and learn from you all.

Have a great day,
Tam Le

[ChallengerRN]

Well I'll answer #3. I owned a Thor for 22 months prior to my Berkshire.
The Thor had four slide failures. 2 were fixed by the factory one by the dealer and it was breaking again when I traded it in. My dealer had to fix it after they took it on trade.

I had many other issues too. I finally took my loss and traded for the Berkshire.

With the Berkshire I had my whirlpool refrigerator compressor fail. Whirlpool sent repair shop to me to fix it. I have had an issue with the Girard on demand water heater. It is working now. Just a learning curve to learn how it actually works. The new FR are being built with Atwood on demand heaters I think. Probably better.

So I've had my Berkshire for a little over a year. I'm totally happy with FR and the Berkshire. There for sure will NEVER be another Thor in my future.

Russell

[wnytaxman]

We have had our Berkshire for five years and the issues have been few and far between. Whatever problems we have had have been quickly resolved by either the dealer or the factory.

In reading many of the posts on other brands I would say the Berkshire problems are much less than many coaches costing tens of thousands more.

[KennyGolub]

I have had our Berkshire (400QL) for a year now and have no complaints.
The few minor issues we had were all taken care of by Forest River.

We probably will never buy another coach, BUT if we did, it would have to be a Forest River product. In my 66 years, I've never come across a company that took such good care of a product I purchased from them. I felt like royalty.

Ken

[phil57]

I'll add my two cents. I bought a 2011 Berkshire new in April of 2012. I've had a few problems but nothing that had ever kept the Berkshire from completing a trip. We have never been stranded or had to spend the night in a hotel because it was broken. FR has always gone way above and beyond to address any issues I have had. I have never had customer service from any company that has come close to them. I've bought lots of new cars and trucks from many different companies that could learn something from them.
No RV is perfect and they all will have issues. I know that I will always be a valued customer with FR.

[Ccupton]

We have owned our berk since August and love the floor plan and ride. A few minor issues as with all new rigs. Happy campers here.

[jponyboyace]

If u research my name here u will see many many Berkshire issues....with the 2012 full wall that had to go back to indiana ..too my 400QL that i had to get a lawyer and did sue cummings for there issues with a motor....However in all I now own a charlston so i must say the dealer is key .....plus mitch at forrest river did work hard to get me right....also i love the 8.9 cummins which is a beast....i would like to know what did u buy??...be safe good luck!!!

[lancslad]

I have a FR Georgetown with the full wall hydraulic slide and the rear bed slide. Absolutely no problems with the slides. The jacks operate from the same pump and I have lost the fluid twice when the jack hyd hoses failed.

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by tamdle

Hello Berkshire Owners

I am interested in the 2016 Berkshire 38A Bunk Model. This model has the "hydraulic" slides vs. "mechanical" slides like others competitors which I heard many bad things about the mechanical slides.

My question is:
1 - If all the slides on the coach are hydraulic or only on the larger slide.
2 - How reliable is the hydraulic slide compared to the mechanical. Has anyone had any problem with the slide?
3 - How is the quality and workmanship of the Berkshire coach compared to other manufacturers such as Thor?

Many thanks, I will sit back and learn from you all.

Have a great day,
Tam Le

We traded our 2013 Thor Palazzo in on our new Berkshire 38A and we are really pleased with our decision. The fit and finish on the Berkshire is very high quality and the construction seems very sturdy. No rattling while going down the road and the slides on the Berkshire glide in and out effortlessly with no knocking, squeeking, or groaning as was common on the Palazzo slides. (our Palazzo had 4 slide failures while we owned it).
Good luck in your fact finding journey! The most important thing to remember is do as much research as you can BEFORE you sign on the dotted line! Regret is unpleasant and expensive!!!

[BILL78789]

I don't know about the Berkshire but I have a 40' FR Charleston that I have had numerous problems with since day one some problems were fixed by the dealer when it was under warranty but the bigger problems started after the warranty was up. I am pretty handy so I have repaired some myself. The latest issue is the hydraulic hoses have bubbles and leak.
I've been trying to do this myself since it's so expensive at repair shops but this is very hard to do and I don't have the time I can't use the hydraulic slides and stabilizers until i get this issue fixed. I'm only posting this to let you know the problems you can run into.

Bill78789

[no3putt]

Our Berkshire spent more time at dealer getting repairs then we had it to use including a new roof the first year. Have had many leaks, and other thing we have been able to fix. Now we have fiberglass cheeking on the side and FR has refused to repair. Think they have a cap on how much they will spend on repair of a coach. Price is ok for what you get, but if had to buy another one would look at other brands. Purchased our 2009 in 2010 and the tires where 2007, built on a 2008 frightliner chassis.

As to the slides, ours has 2 hydrolic, one cable and one gear driven slide. All depends on year model as to what they have.

[jponyboyace]

Originally Posted by RKNOLA

We traded our 2013 Thor Palazzo in on our new Berkshire 38A and we are really pleased with our decision. The fit and finish on the Berkshire is very high quality and the construction seems very sturdy. No rattling while going down the road and the slides on the Berkshire glide in and out effortlessly with no knocking, squeeking, or groaning as was common on the Palazzo slides. (our Palazzo had 4 slide failures while we owned it).
Good luck in your fact finding journey! The most important thing to remember is do as much research as you can BEFORE you sign on the dotted line! Regret is unpleasant and expensive!!!

Where did u buy is part of the question?..these slides can be a nightmare...make sure the cable system is correct as a hanging cable can cause TROUBLE..make sure u r level also....much luck to you as I have had three and had one go back to Indiana and another one in lemonlaw....jim

[RKNOLA]

Originally Posted by jponyboyace

Where did u buy is part of the question?..these slides can be a nightmare...make sure the cable system is correct as a hanging cable can cause TROUBLE..make sure u r level also....much luck to you as I have had three and had one go back to Indiana and another one in lemonlaw....jim

We special ordered ours from Motorhome Specialists in Alvarado, TX so it was never out for general population test drives and display. I think that makes a big difference in the health and life of a slide system. We gave strict instructions that our slides were NOT to be extended by anyone without the coach being level first. And now when we are using our coach we always level first then extend slide.
I think build quality also has a lot to do with slide performance. In our old coach I don't think the slide box was square, that may have been where many of the problems came from. With our new coach all 3 of our slides boxes are square, so they all extend and retract with no flex or bowing. The slide boxes on our new coach also don't squeak while driving like on our previous coach.
Thank you for the heads up about the cables on our coach. We do keep a close eye on them because we know some have had that problem.

[jponyboyace]

What year bill

.I own a 15....JIM acerra