2021 Forest River Cherokee problems

NHTSA lists 49 complaints for the 2021 Forest River Cherokee, 1 of them mention a crash and 3 mention a fire. 0 complaints mention an injury, with 0 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-08.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as FOREST RIVER CHEROKEE.

At a glance

Complaints: 49
With crash: 1
With fire: 3
With injury (complaints): 0
Injuries: 0
Deaths: 0
Recalls: 3
Do not drive recalls: 0
Park outside recalls: 0
Recall potential units (maximum): 99,190
Investigations: 0
Open investigations: 0
Manufacturer communications: 3

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. No sales source is available for this record.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
System	Complaints	Share of this vehicle's complaints
TIRES	21	42.9%
STRUCTURE	10	20.4%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER	8	16.3%
SUSPENSION	6	12.2%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	3	6.1%
WHEELS	2	4.1%
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES	1	2.0%
POWER TRAIN	1	2.0%
SERVICE BRAKES	1	2.0%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC	1	2.0%

Top subsystems
System	Subsystem	Complaints
STRUCTURE	BODY	9
TIRES	TREAD/BELT	4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	WIRING	1
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES	DOORS	1
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC	POWER ASSIST	1
TIRES	SIDEWALL	1
TIRES	TEMPORARY/EMERGENCY SPARE TIRE	1

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags

These labels are model-generated, not NHTSA data.

Failure modes
Label	Count	Share of tagged	Mean confidence
mechanical failure	36	73.5%	0.91
structural or corrosion	8	16.3%	0.85
electrical electronic	2	4.1%	0.95
fire or overheating	2	4.1%	0.81
loss of control	1	2.0%	0.54

Severities
Label	Count	Share of tagged	Mean confidence
moderate	40	81.6%	0.79
high	5	10.2%	0.79
low	4	8.2%	0.73

Model: typesafe/jev-1.13-20260917; schema version: tag-v1. 49 tagged complaints of 49 complaints (100.0%).

Confidence is the model's own probability for the label it chose (0 to 1), not accuracy.

Model-generated labels on tagged complaints only. Model years 2013 and newer are tagged in full; 2012 in part (see tagged_share); earlier model years have no tags. NHTSA's own flags remain separate in the complaints block.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

3 recalls.

22V243000

Date: 2022-04-13. Systems: EQUIPMENT.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Coachmen Adrenaline, Apex, Catalina, Freedom Express, Spirit, East to West Alta, Della Terra, Silver Lake, Forest River Cedar Creek, Cherokee, Columbus, Flagstaff, Impression, Ozark, Rockwood, Sabre, Salem, Sandstorm, Shockwave, Stealth, Stealth Evo, Vengeance, Vibe, Wildwood, XLR Toyhauler, Palomino Puma, Prime Time Avenger, Crusade (excerpt)

Consequence: A gas leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase the risk of a fire. (excerpt)

Remedy: Dealers will replace the quick disconnect and perform a LP system check, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed May 20, 2022. Owners may contact the applicable customer service number for their vehicle model. Please see the recall report for the list of phone numbers. (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

21V877000

Date: 2021-11-12. Systems: EQUIPMENT.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Cherokee ACKT29TEBL travel trailers. The tire size and Gross Axle Weight Rating (GAWR) on the Federal Placard are incorrect, which could result in the vehicle being overloaded. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims" and 49 CFR Part (excerpt)

Consequence: An overloaded vehicle can lead to a loss of control, increasing the risk of a crash. (excerpt)

Remedy: Forest River will mail owners a new Federal Placard, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 29, 2021. Owners may contact Forest River Customer Service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest Rivers number for this recall is 17A-1439. (excerpt)

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

20V654000

Date: 2020-10-26. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Defect: Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Cherokee recreational trailers. The shore cord inlet wiring insulation may not have been sufficiently stripped back, causing a poor connection with the set screw.

Consequence: A poor electrical connection can increase the risk of a fire.

Remedy: Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will remove the inlet, and rewire or replace the inlet completely if necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 23, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River customer service at 1-260-499-2100. Forest River's number for this recall is 17D-1201.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

0 investigations; 0 open.

Manufacturer communications

3 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
System	Count
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM	2
WHEELS	1

11015784

Date: 2025-03-19. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Generic drawing of a 87A relay wiring diagram for holding tank warmers.

10199637

Date: 2021-08-02. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

As per Lippert Components Technical Service Bulletin 11-004-21. The slide room actuator was assembled incorrectly, which may cause the room to become stuck in the out position and prevent from fully retracting.

10193872

Date: 2021-05-19. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: WHEELS.

It was discovered that the manufacturing plant did not cut a stress relief line in the upper deck Driver Side and in on certain models, Passenger Side under the slide room(s). The upper deck in the Impression Fifth-Wheel needs to flex, without the "stress relief cut" the sidewall filon may crack und

Notes on this record

Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model label	Complaints
CHEROKEE	49

Same model, other years

2000 Cherokee: 2 complaints
2001 Cherokee: 0 complaints
2002 Cherokee: 0 complaints
2003 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2004 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2005 Cherokee: 2 complaints
2006 Cherokee: 5 complaints
2007 Cherokee: 0 complaints
2008 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2009 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2010 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2011 Cherokee: 0 complaints
2012 Cherokee: 2 complaints
2013 Cherokee: 2 complaints
2014 Cherokee: 5 complaints
2015 Cherokee: 6 complaints
2016 Cherokee: 3 complaints
2017 Cherokee: 11 complaints
2018 Cherokee: 14 complaints
2019 Cherokee: 9 complaints
2020 Cherokee: 14 complaints
2021 Cherokee (current year): 49 complaints
2022 Cherokee: 23 complaints
2023 Cherokee: 3 complaints
2024 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2025 Cherokee: 1 complaints
2026 Cherokee: 2 complaints

All model years | All Forest River models

Other Forest River models, 2021

XLR Toyhauler: 11 complaints
Wildwood: 10 complaints
R-POD: 8 complaints
Vengeance: 7 complaints
Cedar Creek: 6 complaints
Rockwood: 6 complaints
Flagstaff: 5 complaints
FR3: 5 complaints

Sources

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