Since when can the weatherman predict the weather, let alone the future!

Emmet Brown

Since the future has not yet been determined, we thought it would be fun to start a campaign to change the weather.

We can’t change the weather you say? Then there should be no harm in doing the following!

What you can do

Meditate

Each day spend a few minutes meditating. This meditation can be done any time of day, with sunrise and solar noon being ideal times.

When you are ready return to your normal activities sure that the universe is already moving to provide clear skies for the eclipse.

Will you help?

Meditation and prayer have been shown to alter reality. It’s not supernatural; it’s esoteric science.

Now what do you say? Let’s see if we can magic up clear skies for the eclipse!

_{This post may contain affiliate links from which we may earn a small commission at no additional expense to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.}

The post Meditation for a Cloud Free Eclipse appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

Solar Eclipses

Solar eclipses don’t happen every day. They don’t even happen every year. In fact, from 1996 until 2012 there were no total, annular or partial eclipses visible from North America. But that has changed in the last few years.

Table of Contents

• Solar Eclipses
• Total Solar Eclipse 2017
• Types of Eclipses
• Other Eclipses
• So what’s the big deal?
• Devil’s Comet
• Rapture, Indiana
  • Totality as a Natal Chart
• Council of the Old Gods
  • UPDATE! NASA rockets, Ra and Apep
  • Solar Cycle
  • A 2012 Connection?
  • The Great Year in motion
• Meanwhile, at the LHC
• What does it all mean!?

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

If you have been anywhere around civilization in the last few months you have probably heard that there is a total solar eclipse in the near future. On April 8, 2024, parts of North America will gaze to the sky to see a total solar eclipse. The path of totality begins over Mexico, extends through Texas to the northeast, leaving the continent through Vermont, Maine and finally exit the North American viewing area over the Gulf of St Lawrence in Quebec.

Eclipses are cool and all, but what makes this eclipse noteworthy? For starters, it is not the first solar eclipse in recent years.

Total Solar Eclipse 2017

Prior to the world losing its collective mind with the COVID plandemic, there was another total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. This eclipse was entirely over the United States with the path of totality running from Oregon across southern Illinois and through South Carolina. The path of this eclipse crosses the path of the other eclipse in southern Illinois.

Types of Eclipses

NASA’s JPL tells us that there are three types of solar eclipses; partial, annular and total.

In addition to the two total eclipses in 2017 and 2024, there have been two annular eclipses as well. You can see from the picture above that an annular eclipse is a nearly total eclipse, but the sun is not completely eclipsed.

Two annular eclipses have occurred over the United States; one in October 2023 that spanned from Texas back to Oregon, and one on June 10, 2021 over parts of Canada.

Other Eclipses

In the interest of full disclosure, eclipses do happen regularly all around the world.

So what’s the big deal?

To this point we have discussed the eclipse from a purely modern, purely physical perspective. But since we are the Metaphysical Family, we looked at a few other things that would be happening in the sky that day.

Devil’s Comet

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as “The Devil’s Comet” will be passing near Earth on the day of the eclipse. Astronomers tell us that there is nothing to worry about the ten mile wide ball of rock and ice because the comet will be no closer than 1.5 AU (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) as it passes us on April 24, about two weeks after the eclipse.

The comet orbits the Sun every 71.2 years. People familiar with the precession of The Great Year may find this number noteworthy.

Rapture, Indiana

People of the Christian faith sometimes refer to something called The Rapture. In short, those faithful to this tradition believe that “The Rapture” is part of the end of days and is the time when the faithful (living and dead) will be called to live with their god in the clouds. What does this have to do with the eclipse? Perhaps nothing, but there are Christians online who believe that this eclipse may be an event of Biblical proportions.

We recently learned of a town in Indiana named Rapture. As it happens, Rapture Indiana is the only place on planet Earth in 2024 with that name.

As it also happens, Rapture Indiana is also in the paths of both the 2017 total eclipse, and the 2024 total eclipse. Because of this, it seemed like a reasonable place to launch an investigation into the sky on the day of April 8, 2024 in Rapture, Indiana. Here is what we found.

Totality as a Natal Chart

For those who are not astrologers, watch the following video. We made this video using the wonderful (and free!) planetary software Stellarium available at https://stellarium.org.

Council of the Old Gods

In case you missed it, there will be a several planetary conjunctions during the period of the eclipse.

This is the sky at the moment of the eclipse as seen from Rapture, Indiana, according to Stellarium. Ladies and gentlemen; the Council of the Old Gods. All of the original seven wanderers of the old world will be above the horizon and in a nearly straight line on the ecliptic as the eclipse reaches totality.

That’s not the slightest bit ominous, except that …

Solar Cycle

Our Sun has periodic cycles. These cycles last about 11 years. Our Sun was in the low part of its solar cycle when the eclipse of 2017 moved across North America. For the Solar Eclipse 2024 our Sun will be in the peak of its solar cycle. This is why we have been hearing more and more reports of large M class flares, and even X class flares.

We know that solar flares can bring chaos to Earth’s more modern inventions, and experts have been working on EMP shielding with varying levels of success for as long as we have had electronics. That’s great and all, but I wonder if the people who build such things have a proper understanding of that massive source of energy hanging in our sky. Carrington Event, anyone?

The Carrington event happened during a mediocre, ho-hum solar cycle… It came out of nowhere, so we just don’t know when something like that is going to happen again.

Paul Kintner, Cornell University

A 2012 Connection?

A man named Graham Hancock has an interesting theory. An insufficient summary: Most people misunderstand why the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. It is not a reference to that specific year, but rather, that the end of the calendar marks the period of time in which our Earth will be in great danger – one arc minute of The Great Year – ~72 years. The calendar ends, so the theory goes, to mark a time in which the Earth will be passing through a place in The Great Year in which life on Earth could be greatly impacted, if not destroyed entirely.

They knew this because they had knowledge from long ago about a similar event. This knowledge came from a civilization lost to history, but retained through the Mayan people. This event happened between 11,000 and 12,000 before present. Hancock and others postulate that the event involved a comet or other impact event over North America which caused the ice cap to melt in a very short time. This rapid melting caused the worldwide flood described in the myths and legends of most every ancient culture.

For a brief introduction, watch the following video. For a more, read Mr. Hancock’s books, and his website.

The Great Year in motion

Going back to our Sun for a moment, Doctor Robert Schock, PhD (Yale) and Geologist at Boston University has a very interesting theory about what caused the end to the last ice age. He takes a slightly different view from Mr. Hancock, and instead postulates that the end of the last ice age was most likely caused by an extreme Solar eruption. Mr. Schock goes into detail in his book, Forgotten Civilization – New Discoveries on the Solar-Induced Dark Age

Meanwhile, at the LHC

(Click here to view the video)

What’s being done with the LHC is most unsettling to those with occult and/or alchemical training in the same way that the atomic bomb is unsettling. Both come from the same black magick. Myth tells us over and over again of man and his attempts to become too much like the Gods, reaching too far into heaven, and the often very severe punishment for the offense.

What does it all mean!?

So what does all this mean? The answer will depend on how you view this universe that we call home for this place in time.

Time is the water, Charlie. Life is just the bridge that it flows under.

Howard Bowditch

There are traditions from a time not long ago that state that the planets are not lifeless balls of rock and gas, as the experts with the telescopes inform us. Instead these traditions hold that these planets are something else.

In ancient Greece – a civilization we still admire today – the wanderers, as they were called, are either the literal bodies of gods they’re named after, or at least the expression of those personalities into our solar system. Other traditions hold that they are the physical representation of eternal forces, the names of which change as human language changes. And yes, there are even traditions in which our Sun is a portal to other dimensions, other solar systems, or both. The ancient Egyptians, for example, held that one possible afterlife for a pharoh was to become a new star, reigning over an entire solar system.

Gurdjeff’s “The Forth Way” as explained by P. D. Ospensky in “In Search of the Miraculous” holds an interesting cosmology. Another insufficient summary: There is a universal creating logos – the “word of god” that created our universe. Not the Pauline Christian notion of “logos” put forth by those who interpret the first chapter of the New Testament epistle of John in a certain way. Closer to the Hindu mantra “OM”. That top level logos divides into rays and solidifies into various sub-logi, manifesting in the physical world as stars like our Sun. This sub-logos has an intelligence as well as a feedback loop from planet Earth. If this is true, the Sun is alive, and sentient, though not in the same way that the average walking dead man is.

Whether Earth is a place where we incarnate to experience and learn, a prison where we incarnate to mine alien gold, or just a big ball of rocks spinning through the cosmos carrying the accidental results of the greatest genetic accident ever imagined, there is a long history on this planet. This history tells of angry gods who live in places in the sky. The gods occasionally come down from the sky to teach us lessons, and they are sometimes very harsh lessons. When things get completely out of hand, the gods unleash a cataclysm and kill most of the people on Earth.

Sam has been of the personal opinion that “the Sun is angry with us” for the last several years, and it has increased much more since 2021. Our Sun seems brighter than it did seven years ago, and hotter than it did seven years ago. Sam can not confirm this with personally collected data of temperatures or UV indexes, but only anecdotal evidence. We would be very interested in the results of any such tabulation from (uncorrected!) weather data.

Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe there is nothing more to see than balls of matter moving in the sky. Maybe the Solar Eclipse 2024 even will be a non-event. And maybe seven is just another number.

Sam remembers a time in 1990 when a seismologist, Iben Browning, predicted that the New Madrid Fault line in Missouri had a 50/50 chance of erupting in a massive earthquake. It did not, but people were sent into a panic over the news. While it didn’t happen, it’s worth noting what experts believe would happen, should such an earthquake occur.

This event will take place over the intersection of the last two total eclipses, near a place called Rapture, right next door to an active seismic zone that is long overdue for a major shake-up, in a country that seems bent on destroying the memory of the old gods and religion in general. If the old “myths” are true, the sky over North America on April 8, 2024 is a stage set for something spectacular, awesome, terrifying and possibly cataclysmic.

It might be a good time to get right with your personal God, just in case.

_{This post may contain affiliate links from which we may earn a small commission at no additional expense to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.}

The post Solar Eclipse 2024 – An eclipse, and so much more appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

Focusrite Scarlet 2i2

This is the Focusrite Scarlet 2i2. This is a USB interface device that allows us to plug in up to two XLR microphones. This interface will accept microphones that require 48V phantom power, as well as microphones which do not need phantom power. The device offers direct monitoring and more.

Find out more about the Focusrite Scarlet here: https://us.focusrite.com/products/scarlett-2i2-3rd-gen

Microphones

As we previously mentioned, there are a LOT of microphones on the market. Even after reducing the options to XLR the field is still very large. After reading reviews and researching for what seemed like a very long time, we made the decision to purchase the following microphones:

Condenser Mics

NEEWER NW-800

This is a great little mic that won’t break the budget. XLR interface and supports phantom power. We have two of these microphones in our podcast gear. They work very well and we have no complaints.

NEEWER Uni-directional (Shotgun) Microphone

This shotgun microphone works well. When in uni-directional mode sound only comes from one direction. Noise from the other directions is minimal, if detected at all.

NB: 48V phantom power is required in order for this microphone to operate in unidirectional mode. As of this writing the NEWER shotgun mic is unavailable, but the link will take you to the same mic under a different brand.

Movo VXR10-PRO External Microphone

While not directly part of our podcast gear, we purchased this microphone for better audio recording outside the studio, such as filming with a cell phone. This mic provides much better sound recording than the built in microphone on any phone. With USB-C and 1/8″ cables provided, this microphone should interface to all (or at least most) of your devices.

MOVO Lapel Microphone

We received this lapel mic as part of a special offer when we purchased the MOVO external mic above. It’s a great bit of podcast gear for those lapel mic moments.

Other Helpful Items

These items aren’t required podcast gear, but might be helpful.

Cable Matters XLR Cables

The XLR cables that come with these microphones may or may not work when you get them. They may or may not work a month later. Better quality XLR cables are probably in your future. We like these from Cable Matters.

Xvive Phantom Power Injector

This device injects phantom power into a microphone which requires it. The function that this device provides is fulfilled by the Scarlet in our setup, but would be useful in a setup which does not include an external DAC. For example, this will allow an XLR mic to be plugged directly into a computer’s sound card using the appropriate cable or converter (XLR -> 1/8″).

MAONO USB Microphone

If all of this talk of DACs, XLR and phantom power is over your head, or if you just want to get started right away, you could do worse than this microphone. This microphone supports USB-C as well as XLR interfaces with phantom power. This might be a good starter microphone to get started without springing for the whole XLR setup up front.

Conclusion

If the question is “What gear should I buy to start a podcast?” our answer would have to be “It depends”.

As we said, we have multiple uses in mind for this equipment that are not directly related to a podcast. Sam specifically wanted to be able to move the entire recording setup between computers by only swapping one cable. This setup accomplishes that goal and more, and we are very happy with this podcast gear.

Good luck on your podcast!

The post By Request: Podcast Gear appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

The first lesson that we learned is that RVs built after 2019 are called COVID CAMPERS with good reason. Forest River’s poor quality control is second only to their customer care after the sale. When our 2022 36BHQ began to literally fall apart in January of 2023, Forest River did nothing to help. Instead, Forest River did everything they could to shirk their responsibility, laying the blame for their poor construction at the feet of Super Springs International.

Feeling defeated, we returned to our “home base” property to build a tiny(ish) house in the woods. The lesson we learned here is that it takes much longer than one might think to build a house on a property that has been abandoned for ten years. After five months of clearing brush, a tractor purchase, tons (really) of dirt work, and one broken post hole auger later, we still didn’t even have a base foundation for the house prepared. The leaves were changing, letting us know that winter was coming whether we were ready or not.

As we didn’t want to spend another winter in the Sabre, Sam was working outside from sunrise to after sunset, but progress was slow. Any time we felt like we were making progress, an approaching setback seemed certain. Tensions were high in the household. For a few days it seemed like 2023 was going to end in a very unhappy way.

Then, on the third straight morning of breaking rock in the bottom of post holes, the tension reached the boiling point. Frustrated, we decided that it was time to admit that we were not going to have a house ready by winter, and that God was making it pretty clear that we were headed in the wrong direction.

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”

Bruce Lee

Sam has observed that when difficulty arrives, it is usually the case that Sam is not moving in harmony with the flow of the Universe. Sam firmly believes that God is in direct communication with the created Universe, though those communications are usually very subtle. Pillars of fire are spectacular, but the important messages often come as whispers from God.

And after the ra’ash an eish; but Hashem was not in the eish; and after the eish a kol demamah dakkah (a quiet, gentle voice).

Melachim Alef 19:12 (First Kings 19:12)

After much reflection on ideas such as those above, Sam suggested that the time of year signaled the end of camping season, and that we might be able to get a decent deal on an older RV. As is often the case when we are moving with the Universe, we found a promising prospect a day or two later, and it was only a few hours away. A few days later, we brought our new (to us) RV to our base camp.

Introducing Corvus Canus

We were lucky enough to find a 2015 Jayco 4212 Toy Hauler. Compared to the Sabre, this RV is built like a tank. Everything about the structure of the RV as well as the materials and components used within the RV are superior in every conceivable way. We expect far, far fewer problems with this RV than the junk Forest River produced. After all, it has already outlived our Sabre seven times!

We spent the next month getting it ready for us. New carpet in the front bedroom, bunk beds for the kids, a reconfiguration of the garage/happy jack system, ROKU TVs to replace the off-brand TVs provided by the OEM (UpStart?) and two bottles of Meg’s 61 Oxidation remover later (it was really bad), it’s ready to roll, and we are on the road again!

On December 11, 2023 we departed base camp for a more southern latitude to enjoy a mild winter season.

We will upload many more pictures over the coming days, and will be releasing a tour video soon.

But, what about the tiny house?

We are still planning to improve the base camp property, including a tiny house, and other amenities that we will announce as we go along. We plan to return when the weather there is more favorable to outdoor activities, and take it from there.

Until then — see you “out there”!

The post On The Road Again! appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

BBB Dispute Ends in Huge Waste of Time

When we left off in Part Four we were still embroiled in a dispute being handled through the Better Business Bureau, or BBB. What we didn’t understand at the time was that businesses pay to be members of BBB. As a paying member of the northern Indiana BBB, it should come as no surprise that the complaint was closed in favor of Forest River.

One of the last emails Henry Sears sent to the BBB dispute was this email. Remember it, because you will see it again.

A Message From Super Springs International

When it became apparent that we weren’t getting anywhere with Forest River, Lippert or the BBB, we reached out to Super Springs International – the makers of Sumo Springs – for their input on our situation. It took a while (and a strongly worded email) to get a response back, but we did get one, and it confirms what we already suspected.

Mr. Coulter is Director of Sales for Super Springs International. As you can see, Super Springs does not approve of Forest River’s libelous allegations. This is also not surprising. But it is very refreshing to deal with a company who stands behind the design, construction, quality and benefit of their products.

But back to Forest River and Lippert

Lippert Remains Silent

You may recall the email that we sent to Lippert on May 3.

Since it had been 72 days, we decided to send another, based on the new information.

We will update you all in the event that Lippert responds.

UPDATE: Within two hours this post’s publication Lippert responded to the above email. They have requested more information, and are requesting our location so that they can dispatch technicians to do their own inspection. We will update you on this situation as it progresses.

Seeking Help from the Attorney General

After BBB proved to be a huge waste of time we also initiated a complaint with our Attorney General’s office. We provided links to parts one, two, three and four of our Forest River Fails saga for the AG to review. After a while we received this response from Forest River, via the AG’s office.

Remember the email that Henry Sears sent to the BBB complaint? This is the same email, verbatim. Mr. Sears still isn’t paying attention.

Attached to this response was a statement from the AG’s office that if we wanted to dispute any of Forest River’s comments that we had 30 days to do so before the case would be closed. Needless to say, we dispute Forest River’s comments, but we are withholding our response back to the Attorney General until we see what happens next.

Until Next Time

If you are considering getting into the RV life, you really need to understand just how bad the industry is; both in building the RVs in the first place, as well as how they handle customer service after the fact.

Don’t allow yourself to be treated this way. You spent too much money on your RV to have the people that built it tell you that it’s your fault that it broke.

Can you imagine if automobile manufacturers did this? How many trucks would Ford sell if the cab began to fall off the frame at 36,000 miles? That’s right, not many, and the NHTSA would be knocking down their door. Why are RV manufacturers not held responsible for building their junk?

Until next time!

The post Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility – Part Five appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

Better Business Bureau Complaint

We initiated our BBB complaint against Forest River in early April after Forest River’s refusal to discuss our issue. When we opened the complaint we were only seeking a repair of the damaged sidewall discussed in Part One. As you saw in Part Three, the situation had unfortunately progressed in the time that Forest River was giving us the runaround, and the RV is now coming apart at the seams.

The initial complaint was sent to Cheyenne Clark. Cheyenne suggested through the complaint that we contact Henry Sears. You remember Mr. Sears from Part Three.

Mr. Sears’ initial response to the complaint read as follows:

This again?

Mr. Sears clearly hadn’t read the complaint. We sent this back along with another copy of the email and Lip Sheet 0104 from RV Masters, as well as a link to the Youtube video we shared in Part Three of the rear sidewall screws backing out.

Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility (Yet Again)

We respectfully declined to participate in their offer to have the RV transported to Indiana for inspection for the reasons we stated in our response, but also because at no point has Forest River said anything other than “the bump stops did it”. Why would I send the RV to Indiana under these circumstances? So they can “inspect” the RV, stick to their position that “the bump stops did it”, and then hold the RV hostage until we pay for the “inspection”?

Forest River – A “Better” Recreational Vehicle

If a person clicks over to https://forestriverinc.com and scrolls down the page they will see this quote from Peter Liegl – Forest River’s CEO.

I wonder how Mr. Liegl feels his company is doing with his vision. I wonder if our experience is what he meant by “building better recreational vehicles” and the idea that his products serve the needs, interests, budget and lifestyles of every family. Maybe there are families out there who buy an RV that want the body to fall apart after a year … but we doubt it.

The Quest for Customer Service Continues

Forest River continues to deny any responsibility, or offer any reasonable resolution. We can not be without the RV until our cabin is built, so we can not have it disappear to Indiana for an undisclosed time, and certainly not for an undisclosed purpose. We asked what they would be inspecting, but Mr. Sears ignored that question in what is apparently Forest River’s typical style.

We hope to reach a resolution soon, but are aware that this can go on for a long time yet. Perhaps that is Forest River’s plan — to prolong and belabor this process as long as they can in hopes that we will get frustrated and go away. If that’s the case Forest River has grossly underestimated our resolve in this matter.

Check back for the next installment. We aren’t done yet!

Until then we ask that you please share our story with everyone you know.

UPDATE: Part five is available now!

The post Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility – Part Four appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

The Defects Continue

We had noticed a bulge in the rear most portion of the passenger sidewall behind the slide. The bulge is (was) in the black aluminum skirting at the bottom of the wall which hides the wall seam and the frame rail. We don’t remember exactly when the bulge first appeared, but it was not there in February of 2022 when I was busy making skirts for the RV.

The bulge _was_ present in the fall of 2022, as can be seen in this picture from October.

The bulge had grown by February, but was still only a bulge at that time.

This is what the bulge looks like today. The video explains the rest.

As you can see, the first screw which backed out was one of the screws securing the bottom of the wall structure to the RV’s floor assembly. The RV’s floor assembly is then (supposed to be) bolted to the frame with the fasteners discussed in Part One and Part Two. Now the rest of this same line of screws which hold the sidewall to the floor assembly have begun to back out.

Will the RV make it back to our property? We honestly don’t know at this point, but we obviously hope so. Forest River still denies any responsibility for this damage or repair.

Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility (Again)

If you recall the email that we sent back to Forest River after their denial, that email politely suggested that they review our case and reconsider. We thought that after we explained the situation with the frame checks having been done incorrectly that Forest River would tell us to find another shop to have the work redone.

But that’s not what happened.

We didn’t get any further responses from Forest River until I called LCI directly. After we had done so we sent the following email to Forest River.

Forest River did respond by EOD 4/7. This is what they sent.

Climbing the Ladder

Cheyenne Clark is the public interface to Forest River service. Since she is the only public point of contact for the service department, anyone wishing to communicate with Forest River must go through her. At least, that’s how Forest River would prefer it to be. But the power of the internet can help a person find all kinds of useful information.

Did you know that there are websites that keep track of companies’ boards of directors, C-level executives, etc? They sometimes include contact information for those company executives. Many of the people in this story are on LinkedIn as well.

We sent the following email as our final direct email communication about our case to Forest River. We sent it to Cheyenne Clark, whom you already know. We also sent it to two other people: Peter Liegl – Forest River’s founder and CEO, and David Youmans, Forest River’s C-level “Director of Ethics and Compliance”.

We were hopeful that this email to high level executives would get our case the attention it deserved.

Our hopes were shattered when we received this email from Henry Sears, who we presume is somewhere in middle management; above Cheyenne Clark and Chad Cook, but below the C-levels that we emailed above. Was Mr. Sears willing to help, or even discuss our case further?

No, he only doubled down again.

Lippert is Silent

Forest River keeps telling us to discuss the case with Lippert. it would be great if we could do that. Unfortunately, Lippert has been very elusive when we ask them for their denial and the reasons for it in writing. The last email we sent to Lippert was this one. We are still waiting for an answer…

And remember – ALL OF THIS centers around this supposed frame issue which neither Forest River nor LCI want to talk about, and which RV Masters has proven does not exist.

Refund or Replace

What a complete and total mess. Am I right?

When all this started we would have been very happy to have the crack repaired so that we could continue our traveling adventure. After everything that has happened, it seems that wasn’t meant to be. People say things like “The Lord moves in mysterious ways …”. As I have said before, that has not been my experience. I find it to be downright overt at times.

With the continued problems we are having with this RV we do not feel that it can be repaired. We have resigned ourselves to moving out of the RV and changing directions. Now we are hoping that the RV stays together long enough for us to get to our property. Once there it can sit stationary until we get the house built, but it can not continue to be used for travel camping in its condition.

With damage this severe we are seeking either a replacement unit or a refund. Even if this one can be saved we would never be able to trust it. How could we? Just take Forest River’s word for it because we have experienced so much honesty to this point?

To Be Continued

Thank you again to everyone who has come forward with their similar stories and support. There is a cynicism that we see both inside and outside the RV community too often. “It’s an RV. You should have known it was built as cheaply as they can make one. They have problems. That’s just part of it.”

I am not sorry that I refuse to accept this failure as normal, or just part of owning an RV. This is not normal wear and tear. The body of an RV should not fall off in the first year. That’s not a normal thing that happens. Our unit is bad, and Forest River should feel bad. But they don’t.

We have strength in numbers. The more of us there are, the more reasonable it becomes to hear terms like “class action” being thrown around. If you own a Forest River RV and have a similar experience, do not accept this as normal. If this is normal for Forest River, Forest River needs a new normal in a bad way.

Check back for the next – and hopefully final – episode of Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility. We are living the next episode as we type this one. We will update you all as soon as we have more to share.

Update: Part four is now available.

The post Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility – Part Three appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

When we started our journey we were so optimistic. The road was wide open and we were free to go wherever the winds blew us.

Our basic plan was to travel to the North East to visit with family for the summer.

From there we planned to travel south along the east coast, then west across the Great Smokey Mountains to Missouri for a stopover around Thanksgiving. November in Missouri starts to feel like winter, so we hitched up and headed south to Texas for the winter.

We spent New Years at Magnolia Beach in Texas. What a change from our winter in 2021!

But it wasn’t all fun.

There were nearly constant RV repairs. It seemed like we were still in the “shakedown” phase well into July when the black tank vent suddenly became taller. Water leaks were a constant issue. We had to replace the factory provided China bomb tires, thankfully before they blew out. You may have noticed that our posts about our RV far outnumber our travel or metaphysical posts.

In January of this year, while we were busy repairing the water leak in the back wall of the RV, we found that the RV had developed a stress fracture in the sidewall.

We had planned to leave Texas shortly after New Years to begin our trek across the southwest. We were going to see the Marfa lights, Guadalupe Mountain, Carsbad Caverns, Roswell, White Sands, City of Rocks, the Grand Canyon and more before turning north into Utah. Instead we contacted Forest River about our sidewall issue, and then spent all of February and March bouncing around the Houston area visiting repair centers.

When Forest River denied any responsibility for our RV in April we decided to have the RV diagnosed independent of Forest River, but at one of their authorized repair centers. We had to leave the RV at the shop for two weeks, which meant a new level of homelessness that we were not at all prepared for. With no other option we took out a two week rental through Airbnb in Galveston. Why Galveston? Because Houston is, well … Houston.

We had always planned to be on the road for at least one year, but also regularly talked about being on the road for two or three years. Of course we accounted for one constant in that – having the RV! This episode made us realize how unprepared we were in the event that the RV was unavailable. Not just because of Forest River’s apparent lack of quality control, but for anything. Where would we go if someone hit the RV and it had to go to the shop for a month, or longer?

Before we hit the road we sold our sticks and bricks, but purchased a small parcel of land nearby. We intended to use the land as “home base” as it has power, water and sewer already on the property, making it a fine place to park an RV. Provided that we had the RV.

So as we celebrate our one year “nomadaversary”, we are drawing up floorplans to build an off-grid cabin on the property that we own. We have realized that we need a proper home base because our RV is broken, and getting it replaced is going to take a while. We do not feel that we can ignore the issue and keep using the RV because of the signs of other structural problems which have begun to develop.

This is not the end for our RV adventures, but the the direction of this blog will be changing in the coming months as we build our home base. We plan to do all of the work ourselves. We have built smaller buildings, but this will be our most ambitious project yet.

We hope you will join us as we embark on this newest chapter in the wild adventure that is our lives!

The post One Year Nomadaversary appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

At the conclusion of Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility – Part One we knew these things:

• Our RV does not have a frame issue, despite Forest River’s insistence to the contrary.
• Our RV was built using fasteners which either:
  • Weren’t tightened appropriately at the factory, or
  • Were tightened at the factory, but backed off from the tight position because they were not the proper fastener for this connection.
• Forest River claims that they have no responsibility. They claim this based on statements apparently made by LCI (Lippert) centering around the Sumo Springs we added to the RV.

But as you read in episode one, there is no issue with our frame, and there never was. But we are not alone in this failure.

There are Others

After we received the denial email from Cheyenne Clark, we sent our response to Forest River.

^{[Update: The SuperSprings link above is no longer valid. Anyone wishing to view that page should view the internet archive version located here. Thanks Wes! The FTC link is valid and located here. ]}

We mention another RV that we know Forest River had repaired. That RV belonged to a very kind gentleman named Kevin that we met through Facebook. Kevin’s 2019 model 36BHQ had failed in almost exactly the same way that ours had.

I spent a while talking with Kevin about his issue. Kevin let me know that it took a very long time to get it resolved. Kevin had to involve his State’s Attorney General’s office, the Better Business Bureau and the process still took _two years_ to be resolved. Forest River had fixed his issue under “good faith” in 2022, over _two years_ after Kevin’s “warranty” expired.

Since this whole mess began we have met several more people online who have this exact issue with their Forest River RV’s as well. Most of those have either not begun a warranty/”good faith” repair claim, or have just begun the process.

Forest River is obviously aware that this is a recurring problem with these units. I hope that we are not the first to link the loose body bolts with the sidewall failures for them. If we are, we also have a simple solution for the problem.

Use of Incorrect Fastener

Forest River uses serrated flange nuts to fasten the body bolts to the frame. Anyone with even a little mechanical experience (or a Forest River RV) knows that this is not the correct fastener for this job. Perhaps the nuts were spun up finger tight on the studs by the worker who drilled the holes in the floor, and then left for the next guy. Perhaps the timer on our unit ran out before those fasteners could be tightened. We can only speculate as to whether the fasteners were tightened properly at the factory.

But let’s assume that the flange nuts were tightened at the factory. If any of that structure compresses (which it really shouldn’t) during shakedown there is nothing to prevent the flange nut from vibrating and shaking itself more loose. If only there were a fastener that could be used which would stay in place once it’s tightened, even if the things it’s holding get compressed. There is! The correct fastener would be the nylon lock nut.

There are 24 of these bolts exposed on the 36BHQ. When purchased at Fastenal by an individual the price difference is a mere $5.80. Forest River undoubtedly has the purchasing power to get that down even lower. Or they could build that into the sale price of each unit. I am sure the retail customer that ends up with the unit would happily pay the $6 to know that the body won’t fall off their RV. We certainly would have.

[Update: The SuperSprings link above is no longer valid. Anyone wishing to view that page should view the web archive page here.]

If you own a Forest River RV, it’s worth checking these body studs. We have met several people online since posting part one of this story who have checked their body studs to find the bolts loose as well.

Join “Sabre RV Camper by Forest River” on Facebook to follow this thread.

* ^{Join “Sabre RV Camper by Forest River” and “Sabre 36BHQ Owners Group” on Facebook to follow these conversations.}

Stay Tuned!

Despite the overwhelming evidence, Forest River has maintained that they have no responsibility for this failure. We maintain that they do. How will it all shake out?

Don’t miss the next installment in episode three of Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility!

_{This post may contain affiliate links from which we may earn a small commission at no additional expense to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.}

The post Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility – Part Two appeared first on Metaphysical Family.

We were in the middle of the water intrusion repair when we discovered this new fresh hell. We had developed a crack in the wall of our fifth wheel where the passenger side slide box is located. We had heard many horror stories about what the crack could mean. Was it safe to move the RV? What could we do to stop it from cracking further? Who would be paying for the fix? Would we have to take the RV to Indiana to get it fixed? Would we have to stop traveling?

We made first contact with the manufacturer of our RV – Forest River Inc, of Elkhart, Indiana on February 3rd, 2023 through their online contact form describing what we had found and asking for guidance on how we should proceed.

We received the initial reply from the Sabre, Owner Relations Representative, Cheyenne Clark two business days later. The email tone was pleasant, and Forest River seemed to be interested in helping to resolve our issues. We were told that we would need to take our RV to an authorized dealer or service center to determine the cause, concern, and correction and we were given a list of approved dealers and service centers in our area.

The next morning Brittany began calling every service center and dealership on the list trying to find someplace that could preform the diagnostics Forest River required in a reasonable time frame. Unfortunately, due to the timing of this issue (beginning of the 2023 camping season) we were having difficulties finding anywhere that could get us in before 2 months and we even called a shop which had a 6 month wait. Thankfully after explaining our situation we were able to find a service center from the list who could help us get the process started.

RV Masters, Houston TX

We took the RV to RV Masters, in Houston, TX on 2/13/23. RV Masters was on the list of authorized service centers that Forest River had provided to us. RV Masters did not have time to get our RV into the shop for the repair at the time, but indicated that they had repaired similar failures in the past, and would be happy to start the paperwork for our warranty claim. RV Masters did exactly that – they took pictures of the damage and initiated the warranty claim with Forest River. RV Masters also told us that they had repaired many RVs with issues like ours, and that the most likely cause was a broken weld inside the wall. Why would the weld break? Because it wasn’t welded correctly to begin with.

Forest River must have known the cause as well. They immediately began looking for reasons to deny any responsibility for the failure, or the repair.

Forest River requested additional pictures of our hitch, suggesting that it “looks like a gooseneck adapter”. It isn’t, and never has been. We pull our fifth-wheel RV with a B&W Companion 25K, which is not only the correct type of hitch for this job, it’s arguably the best (pickup) fifth-wheel hitch available today.

Forest River also noticed that we utilized a cargo carrier, and asked for detailed information about the carrier, as well as what we carried on it. It was this one from Harbor Freight, and we hauled a Total Gym on it.

Finally, Forest River requested that Lip Sheet 0104 (Frame Camber Check Worksheet) be filled out and returned to Forest River, who would then pass it along to LCI – aka Lippert Components.

RV Masters replied to this request from Forest River. RV Masters stated that our RV was not at RV Masters as we had left with the RV. RV Masters further stated that they would only be able to provide the information if we were able to bring the RV there and leave it for both diagnosis and repair. At the time, RV Masters’ wait list was six weeks long. For reasons that should be obvious to any of our readers, this was not an option. Fate has a funny sense of humor sometimes though, because we would end up back at RV masters almost exactly six weeks later.

Lip Sheet 0104

Since RV Masters couldn’t provide the information Forest River was requesting, we provided it. We took the pictures that Forest River had requested, and I filled out the Lip Sheet 0104. The procedure is not complicated or difficult, as you can see below.

Forest River did not accept my worksheet because it did not come from an authorized service center. I expected this, but I am glad that I was exposed to the worksheet and instructions before going to the second authorized service center.

Princess Craft RV

The second authorized repair facility we went to was Princess Craft RV in Houston Texas. They had availability to get us in straight away, so we hitched up and drove an hour through downtown Houston to reach them.

Princess Craft RV deals in small RVs and truck campers. Our truck and RV took up as much room on their parking lot as their RV inventory. Perhaps this should have been a sign to us to look for another shop, but we had driven an hour to get there.

The service manager at Princess Craft RV at the time – Gus Guerrero – was friendly enough, and seemed interested in helping us get the rig fixed. We explained what had led us to being there, and what work we needed done.

Forest River had already spoken with Gus as well.

When the technicians came to the parking lot to perform the frame check – because the shop wasn’t big enough, even if it had been empty – we knew right away that something was rotten. The techs measured to the bottom of the axle and made the blocks appropriately, but then clamped them to the frame incorrectly. If you read the worksheet and pay attention to item five, “the bottom of the 2 x 4s must hang below the lowest point of the axles”. Apparently Princess Craft RV didn’t read the instructions. Or maybe they did, but had other direction from Forest River.

The first trip to Princess Craft RV resulted in this Lip Sheet 0104 worksheet.

We knew that the sheet would be rejected as soon as it was handed to us. All four corners of the frame must measure the same. We left Princess Craft RV having accomplished nothing, except to have to pay $150 for a complete waste of time. We expected the sheet to be rejected, and to have to locate yet another service center.

The sheet was rejected, but that was no surprise. We were surprised when we received a phone call from Gus at Princess Craft RV. Gus stated that Forest River was asking for additional checks. Gus requested that we bring the RV back to them for these additional checks. We speculate that the additional checks were not required, and that this was an excuse to get the RV back to them so that they could perform Lip Sheet 0104 correctly. We were only half correct.

When we returned to Princess Craft RV they performed TI-089, which measures the axles for toe-in and alignment. How this relates to the crack in the sidewall is anyone’s guess. In addition to TI-089, Princess Craft RV did perform the Lip Sheet 0104 again. They also performed the check incorrectly the second time.

Since we didn’t want to have to come back for a third time, we spoke with Gus to let him know that we knew his techs were performing the check incorrectly, and asked him to intervene. Instead of stopping the work, Gus informed us that it didn’t really matter, and that they would make sure the worksheet had the numbers necessary to get our claim approved. Gus then admitted what we already knew – that their shop was not equipped to deal with repairs on our unit. Gus assured us that once the claim had been approved he would help us find a shop to do the repairs.

But that’s not what happened. It is also worth noting that Gus is no longer employed by Princess Craft RV, though we do not know why.

Warranty Claim Denied

A few days after we left Princess Craft RV we received an email from Cheyenne Clark at Forest River.

Isn’t that convenient? Princess Craft RV provided Forest River with a completely erroneous frame check worksheet, and apparently Lippert made a decision based on that completely erroneous and invalid worksheet. But we don’t have a frame problem, and never did.

We did reach out to the makers of SumoSprings – the “aftermarket modification to the axles” mentioned in Cheyenne’s email. SuperSpring does have this convenient page all about what SumoSprings actually are, how they do not modify the vehicle’s suspension in the way that Forest River suggests, and how it is illegal for vehicle manufacturers to deny warranty claims because of aftermarket modification alone. The FTC has a thing or two to say about it as well.

But that’s all fairly irrelevant since there is no issue with the aftermarket modification, because there is no issue with the frame. There never was an issue with the frame other than the one made by Forest River through Princess Craft RV.

Back to RV Masters

This is what the Lip Sheet 0104 looks like when it is performed by someone who can follow basic instructions. This Lip Sheet 0104 was completed for us by RV Masters in Houston. We returned there in April after Forest River and Princess Craft RV put us in this position. RV Masters checked the frame in every conceivable way and found no issues whatsoever.

The body bolts mentioned in the RV Masters email above are the bolts which secure the body of the RV to the frame. We have a video to explain.

But this is not the end of the story. Don’t miss the next installment in this ongoing drama.

The post Forest River Fails, Denies Responsibility – Part One appeared first on Metaphysical Family.