2020 Forest River Salem: recalls and complaints
Official NHTSA recall campaigns and consumer complaints for one RV model year, with the notice text and links to the source.
Key facts
- The 2020 Forest River Salem has 7 NHTSA recall campaigns that list this model year.
- No chassis mapping is recorded for this model year, so no chassis recalls are counted.
- 0 equipment recalls are linked to it by reviewed rules.
- NHTSA holds 12 consumer complaints for this model year. Complaints are unverified reports, not confirmed failures.
- The latest campaign was received on October 10, 2025, 344 days before the NHTSA release of September 19, 2026.
- RV class: Travel trailer. Brand owner in this site's reference table: Forest River (medium confidence).
NHTSA records released through September 19, 2026; Transport Canada records through September 19, 2026. The absence of a recall in this dataset does not establish that a vehicle is safe.
Recall campaigns
7 campaigns in total: 7 listed for this model year, 0 inherited from the chassis and 0 equipment. Remedy text is quoted from the official notice; open the full notice for the whole text.
| Campaign | Received | Component | Summary | Remedy (official text) | Type | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25V682000 | October 10, 2025 | Electrical System | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2025-2026 Forest River Aurora, Coachmen Catalina, 2026 Coachmen Viking, Coachmen Clipper, 2016-2026 Wildwood, and Salem recreational trailers. The distribution panel wire may… | Dealers will relocate the distribution panel wire to the correct side of the breaker, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 18, 2025. Owners… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
| 21V621000 | August 9, 2021 | Equipment: Recreational Vehicle/Trailer | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Salem, Wildwood and 2020-2021 Stealth EVO travel trailers. The fresh water tank may not be properly secured to the vehicle's frame. | Dealers will properly secure the holding tank, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 23, 2021. Owners may contact Forest River customer service… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
| 20V727000 | November 23, 2020 | Equipment: Appliance | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019 Coachmen Chaparral and Shasta, 2019-2020 Coachmen Concord and Orion, 2020-2021 Coachmen Cross Trek and Forest River Berkshire, 2019-2021 Coachmen Freelander, Leprechaun… | Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will install a remedy kit of gaskets, washers, thread locker bolts, and two round orange labels, free of charge. The recall… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
| 20V563000 | September 18, 2020 | Electrical System | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Wildwood, Salem, and 2020 Sonoma travel trailers. The break-away safety switch may not be wired to constant power, which can cause the trailer brakes to not… | Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will rewire the breakaway switch, free of charge. The recall began October 13, 2020. Owners may contact Forest customer… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
| 20V482000 | August 14, 2020 | Equipment | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Salem and Wildwood motorhomes. The fresh water tank may not be properly secured to the vehicle's frame. | Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will properly secure the holding tank, free of charge. This recall began September 23, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
| 20V049000 | January 29, 2020 | Service Brakes, Electric | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 Freedom Express, Salem, Stealth EVO, Vibe, Wildcat Maxx, and Wildwood recreational trailers. The emergency break-away switch may fail. | Forest River will notify owners, and dealers will replace the break-away switch, free of charge. The recall began February 19, 2020. Owners may contact Forest River… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
| 19V754000 | October 23, 2019 | Equipment | Forest River, Inc. (Forest River) is recalling certain 2020 EVO, Salem and Wildwood travel trailers. The trailer cooktops were installed with a rubber liquid propane (LP) gas line instead of a copper one. | Forest River has notified owners, and dealers will replace the rubber LP gas line with a copper gas line, free of charge. The recall began November 7, 2019. Owners may… | Vehicle | Full notice NHTSA |
Complaints by component
12 unique complaints. The share is the number of unique complaints tagged to a component category divided by the 12 unique complaints for this model year. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares can add up to more than 100 percent.
| Component category | Complaints | Share | Bar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tires | 5 | 42% | |
| Electrical System | 3 | 25% | |
| Equipment: Recreational Vehicle/Trailer | 1 | 8.3% | |
| Latches/Locks/Linkages | 1 | 8.3% | |
| Structure | 1 | 8.3% | |
| Unknown or Other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| Wheels | 1 | 8.3% |
Complaint excerpts
The 5 most recent complaints with a narrative. Names, emails, phone numbers, VINs and addresses are removed. Reports are unverified. NHTSA record set for this vehicle (JSON).
Our Forest River Salem Hemisphere Travel Trailer posed a severe safety risk to my family due to improper construction. Specifically, an electrical outlet installed under the sink and near the water heater was not GFCI-compliant or waterproofed, violating NEC Table 310.15(B)(16) and NEC 551 standards, which are mandatory for RVs. While camping, we noticed a burning smell and then smoke coming from under the sink. Thankfully, I was awake and acted quickly to get my family out, cut the power, and extinguish the smoldering outlet—flames appeared just in time. Had I not been awake, this could have …
Our Forest River Salem Hemisphere Travel Trailer posed a severe safety risk to my family due to improper construction. Specifically, an electrical outlet installed under the sink and near the water heater was not GFCI-compliant or waterproofed, violating NEC Table 310.15(B)(16) and NEC 551 standards, which are mandatory for RVs. While camping, we noticed a burning smell and then smoke coming from under the sink. Thankfully, I was awake and acted quickly to get my family out, cut the power, and extinguish the smoldering outlet—flames appeared just in time. Had I not been awake, this could have …
Had two Castle rock tires blow out on the highway one after the other tread, de-laminated in the center will attach photos
The contact owns a 2020 Forest River Salem. The contact stated that the door on the travel trailer was unable to be opened from inside or outside. The contact stated that she had to remove the lock and use a screwdriver to unlock the door. The RV was not diagnosed by a dealer nor an independent mechanic. The door lock manufacturer RV Locks and More was made aware of the failure. The RV manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2020 Forest River Salem fifth wheel. The contact stated that the RV was not able to start up. Additionally, the converter caught fire while the contact's husband was inside the RV. The contact's husband put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. No injuries were sustained and no medical attention was received. The RV was towed to the dealer; however, the RV was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure.
Chassis
Towable RVs have no chassis maker, so no chassis recalls apply.
Canadian notices
Transport Canada publishes its own notices with their own IDs. They are separate records from the U.S. campaigns above and are never merged with them.
- Notice 2020030 (January 28, 2020): Brakes. Official page
- Notice 2020378 (August 14, 2020): Structure. Official page
- Notice 2020563 (November 23, 2020): Accessories. Official page
- Notice 2021498 (August 9, 2021): Other. Official page
- Notice 2025545 (October 10, 2025): Electrical. Official page
Related model years
- 2019 Forest River Salem
- 2021 Forest River Salem
- Forest River Salem, all years
- 2020 Forest River Cherokee (same class)
- 2020 Forest River Wildwood (same class)
- 2020 Jayco Jay Flight (same class)
- 2020 Jayco White Hawk (same class)
Source release: NHTSA September 19, 2026. Method version v1. How this page is built.
Get a note when these records change
One email when new recall or complaint records appear for the RVs we cover. We send a confirmation first. Unsubscribe any time.