Cardinal fifth wheel

[dhammond]

I've been looking at a Cardinal 29TS fifth wheel. A lot more money than I planned on spending. Anybody have any experience with Cardinal (Forest River)? Don

 

[BigMike]

Don, I ordered a Cardinal 33TS that I'm hoping will be delivered next week. I did lots of searching before I decided to buy Cardinal. Pretty much a mid to high end product. I see lots of Cardinals in campgrouds we frequent. Basically, it's a crap shoot no matter what you buy. I think I'm going to buy the extended warranty just to be safe. We're trading in a 2000 Terry basically because I just don't have any confidence in them. Lots of negative comments regarding Fleetwood products on previous posts.

 

[Turbo Thom]

big Mike.



( , it's a crap shoot no matter what you buy)



Smartest statement I've seen yet. That is a fact. Crap shoot.



. . Preston. .

 

[KPerkins]

I have a 2000 27' Cardinal fifth wheel. only a few small problems which the dealer handled. Seems to be pretty good camper.

 

[dabubba]

I have a cardinal I use my rig alot and have pulled it across the country with no problem-- for the $$$ I know I could not have gotten better-- good luck

 

[beartrace]

I have a 2001 Cardinal 5th wheel and have found that it is a very good quality trailer. I don't think that you will be disappointed.



I purchased mine from an internet dealer and picked it up in Indiana. The president of the company met me and handled the transaction himself. You can call Russ toll free and he will talk to you and explain everything.



Check out www.americanarv.com



The 5th wheel they are selling is a Cardinal with many upgrades including solid axles that you can not get from the Cardinal dealer. They take the Cardinal and add many upgrades and it still costs you the same as if you were purchasing the standard model. Russ will explain the whole program when you call him.



Hope this helps. If you need any more info, e-mail me private and I will answer any questions.

 

[HEYBOSS]

Cardinal

Yes they are a good trailer. We looked and looked. Cardinal seems to be a very well made trailer. I'm very happy with mine and had some minor problems with it. Dealers around here suck to do work on them and screw it up even worse. I'll be taking mine right back to the factory in two weeks for the simple repairs that dealers screwed up and yes the factory as excellent service, they will even pay me for fuel and tolls. Cardinal trailers offer high end product at a lower cost, more bang for the buck.



I agree that Fleetwood over the last few years has been going down the tubes with their quality, too bad as they really had a good product.



One other trailer I would look at and very well make is Newmar American Star, very nice but it will cost you more than the Cardinal.



Good luck, you will not be disappointed with it. One suggestion I've heard from other people with the 4x4 you may want to get the 16" wheels. Mine is 15" and is just fine. These trailers also tow very well.



Fred... ... ... . The Super Drone.

 

[dhammond]

Cardinal 5er

Thanks to all who replied. If the dealer and I can agree on a price, I'll be ordering a 29WB (two slides, bedroom and living area). I'm retiring in two months and want the camper ready to go the day after.

 

[HEYBOSS]

Cardinal dry weight

I just noticed in your sig, looking to haul 7500# trailer. Be ware the cardinal you're looking for is at least 9500Lbs dry. Looking at the truck you have you'll definitely be over the weigh ratings for your ram. Mine is a 3500 and with the trailer loaded at the scales I was 18600, just 400 under the GCVWR and my Cardinal is smaller than the one you're planning to get.



Something to kick around.



Good luck and take care.

 

[BigMike]

His GCVWR is probably 20,000lbs. He should have no trouble meeting that. It's his truck GVWR where he'll be over. His pin weight will likely be around 2200lbs. That will put his GVW at in excess of 9000 lbs. Then he'll be like everyone else out there with a 2500 pulling a 5er or with a camper. It's almost impossible to stay within GVWR for a 2500. After numerous discussions in this forum, I decided I could safely pull my larger Cardinal.

 

[HEYBOSS]

Mike, I realy didn't want to bring up an argument on this. There is no dought that the trailer he's looking at is over the weight ratings for the 2500, it probably is too much for the 3500, 2001 with the auto that is, this is going by the book and legal specs. Can the 2500 pull it? No dought in my mind it will pull it. I just wanted to bring it up to his attention if he wasn't aware of it.

To each his own. Would I buy my camper if I had a 2500, probably would but some people like to go strickly by the rules and the book



Boy this can turn to be an ugly:-{}

 

[mbrolin]

Per the 2001 towing guide - 5. 9l 24V,QC 4x4 w/ 4spd auto. GCVW 16000lbs,Max Trailer weight 9300lbs. Naturally before actual truck weight,passengers,hitch weight. With my 99 auto I wouldnt go over 8000lbs max trailer weight. Weak link being the transmission. This is why I own a HO 6spd now.

 

[BigMike]

You're right Heyboss! I've read and been involved in endless debates (arguments) over the weight issue. The best advice I ever got from this forum, and I forgot who I got it from, was to not believe what your sticker or manual says! My sticker said GCVWR of 16000lb & my owners manual didn't even have a weight rating for my transmission and rear end. The advice was to call DC, give them your VIN# and ask for GCVWR. I did (took awhile) and found out my GCVWR was 20,000lbs. They even sent me a letter stating that. So with my Cardinal, I'll be real close to 20000 lbs, but I realize I'll be over my 8800lb truck rating by a few hundred pounds. I added airbags, and mag-hytec with synthetic. I realize that doesn't change the rating, but should help when towing. I'll find out Friday when I pick up my brand new Cardinal. Can't wait.

 

[beartrace]

Pulling the Cardinal with my 2500 works great. You do have to watch pulling in overdrive to keep the transmission happy. I have decided to upgrade the transmission with new TC/VB just because I would like more performance and protect the transmission for the long run. I always keep the RPM's over 1800 if I'm in overdrive. I think that you will be very happy with the combination that you are looking at.

 

[HEYBOSS]

Wow BigMike

I didn't think that any ram 2500 was rated with a GCVWR of 20,000 that's new to me. You know I could never figure out these manufacturers, mine is a 3500 and I ordered it with all the tow options you can think of on the automatic and the sticker on it is rated at 19,000 gcvwr. I will tell you this much, you'll be surprised when you actually pull into a scale and see where your weigh is at. On a long 3000 mile trip last year to FL, I loaded my Cardinal and weighed everything I put in it on a bathroom scale, also gave a good idea where to distribute the weigh in the trailer and when I went on the scales, I was very close to what I had weighed.



Anyway you'll be very happy with the Cardinal, they're a very well built trailer and tow very nice, good luck and enjoy it.



Happy Camping.

 

[BigMike]

Thanks Hayboss. I won't be fully loaded this weekend, but I'm gonna stop at a weigh station on the way home just to see where I'm at. Already coaching the wife on how to load what where. Want to keep my pin weight down if I can. My Cardinal only weight 2000lbs more than my previous 5er. It pulled like a dream. I've lost more than a little sleep wondering about this, so hopefully everything will be fine. I'll keep you posted.