3800 FL Cardinal Fiver

[Rugged Brown]

We walked into this camper at a RV dealer last week and fell in love. Anyone who may have this model, please comment and tell me what you are pulling it with. I was also wondering if the 2 opposing sofas can be purchased each as sofa beds.

[jacknife]

I dont own one mine is a 30-30 but looking at the specs and given the wt l would seriously consider a dually for stability .I. own a Dodge with a Cummins but any of the 3 diesel powered Trucks will pull fine. I know the dodge comes with a jake brake( engine retarder) I would not buy a truck that does not have one with a trl that big.
35 yrs of truckin and you couldnt get me in a truck without one, Your brakes and your pucker factor will be alot cooler and lower the first time you go over the mtns. Hope that helps

[Big bird]

Welcome to Cardinal. I have a 2010 3625 and pull with a Ford F250 diesel with Firestone air bags. You are a bit heavier than us and I would consider a F350 with tow package and diesel. Unless you are mudding in Montana, you do not need dually or 4X4. More weight and more maintenance.

I would suggest that in addition to this great Forest River club site, you go over and talked to the folks at the Cardinal Owners RV club. Try and get Mike or George to chime in, they are good. There is no spam on the Cardinal Club. I belong to both and FROG.

We stay in Flag Staff a lot, do you have any great RV park suggestions.

[georgew48]

We love ours. We have been camp hosting since march in ours and towed it out to the Black Hills in June> I towed it to South Dakota with my 2010 F350 Dullay and was happy with the way it towed but hated the mileage with the 6.4L so I traded for a 2013 F350 Dullay with the 6.7. What a world of difference. The 2010 had a max tow rating of 15800 and the 2013 has a max tow rating of 22200. This camper is 43 feet long from nose to tail and has a gvwr of 15800 so I don't think I would even consider towing with anything less than a 1 ton dullay.

[Cardinal 3850]

Originally Posted by Rugged Brown

We walked into this camper at a RV dealer last week and fell in love. Anyone who may have this model, please comment and tell me what you are pulling it with. I was also wondering if the 2 opposing sofas can be purchased each as sofa beds.

I have the 3850 model which is the same size and weight. I pull mine with a dodge 3500 w/Cummings diesel. Dually is not needed. Same engine and can handle the weight of the camper.

That said, I am very disappointed with the 2013 product that has been put out. My camper was purchased in March 2013. I have had it out camping only 4-6 times this season due to continued problems through out the camper. A punch list is certainly common when buying a new camper, however I fear that the lack of quality that is coming from the factory has dropped off. My campers black and grey tanks were mis labeled and did not drain properly. As a result, they grey tank had to be replaced b/c it swelled and leaked underneath ruining all the insulation. Certainly could have been avoided if installed properly from manufacturer.

I have also had wiring issues. After troubleshooting an alarm issue with my propane alarm, I found some wiring connected to the propane alarm that was exposed in the camper. CERTAINLY A FIRE HAZARD! THANK THE LORD I FOUND IT!

This is the second Forest River product I have owned and had a great experience with my first one. Unfortunately, I fear the attention to quality, detail and customer service has dropped off.

[Ron Sutton]

I tried to pull mine 3850 with a Ford F 250 but found the side stability is not adequate. I upgraded to a Ford F 350 dually and what a wonderful pulling truck this is.

[georgew48]

The SRW 1 tons will pull these big 5th wheels and I have done so but since I went to a DRW it has been like night and day between the two trucks. So much more stable with the DRW not to mention the safety factor of having four vs two wheels supporting these heavy pin weights. Don't have to worry about what I put in the truck along with the pin weight. To each his own though, if someone is happy with their SRW then that's all that counts.

[NorCalBird]

We have the 3850 also and pull it with a 2012 F250 4WD CC SRW short box diesel. The only item added to the truck is the airbags just to keep the ride level. It pulls it great and I wouldn't change. I can imagine having the DRW would add some stability but the trade off for us was using the truck as a daily driver 90% of the time and pulling a trailer 10%. Parking, etc. is much easier with the SRW.
Safe travels in whatever you choose!

[kbrown1075]

We have a 3800FL and pull it with a 2009 GMC 3500HD CC LB SRW. I have no issues at all. I am adding air bags just to level the ride. My recommendation is to ensure your tires are the correct load rating and inflation pressure is at the recommended pressure per the manufacturer. My only thought concern between the SRW and the DRW is if there was a blow out of a rear tire. There is a safety factor there with the other tire. That is my only issue. My thoughts are the same as a previous reply, and I tow 10% of the time and drive the truck around 90% of the time. I have enough trouble parking the big truck without the DRW.

[mikeshel]

Hi I have a 2013 3450 camper and my truck is 2013 2500hd srw and it pulls just fine went to tenn. this past year no problems and all over Wisconsin.