what's the difference ?

[daydreamer36535]

Hi all,
i've been shopping for a 30 ft. fifthwheel for a little while now.
I like the forest river products.
Not a local dealer that has many to look at though and i'm looking for a used unit.
My question is what's the difference between the cardinal and a cedar creek ?
thanks
Joe

[bikendan]

they aren't twin brands, which FR does a lot of.
they may be made in different factories, since they don't share exact floorplans.

[donn]

On the older (pre 2008) they were pretty much identical. Different floor plans but at the same price point. When we went looking for a new in 2005 we almost bought a Cardinal and really liked it. But for us the deal killer was the lack of a place for a garbage can in the kitchen. Yea, I know trivial thing to some, but try living for a week or so with the garbage can in the middle of the floor. IMHO the Cedar Creek did offer a few things that were not in the Cardinal. And visa versa. You really need to go look and compare them then decide for yourself. As far as structural differences, the Cardinals had as standard equipment wood roof trusses, aluminum was an option. CC had all aluminum standard. Same insulation in either coach, same appliances, same size tanks, different floor plans.

[Rebel702]

Check the RV show schedule FROG - Forest River Owners Group for your area. May find a dealer that may carry the units you are interested in. Good luck.

[Dave_Monica]

If you're looking for a 30 foot 5th wheel, both the Cardinal or Cedar Creek are bigger than that. The smallest Cardinal is 32 ft and the smallest Cedar Creek is 34 1/2 ft. Perhap you should look are Rockwood/Flagstaffs...lots of floorplans that are 30 to 31 ft.

Dave

[KStevens]

When we were mulling over moving from our 25' TT to our first 5th Wheel, we really wanted to stay in the 30-31' range, and we wanted to be able to use our Chevy Silverado 2500HD--so weight was an issue. We love the Cardinals, but they were all too heavy and a bit big...so, we ended up with a 2012 Rockwood 8288WS. We debated a couple of different floor plans, they are all quite nice, and since they are Signature UltraLite we were in a good range for our tow vehicle. We had to go 2 hours away to look at some Rockwood models, and although they didn't have an 8288 on the lot, we liked the others a lot and special ordered ours. I would say look at them...and the Rockwood and Flagstaff are identical--just put different labels on at the factory and tend to send the Flagstaff to West points, although we're in CO and ordered the Rockwood!! We love it!

[Ca Cardinal]

You may want to look at the Blue Ridge fifth wheel trailer they are built on the same assembly line as the Cardinal and are what used to be the Cardinal LE line which came in the smaller size trailer you are asking about. The BlueRidge has only been on the market for a couple of years so it may be difficult to find a used one.