New & doing research on Cedar Creeks

[cruisintx]

As my title says, I'm researching to learn as much as possible before spending a bunch of money. My wife and I are planning to acquire a 5th wheel in a size and layout similar to the Cedar Creek 311RL. We have been going to a few shows and dealerships since last January. At the moment, we are still at least a year from buying so I have plenty of time to gain some knowledge from those who have "been there, done that." Tell the the good the bad and the ugly about the Cedar Creeks.

I am certain the most beneficial information now would be from those who have owned rigs like the Cedar Creek 5th wheel in 32' to 36' length. Tell me the good, the bad, & the ugly about those. If you have one, do you love it or hate it? If you got rid of one; why? If you had it to do over again, would a Cedar Creek still be your choice-why-why not? Like Joe Friday on Dragnet; "just the facts maam." 🤓

I'm hoping to gain a sense of a few things here:
1. customer satisfaction with the product
2. customer satisfaction with the dealer & manufacturer support
3. over-all quality & durability
4. conveniences & annoyances

[tomkatb]

Sitting in mine right now near the lake. Quick weekend trip.

Our Hathaway appealed to us. Been shopping two years.

I have a structural background. I thought ours was built structurally better than similar brands. Less glitz, more substance. Weight is a giveaway. Bang for the buck.

Ours has been trailer quality above average. Yep, stuff breaks. Glue, screws and toothpicks travel with us. You have to be handy. These rv’s take a beating on the road.

Tires were average crap. Buy a Goodyear.

We wanted a gas/electric fridge, gas/electric water heater. Drop frame. Studs in the walls, two ac units, convection oven, lots of windows, plywood floor, frameless windows, washer/dryer, king bed, lazy boy recliners, two exhaust fans.

Shop hard!

Every level of quality is out there.

I liked exploded diagrams to review structural stuff.

[jannjim]

We have a 2020 CC Silverback 311k. We've had it for a year now and have been very happy with it. Biggest complaint may be the Furrion Oven, which is a common complaint, as far as staying lit and reaching temp. The biggest issue we have had is getting ahold of CC by phone or e/m. Finally after a number of calls with messages left and e/m's, they answered the phone on another one of my calls - the lady was very pleasant and helpful over the phone. We have the two way fridge and "dual" pane windows which I would recommend. Besides the added insulation, it is much quieter. Ours has one a/c with a fantastic fan in the bedroom. At first I thought I would rather have an a/c unit but we are glad we have the fan now for the added light and ventilation when the a/c is not needed. Before this we had a 2013 Big Country 5th wheel. It was alright but we think the CC is better...many fewer issues...we did take our CC on a 2 1/2 month road trip this past winter so it did get used. Tires...like others they will be replaced soon with some not Chinese bombs.
There are items that I would like to see improved such as double slam/bang latches on the basement door instead of one and a metal catch for it instead on a piece on plastic over the metal lip ( I have noticed the newer Big Country's have went this route too).
Overall we are happy and would consider another CC...on a side note you will see many owners believe the dealership service is almost more important than the brand.
Hope this helps and good luck...

[TruckDriver1973]

One thing that swayed myself and my wife when researching and eventually buying, was the fact of how CC’s are built. Their walls are “hung” on 16” centers and glued and screwed vs welded, which is a big advantage when bouncing down the road. Welds can and will break over time, glued and screwed has a certain amount of give and generally will hold up better over the long haul. The structure is stronger than the laminated walls that most trailer manufacturers use. CC’s also have residential style insulation vs block foam in the walls...another potential advantage to me. The underbelly is also screwed together in sections which makes it much easier and less messy if you have an issue where underbelly access is needed. There are some manufacturers that have this, but most just use a membrane that needs to be cut and repaired if you need to get under there.

There are other smaller things that jumped out at me, but the above items are the big ones that really pt cedar creek in a class by itself (for the money).

[jd4010]

My thoughts as a first time owner of a Forest River Cedar Creek product:
1. customer satisfaction with the product - Overall pleased. We love the layout of our 37MBH, the creature comforts, ease of towing, etc. Our prior rig was 10 years old at the time of purchase and we like the new enhancements over our prior 5er such as the LCI auto leveling, blue tooth control of lights/slides/etc.

2. customer satisfaction with the dealer & manufacturer support - We get our unit serviced at a local Camping World dealer that was not the seller we bought it from. This Camping World has been AWESOME. Absolutely stellar. Never an issue getting issues fixed in or out of warranty.

3. over-all quality & durability - From what I'm hearing/seeing, quality is on par with the industry which unfortunately appears fair at best. When we got our camper, after a few trips it had to go in for a huge punch list of items including the replacement of an A/C unit, adjustment of a slide the hit the floor and damaged it, a slide that extended crooked, steps that had a manufacturing defect and had to be replaced and issues with the Furrion Oven (which is terrible IMO). As noted in #2, our local Camping World fixed everything for us under warranty and did so well. Recently after 14 months the residential fridge broke and although out of warranty, Best Buy stepped up to make it right.

4. conveniences & annoyances - As noted above, our prior 5er was 10 years old so moving to a new model afforded us more conveniences. We love the LCI Level Up system, being able to use our phones to control lighting, slides, etc. We like the structural build quality and not having to worry about delamination. We like that the vendors used in the camper like Dexter and Best Buy have been excellent to work with. As for annoyances --- probably goes to quality. Like someone stated, I'm always finding something that needs to be glued, screwed in, a rattle isolated, etc.

[richp]

If you want a projection towards what your future experience may be, my older Silverback is holding up quite nicely.

I don't have some of the bells and whistles that the new ones do. But in my old fashioned view, that means I have fewer complicated, high tech things to go wrong.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips

[cbvp]

Very happy with my CC.

That said I've done quite a few mods to make it mine.

One constant irritation was. Upon entering if you wanted the ceiling lights or island lights on you had to open a cabinet to get to switches.


Two white switches (lower left) One black switch(upper left on black panel) operated ceiling lights and lights above the island.



I moved the switches outside the cabinet to where they're directly in front of you upon entering trailer.



C.B.

[heavyodie]

We have a 2019 31ik Silverback. Love everything about it. If you can take it to Orvan in Topeka, IN. Amish man that knows everything about the Cedar Creek and will fix things under warranty that you don't know needs to be fixed. Highly recommend. The one thing we did change out were the tires but is the same for most brands as they put China bombs on from the factory.