New Cardinal 36-2BHLE Arrived!
Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 6:20 pm
Well, after a long nearly 4 month wait, our new Cardinal 36-2BH LE trailer is in our driveway.
Did the PDI pickup late last week, and just got some time this weekend to really look it over carefully.
A photo of it here:
We sold our old Okanagan 5th wheel (29 footer) for this one. Our old one was a very well built trailer, so I was curious to see how the Cardinal would stack up against it in terms of build quality.
It's always tough to really tell when it's sitting at the dealer. A guy really needs to spend the time looking in those "odd spots" for signs.
Overall, Cardinal has tried to equip this trailer with good quality components. There's no question they positioned this higher in the market with higher end faucets, tubs, etc.
So, after spending two days having a good look around, here's what I found that could have been better:
1) Some careless placement of screws. There are 3-4 screws sticking up on the inside of the front storage. They are LONG screws and protrude a good 2 inches out of the floor of the front storage.
2) Careless attention to the alignment of exterior door latches. They weren't tight at all and provided almost no seal to driving rain. I had to go around and slightly bend the latches to makes them seal positively and tightly. I had to do this with every single exterior door.
3) Garbage tires. Karrier Load Star. On a high-end rig? Tires is not a place you want to try to save a buck. Bad tires do more than just self-destruct. They usually take trailer parts with them. Polished aluminum rims with crappo tires.
4) Careless application of sealant on the underbelly. Kind of looks like they shot it from an applicator 6 feet away. Makes it look like those "cheapo" RV's.
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I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. These are just very simple quality control issues that I feel should not be present on a higher end rig.
On the other hand, on the interior, we've found the fit and finish to be extremely good. Cupboards and door alignment couldn't be better. It's near perfect.
Overall, we're really happy with it. It just frustrates me to see the "little things" completely overlooked, when they could be so easily controlled with a little attention to detail.
The floor plan is much better than our old rig, so we'er looking forward to taking her out.
Cheers.
Shawn
Did the PDI pickup late last week, and just got some time this weekend to really look it over carefully.
A photo of it here:
We sold our old Okanagan 5th wheel (29 footer) for this one. Our old one was a very well built trailer, so I was curious to see how the Cardinal would stack up against it in terms of build quality.
It's always tough to really tell when it's sitting at the dealer. A guy really needs to spend the time looking in those "odd spots" for signs.
Overall, Cardinal has tried to equip this trailer with good quality components. There's no question they positioned this higher in the market with higher end faucets, tubs, etc.
So, after spending two days having a good look around, here's what I found that could have been better:
1) Some careless placement of screws. There are 3-4 screws sticking up on the inside of the front storage. They are LONG screws and protrude a good 2 inches out of the floor of the front storage.
2) Careless attention to the alignment of exterior door latches. They weren't tight at all and provided almost no seal to driving rain. I had to go around and slightly bend the latches to makes them seal positively and tightly. I had to do this with every single exterior door.
3) Garbage tires. Karrier Load Star. On a high-end rig? Tires is not a place you want to try to save a buck. Bad tires do more than just self-destruct. They usually take trailer parts with them. Polished aluminum rims with crappo tires.
4) Careless application of sealant on the underbelly. Kind of looks like they shot it from an applicator 6 feet away. Makes it look like those "cheapo" RV's.
-------------
I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. These are just very simple quality control issues that I feel should not be present on a higher end rig.
On the other hand, on the interior, we've found the fit and finish to be extremely good. Cupboards and door alignment couldn't be better. It's near perfect.
Overall, we're really happy with it. It just frustrates me to see the "little things" completely overlooked, when they could be so easily controlled with a little attention to detail.
The floor plan is much better than our old rig, so we'er looking forward to taking her out.
Cheers.
Shawn