New Cardinal Owners

The Buds · Post by **The Buds** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:55 pm

Hi all,

We are new owners of a 2008 Cardinal LE 30RKSS. We just spent 5 days of our 2 week vacation "moving in" to the new Cardinal from a 2003 Sierra. We love the new floor plan with the separate inclusive bathroom, and just happened to stop in to Rose City RV for a couple bulbs, and they had the exact floor plan in the color we liked. Stopped for bulbs and left with a purchase agreement on a new 5-er!

It frustrates me to know that there are "known" issues like the water leaks in any unit; why doesn't the dealer check for those before the walk-through! We will certainly check all pipes/connections/drains, when we pick up the new bird which is again at the dealer's. 2 days after we received the unit, we noticed a propane odor as well as very low flames on the cook top. Water heater also had a long orange flame instead of the blue that is normal. They said it had all checked out OK before we picked it up, and they're certain it is probably just the regulator. Fortunately we were only 35 minutes from the dealer at the park we vacationed at, so we dropped it off on our way home.

Are there any other issues you all might suggest we check for before we bring our new baby back home?

Thanks much, and we're excited to be members of the Cardinal Club!

Karen and Tom

bop11 · Post by **bop11** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:37 am

The Buds,
Congrats on the new fiver. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed ours.
We bought our 30 ts from General RV in Mt. Clemens and if it had any of the water leak problems others have had problems with General fixed them before we did the PDI. They even caught that the Concertone (DVD player) was defective and already had one on order for us. It was a pain to have to take it about 50 miles back to them but I work in the area and was able to take it in at lunch time.
A couple of things to watch for is keep an eye on your tire pressure and if you have the Karrier or other Chinese brand tires you may want to get some new ones before to long. Another thing is the fenderskirts, on ours the drivers side cracked and had to be replaced. This fall I'm going to crawl under and reinforce the brackets to stop this from happening.
Enjoy the new fiver and we hope to run into you somewhere along the way.

bop11 · Post by **bop11** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:40 am

The Buds,
Sorry but I forgot to welcome you to the club.

Welcome

Traveler II · Post by **Traveler II** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:27 pm

Congratulations on your new Cardinal, it’s always fun getting something new. We just ordered a 2008 and are just waiting for it to arrive.

I’ve been a bit concerned about the tires that come on the Cardinal. I wrote the company and today did get a reply from a Terry Milarczky.

This is what he said, “AS FOR THE TIRES THERE ARE MANY FACTORS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT LOADED, LOAD DISTRIBUTION, MAINTAINING PROPER TIRE PRESSURE, AND STORAGE CONDITIONS. I HAVE HEARD SOME PROBLEMS BUT I NOT HAVE ALL THE FACTS AS TO HOW THE OWNERS TOOK CARE OF THEIR UNIT AND ROAD CONDITIONS WHEN THEY HAD TIRE ISSUES. FINALLY, NEGATIVE COMMENTS ALWAYS TRAVEL FASTER THEN POSITIVE COMMENTS NOT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN THE NEWS.”

I had written asking if I could pay to get replacement tires put on at the factory, he didn’t answer that question.

Traveler II · Post by **Traveler II** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:53 pm

I just received another e-mail about tires and I wanted to pass it on.

"MR. ST. ONGE,

AT THE PRESENT TIME WE DO NOT OFFER THIS OPTION. THERE IS A DIFFERENT KENDA TIRE USED ON THE 8 LUG RIMS AND YOU COULD ASK MORE ABOUT THAT AT THE TOUR. OTHER BRANDS OF TIRES ARE NOT AN OPTION AT THIS TIME. IT IS UNDER REVIEW BUT ANY CHANGE WILL BE AT LEAST SEVERAL MONTHS AWAY."

Terry Milarczyk

The Buds · Post by **The Buds** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:31 pm

Thanks for the welcome! We've read about the tire problems on RV Net, and asked the dealer if these were those in question. Of course he said no, but we will keep a good watch on the tire situation! The dealer also called today and said that the trailer is ready to be picked up tomorrow, so off we go to bring it home! We'll let everyone know what they found out about the gas problem.

Karen and Tom

The Buds · Post by **The Buds** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Our new Cardinal is now in the driveway. There indeed was a regulator leak in the propane system, and the owner/tech repair from Rose City RV said he is often disgusted with the "foreign junk" (referring to the regulator) manufacturers install on these things. Our unit has the Karrier Load Star 90#tires, and he did tell us they have not had any problems with the Cardinal tires, so hopefully it's not just sales talk! He did tell us that it is very important to keep them at the required pressure, and only lower them if we have a problem getting it in or out of the 13 foot storage barn. He also told us not to take the mfg height and length measurements for granted, but do our own so we will know for sure how high that AC unit is from the ground, as well as how long the rig really is.

We have been very pleased with this dealer, and would feel secure recommending them to others. This is our second purchase from Rose City RV, and we'll go back if we ever want another (many years down the road!).

Karen

jennyt · Post by **jennyt** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:45 pm

Karen - congrats on having the Bird in the driveway - they really look good don't they

Glad to hear that the dealer got your regulator problem fixed - a good dealer makes all the difference in the world.

I agree that you should check your height including the A/C - every now and again you really need to know EXACTLY what it is

I tell you this from our up close and personal experience with a Walmart overhead barrier.

Cardinal RV Club

New Cardinal Owners

New Cardinal Owners

Tires

Got it Home!