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Plant Tour

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 5:07 pm
by Traveler II
On August 27th I toured the Cardinal plant in Elkhart. I was hoping I might see our 30ST we have on order in production, but I was a bit early. A unit takes three days to produce and their production is 12 Cardinal a day and 6 Georgie Boy’s. They have a production order file of just over 500 Cardinal at this time so we still need to wait unit the end of September for ours.

Over the years I’ve toured the Winnebago and Monaco plants. These are larger and far more automated than the Cardinal plant. I think Cardinal has the advantage. With the hands on production facility their was a lot more attention to quality control. Because they produce a more expensive motor home in the same plant and the lines run parallel they really emphasized the quality of material that they use in both their 5th wheel and MH’s.

After reading on this forum about the problems and concerns with the Chinese tires I did ask if I could get different tires. They said that they have heard some feed back, but they were not sure if it was a tire problem or improper tire care. They are reviewing their present supplies but at this time I was unable to get a replacement at the factory.

I enjoyed the tour and must say I was impressed not only with the tour but also the people I met.

It’s hard to wait unit the end of September to take delivery, but it’s like a kid waiting for Christmas.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:44 am
by ratherbcamping
How did you go about setting up your factory tour? We plan to go to Elkhart next summer and would really like to visit several different factories. My son thinks he would like to be an architect, and make a living desigining trailers!

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:15 am
by Traveler II
Tours are M-W-F at 1:30. They run about an hour, longer if you have lot's of questions.

Our tour guide's name was Andy and he did a great job showing us around. When you had a question many times he would show you on the production line the answer you were asking.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:18 am
by Traveler II
Sorry, I missed the part on how to set up a tour. Just get to the factory about 15 minutes early. I had e-mailed and asked about what I needed to do for a tour and all you need is just be there.

Plant tour

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 pm
by KWW
We just took the tour also on the 29th of August and yes Andy was our host as well.
If anyone wants to take the tour show up a few minutes before 1:30 pm on M-W or Fridays in the office.
The addressis:
Forest River
58277 State Road 19 South
Elkhart, IN 46517
574-533-7700
Andy is in engineering and has been there since 1985, very knowledgeable man and graciuos host.
We know the wait is long but well worth it. We received our 30RK LE last Tuesday just in time to take it back to Elkhart camping for the long weekend. We love this unit!