Cardinal RV Club

Hello all,
After looking high and low for a nicer bunk model, we think the 31-2bh might be for us. There are not too many manufacturers making nicer bunk models shorter than 35 ft!

This will be our first 5th wheel and I have a few questions about options...if someone could help!

--what's the difference between the porcelain toilet and a china toilet?

--if you have the central vac system, do you like it? Use it? How does it work? Does it come with a hose or do you just sweep to the intake vent? Does it allow you to vacuum the carpet?

--is the wood grain plank floor real wood? If you have it, so you like it? I love the way it looks, but I'm worried about durability. We have 1 young kid and dogs.

--what is a soft touch ceiling? Should we get it?

--I'm confused about the awning options. They list: 2 step awning, electric awning and 9000 A&E awning. What is a 9000 A&E awning?

--what are electric stabilizer jacks? Are those for the back? So hubby doesn't have to crank them down?

--does anyone recommend hydraulic front jacks over the standard electric jacks and why?

--do I need aluminum roof trusses?

--I understand the trail air suspension, but what about a trail air pin box and equa flex equalizer? What do these do? Do I need them?

--does anyone own this model (31-2bh)? We are very concerned about not having a PANTRY? How do you work that out?

I realize we're a little naive here and hoping to educate ourselves before we show up at the dealership!

Thanks, and hope to see you on the road!

porcelain and china both make suitable thrones, but china probably cleans up easier and looks more conventional.
Central vac is great, comes with hoses and attachments.
Floor? Don't know but the wood is durable, more so than carpet.
Electric stabilizer in the front, we have crank downs in the back.. Portable drills make them easier.
There are many trailers with and without aluminum trusses, but I prefer them for weight and durbility over the wood.
All of the towing help you can get to avoid road bumps and thumps are worth it.
We have a pantry and love it, depends on how much stuff you want to carry.
We all started as naive, and I still am.

These are my own humble opinions and I am sure many others will join in with good advice.

Welcome to the club!
If you drift around on this site you will find a wealth of information. I don’t have the trailer you’re looking at but I’ll try and answer some of your questions.
We put throw rugs down on the wood floors. It keeps the dog from skating around.

Awnings- A&E is an awning manufacturer. 9000 is a good awning while the 9100 is the electric model. Check out this link to see the difference.
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/cate ... :subOf=363

Information on Trailair products can be found here: http://www.trailair.com/

As far as being “naïve”, that is the whole purpose of this board, to exchange ideas, information and help each other out.

Bought an '07 34qs with the following options and LOVE them, but of course only YOU can decide which ones to get.

1 "Soft ceiling"....NO....didn't feel that it was necessary
2 Came with the Porcelin toilet...love it vs the "El Cheepo" plastic
3 Central Vac....NO Just use a lightweight portable Vac.
4 "Wood Floor"....YES.we have the optional "Pergo" type floor in kitchen...easy to clean and durable (not actual wood). Wish that we had gotten it in the living room too instead of carpet.
5 Elec. rear "stabilizer" jacks....YES!.....pleasure to use just press button instead of cranking.
6. Alum. Trusses...NO.....went with standard wood.
7. Electric awning...YES..what a pleasure!!
8.Opt. Hydraulic front Jacks....YES!.......quick, quiet, powerful.
9. Trail air pin box...YES!...and glad that I did....makes towing so much smoother.

Hope this helps and good luck!!.......Mike Rosenblatt

I'll try on a few, but you ask on several items I don't have so won't try to coment

twinkle pie wrote: This will be our first 5th wheel and I have a few questions about options...if someone could help!

--if you have the central vac system, do you like it? Use it? How does it work? Does it come with a hose or do you just sweep to the intake vent? Does it allow you to vacuum the carpet?

We were a bit afraid of this as we have 3 dogs and plenty shedding, we carry a Dyson lightweight which works very well.

--what is a soft touch ceiling? Should we get it?

Not needed for a part time rig, it does reduce noise in a rainstorm and adds a bit of insulation and pretty to look at. We don't have it and don't miss it even as full-timers trying to reduce overall weight.

--I'm confused about the awning options. They list: 2 step awning, electric awning and 9000 A&E awning. What is a 9000 A&E awning?

We added the electric awning aftermarket and love it! On our rig I needed a short step ladder to reach the forward leg lock. The A&E elec came with a cover to keep leaves etc out and we opted for acrylic rather than the stock vinyl, no mold or stains that way. Now the wife operates it and wind sensor really works.

--does anyone recommend hydraulic front jacks over the standard electric jacks and why?

They are nice but add weight quickly, what truck will you use to pull it?

--do I need aluminum roof trusses?

Aluminum lighter and more rot resistant, how long will you keep the rig?

--I understand the trail air suspension, but what about a trail air pin box and equa flex equalizer? What do these do? Do I need them?

Great improvement in ride for you and the trailer, we have the pinbox, but I opted for aftermarket independant suspension and disc brakes for full time use. Both trailair options are worth the expense.

I realize we're a little naive here and hoping to educate ourselves before we show up at the dealership!

Thanks, and hope to see you on the road!

Now is the time to ask everything! It might save you a trade-in too soon.

Bruce

Hello twinkle pie,

I will give you my opinion on the options, I have most all options from FR.

1. Difference between the porcelain toilet and a china toilet?
( Not much, both are nice and plastic, the optional Aurora China toilet is a little larger and looks more like a home toilet, standard toilet is very nice also)

2. Central Vac System. ( You can sweep into built-in floor pick-up or use the supplied vacuum hose and small rug rat power head attachment for carpet, come with normal attachments also. This is a great option.)

3. Is the wood grain plank floor real wood? ( They are like a Pergo strip floor and look very nice. We do not have this option because we did not want three different floor patterns, they put the Vinyl standard in the bath area or you can choose carpet)

4.What is a soft touch ceiling? ( This replaces the standard white hard board ceiling with a soft Vinyl foam back ceiling, it looks great and is used in the slide outs also. It comes with Large Crown moldings at the walls that look great. This was a must for mw when I ordered my unit because all high dollar units use the same material.)

5. Awnings? ( They only install A&E awnings; The 9000 is a manual awning and has a metal cover with Blue Striped Acrylic Cloth Fabric. The two-step awning is a manual setup awning and suppose to be easy to setup in two steps it has a blue strip vinyl awning material. The electric awning with remote sets up with the push of a button, it comes with a white metal cover that protects the awning when rolled up beside the rig. It is called the Weather Pro and comes with blue strip Vinyl material.
If you want ease during setup this is a great option, they had trouble with them in the early days but A&E has redesign them and I have not had any problem with mind. They are also design to roll up automatic when wind gets bad to prevent damage during high winds.


6. What are electric stabilizer jacks? ( They are the back jacks with a switch on the side of the rig; just push a button, no cracking.)

7. Does anyone recommend hydraulic front jacks over the standard electric jacks and why? ( They are great and work of the same hydraulic system that operates the slides; they operate very fast and give you a little more room in the front compartment.)

8. Do I need aluminum roof trusses? ( No you don’t need them but they are not as heavy as wood, they are welded together and will not rot if you do happen to get a leak, and they match the rigs outside aluminum structure. Not a big deal but I would get them.)

9. I understand the trail air suspension, but what about a trail air pin box and equa flex equalizer? What do these do? Do I need them?
( Pin Box relieves stress on the frame, it also helps bouncing in the truck, trail-air suspension has four air bags that greatly reduces the stress and road shock inside the camper, equa flex replaces the stock solid metal rigid pivoting center leaf spring support with a rubber mount type to absorb road shock from going into camper. Does not work as well as the four air bags but anything you can add to adsorb road vibrations and bounce gives longevity to the trailer ease of furtige to the driver while traveling.)

What options you choose depends on you, I love options but it does drive the cost up.

Hope this helps you make some good choices.

George:

I need to correct what I said about the toilets being plastic (BOTH ARE NOT PLASTIC)
The standard toilet is porcelain, and optional upgrade is China.

I need to stop missing words. Sorry

George...take two aspirins and lay down for a while...lol YOU know we don't mss words here!!!

Twinkle...welcome to the club...I see you have lot's of answers like you wanted and hope it makes your decisions easier!!

We have the wood floors, china toilet and love them....wish we had gotten the electric awning.

Look forward to reading about your decisions!!

I would say get the central vac We love it. Now for the hyd. front landing gear, My unit is a heavy one and that was one of the things i wish I would have gotten. My front legs have to go all the way out when I put in in my driveway to get it close to level, my power jacks will not lift it without smoking the motor, I have to put a hyd. jack under the fram and help it along. I went back to my dealer and gave him heck for not talking me into the hyd. front jacks.

Diesel Dave,

How about putting cribbing under your landing gears so you do not have to extend them out all the way. That would put less pressure on your electric motor not having to lift it as far!

Don

Don I do I have 2 16" solid blocks i put down first.

Dave,

That must be one steeeep drive way!

Don

It is, I had to put my old truck in 4X4 low to push the monster up it, other wise the tranny would get way hot. when I get the front of the trailer up all the way the rear bumper is only a few inches off the ground and im 6'3" and i can walk under the front.

Twinkle Pie,

Welcome to the Cardinal Rv Club.

You mentioned something about being naive! I would say you are not naive at all. Someome who is naive would go to a dealership not knowing anything and not having done any prep on what they wanted and rely on the dealer for their information! The fact that you are asking these questions first and from owners of the type of trailer you want shows you are a smart consumer!

Don

rosey wrote: 4 "Wood Floor"....YES.we have the optional "Pergo" type floor in kitchen...easy to clean and durable (not actual wood). Wish that we had gotten it in the living room too instead of carpet.

Is this an option? That is something I would be very interested in--no carpet in the living area.....