Cardinal RV Club

Well, we just took delivery on our new Bird, it’s great and we really like it. We head out later this week for a test run to check everything out. A few things are different from what we have ordered but I’m sure we will find a way to work them out. We had ordered refrigerator with an ice maker, but have been told by the dealer that we can’t get it in our model, so he has offered to refund. We ordered a center vac, and I’m still looking for a way to turn it on. It didn’t come with any literature so we will need to check with the dealer. We really like the new rig; the only disappointing thing has been the mattress. We have a nice queen size mattress in our home that we wanted to use. I asked if we could order the rig with out the mattress and was told that we couldn’t. So we just got the standard equipped one (kind of cheap). The mattress in the Cardinal is 68 inches by 80. A queen size is 60 x 80. The dealer tells me it’s a California mattress; I asked a relative of mind that work for a mattress company and was told that a 68” mattress is not standard. They told me they don’t make bedding to sit that size. I asked about the California size and they tell me that they do make a kind size that is 85” long for tall people, but not in a queen, and this is called a California King.

Wish we had knowed about the non- standard size bed before, we just thought a queen size bed would be the standard size.

Not sure what we are going to do at this point, the dealer tells me that’s the way it comes, even after we told them we were putting in the queen we already have. For our test we will use some air mattress and see what we can come up with.

I was a little concerned on what it was going to handle like, especially backing it up. I was surprised how easy it was, maybe it was beginners luck, but I put it in our long narrow driveway on the second try.

Congratulations on your rig....as far as your mattress....something doesn't sound right there. I'm sure there will be some members on later that have the queen bed and no problem with regular queen sheepts fitting. Could they have put a king mattress in there?? We have the king, but DH has gone to bed and I don't think he'd appreciate me measuring the bed while he is in it...lol

Glad you are happy with your new bird!!!

Hello Jim,

The vacuum cleaner come on when lift the cover that the hose slips in, or when you push the floor sweep door to one side.
If it does not come on check the vacuum system unit mounted in the outside compartment to make sure it is plugged in.

Also check to make sure they install the bag in the unit, sometimes the bag is just sitting inside the unit allowing dust and to go into the motor.

Camping World has a very nice memory form topper thats is made for the camper size mattress about 2/1/2" thick.

We have one on top of the upgraded factory mattress ( feels goooood ).

I need to slow down and check what I write before I send the post,

Just read between the lines, I guess a Olbird Cajun wants to write like he talks.

George:

Our queen bed is a 60 x 80. The queen sheets we use at home on our Select Comfort mattress are the same ones I use in the 5er. The mattress isn't the greatest, but we've had worse in our other rigs! At least in this one when you kneel on the bed you don't hit the wood platform! The 2 inch memory foam will help a GREAT deal. We purchased a queen size at Sam's Club for around $100 I think.

My biggest complaint about our bedroom is trying to make the bed on the wardrobe side.... something about trying to squeeze my size ??? between the bed and the mirrored door! We are considering removing the heavy doors and replacing with curtains. Someone posted this on another list and it looked great.

I know once you work the "bugs" out, you'll love your Cardinal as much as we do ours.... quirks and all!

Karen

P.S. I just checked Forest River's floor plans, and the (2007) 30TS appears to come with a king bed, 72 x 80. Is this different than you've found?

Not sure about the 2007 30ST but the 08's does have the option for a queen. The one they shipped us is 68x80, a queen is 60x80 and as you point out a king is 72x80. The thing is we already have a real nice queen that we were planning to use. They don't even make bedding for a 68x80, we can use king bedding and just let the extra hang over.

I've been out this AM looking at it and I think I can cut the platform down to fit our bed. I want to think about it for a while before I start cutting

Thanks for all the help, the central vac is plugged in, but the bag was not installed, it doesn't work yet, but I will keep playing with it. It's kind of fun going through things and getting them to work.

Ours came with what ForestRiver calls a queen size. Standard queen sheets would not fit. We also felt the mattress was very cheap. Our solution was to replace it with a standard King size. It hangs over the sides a little but it uses standard sheets.

Congratulations on your new rig!

After hunting all over my rig, I finally found the vacuum bags inside the canister. And, watch out for the floor sweep lever. My heel came down on ours, and... It was an easy fix, I used a sheet metal screw that was small enough to fit thru the spacer. And I removed the sheet of lite ply covering it inside the step. Another storage space for non-metallic objects, when you look at the floor sweep switch you'll see why I say "non-metallic".

For our "queen size" we're using regular king size sheets. We don't have any complaints other then the odd size. It bunches up some when you run the slide in and have heavy covers on, nothing major.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your Cardinal as much as we enjoy ours.

But, consider new tires if you have Kerrier, Loadstar, etc. with the ST rating. That's ONLY thing I didn't like about my rig, and it's been corrected.