Cardinal RV Club

How's this for diving into the deep end of the pool...last Friday we purchased a 2008 Cardinal 37RL and started a full time RV lifestyle. Never had one before. Still have to get a truck. I may have screwed up the flooring trying to level it. I was jacking up the rear stabilizer on one side. I guess I was not supposed to do that. I brought them level again and I think we are okay now. I just hope I did not damage anything. I am really out of my league and need to learn basically EVERYTHING. Is there a single source book to get that would cover the essentials? I am probably betraying my ignorance by even asking that question!

Welcome! ...you have come to the right place, that is the second best thing you could have done after buying your Cardinal Lots and lots of help on our site. Never be afraid to ask anything....we have all been there and we are not shy of asking for info or help. We have several members that know our Cardinals better inside & out then the dealers do
There will lots of members chimming in here very shortly I'm sure.

Welcome, Dayna is right ask all your questions and this is a great place to get answers.

You did like we did and that was to get the trailer first than get a truck to match it. Get enough truck to do the job for both pulling and stopping. A dully would be ideal but based on the weight of your "Bird" probably a one ton truck. The big three, Chevy, Ford, or Dodge all make good units. After you get your truck and a good hitch take it out to a large parking lot and just practice backing it up and seeing how it turns. They do turn wider than a pull behind trailer that somewhat tracks the truck. I also would suggest that you try and get to a rally, RVers are really great helping people out. We've also got great help from other RVers at campgrounds we've stay at.

We also were full-timers for a while and it's a great life, in fact I miss it.

Congratulations!

A "One Ton" truck is a single rear wheel Ford F350 or Chevy/Dodge Ram 3500. A 1 1/2 ton truck has dual wheels. Get a diesel with "turbochargers", you'll be better off running over the mountain passes and driving around when the elevation is above 3000'. More power and better mpg. If you wish to have the bed clear for plywood, etc. and buy a long bed truck (8' bed) when not hauling your Cardinal, I've had nothing but good experience with a Reese or DrawTite Signature 5th wheel hitch. I have a 18,000# hitch which is the same weight rating as the pinbox on the trailer. When the hitch is removed from the truck there are no "hitch rails" in the bed and the hitch tilts side to side which reduces stress on the trailer frame. Ford has this hitch as a option on the 2011 Super Duty trucks. Google "Reese" and you can see the various hitches available from them.

Whatever truck you buy, make sure it has LARGE side mirrors that extend. Don't be shy about asking for help learning to hook up, set up the brake controller, and if you know someone with a 5er or bought the Cardinal at a dealer, by all means ask them to walk you through the "you gotta do this things".

I plan on shopping for a one ton dually, either Ford or Dodge. I will get the supercharger. Do I need a long bed I would prefer the short bed.

Welcome to the club! If you go with a short bed you will need to get a slider hitch and in either case long or short be careful backing up so you dont turn to sharp and hit the cab of the truck. Yes the back stabilizers on your trailer are for just that not to level the rig. You might check out the rally section of this forum in the southwest rally section there is a very large rally in Jackson CA. in May this coming year. You will get loads of info from attending one of the rallies. Good luck and never be afraid to ask a question in this club.

Hi Claude&Carole, welcome to the "bird nest". Just to answer your leveling questions, always level side to side with the wheels. Normally by backing or driving over something to raise that side that is out of level. In your case, (since you don't have a truck yet)this may require using a 6 ton jack or heavy'r, the rear jacks are just stabilizers, used to steady and keep the trailer from shaking. Of course you want to level front to rear using the front legs before using those rear stabilizers. The rear ones are always the last. I don't think you hurt the floor. Also, if jacking those axles to level side to side, don't jack on the axle itself, get as close to the tire as possible, using leaf spring bracket. The axles will bend if you jack on them, causing alignment problems. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask. Again welcome. John

To add to the above post. When you need to put the tires on block to level it it, always try to back up on to them. Reverse is usually a lower ratio than 1st gear so it helps you ease it on the blocks or boards better. Also it makes disconnecting the 5 wheel easier as all the pressure is on the front of the hitch. This is especally important you get a hitch that doesn't have jaws that go around the king pin.

Another hitch to consider for bed space is the B&W Companion. It does require their B&W turn over ball system to attach to the frame. I love mine. Plus if i ever need to pull a goose neck, I can have the companion out and the gooseneck ball in about 10 minutes.

Hi Claude and Carole,

A suggestion before you buy a pickup. As you do your everyday travels to places like the grocery store, Lowes or Home Depot you will see folks with pickups with fifth wheel hitches and ask them why they selected either the short bed or long bed. I assume you will be looking at 1 ton pickups because of the 12,470 empty weight and the estimated loaded weight of 15,500 lbs of the 37 RL so you should also ask to why they selected single rear wheel or dually rear wheel. You will also see lots of answers or deabtes in the Tow Vehicles section on this website.

Good Luck in your search and please ask all the questions you want here and you will get lots of advice!

Don

Wow, I appreciate everyone's comments. I have already learned a few things I had not thought of. This website will be a valuable resource for us. We really are novices. The hopeful ray of sunshine is that we KNOW we don't know. That allows for a lot of learning. Thanks again. I am sure I will be back with many more questions.

There are a lot of members of this site that live in California, maybe you can locate one close to you and meet for lunch. You would be surprised where the conversation will go and how much you can lern when talking about RVing.

Finally someone newer than me! Welcome! I also bought a 37RL before I had a truck that would pull it. I owned (and still do) and F250, but to pull this Bird I settled on getting a Dodge 3500 dually. I have only towed a bit less than 2000 miles so far, but am very impressed. Eighteen wheelers blowing by don't make you move a bit. It stays steady as can be. It's a heavy rig, so don't go under 1 ton.

I'm still figuring out things on the 37RL, but there are many folks here that can answer questions. It's got lots of features and you'll enjoy it1

Here is another question...
We purchased this 2008 Cardinal last week. The dealer said there is 3 months left on the factory warranty. We also purchased the extended warranty. Here is my question: should I pay a mechanic to do an inspection to see if there are any things wrong that could be corrected under the factory warranty? I don't actually trust the dealership to do this. Is it worth doing? We have no evidence that anything is wrong. Where would I locate someone competent to do this? Any thoughts or suggestions? Am I being too paranoid? Thanks so much for the feedback. It is most welcome and appreciated.

The last motor home we bought was a used one. The dealer was in North Dakota and we live in Minnesota. We had the selling dealer write into the contract that we had 10 days to have our own RV expert go over it and they would either repair or we could return it. When we picked it up the dealer told us that the refrigerator was not working properly and they didn’t have the parts to fix it.

We drove it home it cost us $250 back in 2004 to have a local RV center check it out. The repair to the refrigerator cost $300 which the selling dealer sent me a check for. No questions ask and the local RV center didn’t find anything additional that needed fixing.

We didn’t know about the non working refrigerator at the time we bought it. And I don’t know if the selling dealer would have told us if we hadn’t said we were gong to check it out or not. I was concerned that they wouldn’t pay for the repair, but in the end not a problem.

Not sure this helps in your situation or not, but it’s what we did when we bought a used rig. To be honest we’ve bought new and used over the years and have had more problems with new. We’ve also had good dealers who have taken care of us on any problems. Having a good reliable dealer is important.

Claude and Carole,

You asked about a book that might help you educate yourself about your trailer. You could go to Barnes and Noble and see what books they have on RVing.

Here is a book that just came in the Passport America Newsletter. I have not read it or any of the three prior editions but Trailer Life has a pretty good reputation in the RV Industry.

‘The RV Handbook’ 4th edition is now available at
www.trailerlifedirectory.com/travelstore, or by calling (877) 209-6659.

WV Campers suggested you contact a member from the Central California area and get together for lunch, well I live in the the Modesto area and would be willing to meet with you if it could work out for you.

If you want to get together send me an email or private message using the website. You can do that by Clicking on my name from the member list or one of the areas where I am listed as a moderator. Then select whether you want to send a Pm or email.

Don