I am new to 5th wheel ownership but pulled new 5th wheel trailers from the manufacturers in Elkhart In. to dealers around the country and into Canada for a year. We live in the Phoenix metro area but are building a home in the White Mountains area of Arizona on 2.5 acres where we will move to probably next fall. We just purchased a 1998 Forest River Cardinal 31RL 5th wheel trailer with one 12' long slide which has the sleeper sofa and dinning room table and chairs on. We have a 2006 Chevy Silverado 4 door 2500HD with the Duramax and Allison power train for pulling the trailer, with a 65 gallon aux tank and slider 16K hitch. The trailer was owned from new by an older couple who are now in their 80's and don't use it any more. It has mostly been kept and stored in the eastern, high pine tree elevations of Arizona and had the original tires on it. I think it was mostly used as a summer residence to get out of the valley heat and then winterized during the winter when they would go back to their valley home. No pets have been in it and they were non-smokers. I have put new tires on it and have cleaned and greased all the wheel bearings and installed new wheel bearing seals on the hubs. I don't think that there was ever even 2K miles put on the old original tires from the looks of them and the brake shoes. The rubber roof looks good and everything works. There are no signs of any leaks around the ceiling and around the slide. I have the original owners manual and paperwork on a few things that have been done to it. The awning looks perfect and has the metal cover to keep the sun off of it when retracted and has an add on center support and it came with vinyl tire covers and several sewer hoses.
Our future plans are to get LED lights to replace the standard interior incandescent light bulbs, put on a slide out topper and put two 265W solar panels on the roof. I am also going to put a 5K watt inverter in it next to the solar charge controller for the two golf cart batteries. I am also going to have a smaller pure sine wave inverter for our laptops and other items that need that.
My only questions are, I have looked on YouTube and can't find any how to install the slide topper videos as I would like to do it myself. Does anyone make a rubber seal rejuvenator or treatment? I have one rubber window seal that has cracked open about one inch long. For now I am just going to put some black silicon sealer in the crack. It is right on a corner of a window. Another question is how often or if ever do any of you replace the suspension shocks? Anything else any of you can think to do, other than sanitize the fresh water tank before getting started? It's going to be fun starting this new part of our lives.
jayc said
07:15 AM Oct 31, 2015
Hello aztrooper. I would suggest that you check the fifth wheel safe tow website to check your truck capacities and ability to tow your Cardinal. I can't help you with the installation of slide toppers or the solar but I can tell you that 303 Protectant is good for rubber seal protection. It will also shine your trailer up and protect the decals on it.
Good luck in your new adventures.
aztrooper said
12:51 PM Oct 31, 2015
Thanks Jayc. We are OK with the weight. The trailer is 8200 lbs empty and is way under the GAWR and GVWR of the truck with a pin weight of 1400 lbs. Even loaded, we have a big margin. Thanks for the 303 Protectant note.
I am new to 5th wheel ownership but pulled new 5th wheel trailers from the manufacturers in Elkhart In. to dealers around the country and into Canada for a year. We live in the Phoenix metro area but are building a home in the White Mountains area of Arizona on 2.5 acres where we will move to probably next fall. We just purchased a 1998 Forest River Cardinal 31RL 5th wheel trailer with one 12' long slide which has the sleeper sofa and dinning room table and chairs on. We have a 2006 Chevy Silverado 4 door 2500HD with the Duramax and Allison power train for pulling the trailer, with a 65 gallon aux tank and slider 16K hitch. The trailer was owned from new by an older couple who are now in their 80's and don't use it any more. It has mostly been kept and stored in the eastern, high pine tree elevations of Arizona and had the original tires on it. I think it was mostly used as a summer residence to get out of the valley heat and then winterized during the winter when they would go back to their valley home. No pets have been in it and they were non-smokers. I have put new tires on it and have cleaned and greased all the wheel bearings and installed new wheel bearing seals on the hubs. I don't think that there was ever even 2K miles put on the old original tires from the looks of them and the brake shoes. The rubber roof looks good and everything works. There are no signs of any leaks around the ceiling and around the slide. I have the original owners manual and paperwork on a few things that have been done to it. The awning looks perfect and has the metal cover to keep the sun off of it when retracted and has an add on center support and it came with vinyl tire covers and several sewer hoses.
Our future plans are to get LED lights to replace the standard interior incandescent light bulbs, put on a slide out topper and put two 265W solar panels on the roof. I am also going to put a 5K watt inverter in it next to the solar charge controller for the two golf cart batteries. I am also going to have a smaller pure sine wave inverter for our laptops and other items that need that.
My only questions are, I have looked on YouTube and can't find any how to install the slide topper videos as I would like to do it myself. Does anyone make a rubber seal rejuvenator or treatment? I have one rubber window seal that has cracked open about one inch long. For now I am just going to put some black silicon sealer in the crack. It is right on a corner of a window. Another question is how often or if ever do any of you replace the suspension shocks? Anything else any of you can think to do, other than sanitize the fresh water tank before getting started? It's going to be fun starting this new part of our lives.
Hello aztrooper. I would suggest that you check the fifth wheel safe tow website to check your truck capacities and ability to tow your Cardinal. I can't help you with the installation of slide toppers or the solar but I can tell you that 303 Protectant is good for rubber seal protection. It will also shine your trailer up and protect the decals on it.
Good luck in your new adventures.