2016 Cardinal 3850RL

[CALinSC]

2016 Greenville, SC RV Show

Forest River 2016 Cardinal 3850RL

Right after I got to the RV Show my camera decided it was time to quit - almost. I notices right away it wouldn’t take anything other than close-ups. I tried everything from other batteries and memory chips to every setting on the thing. No luck. So I’ll have to modify the way I was going to do these presentations.

I’m a private citizen without affiliation to anything I’m presenting in these RV Show postings. Doing RV stuff is my hobby, especially tires, RV weights, the regulations and industry standards we are all supposed to abide.

OK, this is about a very nicely appointed 41’ Cardinal 5th wheel with a full body paint job. Most of my exterior and interior pictures were to blurred to use. So I ran the VIN number in a search engine and found the dealer. Here is his presentation.

http://www.adventuremotorhomes.net/New-Inventory-2016-FOREST-RIVER-Fifth-Wheel-3850RL-Greer-South-Caroline-1696925

In this reference there is a picture of the trailer’s certification label. Note that the GAWRs have been reduced from the 7000# axles to reflect 6840# GAWR for each axle. That’s because of the tire size.

http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=29698

All of the Forest River trailers - any size - had Westlake tires. The OEM provider is servicing them with 100% nitrogen. Green valve caps are used for quick identification of nitrogen servicing.

All of the tires I looked at had yellow dots on the tire sidewall and those dots were all correctly aligned with the valve stem. Red or yellow dots on the tires indicates its the optimum balance point. With only a yellow dot it’s aligned with the valve stem. When the tire has both red and yellow dots the red is aligned with a dimple on the rim. Bridgestone has a PDF file on the dots that can better explain it and I’ve provided it below. They are fast becoming an industry standard as evident with the Westlake tires.

NOTE: If you have tires other than Bridgestone with colored dots on their sidewalls I’d recommend finding and using each manufacturers recommendations for the dots. Until it truly becomes an industry standard each tire manufacturer may have a different procedure for their use.

http://www.bridgestonetrucktires.com/us_eng/real/magazines/ra_v13_i1/PDF/ra_v13i1%20ask%20doc.pdf

This particular trailer has a very desirable coupling hitch with two settings. Both more than adequate for the trailers GVWR.

http://www.irv2.com/photopost/showfull.php?photo=29699

[Low 'n Slow]

Good looking floor plan. I don't care for the black exterior though....

[wingnut60]

We looked at a Cardinal fiver at the Fort Worth RV show--was very nice, but thinking the price is up there with DRVs...and did not see that correlation.
It is still a Forest River product and will wait to see if it pans out to be a good value.
Any trailer in that price range should have 8k axles and 17.5" tires standard. Here is my problem with this tire/wheel setup--GVWR at 16345----assumed pin weight off that gross weight is 20%, or 3260. 16345 - 3260 = 13082 / 4 = 3270/tire. The stated capacity of the tire off the Westlake website is 3520, leaving 250 lbs carrying capacity. Assuming my math is correct, does anyone here think that is good enough????
The pin box weights are way up there for this trailer--that is good. But why do they skimp on the tires?
Thanks for your information on this trailer, it has good potential but still has to be set up suspension-wise to be a long-term unit.
As to the balance point, I think if this is a concern to you, then you actually need to individually balance each wheel/tire. I have used Centramatics for the last 3 years on my trailer and truck to keep from worrying about this.
I get carried away with this sometimes, but if my figures are anywhere near correct, this trailer will blow tires soon after getting up to speed on a hot roadway.
CALinSC----not sure whether you were advocating the trailer or the tires or Bridgestone, hopefully I have not gone overboard on posting this answer.
Joe