01 What Cardinal is
Cardinal is Forest River's extended-stay fifth wheel, aimed at people who live in the trailer for long stretches rather than long weekends, and for 2027 Forest River publishes the same nine floorplans, with the same figures, under a second badge: Wildcat. Every one of the nine ties out exactly - dry weight plus cargo capacity equals the published GVWR on all nine, under both badges. Pin weights run 1,765 to 2,305 lb.
Across the whole Cardinal roster the published dry weights run from 9,688 lbs to 12,033 lbs, cargo capacities from 1,947 lbs to 3,327 lbs, and pin weights from 1,765 lbs to 2,305 lbs. Exterior lengths run 35 to 45 feet. Those are Forest River's figures for a standard build, captured from the factory line listing and confirmed against each floorplan's own factory page.
Forest River publishes a GVWR for 9 of the 9 floorplans, and on 9 of those the arithmetic ties out exactly: dry weight plus cargo capacity equals the published rating to the pound. That check is run on every plan before it is profiled here, and a plan that fails it is catalogued with the disagreement printed rather than quietly corrected.
02 Floorplans profiled in depth
9 of the 9 Cardinal floorplans are profiled in full below, each on its own page with the complete factory weight, dimension and tank block. The profiled set is spread across the weight range rather than taken from one end of it, so the lightest and heaviest plans in the line are both represented. Every plan profiled here publishes a full field set and, where Forest River publishes a GVWR, passes the dry-plus-cargo arithmetic check.
| Floorplan | Dry wt | Length | Cargo | Pin wt | GVWR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32CHILL | 9,688 | 35' 3" | 2,500 | 1,765 | 12,188 |
| 33CHEF | 10,558 | 38' 3" | 3,327 | 1,885 | 13,885 |
| 37GALLEY | 11,123 | 42' 9" | 2,957 | 2,080 | 14,080 |
| 36FL | 11,283 | 44' 5" | 2,952 | 2,235 | 14,235 |
| 38DEN | 11,638 | 44' 5" | 2,597 | 2,235 | 14,235 |
| 41DUB | 11,768 | 45' 2" | 2,282 | 2,050 | 14,050 |
| 35CRIB | 11,953 | 42' 8" | 2,352 | 2,305 | 14,305 |
| 42MASTERS | 12,008 | 45' 4" | 1,947 | 1,955 | 13,955 |
| 36FUN | 12,033 | 42' 9" | 2,062 | 2,095 | 14,095 |
Every figure in this table is a Forest River factory publication for 2027, captured twice - from the line listing and from each floorplan's own factory page - and cross-checked field by field. Forest River publishes no sleeping capacity, axle count, tire size or MSRP for this line, so there are no columns for them.
03 Also in the 2027 line
The remaining 0 Cardinal floorplans are catalogued here from the factory's published figures. A plan is catalogued rather than profiled when the factory has not yet published its full field set, when its own published figures disagree with each other, or simply because the profiled set is capped. Nothing in this table is estimated.
| Floorplan | Dry wt | GVWR | Cargo | Pin wt | Status |
|---|
Catalogued plans carry the factory figures Forest River publishes and nothing else. A row reading “Not published” means the factory does not publish that field for that plan - it is never a placeholder for a figure this site could not be bothered to find.
04 How to choose
Sort this line by the constraint you actually have. If the truck is fixed, start at the weight column: the lightest plan in the roster is the 32CHILL at 9,688 lbs dry and the heaviest is the 36FUN at 12,033 lbs, and that spread is wide enough that the two ends are not the same buying decision. If the truck is not fixed, sort by cargo capacity instead - the 33CHEF carries the most at 3,327 lbs, and payload is the number that runs out first on a long trip.
Do not sort by floorplan number. Forest River's codes encode length loosely and layout not at all, and this site does not decode them into layout claims. Two plans with adjacent numbers in this roster can differ by hundreds of pounds of dry weight and by more than that in pin weight, which is the figure that determines what the truck has to be.
Where Forest River publishes a floorplan description it is quoted on the plan page and identified as factory marketing copy rather than a specification. Where it publishes none, the plan page says so instead of describing a layout that nobody has verified. That is the difference between a catalogue and a brochure.
05 What to weigh before buying
What this line is
Forest River publishes this roster twice for 2027, as Cardinal and as Wildcat, on two separate factory line pages with their own per-plan detail pages. Both list the same nine floorplan codes, and compared field by field across all nine the two agree on every published figure: dry weight, GVWR, cargo capacity, hitch weight, length, height, all three tanks and awning size. The one gap is the 42MASTERS: its Cardinal page prints an exterior width of 96 inches and its Wildcat page prints none. GVWR is published for all nine under both badges, and dry weight plus cargo capacity equals it exactly on every plan. This site catalogues the roster once, as one set of pages carrying both names, rather than two identical page sets; the Cardinal badge is used for the page addresses because its pages publish that one extra field. Sleeping capacity, axle count, tire size and MSRP are not published in this channel and are absent rather than estimated.
The four fields Forest River does not publish
Sleeping capacity, axle count, tire size and MSRP are absent from Forest River's specification channel for Cardinal. They are absent from this site too. None of the four is estimated from the segment, inferred from a sibling floorplan or lifted from a dealer listing quoting its own guess back. Tire size matters most of the four: two codes a digit apart are different tires with different load ratings, and a misread is a safety claim.
Match the truck honestly
The plans here run from 9,688 lbs to 12,033 lbs dry with pin weights of 1,765 lbs to 2,305 lbs. Dry weight is not towing weight - water, batteries, propane, gear and dealer-installed accessories all sit on top of it, and pin weight rises with them. For a fifth wheel the pin load comes off the truck's payload rating rather than its towing rating, which is the number most often quoted and the wrong one. Read your own door sticker, and weigh the trailer loaded the way you actually travel.
06 What every Cardinal has
08 Recalls
NHTSA lists 21 recall campaigns affecting this line. The earliest was reported 7 Jul 2008 and the most recent 17 Apr 2024.
| Reported | Campaign | Component | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr 2024 | 24V272000 | Equipment | A circuit board that overheats increases the risk of a fire. |
| 12 Apr 2024 | 24V265000 | Trailer hitches | Towing while in a different position can cause the upper front structure to break and the pin box to separate from the vehicles, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| 29 Jul 2022 | 22V556000 | Equipment | An awning that drops or extends beyond normal operation can increase the risk of injury. |
| 8 Mar 2022 | 22V135000 | Electrical system | Loose wires may contact each other and cause an electrical short, increasing the risk of a fire. |
| 7 Jan 2022 | 22V004000 | Tires | Belt separation could lead to loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash. |
| 17 Dec 2021 | 21V988000 | Equipment | Carbon monoxide inside the vehicle can increase the risk of injury or death. |
| 9 Jul 2021 | 21V523000 | Equipment | Adhesive failure may cause the vent portion of the window to detach, increasing the risk of a crash or injury. |
| 8 Mar 2021 | 21V145000 | Equipment | A detached spare tire carrier can increase the risk of a crash or injury. |
| 5 Mar 2021 | 21V141000 | Equipment | A misaligned furnace flue can allow furnace exhaust to leak into the living space, increasing the risk of injury or death. |
| 26 Oct 2020 | 20V655000 | Equipment | If exhaust enters the trailer, it can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, which can increase the risk of injury or death. |
| 30 Jan 2018 | 18V081000 | Structure | Without a secondary means of escape from the vehicle, a person may be trapped inside the vehicle during an emergency, which could increase the risk of injury. |
| 24 May 2017 | 17V336000 | Equipment | The incorrect GAWR makes the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) label incorrect and may result in the vehicle being overloaded, affecting the vehicle control and… |
| 29 Apr 2016 | 16V258000 | Equipment | If the operator inflates the tires to the PSI indicated on the label, the tires will be operated while being under-inflated causing pre-mature wear and a possible… |
| 22 Dec 2015 | 15V860000 | Equipment | Incorrect placards may result in improper trailer loading. Improper loading may increase the risk of a crash. |
| 11 May 2015 | 15V273000 | Equipment | If the rivet shears causing the quad step to fail, the step user may fall, increasing the risk of personal injury. |
| 6 Apr 2015 | 15V203000 | Equipment | If the room extends while vehicle is in motion, there is an increased risk of a crash. |
| 23 Jul 2014 | 14V449000 | Equipment | If the microwave starts on its own and there are contents inside, a fire could result. |
| 17 May 2013 | 13V203000 | Equipment | If the motor assembly screws shear, it is possible that the awning can unfurl unexpectedly, either while the vehicle is at rest or while in transit, increasing the… |
| 1 Oct 2010 | 10V454000 | Equipment | An overheated receiver could cause a fire. |
| 1 May 2009 | 09V148000 | Equipment | Failure to follow proper vehicle loading specifications or misprint label could increase the risk of a crash. |
| 7 Jul 2008 | 08V346000 | Equipment | If this solution is exposed to an ignition source under certain specific circumstances, it can result in a vehicle fire. |
Coverage is not complete: this list is a starting point, not a clearance (how it is built), so check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy and again before you tow.
09 Owner-reported problems
Owners have filed 50 complaints with NHTSA about this line for model years 2005 on. The earliest was filed 29 Jul 2008 and the most recent 13 Aug 2025. The breakdown below is what those owners actually reported, grouped by the component NHTSA assigned.
Safety outcomes in this set: 1 report describing a crash, 1 report describing a fire and 2 reported injuries. These are the owner’s own account of what happened and have not been verified by NHTSA.
What gets reported
| Component group | Reports | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Tires | 15 | 30% |
| Structure | 10 | 20% |
| Unknown or other | 6 | 12% |
| Wheels | 6 | 12% |
| Equipment | 4 | 8% |
| Suspension | 4 | 8% |
| Electrical system | 2 | 4% |
| Visibility/wiper | 2 | 4% |
| Interior lighting | 1 | 2% |
Most recent reports
The most recent 10 owner reports filed on this line, newest first. Wording is NHTSA’s summary of what the owner described.
| Filed | Component | Miles | What the owner reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Aug 2025 | Unknown or other | — | Frame and Structural Integrity - Forest River Cardinal 366DLVE Doors and slide-outs open during transport. Cracks near the corners of upper deck slide openings. Separation of interior or exterior panels. Rub marks on floors under slide outs. Closet doors always coming off track in front bedroom… |
| 18 Mar 2025 | Structure | 300 | The contact owns a 2023 Forest River Cardinal. The contact stated that while driving and making a right turn, the electric living room slide unexpectedly deployed and opened. The RV was taken to the dealer, but the cause of the failure was not determined. Additionally, while driving at various… |
| 19 Feb 2025 | Equipment | 0 | The contact owns a 2017 Forest River Cardinal. The contact stated that while her husband was hauling the fifth wheel at approximately 60-65 MPH, the two front emergency exit windows detached. While driving at undisclosed speeds, the rear window detached from the RV. The contact stated that the… |
| 6 Feb 2024 | Unknown or other | — | Rv fiberglass is cracking and delaminating because of frame is given to much think they call it frame flexing the fifthwheel hitch Has a lot of frame flexing in it now where before had very little I feel like something is come unwelded and is loose with the hitch contacted Forest River about it… |
| 19 Nov 2021 | Unknown or other | — | The slide out system cause the frame to separate from the wall of the travel trailer. This allowed water to get into the wall which rotted the support. When traveling, the slide out would separate on its own. Fortunately, I was made aware by a friend and was able to take the RV to the dealership… |
| 29 Mar 2021 | Suspension | 4,000 | Tl* the contact owns a 2017 Forest River Cardinal. The contact stated that since owning the trailer, he has had to replace all four tires a total of 11 times due to tire blowouts. While driving 55 MPH, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the trailer. The contact pulled over and upon… |
| 6 Jul 2020 | Structure › Body | 200 | Tl* the contact owns a 2020 Forest River Cardinal. The contact stated that the left and right anchor legs attached to the front end of the RV independently lowered while driving at high rates of speeds without warning. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure and informed the contact that… |
| 25 Jul 2019 | Structure › Body | 3,900 | We have a 2017 Forest River Cardinal. We have only taken our trailer out five times for approximately 3900 miles. The last trip to arizona on interstate 40 toward flagstaff. The temperature was around 80 degrees with light rain. The PSI was 80 lbs in this tire when it blew out on July 12TH, 2019… |
| 9 Jun 2019 | Tires | 4,800 | Purchased new 5TH wheel trailer in December of 2017 with Goodyear marathon ST235/80R16, load range e tires installed. While driving at 55 MPH on a somewhat curvy and hilly state highway with 4800 miles on RV, the left rear tire tread came completely off the tire damaging the RV in the process. I… |
| 9 Sep 2018 | Wheels | 3,000 | We have a 2017 Cardinal 5TH wheel, and in June 2018 we got back from camping and while in trailer emptying our things out we heard a loud band. It ended up being the driver side front good year marathon st tire that blew due to a large bulge on the inner side of the tire. We called Goodyear and… |
How this count is drawn. A report is counted here only when NHTSA’s own model field names this line. What the owner typed in the description is never used to attribute a report: our line names are ordinary English words, and an owner writing “imagine my surprise when the axle went” or naming the state of Montana is not reporting a Grand Design Imagine or a Keystone Montana.
Read these as reports, not as findings. Complaints are submitted by owners and NHTSA does not verify them; no complaint here has been confirmed as a defect, and none of them is a recall. The sample is also self-selected — only owners motivated to file appear in it — so a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Use the pattern, not the total: a component that keeps recurring is worth inspecting on any used unit. File or search complaints at NHTSA.