01 What makes it unique
The 398FL inverts the usual fifth-wheel layout. Instead of a rear living room, the lounge moves to the front, up in the raised section over the pin, where five slide-outs and a front-cap windshield open a separate upper front living room anchored by a 65-inch television — the largest screen and the most living space in the line. Behind it sit a full central kitchen with an island and a private rear bedroom with a king bed. The full Cedar Creek build carries through: the 101-inch widebody Z-frame, 3M-bonded fiberglass sidewalls, the Rhino Box hitch and Road Armor suspension.
Five slide-outs is the most of any Cedar Creek, and the front fresh tank is sized to match at 82 gallons. Forest River lists a published 18,000-pound GVWR against the 15,059-pound dry weight, leaving a 2,941-pound payload and a 2,670-pound dry pin, on 8,000-pound axles. Dual Coleman MACH 8 15,000-BTU air conditioners, a 20-cubic-foot stainless refrigerator, a four-burner gas oven, a Suburban 60,000-BTU tankless water heater and a 200-watt solar package with a 1,000-watt inverter are standard, under a 21-foot awning.
At a starting MSRP around $145,000 it sits among the upper plans in the line. For a couple or a pair of couples who want the biggest, brightest front living space, the line’s largest television and five slides — and who tow with a one-ton truck — the front-living 398FL is the entertainer’s Cedar Creek.
02 Full specifications
Dimensions
- Exterior length
- 43' 1"
- Exterior width
- 8' 5"
- Exterior height
- 13' 3"
- Interior height
- 8' 0"
Weights
- Dry / unit base weight (UVW)
- 15,059 lbs
- GVWR (max loaded)
- 18,000 lbs
- Net cargo / payload (CCC)
- 2,941 lbs
- Dry pin (hitch) weight
- 2,670 lbs
Capacities
- Fresh water
- 82 gal
- Grey water
- 82 gal
- Black water
- 41 gal
- Refrigerator
- 20 cu ft
Construction
- Frame
- Z-frame · 101" widebody
- Walls
- All-aluminum superstructure on 16" centers · 3M bonded fiberglass
- Roof
- AlphaPly™ TPO · limited-lifetime warranty
- Underbelly
- Heated front storage · 12V tank pads · ABS panels
Running gear
- Axles
- 2 (8,000 lb tandem)
- Hitch
- Fifth-wheel (in-bed) · 21,000-lb Rhino Box
- Suspension
- Road Armor™ · wet bolts · ABS brakes
- Tires
- Uniroyal™ on 8K axles
Galley & bath
- Cooktop
- 4-burner gas oven · pull-out pan drawer
- Refrigerator
- 20 cu ft
- A/C
- 30,000 BTU (dual Coleman MACH 8 15K)
- Water heater
- Suburban ST-60 · 60,000 BTU tankless
Sleeping & layout
- Sleeps
- 4
- Slides
- 5
- Entries
- 1
- Awnings
- 1 (21')
- Primary bed
- King
Verified specs, drawn to scale
Original graphics built from this floorplan’s own verified figures.
Loaded weight budget
Size, drawn to scale
Holding tanks
These graphics are generated from the same verified record that builds the table above, and are published under this site’s own licence — nothing here is traced from, or derived from, a manufacturer drawing or photo. Where a figure is not published for this plan, the graphic that would need it is omitted rather than estimated. The full record is in the published dataset.
What it takes to tow this
Built from this floorplan’s verified weights. We publish the trailer side only.
We do not publish tow ratings for specific trucks. A single model can vary by thousands of pounds depending on engine, axle ratio, cab, drivetrain and package — the only authoritative figure is the one on your own door jamb. Loaded pin percentages are industry convention for fifth wheels (15–25% of loaded weight), not a measurement of this unit. Hitch classes are not used here as a rating: SAE J684 covers trailers to 10,000 lb GVWR and does not define Class V, and capacity boundaries differ between manufacturers — read the rating stamped on your hitch.
03 The Cedar Creek floorplan family
Cedar Creek is Forest River's flagship full-size luxury fifth wheel and the first Forest River fifth wheel in this catalog — a direct rival to Keystone's Montana and Grand Design's Solitude. The 2027 fifth-wheel line runs to eight floorplans, and all eight are profiled here in full. The 398FL on this page is highlighted; each other plan links to its own page.
| Floorplan | Nominal | Sleeps | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 290RL | 35 ft | 4 | Rear-living entry, lightest, biggest payload |
| 361RL | 40 ft | 4 | Rear-living couples, swivel recliners |
| 385RK | 42 ft | 4 | Rear kitchen, bath-and-a-half, outside TV |
| 383FB | 42 ft | 4 | Rear living + front bath suite |
| 390RKB | 43 ft | 8 | Rear kitchen + loft/bunk, family |
| 398FL | 43 ft | 4 | Front living, 5 slides, 65" TV |
| 380DB | 43 ft | 10 | Double bunk, dual entry, two full baths |
| 381MUD | 43 ft | 8 | Murphy bed + loft, bath-and-a-half |
Cedar Creek is Forest River's flagship full-size luxury fifth wheel and the natural Montana and Solitude cross-shop. The 2027 line runs to eight floorplans, all profiled here. Every plan rides on the same 101-inch widebody Z-frame chassis with an all-aluminum superstructure on 16-inch centers, 3M bonded fiberglass sidewalls, a 21,000-pound Rhino Box hitch, Road Armor suspension and a heated, enclosed front storage compartment, and ships with two 15,000-BTU Coleman MACH 8 air conditioners, a 20-cubic-foot stainless refrigerator, a 60,000-BTU tankless water heater, a residential kitchen island, 200-watt solar with a 1,000-watt inverter and a 72-by-80-inch king bed as standard. The lighter, sub-17,000-pound-GVWR plans run 7,000-pound axles; the four 18,000-pound-GVWR plans run 8,000-pound axles. Hitch weight, GVWR, UVW and CCC are published per plan on the Forest River factory pages, and each plan's UVW plus CCC equals its GVWR exactly. Real loaded pin weights run higher — always weigh the loaded coach and confirm against your truck's payload and rear-axle ratings.
04 What owners & reviewers report
Front living, five slides
A separate upper front lounge with a windshield and five slide-outs — the most living space of any plan in the line.
65-inch television
The largest screen in the line anchors the front living room — a true entertainer’s layout.
Most slides in the line
Five slide-outs — more than any other Cedar Creek — with an 82-gallon front fresh tank scaled to match.
Wants a one-ton truck
At 43 feet on an 18,000-lb GVWR with 8K axles, confirm a properly rated one-ton truck’s payload and rear axle.
05 How it compares
The rear-living, front-bath-suite plan — a private front master instead of a front living room.
The rear-kitchen flagship — a rear galley and a bigger grey tank instead of a front lounge.
Keystone’s front-living plan — the direct full-size-luxury-FW cross-shop.
06 Loading it for a trip
This floorplan carries its water comfortably. A full 82-gallon fresh tank is roughly 23% of the 2,941-pound cargo capacity, leaving the 398FL with a usable gear budget even when you tow full.
| Weight budget | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo capacity as published (CCC) | 2,941 lb | Everything you add: gear, water, propane, batteries, food, people’s belongings. |
| Fresh tank filled (82 gal × 8.34 lb) | −684 lb | Water is the heaviest thing most owners add, and it is added first. |
| Cargo budget left with a full fresh tank | 2,257 lb | 23% of this plan’s capacity is spent before a single bag is loaded. |
| Per sleeping position, water aboard | 564 lb | A rough share of what is left across the 4 berths this plan sleeps. |
The published dry pin weight of 2,670 pounds is 18% of this floorplan’s 15,059-pound dry weight. Fifth-wheel pin weight rides in the bed of the truck, so it comes off payload rather than off tow rating — and it rises with the trailer as you load it, not in proportion to what you put over the axles.
Nothing above changes the ceiling. Loaded to its 18,000-pound GVWR the 398FL is towing 2,941 pounds more than its 15,059-pound dry figure, and that is the number your vehicle has to be rated for — not the brochure weight.
Tank balance is generous here: 82 gallons of fresh against 82 grey and 41 black, so waste capacity keeps pace with supply and the fresh tank is the constraint that ends a dry stay.
07 Where this floorplan sits
Of the 8 Cedar Creek floorplans profiled here, the 398FL carries the highest GVWR at 18,000 pounds. It is the top of the line by weight, which makes tow-vehicle capability the first thing to settle rather than the last.
Either side of it in the same line: Cedar Creek 385RK matches it exactly at 18,000 lb GVWR.
3 other Cedar Creek plans share this floorplan’s 18,000 lb GVWR, so the ranking above separates plans that tow to the same ceiling. On a shared chassis the figure that actually differs between them is cargo capacity and where the weight sits, not the rating.
| Comparable fifth wheels | GVWR (lb) | Dry (lb) | Sleeps | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 398FL | 18,000 | 15,059 | 4 | 43 ft 1 in |
| Influence 3003RL | 18,000 | 12,500 | 4 | 34 ft 11 in |
| Montana 3100RL | 18,000 | 14,030 | 4 | 35 ft 11 in |
| Paradigm 375RD | 18,000 | 14,771 | 5 | 41 ft 9 in |
| Puma Grand Mesa 395FKL | 18,000 | 14,929 | — | 42 ft 7 in |
| Bighorn 38RE | 17,995 | 15,275 | 4 | 42 ft 6 in |
| North Point 382FLRB | 17,995 | 15,470 | 8 | 43 ft 10 in |
Against the 398FL: the Influence 3003RL is 8 ft shorter; the Montana 3100RL is 7 ft shorter; the Paradigm 375RD is 1 ft shorter and sleeps 1 more. Those are differences in the published numbers only — what they cost, how they are built and how they live are separate questions each of those pages answers on its own terms.
Those are the nearest fifth wheels from other lines by weight — one per line, picked by proximity on that figure and nothing else. They are listed so the same tow vehicle can be checked against real alternatives, not because they are equivalent inside; layout, build and price diverge sharply across that group.
For scale, the Cedar Creek floorplans profiled here run 12,254 to 15,429 pounds dry and 35 to 43 feet of exterior length across 8 plans. Where a floorplan falls in that spread usually says more about which vehicle can tow it, and which site it fits, than the layout name does.
Every profiled floorplan in this line, with the full weight table, is on the Cedar Creek line hub.
08 Common questions about the 398FL
How much does the 398FL weigh?
It leaves the factory at 15,059 pounds dry, and its manufacturer-set loaded ceiling (GVWR) is 18,000 pounds. Real towing weight lands between the two and depends entirely on what you load. Use the GVWR when matching a tow vehicle; the dry figure is only useful for comparing floorplans against each other.
How much can the 398FL carry?
Cargo carrying capacity is 2,941 pounds. That is the whole budget: water, propane, batteries, gear and everything you bring. Filling the 82-gallon fresh tank uses about 684 pounds of that.
What is the pin weight of the 398FL?
The published dry pin weight is 2,670 pounds. It is measured empty; loaded, it runs higher, and it comes out of your tow vehicle’s payload rather than its tow rating.
What size tow vehicle does the 398FL need?
Your vehicle needs a tow rating of at least 18,000 pounds — this floorplan’s GVWR — and enough payload left over for the hitch load, passengers and anything in the bed. This site does not publish tow ratings for specific vehicles, because one truck model varies by thousands of pounds across engine, axle ratio, cab and package. The figure that governs is the payload sticker on your own door jamb.
How many people does the 398FL sleep?
It is rated to sleep 4. Rated sleeping positions include convertible furniture, so count the beds against how you actually travel rather than against the number.
What are the tank capacities on the 398FL?
Fresh 82 gallons, grey 82 gallons, black 41 gallons. Tank sizes set how long the floorplan can sit away from hookups, and the smallest of the three is what ends the stay.
How long is the 398FL?
Exterior length is 43' 1". Measure against your site length and your storage before committing — the exterior figure is the one that has to fit, and it includes the tongue or pin box.
Every figure in these answers is read from this page’s verified specification table. Where the manufacturer publishes nothing, the question is not answered rather than estimated.
09 What this page publishes, and what it does not
This catalog tracks 18 specification fields per floorplan. Named sources publish 18 of them for the 398FL. The rest are not shown, because the alternative is reading a figure across from a sibling floorplan or from what the segment usually does — and a number nobody published is worth less than an admitted gap.
Not published for this floorplan: tire size (a tire description is published, a size is not). If you find one of these in a manufacturer document for this plan, it belongs on this page.
The completeness figure at the foot of this page (98%) measures the same thing on the full field set: it is a measurement of how much this floorplan’s manufacturer publishes, not of how much research went into the page.
How every figure here was sourced and checked is set out on the methodology page.
11 NHTSA safety record
This floorplan belongs to the Cedar Creek line, and NHTSA holds 19 recall campaigns and 64 owner complaints against that line. They are separate records and are not added together — a recall is a manufacturer-confirmed defect with a remedy; a complaint is one owner’s account, which NHTSA does not verify.
What to look at on a used one. Across the 64 complaints filed on this line the most-reported components are tires (23%), suspension (20%) and equipment (19%). That is where owners of this family have had trouble, so it is where an inspection is worth the time.
Recall coverage is not complete — our harvest of NHTSA’s recall API ran 1,556 queries, of which 0 failed and 242 returned an explicit zero. A line can still be under-reported where NHTSA files a roster under a parent name, or where a match rests on the wording of the recall rather than its model field. Complaints come from the complete bulk file but are unverified and self-selected: a high count tracks how many units a line sold at least as much as how well it was built. Check a specific VIN at NHTSA before you buy. Full tables are on the Cedar Creek line page.