2003 Forest River Wildcats Any Good?

[topdwg]

Ok well was in dire need of a new camper, because with three kids my little 22 foot pull behind wasn't cutting it. I'd been looking around for quite awhile until yesterday when I came across this camper in the title. Price out the door was 12 grand. I'd heard Forest River made good campers, just wondering what everyone else thought??? Is this a pretty good price? They also gave me 6 grand for my mine which is a 03 Thor Tahoe, which I thought was a pretty good deal. In the end I handed them 6 grand cash and scheduled to pick it up on Friday. There is some small cosmetic stuff on the inside I wanted fix,,,I'm picky on stuff like that. The listing below on eBay is exactly what mine looks like...

Also since it's a 5th wheel and I don't have a hitch I have to get one. I asked the salesman/owner what he though of gooseneck adapters and he HIGHLY suggested I don't use one. Said that many of the manufactures are now telling them that if used it will void the warranty? Anyone heard of this?

[mudrunninpig]

my dad has a forest river and he loves it. He has had it about 6 years IIRC. He camps probably 200 days a year at least. He drags that thing all over the us and had had pretty much 0 issues with it other than general maintanance. I haven't heard about the 5th wheel hitch

Congrats on the new toy

[sea71]

Just a guess here, but I would guess that with the5th wheel, you have more contact area at the hitch which would evenly distribute stress across the entire pin box. With a gooseneck adapter, all the stresses would be concentrated to the pin only. Again, just a guess. I do know of several folks around here that use the gooseneck adapter and love it. I help set one up with the guy that bought our old 5th wheel. I like the idea of still having some bed storage while hooked up. My hitch is a Reese, and it takes up a lot of space.

[topdwg]

I really wanted to do the gooseneck setup because like you Sea71 I really like my bed space, but I don't like it enough to substitute safety over comfort, if that's the case. The salesman told me just what you said Sea71. Oh well, I guess 5th wheel here I come.

Someone tell me if this is a good deal, Husky 16K slider 5th wheel hitch installed for $1200? Thanks...

[Evil Eye]

That's a bit pricey on the slider hitch installed (I'm assuming it's manual). You can get them for about $800, so do you think that the install is worth $400? That's the same as the one I have and when I negotiated the deal, I had them include the hitch and installation.

BTW, my 5er is made by Forest River and it is a decent unit. ALL trailers have their share of flaws, but it sounds like you got a great deal! Congrats.

[topdwg]

It's funny because I guess I should of asked if they were any good before I sealed the deal...LOL, oh well....

[tdeal823]

How do you like your 5th compared to your old travel trailer? I currently have a 30' rockwood TT and thinking of upgrading to a 5th wheel.
Whats your thoughts?

[They call me Pete]

5'er is hitch and go. No messing with load/sway bars. I'm in the same boat as you tdeal823 with a 30' TT but upgrading to a 5'er hopefully next year. Mom/dad need to separate from kids if ya know what I mean.

[Zytek_Fan]

Forest River is definitely one of the better RV manufacturers right now.
Their quality is superb and they offer one of the largest selections.

Also, Thor RV products are worth considering. Komfort RVs are exactly that; comfortable.