Would you buy again?

Looking at buying a 2006 29 RLBS for a first time 5th wheel. Are you generally satisfied and would you purchase another Forest River product. Thanks.

First...Welcome to the group!. We're glad you are here.

I would venture to say that this being a Wildcat club that most of us are fans of that model. And, yes, I would buy another one. It is not the top of the line but I believe it has lots of bang for the buck. We are very happy with ours. Forest River is just the company that assembles the units. The components come from other vendors. The same vendors that supply most other brands also. I have not yet found any assembly issues with ours.

John

We have an '06 29RLBS which we purchased used from a co-worker of mine. We love it! It is almost perfect when it is just the two of us which is most of the time since our kids are all adults. We sometimes have grandchildren; the jack knife sofa works well for them. We also have room for a double size air mattress between the table and the kitchen area. We also carry a Eureka 4 TL tent for guests.

I have done some mods, but not as many as some on here. I would buy again but would look around to see what else was available too.

We are very happy with ours and would buy another 29RLBS.

But, now FR has the 31TS, and we do like the 2 slides in the living room area.

Go for it......

Like Tom and Sharon, we have the 2006 29rlbs, and love it. We've made several mods inside that have make it more efficient.

If we bought a new one, it would be another Wildcat, but maybe this time it would be the 31ts. It looks like a nice floorplan. But, we'll probably keep the 29rlbs until we can't travel anymore.

Tater

I would buy another Cat. I have an '04 bunkhouse model with backpack (29BHBP). It is really good for a family and has ample storage. When my DW & I become empty nesters, we will upgrade to an "adult" floorplan, probably the 31TS (if I had to buy today).

Oh and before I forget... to the site!

We have the 28RK and would buy another, although next time with the bedroon slide.

We have a 2009 29rlbs and really like all the features we got compared with other trailers. We have the trail Air hitch, it softens the coupling between the trailer and the truck. WE like the electric awnings and electric rear jacks. THe Equa-Flex suspension. The safe in the bedroom. The storage in the bathroom. The neat lighting in the bedroom and around the kitchen area. The over head lights are very bright. We like the power vent in the bathroom, also like the window in the bathroom. Like the skylight in the livingroom. Like the additional window on the side wall high,gives extra light. We like the large TV space. We have a 32in HD tv.and it fits. WE like the hot water heater bypass, the black water flush. The trash can compartment. Look other units over close and I think you will be happy. We are! WE have had some usual warranty work done but if the trailer holds up we will be very happy. Good luck with your decision. If you are new to the forum, WELCOME ! IT'S a very nice forum and the people are GREAT! Even though I have never met anyone here I feel like I know them.

We bought a 28RK new in '05. The only thing I would have liked was the bedroom to have a slideout. I see now they do make the rear kitchen model with a bedroom slide. We are seriously comtemplating replacing our '05 with a new one. I would buy another Wildcat as over all we have been very satisfied with our unit. We did some of the upgrades list here and have used it with a lot of joy. We have looked at other brands, but with the economic situation now a lot of manufacturers are going out of business. With the changes/upgrades Forrest River has done, they are a very good unit for the money.
Enjoy your campers all !!!

Dave & Sue

Thanks for your input Dave & Sue and welcome to the forum.

Nope. This is my second Wildcat and I doubt that I would buy another. The next one will probably be a Sundance by Heartland.

We have a 09 27SE. We love it and have had no problems with it at all. I have done several mods but these are very simple things. The only thing I would suggest is to go ahead and get the LE vs the SE. Most of the things on the LE I'm putting on my CAT anyway....and of course, spending the money. Examples: Ladder.....ceilng fan.....outdoor shower....better hitch pin.......extended cabinet piece...etc. Good luck with your new camper.
Mmiller

If the Wildcat had a model with a large rear bunkhouse with a lot of counter space we would have considered purchasing that. We ended up with an Open Range 399 BHS. My wife still makes statements such as "I wish this camper had the .... that the Wildcat had" or "I liked the storage of .... on the Wildcat". I personally miss the Back Pack feature our Wildcat 29BHBP had. I don't see any newer 5th wheels with that feature. I looked at the Sandpiper bunkhouse models but they were way too heavy. Our Open Range weighs 10,900 dry for a 39' unit with 5 slides .... I liked the Wildcats because they were also lighter in weight compared to other models.

cooksvillewildcat wrote:If the Wildcat had a model with a large rear bunkhouse with a lot of counter space we would have considered purchasing that. We ended up with an Open Range 399 BHS. My wife still makes statements such as "I wish this camper had the .... that the Wildcat had" or "I liked the storage of .... on the Wildcat". I personally miss the Back Pack feature our Wildcat 29BHBP had. I don't see any newer 5th wheels with that feature. I looked at the Sandpiper bunkhouse models but they were way too heavy. Our Open Range weighs 10,900 dry for a 39' unit with 5 slides .... I liked the Wildcats because they were also lighter in weight compared to other models.

I looked at the Open Range, they are very nice. I think you made a great choice. Good luck with it

Yes We would buy a Wildcat Again. First was a Wilderness Travel trailer 19ft in the early 1980's and sold out in 1986. Then we started back in 2003 with a 30 ft Trailair Travel Trailer, totaled that one when the rear tire on truck went flat. Then we bought out first 2004 Wildcat 27RL, Then 2 years later we bought our 2nd 2005 Wildcat 29RLBS. Have been very happy with the Wildcats. Will never own another bumper pull!

If we were looking for another towable RV the answer is yes.

As it is we bought the closest thing we could find to a parkmodel, and
we're keeping our Wildcat. A 35' triple slide that's got cables
running through the frame to stakes driven into the ground. It's
a 2000 and hasn't moved since 2001 as near as I can tell.

We have been looking at other brands recently just because I've got the itch. A couple things I would add to the wildcat are: selective hydraulics, if I stop for lunch, I don't want to have to put out the bedroom slide also; more counter space (in the 31ts since that is the one we like so much); and generator prep package, or at least wall off the front storage compartment at the factory.

Amazingly enough, you can get a Montana and other brands with the basic same layout as the 31ts for the same money and they have these options. Another nice option on the Montana's is the sewer line is a swing out piece that always stays attached to the camper, you just swing it out, pull out the hose and pull the valves. I think this could be replicated fairly easy and I am contemplating how I am going to do it on my Cat.

Our Open Range has selective room slide switches (although they are not hydraulic, they are pretty fast considering). What is slow is the landing gear - I really miss hydraulic landing gear. I now have a 4 point leveling system - each jack has an independent motor. I think it moves a couple of inches a minute max - it can pick the camper off the ground but is painfully slow as far as I am concerned.

We just purchased our Cat 2002 RLKS, love the lay out. We took it out for first time in Oct 09 felt comforable with the colder weather. Will Put a lot of miles on for the 2010 yr. First FW hope to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Kevin

We love ours ( 24RL ) and would buy another. We are like many always looking but still come back to the one we have.

Absolutely, without a second thought!!!

It is just the wife an me, we have a 2010 28 rkbs and love it. This will probably be our last camper until we are not able to camp anymore. We would definitely buy another WC.

We started with a tt and upgraded to a 31ts last fall and love it. We would buy another Wildcat .

This is our third trailer the first two being pull trailers Wilderness and Prowler. Never had any problems with either of the first two. So far our streak is continuing we love 28RKBS, and yes we would buy again. Its not the top of line trailer but you do get im my opinion a lot of bang for the buck with the Forest River Wildcat.

This is our fifth RV and we are very pleased with our unit and the quality of Forest River. A couple of minor problems when new, but good service to take care of the problems. We have towed the unit about 20K miles in 2 years with no problems. We would purchase another Forest River product providing we can find a floor plan that suits our needs. Our current model has beeen changed and now does not provide adequate storage for extended travel. We have length constraints of 29 feet total actual length for storage purposes, and towing preference, relative to some of the places we like to visit. This would require new floor plan in Forest River to meet our needs, or we would probably look at Artic Fox or Excel.

However, like others, we have no immediate plans or interest to change units, and if this unit continues to perform, it very well could last us as long as we can/desire to pull an RV.

At this time I would say probably NO. I would seriously shop!

I have done many mods. Most are making changes to suit my taste. This I would do with any brand. I found it difficult to believe that there should have to be a mod to fix road water from streaming into the coach from the slide. We bought our unit new and after roughly 2 years the decals began shrinking and fading. Yes decals weather but there are several other brands around me and none are suffering from the same fate! Other than those two big things we have been happy with our 28RK.

The DW and I would absolutely buy again.

We purchased our Cat last year. It was used, but very little. This is our first fiver. We had been out of camping for a few years and had TT's before.
I feel we got lucky by finding this one. Real happy.
This is a mid level unit. Sure, would love a high end. But just as some people can justify a 500,000 dollar stick built home over a 200,000 home, you must do the same for your camping unit.
I too have done many mods, but not many which Forest River or Wildcat have designed. Mostly general vendor stuff.
If we would buy this level next time, we would buy another Cat for sure.
Although, we may shop around and see all. See if it makes sense to go to a high end tier. We didn't plan on 60 + days this year. Maybe another 10-15 by the time we are done. Our Cat is showing much more it's age now that we are using it alot with 2-3 kids each time. Still very happy with it. A lot of bang for your buck as mentioned above.

In a New York minute. Might try a different model when we get tired of the 06' 29RLBS, but we would buy a Wildcat again. Can't beat the features for the price point.