Very torn between Solitude S-Class 3740 and a Cedar Creek Silverback 37MBH

[elkbart]

Hi All,

We are new to the hunt and have looked at 3 billion floor plans and walked through more than we can remember. We've pretty much settled down to a couple of choices. We are between a GD 3740BH-R and a FR Cedar Creek Silverback 37MBH. They are different and it may simply come down to preferences...which are hard to put pluses and minuses to. I'm leaning toward the GD, but I don't have a solid reason why. My gut and some research say the customer service will outweigh all other "benefits" of the FR Cedar Creek. Who could give me a sales pitch? I'm interested in learning about the little things like tires, shocks, structure, value of features like solar or central vac?

As a side, one HUGE difference is the hitch weight. The 3740 says it is a whopping 2900 pounds where the 37MBH is 2100. We ordered an F350 SRW Platinum. I expect that payload to be about 3500 pounds. That's not a lot of wiggle room.

Thanks for all of your insights. I'm sure I'll have more questions from your tips and insights.

Dan

 

[FT4NOW]

Welcome to the forum. We love the 3740 and strongly considered it after we sold our Momentum, the only thing that stopped us was the tow vehicle. We live in Idaho now and wanted to get rid of the dually, no way you should tow the 3740 without a dually. That posted pin weight is a dry weight and will likely be closer to 3400lbs at a minimum when loaded.

GD doesnt have any units with shocks on their suspension. They are all built the same for the most part, but GD's customer service is what initially drew us to GD and again when we were looking to replace our Momentum.

At least with GD, you can actually call them and talk to someone if you need help or want to file a warranty claim without the dealer. I've had a few things they made me go through a dealer, but I've had a handful of other items they worked directly with me which was nice, I try to avoid the dealer.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[FreddieMac]

Best advice having owned both a Forrest River (Solaire) and GD (Reflection) is to go with the floorplan that will work best for your camping. I have had problems in both my RVs but I will say the fit and finish of GD was far superior to the FR product. I had good customer support from both manufactures. I also suggest if you do go with the FR product, ask for the additional year warranty that is an off-the-menu option. I have owned my Reflection for a year and I have done less maintenance/break-fix work on my Reflection in its first year than I did on the Solaire. But, you are going to do break-fix/maintenance on any new RV so floorplan should be your #1 concern. All things being equal, go with your gut. Look at the two units beyond the surface, make the dealer power both units up for you to inspect before you buy.

 

[WhittleBurner]

Was had a family member who had a Silverback... A nightmare trailer with no comany support.
Ffwd a couple years they are now happy GD owners.

 

[Gizmo1137]

When we bought our Solitude we looked at many brands, including Forest River. I was concerned with a high number of issues and complaints with Forest River as well as poor customer service responses. Our experience with Grand Design Solitude has been excellent, better fit and finish, a couple of problems yes, but GD's customer service response has been excellent.

 

[FreddieMac]

Got to the FROG forum and lurk on there for information on the Cedar Creek. You will find all the warts from FROG members. https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f23/

FYI, after six years of ownership, when I traded in, I started to see seal leaks on slides. I found water spots when doing my final maintenance before trade in. Also, GD does a better job of sealing the underside of slides from my experience.

 

[elkbart]

Thanks all! I see one opinion on the hitch weight. Do any of you pull your Solitude or Solitude S with a 1-Ton SRW?

 

[Fsalmy]

Thanks all! I see one opinion on the hitch weight. Do any of you pull your Solitude or Solitude S with a 1-Ton SRW?

We looked very closely at 3740 before deciding on a 378MBS. At the time, I had a 2013 F350 LB SRW with about 3300 lbs of payload capacity. Of course, salesman tells me I can tow it no problem. Opened the calculator app on my phone in front of him and calculated dry pin weight as percentage of UVW was ~ 21%. GVWR on the 3740 is 16,800, so fully loaded and balanced, worst case scenario was a pin weight of ~3500 lbs. Even if I left the family at home, I still couldn’t make the SRW I had work. So, obvious solution was an F450.

 

[cfowler55]

I’m lugging around a much smaller / lighter Solitude , with a dually. Personally I wouldn’t want any less truck.
Charlie