Forest River Wildcat

By Cathy Anderson

Toronto, NSW company 5th Wheels-R-Us has been importing fifth wheelers from the USA for nearly 10 years. Owners Mavis and Alan Atkinson and their son James used to import American cars and trucks, and bought a 24ft Skyline fifth wheeler on one of their trips overseas. After using it to travel for a while, they decided to sell.

When a single ad generated 500 enquiries, they knew they had stumbled on a niche market. The family sold their business and entered the RV game.

Manufacturing giant Forest River is the main supplier for 5th Wheels-R-Us. The American builder’s stable includes motorhomes, fifth wheelers, ‘toy haulers’, expandables and tent trailers. Of the fifth wheelers available from Forest River, Mavis, Alan and James have decided to concentrate on the Wildcat models, all of which are built with a flipped-over layout from the US version for obvious reasons – we drive on the other side of the road.

Luxury living

Fifth wheelers, says Mavis, are attracting an increasingly appreciative audience, particularly retirees downsizing their assets and heading off on a round-Australia RV adventure.

“With a fifth wheeler, people have a tow vehicle they can use all year round,” she said. Mavis says the company’s customer base is also expanding to include traditional motorhome owners who are looking for the freedom of a separate tow vehicle.

The Forest River marques are designed for luxury living. In true home-away-from-home fashion, these fifth wheelers offer many modern conveniences and the latest appliances.

One of the more popular ranges is the Wildcat, which comes in a variety of lengths from 24ft (2.9m) to 33ft (10m). Like most fifth wheelers, slide-out units are an integral feature. The smaller units have one slide-out and the larger ones include two, which greatly increases living space.

Wildcats are built on a 10in eyebeam chassis, with the interesting mix of aluminium framed sidewalls and timber roof trusses to provide strength, light weight and the right amount of flex.

A high gloss gelcoat fibreglass finish is used for all the walls, and the rubberised roof has a 12-year guarantee.

All Wildcats come with plenty of features – well set up kitchen, plenty of lounge room area, ducted air-conditioning, underfloor gas heating and a three-way bathroom. Hydraulics is used to control both the legs at the front of the fifth wheeler and the slide-outs.

Innovative design

The latest Wildcat model is causing quite a stir because of its large, apartment-style interior layout.

At 28ft the Wildcat 28RK is a mid-sized model but, unlike comparative motorhome units, its layout does not revolve around a central kitchen.

Instead, Forest River has built the kitchen area at the rear on the nearside, and it is fully-equipped with a stainless steel Smev oven with a griller and four-burner stovetop and microwave, all of which are fitted in Australia.

Opposite the kitchen area on the offside is a slide-out which hosts the dining and lounge/sofa bed. In front of the kitchen are two swivel recliner chairs. This way, owners can fix meals and boil the kettle while chatting to partners or guests who are reclining on either lounge, enjoying the sounds from the standard 100W Dolby CD/radio entertainment system with subwoofer and TV input housed in a cupboard adjacent to the slide-out sofa on the offside. This cupboard also doubles as a linen closet, with a divider between, but is accessed through the toilet area.

Generous overhead storage cupboards abound in the kitchen, lounge and slide-out dinette, lighting is 12V and there are plenty of powerpoints.

Step up from the lounge to the bathroom on the nearside. The toilet is a Residential porcelain foot flush unit while the extra large Garden angled shower is fully fibreglassed. There’s a built-in wood medicine cabinet, extra large sink, Fantastic three-speed ventilation fan and even a laundry hamper chute and basket.

The private bedroom is at the front of the fifth wheeler, separated from the bathroom by a bi-fold partition. In this way, the bathroom acts as much as an ensuite as a guest facility.

The 60in x 80in (152.4cm x 203cm) queen-sized bed is flanked by a bedside table and a wardrobe and a second wardrobe is opposite on the offside with four drawers. Hydraulic struts lift the bed up to reveal ample storage underneath.

There’s a wood grain finish throughout the Wildcat 28RK and enough good-sized windows to afford a good view of your surroundings as you stop for the night – or just for a cuppa.

Strength to strength

5th Wheels-R-Us is adamant that the Forest River units are fully compliant with all local regulations and mostly Australian appliances are used. Gas certification is no problem and all units are fully wired for 240V. In fact, the company sends the wiring to the US to be installed in each unit, avoiding the need for a transformer. The company also has High Volume Compliance for all its fifth wheelers weighing more than 4.5 tonnes.

Mavis says the company also provides additional strength to each chassis to make sure they can handle Australia’s tough conditions. Items such as an awning, dinette table and sofa bed, considered optional extras for US customers, are included as standard features on the Wildcat.

Mavis and Alan recommend a Ford F250 as a tow vehicle and, using their extensive automotive industry contacts from their previous truck conversion days, have bought and supplied tow vehicles at cost for their customers. The Wildcat 28RK retails for $99,000 including the hitch.