The 35CRIB in one column of numbers
Three of these rows are family extremes, and none of them is length. The 35CRIB is the third-shortest Cardinal and still carries the heaviest pin, the highest GVWR, and the tallest roof.
What Forest River drew
The bunk room fills the rear of the trailer. Its slide holds a 28 by 74 inch middle bed; beside it are a 54 by 74 inch bed and a 44 by 93 inch loft above, a desk, a wardrobe under the loft, and a shower and toilet of their own. That rear bath is the second on the plan. The middle of the trailer holds an island kitchen with a 16 cubic foot refrigerator, microwave, pantry, and coffee bar, an entertainment center with a fireplace, and a super sofa in its own slide. The main bath, with shower, toilet, and linen storage, is mid-ship, and the front slide carries a 60 by 80 inch queen bed with a dresser and wardrobe. Three slides and a 10 ft 6 in awning.
The queen is worth noticing. The 32CHILL, 33CHEF, 36FL, 36FUN, 37GALLEY, and 38DEN all draw a king in the front bedroom; the 35CRIB is the one Cardinal drawn with a 60 by 80 queen.
Forest River's 2027 35CRIB drawing and figures →The bunk room is the decision, and it has three parts
First, bed size. The 28 by 74 middle bunk is ten inches narrower than a standard twin mattress; the 54 by 74 lower bed matches a full mattress in width, and the loft is 44 by 93. Who sleeps where decides whether the published capacity of seven is a real number for a given family, and RVUSA's figure is the only published one, since Forest River lists none.
Second, privacy and plumbing. The bunk room's own shower and toilet mean two people can get ready at once, and the sleeping end of the trailer is at the opposite end from the front bedroom. It also means two toilets draining into the 76-gallon black tank, which is the largest black tank in the family and shared only with the 36FUN and 37GALLEY. The gray tank is also 76 gallons against 60 gallons of fresh water.
Third, weight distribution. The bunk room, its bath, and its slide all sit behind the axles, and the plan still publishes the heaviest pin weight of the seven at 2,305 lb, 540 lb more than the 32CHILL. Read the 14,305 lb GVWR the same way: it is the highest in the family, but the 2,352 lb between it and the 11,953 lb dry weight is the second-smallest margin. A family that fills two bathrooms and three beds fills that margin quickly; that is arithmetic, and the label on the unit is the figure that counts.
Specifications as published
Forest River labels UVW and cargo carrying capacity as estimated averages for a standard build.
Walk the 35CRIB with the people who will sleep in it
- Put the child who will use the middle bunk on it. It is 28 inches wide and 74 long, in the bunk-room slide, and it is the bed most likely to be outgrown first.
- Climb into the loft. It is 44 by 93 inches above the lower bed, and the drawing shows a wardrobe below it, so check the headroom and how an adult would reach a child up there.
- Run both showers and both toilets and ask how the tanks are plumbed. Two baths on one 76-gallon black tank and one 76-gallon gray tank is the plan's whole capacity story.
- Measure the roof. Published height is 162 inches, 13 ft 6 in on the nose, so any added air conditioner or taller shroud on the exact unit puts it over that common clearance figure.
The other family Cardinals, measured against this one
The 36FUN is the other two-bedroom, two-bath Cardinal, but it puts the bunk room in the front cap and the master with its own bath at the rear. It is 1 in longer, 80 lb heavier, sleeps the same seven, keeps three slides, and its pin weight is 210 lb lighter with 210 lb less GVWR. Cargo is 290 lb lower.
Open record →More sleepers, one bath, king bedCardinal 38DENTrades the bunk room for a loft den at the rear and sleeps up to 9. It is 1 ft 9 in longer and 315 lb lighter, adds a fourth slide, draws a king up front, and gives back 245 lb of cargo capacity. It has one bath and the 38-gallon gray and black tanks.
Open record →If the bunks are optionalCardinal 33CHEFA couple who visits with guests rather than travelling with children gets a plan 4 ft 5 in shorter and 1,395 lb lighter, with 420 lb less pin weight, 975 lb more cargo capacity, one fewer sleeper, and a rear kitchen where the bunk room would be.
Open record →Sources, and where they differ
Dimensions, weights, GVWR, cargo capacity, tank sizes, bed sizes, and the room arrangement are from Forest River's 2027 Cardinal 35CRIB page and drawing, read on 2026-08-15 and 2026-09-12. Sleeping capacity is from RVUSA's 2027 Cardinal guide, which lists seven; RVUSA's guide for the identical plan sold as the Wildcat 35CRIB lists eight. Forest River's own pages publish the same figures under both names, and the former Wildcat 35CRIB record on this site now points here.