Heartland won't cover out-of-warranty repair cost on slide room repair.

My wife and I have been mostly happy with our 2009 Bighorn 3055. It has been 18 months since we purchased it, and except for some plumbing connection leaks and a few other items, we've had good luck overall.

Unfortunately, we discovered after our warranty period expired that the 2 living area sliders on the rig had exposed wood edges at the bottom. Being exposed to the weather, they began to delaminate, and so we commissioned repairs that solved the problem - it is a repair that has been articulated on this website using angle material over the edges, including the edge along the flush-floor bevel that allows the slider floor to travel up to the teflon slide rail.

It cost us $400. Since then, we've noticed that newer Bighorns from the factory have their edges covered. We asked Heartland if they would make an exception in our case given that the problem stemmed from the factory production process, and they declined our request citing warranty expiration.

It doesn't seem fair. We're disappointed in Heartland. This is a design flaw that caused structural delamination of the slider floor within 18 months of the purchase date.

We've appealed to Mr. Randolph at Heartland, but so far no answer.

Stuart and Irene Heaslet
Grants Pass, Oregon

I can't find a question in your post, but good luck with your coach and it seems like you have had pretty good luck during your 18 months of enjoyment. At some point, Heartland must draw a line on warranty support, as with any other manufacture's warranty. But it never hurts to try, so again, good luck and I hope you can enjoy your rig when this issue is settled.

We are exactly in your seat on this one. Check our posting that started in Sept. 2009 regarding delamination of the slide floors. Parkland Plastics warrant the flooring material for 2 years and specifically advise to contact the manufacturer. I contacted Chris Griffin from customer service and he has told me that we too are not covered. I am thinking I am going to do the repair myself and trade the unit in on another brand. This is clearly a design issue and Heartland definately knows they have a problem. I have contacted a repair facility and they say they did two of these units in the past month and a half.

FJ

I'll play devil's advocate here.

This has been a known problem for years that Heartland willingly fixed under warranty. When we picked up our BH this was one of the things we checked before accepting delivery. While we are under warranty as other items are identified on the forum as problems we have checked our own rig knowing that Heartland would fix the problem.

My question to you is why didn't you check your slides when under warranty for the known problem rather than wait until you had a problem out of warranty?

Identify potential problems is one of the many benefits of the forum.

Fireball56 said:

My wife and I have been mostly happy with our 2009 Bighorn 3055. It has been 18 months since we purchased it, and except for some plumbing connection leaks and a few other items, we've had good luck overall.

Unfortunately, we discovered after our warranty period expired that the 2 living area sliders on the rig had exposed wood edges at the bottom. Being exposed to the weather, they began to delaminate, and so we commissioned repairs that solved the problem - it is a repair that has been articulated on this website using angle material over the edges, including the edge along the flush-floor bevel that allows the slider floor to travel up to the teflon slide rail.

It cost us $400. Since then, we've noticed that newer Bighorns from the factory have their edges covered. We asked Heartland if they would make an exception in our case given that the problem stemmed from the factory production process, and they declined our request citing warranty expiration.

It doesn't seem fair. We're disappointed in Heartland. This is a design flaw that caused structural delamination of the slider floor within 18 months of the purchase date.

We've appealed to Mr. Randolph at Heartland, but so far no answer.

Stuart and Irene Heaslet
Grants Pass, Oregon

Click to expand...

Your post reads like something I would see in the Trailer Life magazine. I think you answered your own comment by stating "Out Of Warranty" question. Heartland is under no obligation to do anything regarding out of warranty problems. Personally I think what you are asking is not a reasonable request. At what point does a manufacturer quit repairing units that are out of warranty? Would you have expected Ford, GM or Dodge to repair their vehicle that is 6 months out of warranty. I think not. MHO

He may be out of warranty, however I keep hearing folks defend Heartland against known issues that they have been made well aware of. Not just Heartland, other brands as well. I've owned 6 RV's and this unit has been the most troublesome unit yet. I am experiencing the same issues with the delamination, shower leaking, springs and stress cracks etc. All of these I have or will repair myself as I purchased the unit used and it's an 06. I don't expect Heartland to step up the plate on mine; however it appears they are not being very pro active toward improving there product. Stop defending Heartland. It is clear to me at least on my unit QA was off the day mind was built.

Well, it seems that maybe it is time again to jump on my soapbox .

I have to agree with Ray about HL loyalty that he posted here.
//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/19144-New-BH3070RL-Some-disappointments

. I did not start out that way but over time have realized what a value there is in buying and owning a HL.

We have done a tremendous amount of research with the possible idea upgrading next year. Bottom line is we still dont know what we want to do but here is what we learned...
1) Comparing some very high end units to each other and to HL Landmark, with just a few exceptions Heartland has the other units hands down for value.

2) Comparing the "quality" ( and I hate to use that very subjective word) of the fit and finish-HL is at least equal if not a little better than most.

3) Comparing the "quality" (there is that word again) of things unseen- with one exception, they still all seem to be a mess behind basement walls etc. Even with water manifolds that are mounted nice and neat on the outside of the basement, as as the lines go behind the wall it is a mess.

4) Appliances seem to be the same no matter which unit choose. You get the same warranty on the fridge or microwave in a 30k unit as you do with a 75k unit.

5) Tires, Only 2 manufactuers advertise the fact that they use Goodyear tires. It seems that they have at least seen and listened to the horror stories of the China Bombs. With that said, tires can be changed or trailers ordered with different brand tires.

6)With 2 exceptions, Lippert built the frames etc on the trailers we looked at and researched. Yes there is a difference in the frames between each brand but the fact still remains that they are still built by Lippert-not stating any opinions here, just stating a fact of what we found. Draw your own conclusions.

7)Floor construction- there are two brands that we found with a 5/8" plywood or OSB floor. Both of these brands use a framed floor with batt insultion. HL uses a laminated floor which does appear to be stronger.

8) Insulation-here is where everything IMO is open for interpetation. Some brands advertise R35 floor while other high end units only advertise R27. Both say they have Artic packages or what ever. One manufactuer even gives you in writing a guarantee that pipes will not freeze at -10 degrees. But what does that really mean. There is no claim of what heat they are using (BTUs)and how much it costs to keep that unit warm. Others claim their trailer is built for Full Timing. Great what does that mean? Can I full time with my trailer in Prudhoe Bay or is that claim only good if you stay in Florida.

9) Wall floor and ceiling construction. Talk to any manufacturer and theirs is the best construction-including HL. Well, yeah-of course they will say that or they wouldnt be building their rigs the way the do.

10) Warranty. We have read warranties very carefully on the units we looked at. Some offer 2 year hitch to bumper with a lot of people claiming that makes them better. Well, maybe it does, I dont know. I have seen here on this forum of HL taking care of issues after the owner's warranty runs out and have read where they have denied warranty after the warranty runs out.
Whether you get a 1 year, 2 year or 5 year warranty, about all the manufacturers are warranting is the coach body themselves. All these other components that go into making a trailer usually come with their own warranty from the vendor and that is where you have to go if a problem comes up.
On top of all that no matter what the original warranty is, I still believe with the right attitude and a certain amount of tactful persuasion, you can get what is fair (not necessarily what you want) from just about anybody.

We have talked to everyone at different manufactuers-from the company president, engineers and floor managers. Even had a nice consverstion with the Service Manager at a large RV service in Elkhart. (His comments about HL and specifically about the Big Country where surprising in a very positive way).


So yes, as Ray said and after at least 5 months of research our conclusion is that we are going to be loyal Heartlanders.

I am not defending Heartland,.Heartland does not need me to defend them. But it does seems that there are quite a few around that will bash HL because of the smallest thing. I am not cheerleading HL, just being loyal to a product that we have done a lot of research on.

Maybe now is good time to repost this:
Click here.

scotty said:

He may be out of warranty, however I keep hearing folks defend Heartland against known issues that they have been made well aware of. Not just Heartland, other brands as well. I've owned 6 RV's and this unit has been the most troublesome unit yet. I am experiencing the same issues with the delamination, shower leaking, springs and stress cracks etc. All of these I have or will repair myself as I purchased the unit used and it's an 06. I don't expect Heartland to step up the plate on mine; however it appears they are not being very pro active toward improving there product. Stop defending Heartland. It is clear to me at least on my unit QA was off the day mind was built.

Click to expand...

How can you say.."they are not being very pro-active toward improving their product"???

Even the OP states that on the newer units the problem has been remedied and edges are now covered...that seems "pro-active" to me...Heartland discovers a problem, usually from the owners on this forum, and they make changes to correct it.

I started to notice a slight problem with the slide floors on my '08 after 3 years of ownership...I can't in good conscientious expect Heartland to repair now...we fixed it ourselves, just like I would my car once it's out of warranty! There has to be a line drawn somewhere...

When the side wall fiberglass sheet of a slide are cut about 1/2" above the termination point of the flooring, and that flooring is plywood, decay is inevitable. I tried to keep up and keep an eye on the problem. Made notice of the problem prior to my warranty expiring (contested by HL) and was directed to the flooring manufacturer (2 year warranty) for help. After following the steps I was told to take the problem continued. Frankly, I have not had time to cruise all the posts, due to work and family obligations...but the fact is, I should have been sent a letter with the fix to at least offset the problem. If this was a car or truck you could bet I would have been notified before the NTSB was. Heartland has a problem - and should be addressing it to maintain owner loyalty. We purchased this unit with every possible option and sunk a ton of money into purchasing this unit. I thought it was going to be the last 5th wheel I purchased prior to retirement...guess I was wrong in placing my trust in Heartland?!

One very disappointed Camper.

SouthernNights said:

7)

Floor construction- there are two brands that we found with a 5/8" plywood or OSB floor. Both of these brands use a framed floor with batt insultion. HL uses a laminated floor which does appear to be stronger..

Click to expand...

Not intending to hijack this post but I just posted a question the other day about the OBS flooring. The information I got was it is 3/8" not 5/8" even in the Landmarks. Was that information incorrect?

SJH said:

Not intending to hijack this post but I just posted a question the other day about the OBS flooring. The information I got was it is 3/8" not 5/8" even in the Landmarks. Was that information incorrect?

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That was my info also. The 5/8" flooring I found were in SOBs.

I don't think your reading everything correctly. The original info was on SOB's, 5/8" flooring with JUST batt insulation.......that's all, no other support. On the Landmarks and others it is 3/8" seamless floor decking, with block insulation, with luann panel on bottom, all sandwiched and laminated together where it becomes 1 piece.

Below is from the information post in the previously mentioned thread.

LAMINATED FLOORS
The BIGHORN floor, now one of
the STRONGEST FLOORS IN THE
INDUSTRY, is constructed using strong
2.5” Aluminum Tubing; Thick Block
Foam Insulation; 3/8” Seamless Floor
Decking and a Bottom Board that features
a Weatherproof Thermo-Board Luan. The
entire floor is Laminated providing a much
stronger foundation than traditionally built

floor systems.
Weyerhauser 3/8” seamless decking
is specially engineered to offer
unmatched support that plywood or
normal OSB simply can’t provide.
This material is bonded together
with special marine grade resin that
resists warping or buckling due to
moisture, and the seamless design
means no “squeaks” or “soft spots”
for you.

jimtoo said:

I don't think your reading everything correctly. The original info was on SOB's, 5/8" flooring with JUST batt insulation.......that's all, no other support. On the Landmarks and others it is 3/8" seamless floor decking, with block insulation, with luann panel on bottom, all sandwiched and laminated together where it becomes 1 piece.

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Click to expand...

Jim, you are correct. I guess I did not word it properly.
The other brands were conventional framing. One using wood and the other using aluminum.

LAMINATED FLOOR CONSTRUCTION

• Strong 3? Aluminum Framing
• Block Foam Insulation
• 5/8? Seamless Decking (No Seams)
• Thermo-Board Luan on the Bottom

From Bighorn site. 5/8" decking on the floor.

Then there is a serious disconnect between their glossy brouchures and the Construction Book found on the website. In the Construction Book, complete with color photos, they clearly state the Weyerhauser decking is 3/8". And they repeat that statement twice on the same page. I have two brouchures from shows and, yes, they say 5/8" in those.

Yes it is a bit confusing. What TedS copied is apparently from the Big Horn site as is what JimToo copied.
So who does one believe?

Our focus was on the Landmark (Rushmore) only because of trying to compare apples to apples with the other brands we were researching.

Now I am just throughly confused....

SouthernNights said:

Yes it is a bit confusing. What TedS copied is apparently from the Big Horn site as is what JimToo copied.
So who does one believe?

Click to expand...

Just meet in the middle and call it 1/2 " (just to throw another measurement in the ring).

Naw, let's go international and call it 12.5 mm. Or maybe it's a fraction of a cubit.

Actually, now that I think about it, if anyone is at their rig and is willing to look behind the basement wall, they may be able to physically measure the wood. I know in my rig, the black tank sits below the extension of the main floor and there is a hole cut in it for the toilet drain and you can see the wood and styrofoam.

Just looking at this photo, it doesn't look 5/8" to me.

I think it is a combination of products ever changing, new website without updating information, and very possibly a lack of communication between no telling how many departments and people.

Somewhat embarrassing for HL though.

JohnDar said:

Naw, let's go international and call it 12.5 mm. Or maybe it's a fraction of a cubit.

Actually, now that I think about it, if anyone is at their rig and is willing to look behind the basement wall, they may be able to physically measure the wood. I know in my rig, the black tank sits below the extension of the main floor and there is a hole cut in it for the toilet drain and you can see the wood and styrofoam.

Click to expand...

I actually have my basement wall down right now and did measure it. I have 3/8 OSB laminate floor. Floor feels very solid to me but I really dont know how well a 3/8 floor vs a 5/8 floor will stand up over years of use.

But I also have a BC not a Lnadmark or Big Horn. I have no idea if there is a construction difference between the 3 models. You sure cant read the website information to find out...