Missing/Defective welds????

JJAK17

Active Member
Scott
I recently (yesterday) bought a 2007 Sundance 3200rbh. I am wondering if the flooring, roof and walls are aluminum or wood. It appears that under the bed(5th wheel) it is aluminum but I am wondering if the remainder of the trailer is aluminum. I was told by the dealer that the 2007's had switched from aluminum to wood in mid-production. Is there any truth to this and is there any way I can find out for myself? I am getting conflicting stories from the dealer.
I also just read a post under the BH that there was some problems with some welds and Lippert was going to send a welder to fix the problem. I have heard of missing welds on some frames. Is there any truth to this and does this apply to the 2007 Sundances?
Any info that you can provide would be great. Can you help clarify these questions for the 2007's for me? Thank you.

Also I would like to add that one of the reasons I purchased a Heartland product was because of this forum and Heartlands commitment to customer satisfaction, I am looking forward to many years with this camper.


Jason
 

Scott

Well-known member
JJAK17,
Yes, it is true that during the past year, Sundance went to wood in the floor and roof trusses - (see the downloadable Sundance Construction Booklet on our website for photos and details www.heartlandrvs.com). And yes, the bath/bedroom deck on many of those models remained aluminum, as did the sidewall framing. Check out some recent posts (in the last couple of days) that I have posted about wood vs. aluminum vs. affordability vs. quality.
On the frames - no, we don't have any wide-spread missing steel on the frame issues. Each frame is welded up individually at Lippert and our guys usually catch any errors in placement, etc. when the frames come into our shop. Do they catch every thing? No. And when something is discovered, like say only seven outriggers on one side vs. the eight outriggers we spec'd in - Lippert comes right out (even to the customer) and makes it right. So to answer your question, "Ddoes this apply to the 2007 Sundances?" No, that's way too broad of a stroke. You read about a handful people who have had to have some Lippert work done - out of over 6,000 Heartland coaches.
That's pretty good odds. Not perfect, and we will continue to strive to look for any variations or misplaced braces, etc. on our frames, but we are doing a pretty good job of monitoring it. It's really not that disimilar to other vendor supplied items that go into making a Heartland towable. Do we have microwaves, or water pumps, or furnaces that go bad? Yes, sometimes. But we tend to work with really good companies who partner with us to replace any defective parts as soon as possible for our customers. It is unreasonable to expect imperfect human beings to build a perect coach (if we had robots like the automotive industry, the prices would quadruple..) but I can say with confidence that Heartland is running very strong in taking issues that pop up and rectifying them for our customers, so they can get back out on the road and enjoy the RV lifestyle.
ST
 

Scott

Well-known member
Oh sorry - I think you might want to download the Big County construction book, as it has some new photos of the wood roof trusses that were not in the Sundance book when it was printed.
 

JJAK17

Active Member
Ok thank you for your reply. I look forward to getting my new Sundance out on her first trip. Thanks again
 
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