In the market for a new fiver

I’m in the market for a new fifth wheel and would like to get one ordered in the next week or so. I’ve toured through Big Horns over the past couple of years and have not been very impressed. I’ve recently looked through a couple of 08 models at a local dealer and I’m not sure what they’ve changed, but they now appear to be one of the nicest looking fivers out there.
I have been planning on either ordering a Hitchhiker II or a Big Sky Montana but after seeing in the Big Horn I had all but changed my mind. Then I found this forum, and after reading it for a few minutes it sounds like I’d be buying a $50,000 nightmare! Am I right or is that you just don’t see many comments from happy customers? Of course all manufacturers have their issues but I’ve been following the other two forums and there seems to be far fewer complaints! I now own an 06 Keystone Challenger that has been completely trouble free.
 

cdbMidland

Past Michigan Chapter Leader
In my opinion, buy the Bighorn. You are getting a 2008 and it has been continually reengineered so that a lot of what you have been reading is no longer an issue. This is coming from a 2006 owner. I've been very satisfied, although I have had a few issues. I don't think you'll find a more responsive company than Heartland to deal with.

I had considered a HHII and an Everest (made by Keystone - same company producing the Big Sky Montana - a part of the Thor Corporation). I don't want anything where Thor is the owner as I've seen a lot of complaints about Thor's responsiveness since they took over ownership.

As far as the HHII is concerned, the price was considerably higher and we weren't happy with the floorplans offered.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
LB,

Plan to get many opinions on this. In my view, Heartland builds a great trailer. Not a perfect trailer. From what I have seen in person and read online is that the current build quality is among the highest I have seen from Heartland. On this, you and I agree.

I don't want to talk you out of buying a Heartland but being in a trouble-free Keystone Challenger begs the question of "why move?". What I have learned from reading online RV forums for 3 years now is that the perfect build does not exist. Trouble can crop up anywhere at anytime with any item. Many times it's vendor supplied items that can be problematic. Still, it's an item supplied to you, the buyer, from the RV manufacturer and it can be disheartening.

Best of luck to you and welcome to the forum.

Jim
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
Welcome aboard, notwithstanding some of the issues some of us have, a good friend of mine just bought and moved into an 08 / 3670 and has had virtually no problems of any kind in two months. I still think that for the money and the appointments the BH is a good rig....UR
 

Ron Schoner

Tin Star
As a "new" Feb. 2007, 3670 RL Bighorn owner. I will put in my 2 cents! We (Becky and I) have spent 3 weeks in our Bighorn out of the past 5 weeks, and we love it. You will not find another 5er with the storage space and outstanding workmanship that is in the 2008 Bighorn. We have (Knock on wood) not one problem with the coach. We have stayed warm in 24o temp. We have stayed cool with the AC or window open. No problem with the water heater. The shower. The plumbing or any of the elect.

I too looked at the HHII for about a year! And I was a member of the Hitchhiker Owners forum. And as I said after 2 years of looking at the HHII and other 5er. We liked the floor plan of the 3670 RL the best. I don't think you will find a better coach anywhere, for the $.

Items that come as standard on the Bighorn are options on the HHII. Like I said I looked for 2 years for the best 5er I could.

Welcome to our forum. Keep in touch and let us know how things turn-out. See ya on the road.

Ron
 

jimtoo

Moderator
I had an 06 3055 Bighorn, and it had a lot of problems, which we will not discuss here. I now own an 08 3055. But, the difference between 06 and 08 is like night and day. The quality is there and the assembly line people are doing a good job in putting a good unit togather. And Heartland will stand behind their product.
 
The floor plan I like is the 3670. Can anyone tell me what the cabinet sticker lists the weight as? With a 12" frame and an extra slide, I would be surprised if it really only weighed 550 lbs. more than the 3400. No dealers around me have any in their inventory.
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
cdbMidland said:
I don't want anything where Thor is the owner as I've seen a lot of complaints about Thor's responsiveness since they took over ownership.

Oops! I ain't saying nutin! :eek:
 

cdbMidland

Past Michigan Chapter Leader
Didn't mean to offend anyone, but I was a fervent reader of RV.Net before joining this forum and that was the tone against Thor. It completely swayed my opinion against the Everest that I had been considering.
 

madigand

Well-known member
As an almost owner; will pick my 08 3670 the 1st week of April; I will say i have looked around and poked my head in and under a 2007 3670. I am throughly impressed. The response from the factory is a definite selling point for me. They do indeed seem to take it personally as if it were their own unit on questions posted in the Ask the Factory section. They also answer question in a very short time frame mostly 1 day or less. I have not observed this kind of attitude from any other manufacture. All this and the great ideas and suggestions from the members of this forum was what led me to my final decision. I am very comfortable I will get a well built unit and rest assured if any problems develop, I am very confident that they will be resolved quickly. Just browse the post, ask a lot of questions and make up your mind. I am sure you will see that they have as standard what a lot of the others will charge as an option. Hope this helps:D
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
Laundryboy;
The bottom line in not what the cabinet sticker says, but what you put in it and how you load it. Last year at the Rally, many of us had our eyes opened about the amount of weight we were carrying and where the weight was placed. That being said, knowing what your coach weighs is important. The advertised weight is an close approximate weight but the options you chose will increase that weight. There is a number of different post in this forum regarding weight. If you look at this Thread and the second post, you will see some of the weights and how they were weighed. It does not give you specific models due to privacy issues. Mine was #7 on the list. //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php?t=964&highlight=trailer+weights Though this doesn't answer your question directly, I hope it gives you a clearer picture of the weight issue.
John
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
cdbMidland said:
Didn't mean to offend anyone, but I was a fervent reader of RV.Net before joining this forum and that was the tone against Thor. It completely swayed my opinion against the Everest that I had been considering.
No offense at all taken Chuck! The Thor comment just kind of hit a funny bone on a "rumor" that I heard a while back.
 
John, thanks for that link. It has some interesting information in it. Given those weights listed, I'll bet there were some surprised owners there! It's too bad it dosen't also list the model being weighed.
I'd really like to know what the dry weight of the 3670 is. I'm sure that given the extra slide, larger frame and longer length there's got to be more than 550 lbs difference between it and the 3400.
I spent about 45 minutes looking through a Big Horn on the lot yesterday. Today I spent time looking through a Montana. There is no doubt that in compairing these two particular trailers the Big Horn appeared to be finished better. It’s also more esthetically pleasing in my opinion.
The 26” HD LCD TV is nice. I wonder how feasible it would be to replace it with a 32”. HD programming is become quite common in parts of the country. But if you happen to be watching something in SD, you either stretch the picture or get bars on the sides. If you opt for the non-distorted image with bars on the sides, this makes the 26” picture smaller. I haven’t measured but I’ll bet it’s closer to 19”. Unfortunately in Montana there isn’t too much HD programming available.
 
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ChopperBill

Well-known member
For those of us with the older units that have 26 inch CRT model I did some measuring and a lot of 32 in LCD's will fit in the cabinet. Now to wait for the prices to come down!
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
I have a 32" LCD in our 3400. It fits like a custom built unit. I bought a Vizio from Walmart for $800. I had to remove the stock base and use angle brackets to make my own base and it is perfect. If you shop for a 32" tv, measure your available space, take the tape with you and measure the TV. I can post pics later if wanted.
 
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