What should we look for- Picking up new San Antonio

We will be picking up our new San Antonio in a couple of weeks. We feel very blessed and a little anxious. My question is not about fit and finish, rather about the working of things that we should try out before leaving. We will stay at the dealer in Elkhart over night. I thought the post about surround sound not being heard when just the TV was playing very interesting and something to look for. Also, we are getting the factory installed self leveling. Is there anything about this we should pay special attention to? In short anything that you picked up on on your walk through or in the first weeks that might be problematic to other units. Any help or advice greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance. I don't post too often but I check out the forum just about every day. You folks are tremendously positive and helpful.

Doug Hoeffner

Do a search on "PDI" on the forum and you'll find several checklists. The main thing is to look in every nook and cranny you can and if you see a switch that isn't obvious, ask "What does this do?". Ask them to have the fridge running on Propane when you arrive and then switch it to auto, and check back on it in a couple of hours so you can be be sure both modes work. Run water from every faucet, hot and cold and look under the sinks for leaks (including the drains). Turn on the furnace, A/C unit(s), fantastic fan and make sure you understand how they work. If you have the four door reefer w/ ice maker, ask them to have it making ice by when you arrive. Make sure you get a thorough demo of the auto-level system. It isn't necesarily self-evident how it works. Have them walk you through a complete simulated disconnect from tow vehicle to auto-leveling and unleveling to ready for hook-up cycle, then do it yourself to make sure you understand what happens when and how. Double check your manuals packet to make sure you have a manual for the auto-level. Didn't notice mine was missing until we got home. You can download one from the Lippert site and I think there's one on the forum also. These are just a few things to concentrate on. Don't let the dealer rush you. You just gave them a lot of money - take your time to understand as much as possible.

Have them adjust the brakes . Most all are out of adj. Fill the fresh water tank and see if does fill ok. Make sure tires are at full pres. and see if the tires are balanced. Also check that all lights work, have fun and keep you stick on the ice.

Don't forget to check simple things you will use on day 1 like the tv's and cable, pilot on the oven, ect....

As a Landmark "someday I will have one" owner, I have thought to check the leveling system at the lot, I would pull the coach up onto 2x4's on just one side, then unhook and let the leveling system do its thing.

Hi drphelps,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and someday to the Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

That is a good idea also to check out the leveling system.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

The biggest thing we found with our auto-leveling is to look at you surroundings. The jacks can only extend so far and if you attempt to go further you will hear the system strain and then shut down. This happened to us last weekend and also during our PDI. We put 2 pieces of 2x8 under the jack pad and re-leveled the unit. Good to go! We were glad we experienced the shut down during the PDI because when it happened at the campground we knew what it was and how to fix it.

We are on our second Heartland and neither was wired from the factory to play the just the TV through the surround system. The DVD/CD and Radio played through that system. If your television has an audio out you can wire it to the surround sound yourself without too much trouble.

I stopped by and said Hello to New Owners of a 2011 Sundance on the first outting this morning. Everything was great except the heater didn't work... remenber the simple things you use daily, Heater, AC, refrig., water run, no leakes under the sink with water in the bowl.

mikeandconnie said:

Don't forget to check simple things you will use on day 1 like the tv's and cable, pilot on the oven, ect....

Click to expand...