Considering a 2013 HL NT 32BUDS Caliber Edition

Hello HL Forum,

We are looking at getting into a TT and really like the NT 32BUDS Caliber Edition. We have two boys and the bunkhouse area is a very nice feature. We have looked at other similar models on the lot but, from my limited knowledge of the ones I have looked at, are leaning heavily towards the 32BUDS. I'm also drawn to the enclosed underbelly and 4 an insulated 4 season camper ...We don't have much snow (unless we drive to it) in So Cal but the summer can be especially brutal and that insulation will help a lot when it is 110+ outside.

Previously we had a 1 ton TV with a 30' toy hauler and then went to a 34' Dolphin Class A towing a 22' enclosed. Towing is nothing new; I just installed a prodigy brake controller and a husky centrline WD system so my TV is set. I did "test drive" a few TTs and the 32BUDS was really smooth so no issues there. At this point it is about the quality/construction and is this the right one for us!

The one thing that will take getting used to with a TT over our previous RVs is the size of the tanks ...we do a LOT of dry camping and have had the luxury of extremely roomy tanks in the past. I'm sure we'll adapt as we don't mind "roughing" it ...when we aren't RVing we are car tent camping or backpacking through the backcountry.

I've looked around these forums to some extent and see that 95% of any issues are the "normal" issues you get with almost any RV. One that did catch my eye that raised concern was "squishy" floors and delaming of the front cap. Are these fairly common issues? Are there certain things to look for before signing on the dotted line?

Appreciate any feedback in advance.

Thanks,
Brian

Hi Brian,

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

The North Trail is one of the most popular TT made. It out performs any of the others in it's price range. When you come to a forum, the most things you see will be the problems that folks have had, very few post about how good they are. There were a few that had a problem with de-lamination on the front cap and I think a soft floor. All these problems were taken care of in later production. But these were probably in the are of 1 out of 1000 products.

But the forum and Heartland Family is here to help with problems and give some helpful advice when needed. We also have a great Heartland Owners Club with some good benefits and we have some awesome rallies.

Welcome aboard.

Jim M

My North Trail is two years old and having just updated its mileage log, it has 15,208 miles on it. No squishy floors, and no delamination (I think this was a problem with older models before the diamond plate). We have used it in all kinds of weather with no issues, but my A/C unit had been upgraded to a 15K btu from the standard 13.5K BTU and here in the southwest we need every bit of the cooling it provides. I don't think the 13.5K unit would hack it. The furnace works well and the insulation is such that we often just use a small electric heater (when we have shore power).

Brian,

I wanted to let you know that Heartland strives to make our products better every single day and over the last 5 years we have done many things to improve the quality and fix any problems onthe production line that we encounter in the real world from our customers. Both the soft floor and front end issue have been addressed and corrected. The soft floor was change way back in 2008. We went to plywood and laminated vs double layer luan that most light weights use still today. The front end issue was caused by water getting under the fiberglass skin. It mostly was coming water splash from your tires, so we add the diamond plate in that lower area. This solved that problem, However, if the seal broke around the marker light on top of the front end and if water got into that void, The front end would get damaged that way too. So another step we took was to replace the material behind the fiberglass with Azdel. This product is water resisitance and does not get effected if a seal void does happen to you. So the bottom line is that we were aware of the problems and come up with the solutions to fix the problem and make the North Trail the best light weight trailer on the market.

I hope this helps

Mike C

We are on our 2nd North Trail and both have been a great so far. Typical problems, nothing major and all handled by Heartland. We did have a bubble form on the back panel of our current North Trail. Heartland worked with local RV repair shop to take care of the issue. Repaired and looks good. As for the front end issues, I think the Caliber addition upgrades the front cap to a 1 piece molded cap, verses the normal fiberglass skin. Not sure if that is standard or an option. The smaller tanks are always an issue when you have the kids taking long showers and making dirty dishes every minute. We have one of those 25 gallon portable tanks that we take, when the sewage option was not available.

Good luck, let us know how you make out.

Jimtoo, totally understand. Issues with this trim needing new adhesive or all of the "little" stuff that does truly annoy the owner but it happens to almost everyone. We've been through this a few times now with new RVs so I completel expect some of it, just trying to make sure I catch any major issues before pulling the trigger.

Pegmikef, absolutely. On the toyhauler we had upgraded to dual 15k units and 50 amp service and on the Dolphin we had the window awnings (worth their weight in gold) and a 2 ton residential unit like Winnebago does - cooling has always been a priority. The 32BUDS we are looking at does have the 15k upgrade and I'm hoping the dual ducting performs as well as advertised. We also have a roll of the silver bubble wrap material to make cutouts for the windows and a couple of the insulated "stuff pillows" for the roof vents.

Mcreech, that is great news. This was one that caught my eye because it seemed systemic in some of the reports. I'm happy to hear that both have been addressed and really impresed with HL/NT from everything I have seen.

JWalker, that is good news - I've heard/read a lot of good reports of the warranty service. On the tanks, we have one of the roll along tote tanks as well I just dread having to use it! LOL.

One other thing that I'd seen reports of is that there is potential for a propane line to rub under the frame near the wide trax. Anyone had any dealings with that issue? What specifically should I look for?

Thanks again for the feedback folks.

Brian

BRC said:

One other thing that I'd seen reports of is that there is potential for a propane line to rub under the frame near the wide trax. Anyone had any dealings with that issue? What specifically should I look for?

Brian

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Yeah, Brian, I had that problem on mine and it was in fact rubbing on the propane line. The ends of the equalizer where the springs from each axle are bolted were rubbing the line. I would not have noticed it, but Heartland issued a recall based on the VIN number and sure enough mine was affected. Heartland arranged for a local repair shop to do the fix which was basically the installation of hard rubber blocks so the rubbing is now on the blocks. I'm not sure all NT models were affected. My NT is an early 2011 model (manufactured in the spring of 2010) and I am pretty sure that the problem was fixed at the time of the recall. The dealer (or you) can check with HL to see if the VIN is one of the affected ones.

In looking at some of the pics of 32BUDS on here I've noticed that some have the roof ladder on the back of the TT. The 2013 32BUDS that I'm looking at does NOT have the roof ladder - should it? Did they stop equipping with the roof ladder?

Thanks again for the feedback folks.

Brian

pegmikef said:

Yeah, Brian, I had that problem on mine and it was in fact rubbing on the propane line. The ends of the equalizer where the springs from each axle are bolted were rubbing the line. I would not have noticed it, but Heartland issued a recall based on the VIN number and sure enough mine was affected. Heartland arranged for a local repair shop to do the fix which was basically the installation of hard rubber blocks so the rubbing is now on the blocks. I'm not sure all NT models were affected. My NT is an early 2011 model (manufactured in the spring of 2010) and I am pretty sure that the problem was fixed at the time of the recall. The dealer (or you) can check with HL to see if the VIN is one of the affected ones.

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Thanks for the info pegmikef! Since there was a recall I'm sure it has been resolved but I'll hop underneath and check just in case!

We have a 2011 32BUDS and love it. We bought it in April 2010 and had our share of problems but everything was fixed and it's been a great trailer. We definatly would go with Heartland again when we decide to get another RV.
We have 9 grandchildren and camp constantly with them.
We pull it with a Chevy 3500 and you would not know it's back there. Very easy to pull and maneuver into camping spaces.
We do not do much in the way of dry camping and I can see where the smaller tanks could be a learning curve.
The outside kitchen is priceless. With the extra fridge and cooking area this has been invaluable with large groups that we camp with.
I would not hesitate to buy one again.

BRC said:

In looking at some of the pics of 32BUDS on here I've noticed that some have the roof ladder on the back of the TT. The 2013 32BUDS that I'm looking at does NOT have the roof ladder - should it? Did they stop equipping with the roof ladder?

Thanks again for the feedback folks.

Brian

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We bought a 2013 and our unit does not have the ladder, and the 2012's that we looked at did not have one either. I thought about trying to add one but we also opted for slide-out awnings, so there really should not be a reason to go up there other then annual cleaning.

Love the RV so far, you won't regret it!

BRC said:

In looking at some of the pics of 32BUDS on here I've noticed that some have the roof ladder on the back of the TT. The 2013 32BUDS that I'm looking at does NOT have the roof ladder - should it? Did they stop equipping with the roof ladder?

Thanks again for the feedback folks.

Brian

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I think some folks have added ladders. I opted to get one of those compact step/extension ladders at Walmart instead. I got the one that extends to about thirteen feet and is about four feet when collapsed. I just throw it in the back of the truck. I have had to use it several times while camping and the bonus is I can use it around the house when not on the road.

BRC said:

In looking at some of the pics of 32BUDS on here I've noticed that some have the roof ladder on the back of the TT. The 2013 32BUDS that I'm looking at does NOT have the roof ladder - should it? Did they stop equipping with the roof ladder?

Thanks again for the feedback folks.

Brian

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Just so you are on the same page as the factory. We do not install ladders at the factory. We have backer in the back wall incase the ladder is important to the retail customer. If that is something you want the local dealership can add a ladder for you.

Thanks

Mcreech

Appreciate the info everyone. The ladder is less important to me (I actually prefer the collapsable ladder as well) than the structural integrity to actually support a ladder and some limited walking on the roof. Since I had seen earlier models (the ones I saw may have been self installed?) with a ladder and the new ones without the real concern I had was - did something change in the construction that lead to ladders no longer being installed (i.e. they no longer support as much weight on the roof).

Brian

BRC said:

Appreciate the info everyone. The ladder is less important to me (I actually prefer the collapsable ladder as well) than the structural integrity to actually support a ladder and some limited walking on the roof. Since I had seen earlier models (the ones I saw may have been self installed?) with a ladder and the new ones without the real concern I had was - did something change in the construction that lead to ladders no longer being installed (i.e. they no longer support as much weight on the roof).

Brian

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Brian,

Nothing change on the structure. The factory never installed ladders on NT. The roof is s strong as ever, I personally witness Heartland lifting a ford truck on one of our NT roofs....

Well... we are pulling the trigger. It is in right now getting readied and a few of the things fixed I noticed on our test-drive. We go to PDI and pick up tomorrow at 1pm, Merry Christmas to us!

I must admit, the community here and the information available on this forum did play a part in our decision to settle on Heartland and North Trail. The fact that the good AND the bad is aired here, not swept under the rug... everyone seems like they want to hear the issues so they can be resolved - not just a mutual admiration society... and there seems to be a true sense of comunity and comaraderie among the Heartlanders. Great forum and great community. Mcreech, please pass that word along.

I'll toss up some pics and the details after we pull'r home tomorrow!

Brian

Brian,

Congrats on your purchase. You really hit the nail on the head when you described what a community the Heartland Owners Forum really is. A HUGE resource for owners and prospective owners alike. The good and the not so good. We look forward to you being a member of the Heartland family and hope to see you join the Heartland Owners Club as well. We have 3 vibrant club chapters in California and more in the Pacific region.

If you're not sure if club membership and rallies are for you and want to check us out on a no-obligation/no-cost basis, consider being one of our first Introductory Members. Learn more here on the new Heartland Owners Club Portal.

Jim Beletti
President, Heartland Owners Club

Congrats on your purchase! We have been very pleased w/ our Caliber 28BHS the last two seasons. The only issue we had w/ a leaky hose from the outside shower was taken care of by the dealer (Wish I would have checked that at PDI - lesson learned). I feel that our quality of our Caliber was was hard to match for the money. Happy Camping!!

GoinNorth said:

Congrats on your purchase! We have been very pleased w/ our Caliber 28BHS the last two seasons. The only issue we had w/ a leaky hose from the outside shower was taken care of by the dealer (Wish I would have checked that at PDI - lesson learned). I feel that our quality of our Caliber was was hard to match for the money. Happy Camping!!

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Seen a lot of folks mention that on their rigs and figured I'd better check on the PDI - good thing to because as I unraveled the outside shower hose the whole thing came out, it wasn't even connected, lol

Here it is!