08' 3600 & 3670 Owners HELP??

I need some assistance. Can anyone who has access to the their unit please take a look at the front of their pin box and tell me what your "pin box rating " is listed as. See the photo below, it will show you exactly what I'm looking for...Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

rating

I just went out and looked at the tag on the pin box on my 2006 BH 3600, and it was rated the same as in your picture, 15,500.

My Landmark has a MorRyde pin box and it is rated for 15,500.

John

pin box rating

Mine also say's 15,500. What does it mean? The max weight it is meant to support?

That's what I want to know...if our units have a GVWR of 16,000lbs, how come the pin box is only rated at 15,500lbs.

While working an RV show today I checked every lippert frame and pin box combination, on every unit in the show. There were more than thirty, by at least 6 different manufacturers, i.e, Sunnybrook, Fleetwood, Dutchman, Holiday Rambler, etc. In EVERY case the pin box weight rating was HIGHER than that of the coach itself. Example: Holiday Rambler - GVWR 16,900 - pin box 19,000; Sunnybrook - GVWR 15,000, pin box 18,000; and on and on...

The only units I saw with a 15,500LB pin box rating had a GVWR of 14,000 OR LESS!!! Why are ours LOWER than our GVWR??? Do we have an issue? What happens if we are close to our GVWR?

Scott, can you answer this?

Our 3055 has a GVRW of 14,000 lbs. and has the 15,500 pin box. Looks like you folks with the larger units got caught up in the "one size fits all" deal.

Chopperbill...that's exactly what I'm afraid of! All my stickers and weight info state I have a GVWR of 16,000, so how come the pin box can only take 15,500? I think we might have a "major malfunction" here...

What concerns me the most is that on the 18,000 and 19,000 lb pin boxes I saw at the RV show ALL had a much more substantial "receiver" portion which goes up inside the RV. Where the bolts connect the pin box to this "receiver", there are pieces of heavy duty "L" channel, four of them, which appear to be added support in this area. You do not have these on 15,500 boxes, apparently they are not needed for the lower weights.

Is this what should have come on our heavier units?

OK...Here's what I've learned from a conference call with both Heartland and Lippert. When an RV manufacturer designs their units they spec what their engineers deem are necessary and safe for the components. Those plans are then reviewed by the frame manufacturer who either concurs or requires changes. The finalized plans then are approved by National Highway Traffic and Safety.

In our case all agreed that the 15,500 is more than sufficient to carry the load of the pin box area, as the majority of the weight of the 16,000 lb GVWR actually rides on the axles. The pin box area is constructed to actually take more than 12,800 lbs, of which you could not even get close to, and the 15,500 pin box actually leaves a margin of about 2,700 lbs on top of that.

Other manufacturers apparently decide to spend an additional amount to use a heavier pin box, I guess just so they won't have to answer this very question.

As my major concern has been one of safety for all of us I feel that both companies quick response to this question should put all of our minds at ease...However, I will say that, just like the "china bomb" tires, it might be to Heartlands benefit to charge a little more for their coachs and use a "better" or higher rated component, or at least give buyers the option to upgrade.

Kakampers,
Did the factory explain if there is a difference between a fully loaded 3670 just sitting on the hitch and how much load is on the hitch when that 16k fully loaded trailer is running up a steep grade or down for that matter? Since I joined this forum I've seen drainage pipeing plumbed uphill/axle springs coming unwelded and NuWa complaints about Heartland skipping corners.I'm still waiting to buy our 1st RV(Heartland Landmark) so I was very interested in what the factory had to say. Steve

I just got off the phone with Doug at Mor/ryde regarding a their 15,500 lb rubber hitch pin (replacement for Lippert 1621). 15,500 lbs is the GVWR rating for the 5th wheel, not the hitch pin weight, but the total weight being towed. So, all the 5th wheels exceeding 15,500 GVWR are over loading the Mor/Ryde hitch pin rating. Mor/ryde makes different rated rubber hitch pins for the original hitch pin it replaces. If the manufacturer fudges the GVWR and/or the owner over loads the rig, a problem could exist in case of an accident or when stopped by Law Enforcement.

Forrest

Forrest, that seems contradicting to the previous explanation doesn't it? Interesting. My trailair is rated for 21,000#'s, I can't tell you what my factory pin box was due to the label being painted over. :shaking head:

I ordered a mor/ryde pin box from Tweetys yesterday and Tom was specific on the specs on the lippert box before they would send the pinbox to me. Mine is a 1621 and has a rating of 15,500#. We have a 2955RL with a gross weight of 14,000#. But I suppose that DW will have it loaded to about 20K.

Well after reading Forrest's comments concerning what Morryde said...I'm really confused! I'm still waiting to hear from Scott on this issue because I'm still not convinced I was given a completely accurate picture of this situation....Scott, what do you have to say?

kakampers,
You really need to post this in the ASK THE FACTORY portion of this forum. I do not know that Scott will see this unless someone specifically brings it to his attention. Maybe Jim or John can move this over for you.

Otherwise I hope you get an answer to your question. Seems as though there maybe an oversight on your kingpin. Maybe just in as much as the wrong sticker was put on. Let's hope so.

Mark

MrComer...don't think it's a wrong sticker...everyone who has a 3600 or 3670 that has checked their's also is listed as 15,500 pin box rating.

Jim has already sent an e-mail to Scott, however, I've not received any answer...not here or thru private e-mail. Just want to get a straight forward answer, that makes more sense than what Lippert told me!

I am trying to find out as well. I'll let you know what I hear today.
ST

Thanks Scott! This kind of response is exactly why I love my Heartland!

Here you go... We were on the phone with Jason Lippert last night. He shared with us that their front hitch pin box (shown in the photo on this thread) has been certified by SAE at 19,000 lbs. What you are seeing is a label that they put on them for Canada (CSA) which will only rate them at 15,500. In the states, the pin boxes are tested and rated for pulling forward. In Canada, they rate them differently, so Lippert simply labels them with the CSA rating. Note the CSA on the label in the photo on this thread. So, we have Lippert and their SAE certification that these pin boxes are rated to handle much more than what they are exposed to on our coaches.
When I get a copy of that certification letter, I'll pass it on.
ST

Thanks Scott!
I know there are a lot of us interested in this topic.