Heartland to Unveil Industry-First Hidden Garage

Heartland to Unveil Industry-First Hidden Garage
September 16, 2013 by RV Business




Torque toy hauler from Heartland


Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC, manufacturer of the Cyclone, Road Warrior and Torque luxury crossover fifth-wheel and travel trailer brands, will be hosting the unveiling of a “never seen before” industry-first product at this week’s Elkhart County RV Open House.


According to a press release, Heartland will be introducing its all-new Torque 270HG with patent pending “Hidden Garage Technology” – an exclusive to the Elkhart, Ind.-based Thor Industries Inc. subsidiary. Heartland will hold the unveiling at its Open House site as part of Thor’s expansive display at the RV/MH Hall of Fame.


The 270HG can be towed by today’s light-duty trucks and is priced $20,000 less MSRP than competitive models, according to the company. The new toy hauler is a single-slide unit that offers a king size bed, 10-foot separated garage area with vapor wall, residential sunken tub, two separate living room couches and ample kitchen space with plenty of storage.


“The new 270HG features the most outside storage ever offered in a toy hauler, and at a price point that is unmatched compared to competing units in the industry,” said General Manager A.J. Jones. “Many customers refrain from buying a luxury toy hauler because of the length, weight and price. Our patent pending “hidden garage technology” overcomes those objections while still giving consumers the features they are looking for in a luxury toy hauler.”


Coley Brady, vice president of sales, added, “The 270HG is truly creating a segment of its own in the toy hauler marketplace with its price and weight, not to mention this is just the start of many idea’s to come using the hidden garage technology.”

I'd really like to see it. When do they plan on showing us? I wish they had unveiled it at the Hershey show. There were a whopping two Torques there, and neither was the floor plan I was hoping to see.

Will it be a fifth wheel or bumper pull. Even though todays light duty trucks can pull fifth wheel weights, the pin weight often exceeds the GVWR of the truck even though not the GCWR. Just curious as we are considering a tow hauler as the kids get older, but don't necessarily want to buy a new TV too.

priorguy said:

Will it be a fifth wheel or bumper pull. Even though todays light duty trucks can pull fifth wheel weights, the pin weight often exceeds the GVWR of the truck even though not the GCWR. Just curious as we are considering a tow hauler as the kids get older, but don't necessarily want to buy a new TV too.

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On the web site, they have it with the fifth wheel floor plans.

What's the trailer tow capacity of your F-150? That probably is pretty limiting. You could buy an older used truck and not get into too much money - maybe $17,000 or so. We bought an older SRW F-350 with a turbo diesel, and we're still limited to 11,500 for trailer weight with the truck loaded. We shoulda bought an '05-'07 F-350 SRW with a 6.0, 3:73 rear (I think that's right) and the Tow Boss package.

If they're trying to cater tot the light duty trucks then the 150/1500's are the target audience. My truck as equipped is good for 9300lbs, but the "MAXTOW" which requires ECO-Boost is good for 11,300. I'm pretty close to the max legal limit for a ball and hitch which is 10,000lbs in most jurisdictions. The bed is rated for 1560bls, oddly 3/4 of a ton. There is a 2000lb (1 ton) payload package available as well. None of these really increase your GVWR however so when the actual math is done, even though you meet 3 out of 4 ratings, you still shouldn't do it. There are several bumper pull toy haulers out there, just hope this might be one of them.

Can't wait to see the tow rating on the Nissan Titan with the 5.0L Cummins Diesel.

priorguy said:

If they're trying to cater tot the light duty trucks then the 150/1500's are the target audience. My truck as equipped is good for 9300lbs, but the "MAXTOW" which requires ECO-Boost is good for 11,300. I'm pretty close to the max legal limit for a ball and hitch which is 10,000lbs in most jurisdictions. The bed is rated for 1560bls, oddly 3/4 of a ton. There is a 2000lb (1 ton) payload package available as well. None of these really increase your GVWR however so when the actual math is done, even though you meet 3 out of 4 ratings, you still shouldn't do it. There are several bumper pull toy haulers out there, just hope this might be one of them.

Can't wait to see the tow rating on the Nissan Titan with the 5.0L Cummins Diesel.

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That's not bad at all for an F-150, though! I know...some things end up being a mute point. Well, let's hope they bring us something that works well for both of us! :>) I do have to say I'm a bit disappointed that there is only one slide. I presume the bedroom is going to be tight without at least a wardrobe slide. :>/

That Nissan should be quite interesting.

If they target LD trucks the single slide will help keep the tongue weight down. The disappoint is Dodge only putting a 3.0L Cummins in the RAM 1500, I guess they want to get better mileage and keep selling Hemi's. All the big Heartland dealers are advertising the 270HG too when I googled it. GM has no announcement for an LD diesel, and Ford cancelled a 4.4L developed beside the 6.7L to focus on Eco-boost. Big mistake as I think Nissan will corner the market on LD diesel trucks. Every car mag is predicting so anyway. I know lots of people that buy the Dodge just for that Cummins diesel, even though they dislike the rest of the truck.

I read somewhere that the new LD diesel engine from Cummins was rated at 240 hp

"The EcoDiesel engine delivers best-in-class 420 lb-ft of torque. Paired with an impressive 240 horsepower, this engine has serious muscle" Dodge website

"After several years of middling sales, a breakup with Dodge, and an eleventh-hour return to square one, Nissan’s Titan program has often seemed just an “i” and a “c” short from a more fitting name. And then Nissan announced that the next-generation Titan will be available with a 5.0-liter turbo-diesel V-8 made by Cummins. Okay, Nissan. Now this is compelling.
The all-new engine will give the Titan more than 300 horsepower and well beyond 500 lb-ft of torque—enough that Nissan probably will be peddling the torquiest light-duty truck in America. Nissan also will be selling one of only two diesel light-duty pickups in the country, too. (The second is none other than the Ram 1500, which launches with a 250-hp, 420-lb-ft diesel V-6 later this year.) If the halfway-to-heavy-duty frame from the NV van ends up beneath the Titan, as we’ve heard it will, Nissan could have a very competitive pickup truck. The only downside here is that a 5.0-liter V-8 is a nonstarter in a compact pickup, so there’s no chance of seeing it in a future Frontier" Car and Driver

Has everyone seen the pics for this one on HL's Facebook? Looks great for couples with a smaller truck who want to carry a bike or other smallish cargo. Not so great for families. Hopefully there are many other Torque floor plans in the making that are well-suited for families with a one ton turbo diesel truck. We'll be watching!

miboje said:

Has everyone seen the pics for this one on HL's Facebook?

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no

Here are the pics of the "hidden garage" from Heartland's Facebook page.

The hidden garage kind of reminds me of the Damon Outlaw Class A toy hauler, only it is fixed and doesn't lower.

priorguy said:

"The EcoDiesel engine delivers best-in-class 420 lb-ft of torque. Paired with an impressive 240 horsepower, this engine has serious muscle" Dodge website

"After several years of middling sales, a breakup with Dodge, and an eleventh-hour return to square one, Nissan’s Titan program has often seemed just an “i” and a “c” short from a more fitting name. And then Nissan announced that the next-generation Titan will be available with a 5.0-liter turbo-diesel V-8 made by Cummins. Okay, Nissan. Now this is compelling.
The all-new engine will give the Titan more than 300 horsepower and well beyond 500 lb-ft of torque—enough that Nissan probably will be peddling the torquiest light-duty truck in America. Nissan also will be selling one of only two diesel light-duty pickups in the country, too. (The second is none other than the Ram 1500, which launches with a 250-hp, 420-lb-ft diesel V-6 later this year.) If the halfway-to-heavy-duty frame from the NV van ends up beneath the Titan, as we’ve heard it will, Nissan could have a very competitive pickup truck. The only downside here is that a 5.0-liter V-8 is a nonstarter in a compact pickup, so there’s no chance of seeing it in a future Frontier" Car and Driver

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Here's a little information about the VM Motori 3.0L engine in the 2014 Ram 1500. Not sure if it will be the Banks version, but it's an exciting time for us diesel fans. Check out who owns the other 50% of this company.

TravelTiger said:

Here are the pics of the "hidden garage" from Heartland's Facebook page.

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Thanks Erika. Now I get it.

Is this the concept for the 4200 Cyclone???

Interesting but not something that I would care to have.

priorguy said:

If they target LD trucks the single slide will help keep the tongue weight down. The disappoint is Dodge only putting a 3.0L Cummins in the RAM 1500, I guess they want to get better mileage and keep selling Hemi's. All the big Heartland dealers are advertising the 270HG too when I googled it. GM has no announcement for an LD diesel, and Ford cancelled a 4.4L developed beside the 6.7L to focus on Eco-boost. Big mistake as I think Nissan will corner the market on LD diesel trucks. Every car mag is predicting so anyway. I know lots of people that buy the Dodge just for that Cummins diesel, even though they dislike the rest of the truck.

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Ther is nothing Cummins about the diesel going into the Dodge 1500. It was designed by Fiat/VM Motori. It produces 240hp and 420ftlbs. Maybe light in the HP but it makes decent torque. Tow rating is kind of weak though, 9200lbs.

Originally Nissan was going to rebrand the Dodge 1500 as the Titan. Though this fail through due to the failing economy in 08. So it is possible that this could still happen but there isn't anything rumored. But the failed economy is why GM and Ford backed down from a 1/2 ton diesel. GM had several test trucks built with a diesel for testing and they were. But again scrapped it due to the economy.

I am excited about the Nissan with the 5l V8 Cummins 305hp and 550ftlbs. For the most part this engine is going to be very similar to a Duramax fuel system and internals. The bolt on stuff such as Turbo and after treatment will be a different story. Hopefully the redesign will not be another Epic Failure as the current design.


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This thread is about the hidden garage Heartland is coming out with. If you want to talk about trucks, please post in the correct area.

I'd like to know how to get the V-rod in and out like that.

And if the room is still usable if the toys don't come out.

That is actually my V-Rod that was in the back and yes it will fit, in a North South direction when the bedroom is in the lowered position, but the handle bars must be in the rear (underneath the bed area)we moved the bike to the edge for presentation purposes only. The nice part about this set up is it is truly customizable for what your needs are. You can raise the height of the garage (actually has more height than our CYC or RW garages) with a touch of a button, however you loose bedroom hight when you do so. When the bedroom is at the lowest position (where you see it in the picture) the bedroom height is 6'4". This is the position where the floor actually sets on angle brackets attached to the wall. It is a laminated and very stong floor, when you are in the bedroom you have no idea that you are in a toy hauler.