creeper
Well-known member
Well we spent about a year and half looking at 5th wheels. Spoke to dozens of reps and even more 5th wheel owners.
After finding one that, "just felt right" we ordered a Bighorn 3400RL.
The following advise was given over and over again by rvers of all different makes.
1. Get a bigger truck, A SRW cant handle 37' trailer and you'll be all over the road. Get a DRW and you can drive with 2 fingers it's so stable.
2. You need a slider, otherwise you'll smash your rear window.
3. The advertised pin weight is never right.
4. You'll need airbags as your truck will squat bad with that kind of weight.
5. You'll need lots of things fixed.
I arrived 9am on Friday and the dealer rushed me in to sign papers and then do a quick walk through. I put a halt to that quickly and told them I don't sign anything until:
1. I actually see what I'm buying and I do an extensive check on the systems etc... I informed them, that since they are 5 hours from my home, they will never see me again and they will fix anything I find before leaving.
2. They complete needed repairs.
The tech gave me a quick walk through and I spend the next 3 hours checking every system and examined nearly every inch of the coach. My check lists sped up the process.
From the RVers I was expecting an extensive list. Other then some really minor things, which normally I would have taken myself, the biggest thing was one slide was not aligned correctly. The tech fixed it promptly.
HOW DARE HEARTLAND DO THIS.... I should have a couple page list of major problems, yet my list fit on a small sticky.
Rvers were wrong.
After the repairs were done I walk out to hook up the camper. Back the truck up and attached it to the B&W hitch. Start raising the landing gear , raising, raising , waiting for the truck to squat and it doesn't. Truck sits perfectly level and trailer is nearly perfectly level. I had a huge grin on my face. Rvers wrong again.
Started home on my 5 hour drive. I drove the 370 miles in varying road conditions, hills, wind , etc and most of the way with 2 fingers on the wheel. HOW DARE HEARTLAND make a camper that tows so well. Rvers wrong again.....
When I arrived in my home town I decided to fuel up and then weigh the camper and truck. This is when I discovered how GINORMOUS this camper is. I barely got it into the Flying J. I then headed over to the scales. F350, Crew cab, 4x4, Linex, roll top, 61 gallon of fuel.. 150lbs of gear and 1/3 tank of water..
Advertised pin 1950. Actual with "Stuff" and water in it. 2380lbs.. Rvers correct????? The pin listed does not include High gloss or dual pane windows and water. So I think Heartland is pretty darn close with their listed weights.
Camper weight with High gloss, dual pane, 150lbs of gear, 1/3 tank of water 12,340lbs.
Total 21160lbs. Which leaves us 1,840lbs of "stuff" we can load before hitting the max.
I'm under the GVWR by a couple of hundred pounds, which when loaded complete will put me at or slightly over the GVWR, BUT I'll be back under as I use up fuel.
I'm under the GVWR of the camper, by a lot.
I'm under the GCVWR by a lot...
I guess I don't need a bigger truck. Truck doesn't squat, handles well and I'm under all the weight limits.
NOW THE BIG problem. As I pull in front of the house my wife says, "NO WAY is that fitting in the driveway". I tend to agree.. I go down into our cul-de-sac and turn HARD, watching the camper and my back window. NOT EVEN CLOSE !!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU HEARTLAND... You lived up to your claim. I don't need slider, Rvers wrong again.
I have a tight driveway and I ended up turning hard at different points. This is going to be the tightest camping I think we'll ever do and at no point was I within a couple feet of the back window.
Once we got it level, slides out and we got to examine the camper further. I must say this thing is REALLY NICE. Everything works and the wife is happy.
I must say, thank you Heartland for building a nice product. Now just to get rid of those darn chinese tires.
After finding one that, "just felt right" we ordered a Bighorn 3400RL.
The following advise was given over and over again by rvers of all different makes.
1. Get a bigger truck, A SRW cant handle 37' trailer and you'll be all over the road. Get a DRW and you can drive with 2 fingers it's so stable.
2. You need a slider, otherwise you'll smash your rear window.
3. The advertised pin weight is never right.
4. You'll need airbags as your truck will squat bad with that kind of weight.
5. You'll need lots of things fixed.
I arrived 9am on Friday and the dealer rushed me in to sign papers and then do a quick walk through. I put a halt to that quickly and told them I don't sign anything until:
1. I actually see what I'm buying and I do an extensive check on the systems etc... I informed them, that since they are 5 hours from my home, they will never see me again and they will fix anything I find before leaving.
2. They complete needed repairs.
The tech gave me a quick walk through and I spend the next 3 hours checking every system and examined nearly every inch of the coach. My check lists sped up the process.
From the RVers I was expecting an extensive list. Other then some really minor things, which normally I would have taken myself, the biggest thing was one slide was not aligned correctly. The tech fixed it promptly.
HOW DARE HEARTLAND DO THIS.... I should have a couple page list of major problems, yet my list fit on a small sticky.
Rvers were wrong.After the repairs were done I walk out to hook up the camper. Back the truck up and attached it to the B&W hitch. Start raising the landing gear , raising, raising , waiting for the truck to squat and it doesn't. Truck sits perfectly level and trailer is nearly perfectly level. I had a huge grin on my face. Rvers wrong again.
Started home on my 5 hour drive. I drove the 370 miles in varying road conditions, hills, wind , etc and most of the way with 2 fingers on the wheel. HOW DARE HEARTLAND make a camper that tows so well.
Rvers wrong again.....When I arrived in my home town I decided to fuel up and then weigh the camper and truck. This is when I discovered how GINORMOUS this camper is. I barely got it into the Flying J. I then headed over to the scales. F350, Crew cab, 4x4, Linex, roll top, 61 gallon of fuel.. 150lbs of gear and 1/3 tank of water..
Advertised pin 1950. Actual with "Stuff" and water in it. 2380lbs.. Rvers correct????? The pin listed does not include High gloss or dual pane windows and water. So I think Heartland is pretty darn close with their listed weights.
Camper weight with High gloss, dual pane, 150lbs of gear, 1/3 tank of water 12,340lbs.
Total 21160lbs. Which leaves us 1,840lbs of "stuff" we can load before hitting the max.
I'm under the GVWR by a couple of hundred pounds, which when loaded complete will put me at or slightly over the GVWR, BUT I'll be back under as I use up fuel.
I'm under the GVWR of the camper, by a lot.
I'm under the GCVWR by a lot...
I guess I don't need a bigger truck. Truck doesn't squat, handles well and I'm under all the weight limits.
NOW THE BIG problem. As I pull in front of the house my wife says, "NO WAY is that fitting in the driveway". I tend to agree.. I go down into our cul-de-sac and turn HARD, watching the camper and my back window. NOT EVEN CLOSE !!!!!!!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU HEARTLAND... You lived up to your claim.
I don't need slider, Rvers wrong again. I have a tight driveway and I ended up turning hard at different points. This is going to be the tightest camping I think we'll ever do and at no point was I within a couple feet of the back window.
Once we got it level, slides out and we got to examine the camper further. I must say this thing is REALLY NICE. Everything works and the wife is happy.
I must say, thank you Heartland for building a nice product. Now just to get rid of those darn chinese tires.
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