Bighorn 3585RL Delamination Question

My wife and I took possession of a 2014 Bighorn 3585RL about two weeks ago. This is our first fifth wheel, and our previous RV experience was with heavy diesel motor homes. We have noticed some significant delamination along the entire length of the bedroom slides lower exterior wall. This wasn't too noticeable on the cooler, shady day we first looked at the trailer, but a couple days baking in the sun has made it very apparently. My inexperienced eye can't really see a sign of water intrusion, so I'm fishing for some feedback from the veterans regarding, what might be, a recurring issue with this model BH.

Many thanks from a newbie!

Hi CDumbauld,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

My understanding is that delamination is almost always caused by water intrusion. If you see no signs of that, it's possible that the leak was fixed, but the delamination was not fixed.

From posts on the forum over the past 7 years, I would say that delamination on rare occasions pops up where the dealer examines it and concludes that there was a manufacturing defect. This is pretty rare based on what I've seen posted here, and usually is a first year issue covered by warranty.

Of course, on a 3-4 year old trailer (2018s have been shipping for a while now), the warranty has long ago expired, so your discussion at this point is going to be with the seller, who probably was aware of the problem.

Thanks for the reply Dan.

It was a trade-in that we purchased from a non-Heartland dealer. The sales staff was aware of this, although it did seem much less prominent when we first saw it, but convinced us that it was not a water issue and most likely stable.

We own this decision now, but we're hoping that it turns out to be just a cosmetic issue.

Since there is always a chance that water did cause the delamination I suggest that you re-caulk that slide as well as inspect the rest of the trailer.

Peace
Dave

Wilco Dave! Thanks!