New to Heartland- 2008 Bighorn 3670RL

Hello Everyone,
We are just about to delivery day of our 2008 Big Horn 3670RL. We are buying it from a dealer that does not sell Heartland brand new.

So my question or questions are:

Being new to Heartland and buying from a non-heartland dealer, are there any special things we need to know? Secrets if you will?

The FW has a fireplace and i have read several threads about them. But my question is: Is it supposed to look like a real fire or just a spinning bulb kinda...

Where is the BW tank hook up? In the area with the other hook ups?

Has anyone had any problems with the slides outs being sequenced?

How about the ice maker? Does it work well enough to leave it there or remove it?



I really like these kinds of forums, I always learn alot. So please don't take my newbie questions as I am illinformed, I really need to ask to know.

We have fallen in love with the Bighorn and can't wait to get it.

Anything anyone can tell us about it, tricks, special secrets I would love to hear!

Thank you in advance.

Nicki & Jim

Wow, that's a lota questions, and welcome to this great forum. You will find no shortage of answers here. So here goes.

Being new to Heartland and buying from a non-heartland dealer, are there any special things we need to know? Secrets if you will? Well, ya gotta learn the secret handshake and wave.

The FW has a fireplace and i have read several threads about them. But my question is: Is it supposed to look like a real fire or just a spinning bulb kinda... We have a FP and love it. You can control the amount of light and the speed of the flame. They do look real nice. Also have a heater.

Where is the BW tank hook up? In the area with the other hook ups? If you mean the BW flush, then yes.

Has anyone had any problems with the slides outs being sequenced? By sequenced do you mean the order in which they move? We have had no problems. You can also isolate a single slide for movement if you wish.


How about the ice maker? Does it work well enough to leave it there or remove it? Don't have one but, some people love em, some people don't love em, and some have removed them for more freezer space.

Good luck and enjoy your new Bighorn. We love ours.
Be sure to check out the Heartland Owners Club and try to attend a rally or two or more.


Peace
Dave

Nicki & Jim I will answer the questions I can.


Where is the BW tank hook up? In the area with the other hook ups?
The Waste tank Drain hook up on the 3670RL is just in front of the Kitchen slide, and the valve pulls are in the UDC with all the other controls.

Has anyone had any problems with the slides outs being sequenced?
No, if the slides on the 3670RL are the same hydraulic as the Landmark Augusta, They are independently operated.

How about the ice maker? Does it work well enough to leave it there or remove it?
We have the ice maker in ours and love it. It will make a batch every two or three hours, so after a day or so we are good to go with plenty of ice for ice tea and margaritas.

Make sure the dealer does a PDI (pre-delivery inspection) with you at the time of delivery. At that time the dealer should do a walk-through explaining how everything works and where everything is. Be sure to take notes and ask questions. Make sure the dealer hooks up the water (check it for leaks), runs the air conditioner (make sure it cools), operates the slides both hooks up to shore power and on battery power, operate the jacks both on shore power and battery power, operate the refrigerator both on shore power (AC) and on propane and have the dealer have the refrigerator running several hours prior to your arrival so you can see it cools, have water in the fresh water tank and operate the water pump to be sure it works and has pressure. Run the television and bring a DVD to check it out too. Hook up the satellite dish to be sure it works. The bottom line is check out all of the systems to be certain they work. You did not say if this is a new or used unit, however since it is a 2008 I presume it is used. If I were you I would check out the caulking on the roof to be certain the front and rear caps where they attach to the roof are sealed and all of the vents on the roof are too. Crawl under the unit and check the tires to be certain they are not cracked on the rear or have bubbles on them on the rear. Check the trailer brakes to be sure they are adjusted properly. I know I forgot something but the bottom line is check everything and anything that is broken or does not work make certain it is documented in writing. Good luck and have fun with your new (as the DW says) toy. and Go Go Go RVing.....

Be sure to check out the suspension

With all of the posts of suspension problems, I would pay the money to have a INDEPENDENT RV service tech check out the springs, shackles, equalizer, shocks and spring mounts looking for flat springs, cracked springs, and bad welds.
I have just had this checked on my '08 Bighorn 3570RL and was told that I had flat springs, and was shown a seperating weld on the Mor-Ride equalizer. I am about to work this out with Heartland/Lippert.

Thank you very much all of you, for your comments. Rest assured my DH will carefully be looking and listening when we get delivery. He is a rather, well particular person.

I am still wondering about the "secret handshake"! lol

Yes the camper is used, by a little ole' lady that only used it on Sundays! No really, I guess it was used only 1 year by a couple that traded it in on a motor home.

Can't wait to get our camper. Can't wait to start using it. We are planning on a Myrtle Beach trip in September. Just so excited!

Thanks again. If anyone else has any other hints, send them our way.

Nick

You don't say if this is your first 5'er, or even trailer, in general. If it is, after you've done the fine tooth comb of a PDI, practice manuevering it. Take it to a large empty parking lot and practice backing into spaces and get familiar with the turning characteristics. Take it for a drive on the freeway and surface roads to see how it handles. The 3670 is a beauty, but it is big and heavy. Wherever you're storing it, practice putting it on and off the hitch. Before taking it all the way down to Myrtle Beach (love that place), take it for a few nights to a CG near home or the dealer, to really make sure everything works and there are no surprises.

wdk450 said:

With all of the posts of suspension problems, I would pay the money to have a INDEPENDENT RV service tech check out the springs, shackles, equalizer, shocks and spring mounts looking for flat springs, cracked springs, and bad welds.
I have just had this checked on my '08 Bighorn 3570RL and was told that I had flat springs, and was shown a seperating weld on the Mor-Ride equalizer. I am about to work this out with Heartland/Lippert.

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I second this!!!! Crawl under that big ol' beauty and check those flat springs out, I mean check those springs for an arc. ALL four should have a smooth constant arc to them. They should not appear flat, twisted, seperated, cracked, wavy or broken like many of us have had from Lippert. If they are any of the above it's going to be around $400-$500.00 parts and labor to get them right.
The 3670 is a mighty fine unit, we really enjoy ours, flat springs and all.
boatdoc

We bought an '09 3670 RL new last year. We had some initial issues which you will find with any new unit but nothing too serious. We love our unit and recently completed a 30000 Km (18640 Mi) tour around Canada and the US and had no major problems. As far as sequenced slides, we choose to extend and retract ours individually as we had an incident of a cupboard coming open on a rough road and jamming against slide out. It was not a disaster but a major inconvenience so now we do them one at a time. It takes a little longer but we can check to make sure nothing has opened or moved to jam a slide.
We have an ice maker but I found out that because of the way they work, they put moisture into the freezer compartment when they are working. We found we were defrosting the freezer every few weeks because of this. In the end, I purchased a portable ice maker from Camping World and shut the freezer unit off. This solved the frosting up and also freed up more space for storage of frozen foods.

Definitely check the springs and mounts. I think that you will love your unit once you have gotten use to its little quirks ( which all makes have) I have owned three 5'ers, two tow trailers anad a motor home and they all had their issues. Our Big Horn is the best unit we have owned. Goos Luck and Happy RVing!

JohnDar said:

You don't say if this is your first 5'er, or even trailer, in general. If it is, after you've done the fine tooth comb of a PDI, practice manuevering it. Take it to a large empty parking lot and practice backing into spaces and get familiar with the turning characteristics. Take it for a drive on the freeway and surface roads to see how it handles. The 3670 is a beauty, but it is big and heavy. Wherever you're storing it, practice putting it on and off the hitch. Before taking it all the way down to Myrtle Beach (love that place), take it for a few nights to a CG near home or the dealer, to really make sure everything works and there are no surprises.

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This will be our 2nd 5th wheel. We had 2 trailers before this and 2 pop-ups. Our current camper is a New Vision Toy Hauler 36'. My DH was an over the road trucker, so he is VERY comfortable towing these beauties. Nothing pleases him more. But thank you for your concern, I wonder why or how anyone with a drivers license can jump behind the wheel and tow a 38' camper behind them with NO experience, NO rider on their license and NO training.

He is also VERY mechanically inclined also. Auto mech all the way. He changed the axles on the hauler himself. So we are all set with anything.

What kinds of spring problems are there? Are they only on the 3 slides or 4 slides? Or both? Who is Lippert? And does Heartland warranty the springs with problems?

Thanks again!

Jim and Nicki,

Lippert is the frame manufacturer. They also make/ supply the axles and the springs, and supply the wheels and tires.

The only thing that Heartland makes is the box/body of the coach. Everything else is made by some other company. If you can find out the selling date, some of the appliances might still have some warrenty on them.

Heartland doesn't warrenty the springs, Lippert does. In some cases Heartland has interceded and helped people with getting needed repairs.

There have been some springs go flat, no arch, and some springs have broken. Have hubby check them very carefully be for it leaves the dealers lot. BTW, Heartland is not the only coach builder that uses Lippert frames. Bob

Jim-Nicki14590 said:

This will be our 2nd 5th wheel. We had 2 trailers before this and 2 pop-ups. Our current camper is a New Vision Toy Hauler 36'. My DH was an over the road trucker, so he is VERY comfortable towing these beauties. Nothing pleases him more. But thank you for your concern, I wonder why or how anyone with a drivers license can jump behind the wheel and tow a 38' camper behind them with NO experience, NO rider on their license and NO training.

He is also VERY mechanically inclined also. Auto mech all the way. He changed the axles on the hauler himself. So we are all set with anything.

What kinds of spring problems are there? Are they only on the 3 slides or 4 slides? Or both? Who is Lippert? And does Heartland warranty the springs with problems?

Thanks again!

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Good question. But, if a CDL were required for every RV owner, there would be a lot less of us. And, just like driver's training for the family car, having a license does not make you either a safe or truly competent operator.

JohnDar said:

Good question. But, if a CDL were required for every RV owner, there would be a lot less of us. And, just like driver's training for the family car, having a license does not make you either a safe or truly competent operator.

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Very true. Just today, we are camping in Lake George NY. And a gentlemen came in. Drove up to his site. Sat there for some time, 30 minutes. Then came the attempts to park. After about another 30 minutes, hubby goes over to see if he can help. Driver wanted to get his camper as close as possible to the power box, and there wasn't much room and apparently had no idea how to do it. My hubby talked him through the process, parking him right where he wanted to be. But I have to believe if my hubby didn't help him, he would still be pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward, backing up...etc. All the while his wife shouting, STOP! GO RIGHT! GO LEFT! BACK UP! NO NO NO! I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT!
LOL

RVers don't watch TV for entertainment they watch other RVers park. lol

jmgratz said:

RVers don't watch TV for entertainment they watch other RVers park. lol

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And boaters watch others with boats try to dock!

I always have my popcorn and drinks ready. Boat launching and Rv'ers parking are the best free entertainment possible. Bob

I love it as long as I'm not providing the entertainment! Unfortunately that has not always been the case.