RVerFulltime
Fulltiming Since 2004
It has been SIX months since we traded in the 2004 Keystone Everest 343L for the 2010 Heartland BIGHORN 3600RL.
In general, the BIGHORN is a stronger/heavier built unit than the Everest. That is evident by having to buy a bigger truck to pull the BIGHORN through the mountains in the Western States of the U.S. The little Duramax/Allison could NOT do it successfully. We sure do seem to have a lot of issues with the BIGHORN.
Symbols...
- Needs fixed under factory warranty.
-- We fixed the problem.
Outside of BIGHORN...
-- Just driving a few miles off of the dealers lot with the new BIGHORN, we noticed the decals starting to peel off of the three different slides (opposite side of awning) where the decals wrap around the edge. With a little silicone we fixed that problem.
- Outside caulking has cracked in many different places. We try our best to clean up each area and put in new caulking, but it is a never ending battle. Within the first year of ownership, we suspect that most factory caulking will have to be replaced on the outside.
-- The caulking on the roof around the vents and bathroom skylight had many air bubbles that had to be popped and new roof caulking filled in.
- The roof tape on all four slides are loose and coming off. We know from owning other RV's, that this roof tape should last longer than a few months. Did the factory NOT clean the surface before they put the tape on each slide?
- The one black end on the back ladder is broken. Ted weighs 168#, Lori weighs 115#. Did Heartland put on a ladder that cannot handle our weight? Really?
- The white plastic tire skirt that is screwed on on the awning side of the unit was over tightened. The plastic has a crack in it now. Factory employees should know to NOT over tighten these screws because plastic can crack.
- The living room slideout has a gap where the seal does not touch the slideout. The slideout needs adjusted so the seals touch the slideout.
- The SLAM DOORS are falling off! Need we say more?
-- From day one, we were not able to fill the fresh water tank without headaches. We fixed that by putting a 9' long white water hose through the fill tube and now we can fill the fresh water tank without any problems.
- The one 30# propane tank has a bad valve. Everytime we fill it, the tank wants to leak off a portion of the propane. The other 30# tank operates fine. Please do NOT smoke around our RV!
Inside of BIGHORN...
-- The kitchen sink was starting to fall down and the caulking was coming loose. We realized Heartland factory put in place four brackets to hold the sink. We added several more all the way around the underside of sink and then put in new caulking to seal against any water leaks.
-- The bathroom shower factory caulking was so poorly done that the shower leaked from the beginning. We stripped all the factory caulking and put in new caulking so the shower would not leak.
- After shortly owning the BIGHORN, the toilet stopped holding water. We have cleaned the toilet seal and still the toilet does not hold water. The more we look at this toilet, we believe the 'ball' does not close all the way to make a water tight seal.
- The door leaks in the Appollo half time oven. Water vapor has gotten in between the glass and plastic of the door and has left water spots. This can't be good since we use the microwave portion of the unit most of the time. Does this mean radiation is leaking out since water vapor is leaking out?
We do have some warranty issues! We have tried to fix what we could. We hope Heartland's warranty will cover the rest. What is so bad is that if the factory employees would have done a little better Q.C., virtually none of these problems would have existed.
Ted & Lori
In general, the BIGHORN is a stronger/heavier built unit than the Everest. That is evident by having to buy a bigger truck to pull the BIGHORN through the mountains in the Western States of the U.S. The little Duramax/Allison could NOT do it successfully. We sure do seem to have a lot of issues with the BIGHORN.
Symbols...
- Needs fixed under factory warranty.
-- We fixed the problem.
Outside of BIGHORN...
-- Just driving a few miles off of the dealers lot with the new BIGHORN, we noticed the decals starting to peel off of the three different slides (opposite side of awning) where the decals wrap around the edge. With a little silicone we fixed that problem.
- Outside caulking has cracked in many different places. We try our best to clean up each area and put in new caulking, but it is a never ending battle. Within the first year of ownership, we suspect that most factory caulking will have to be replaced on the outside.
-- The caulking on the roof around the vents and bathroom skylight had many air bubbles that had to be popped and new roof caulking filled in.
- The roof tape on all four slides are loose and coming off. We know from owning other RV's, that this roof tape should last longer than a few months. Did the factory NOT clean the surface before they put the tape on each slide?
- The one black end on the back ladder is broken. Ted weighs 168#, Lori weighs 115#. Did Heartland put on a ladder that cannot handle our weight? Really?
- The white plastic tire skirt that is screwed on on the awning side of the unit was over tightened. The plastic has a crack in it now. Factory employees should know to NOT over tighten these screws because plastic can crack.
- The living room slideout has a gap where the seal does not touch the slideout. The slideout needs adjusted so the seals touch the slideout.
- The SLAM DOORS are falling off! Need we say more?
-- From day one, we were not able to fill the fresh water tank without headaches. We fixed that by putting a 9' long white water hose through the fill tube and now we can fill the fresh water tank without any problems.
- The one 30# propane tank has a bad valve. Everytime we fill it, the tank wants to leak off a portion of the propane. The other 30# tank operates fine. Please do NOT smoke around our RV!
Inside of BIGHORN...
-- The kitchen sink was starting to fall down and the caulking was coming loose. We realized Heartland factory put in place four brackets to hold the sink. We added several more all the way around the underside of sink and then put in new caulking to seal against any water leaks.
-- The bathroom shower factory caulking was so poorly done that the shower leaked from the beginning. We stripped all the factory caulking and put in new caulking so the shower would not leak.
- After shortly owning the BIGHORN, the toilet stopped holding water. We have cleaned the toilet seal and still the toilet does not hold water. The more we look at this toilet, we believe the 'ball' does not close all the way to make a water tight seal.
- The door leaks in the Appollo half time oven. Water vapor has gotten in between the glass and plastic of the door and has left water spots. This can't be good since we use the microwave portion of the unit most of the time. Does this mean radiation is leaking out since water vapor is leaking out?
We do have some warranty issues! We have tried to fix what we could. We hope Heartland's warranty will cover the rest. What is so bad is that if the factory employees would have done a little better Q.C., virtually none of these problems would have existed.
Ted & Lori