What do you wish you'd known before buying?

ericandalice · Mar 6, 2012

DH and I have narrowed down trucks. Very exciting. Also a little nerve wracking. I'm getting nervous about the idea of towing something so big. I know we'll practice and in time, I'll get used to it.

I was wondering what you wish you'd known before buying your Heartland. Anything logistics related? Tips to make life easier on the road? Things to watch out for before and after you buy?

boatto5er · Mar 6, 2012

I wish we had known how much fun we would be having and how many great new friends we'd make. We'd have bought one a whole lot sooner!

Speedy · Mar 6, 2012

I concur with Boatto5er as well. I will also add that we heeded what people said about buying the biggest truck (TV) you can afford. We went CC Dually and do not regret it. Made finding the right Heartland trailer a lot easier.

boatto5er · Mar 6, 2012

A few other things (echo the sentiment on the truck - we started with ta 3/4 and have the 1 ton dually now). Travel as light as possible. There's nothing you can't buy if you need it and the more you lug around, the harder it is to find, work around, weigh you down, etc. This is my personal opinion, I know others who like to have as munch as possible at their fingertips. Invest in a good tool kit. The investment will pay itself back. Make sure you have manuals for your slides, leveling legs, and appliances. There are a lot of slide manuals in the forum manuals section and others on Lippert's website. Match them up with the slide type you have and print copies of them. Nothing beats looking for info on how to manually retract a slide or landing gear in a driving rainstorm. Be prepared to periodically perform preventative and post-ventative (think I just made that word up) maintenance. Things will loosen up going down our beautiful hiways. Some things will break. Don't get a bad attitude from it. Everything is fixable (some easier than others). Go to Heartland Rallies! Not only will you make great friends - you'll learn a ton about your rig, how to repair it, how to make it more liveable, etc. Lastly - have fun! That's what it's all about.

JohnDar · Mar 6, 2012

Well said, Gus. Along with the tool kit, look around the forums at the things that others have had to deal with (minor stuff, anyways) and get yourself some parts to deal with it. You don't want to be out enjoying yourself and have to drive 50 miles to find a hose clamp or plumbing fitting. They're small, cheap, and easy to store. I keep a small tool box just for minor electrical and plumbing repairs, along with my main tool collection.

For us, we bought the rig first and had five months to figure out what to pull it with. I took the "some is good, more is better" route on truck selection. I had thoughts about a 4500, but couldn't find one to look at. Good thing.

ericandalice · Mar 6, 2012

JohnDar said:
Well said, Gus. Along with the tool kit, look around the forums at the things that others have had to deal with (minor stuff, anyways) and get yourself some parts to deal with it. You don't want to be out enjoying yourself and have to drive 50 miles to find a hose clamp or plumbing fitting. They're small, cheap, and easy to store. I keep a small tool box just for minor electrical and plumbing repairs, along with my main tool collection.

For us, we bought the rig first and had five months to figure out what to pull it with. I took the "some is good, more is better" route on truck selection. I had thoughts about a 4500, but couldn't find one to look at. Good thing.

John, what did you do with the rig while you were finding the truck? That's something we've considered as we've found "the one" as far as the rig goes. But the truck is harder for us to decide on.

JohnDar · Mar 6, 2012

ericandalice said:
John, what did you do with the rig while you were finding the truck? That's something we've considered as we've found "the one" as far as the rig goes. But the truck is harder for us to decide on.

We actually succumbed to the Siren's Song (I tell a tale of being harpooned by three females) at a 2008 October RV show and bought a rig from the dealer's stock that was almost identical to the floor model (different interior colors). Part of the deal was that the dealer would hold the rig in storage for us until the following spring and do some add-ons while they had it. We were trading in a TT that we pulled with a Chevy Avalanche. Digging around these forums, I felt the 3500 was a better truck than the 2500 for the size of the trailer. But, the 4500 was a temptation. Biggest problem was not getting a straight answer from any where on exactly what was needed, only opinions and confusion. I'm happy with the 3500 and drive it like I just stole it. It handles the 3670 quite well.

I got the truck in late January and we took possession of the trailer in mid-March of 2009.

TravelTiger · Mar 6, 2012

Buy more truck then you need, because sometime down the road, something bigger, nicer, newer (and always heavier) will catch your eye! Also understanding that these "mobile" homes are going to have issues (not if, but when). If you are mentally prepared, they won't hinder your enjoyment of the RV experience. And GO GO GO to Rallies! Meeting folks that share this love is really, really special!!

Erika

porthole · Mar 7, 2012

ericandalice said:
Tips to make life easier on the road? Things to watch out for before and after you buy?

Learn to use and search this forum. Odds are, any possible issue, concern, ideas needed, reassuring etc, etc has all been addressed at least once.

Then head down to the Ford dealer for a 350 6.7

Ray LeTourneau · Mar 7, 2012

The biggest shocker for me was the weight difference between advertised, labeled and actual weights. At the time of our order (April 2006) the Bighorn 3400RL had an advertised and sticker empty weight of 10750 lbs. Keep in mind, this was before Heartland started weighing the rigs at the end of assembly. We purchased the rig based on it's Gross weight but thought there was no way we would load it to capacity. This just shows how little we knew. Even with all of our experience at RVing. We've never had a trailer weighed before, Didn't really think we needed to. The day we picked up the rig, I hooked up my 2500 Chevy and went straight to the scales. The empty weight was 11900 lbs. Considerably more than we anticipated.
Now, Heartland advertises a more realistic weight and stickers each trailer as it leaves the assembly line. This weight includes options. From what I understand, the published (brochure) weight of a given model is an average taken from a number of trailers weighed after assembly.
Our options ordered were several but the major contributer in my opinion was dual pane windows and the Trail Air hitch. Would I do it over again? Yes.
We did end up buying a bigger truck though and have no regrets.

krhyde · Mar 7, 2012

Get the bigger truck. We thought our 2010 F250 was plenty truck when we bought our 2012 Key Largo. But when we loaded it the way we like to travel, it was considerably over weight for the F250. Had to trade our 14 month old F250 for a new F350 DRW. Loved the F250 but love the F350 more because of the ride and peace of mind. Still trying to convince my wife that I "needed" a new truck for HER safety. Don't think it's working yet but I keep trying. Ken

codycarver · Mar 7, 2012

krhyde said:
Get the bigger truck. We thought our 2010 F250 was plenty truck when we bought our 2012 Key Largo. But when we loaded it the way we like to travel, it was considerably over weight for the F250. Had to trade our 14 month old F250 for a new F350 DRW. Loved the F250 but love the F350 more because of the ride and peace of mind. Still trying to convince my wife that I "needed" a new truck for HER safety. Don't think it's working yet but I keep trying. Ken

I agree completely. "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."

Here is a link you may find useful. Good luck.
http://fifthwheelst.com/

kakampers · Mar 7, 2012

YEP! Get the biggest truck you can afford...you can see in our sig the truck we originally bought when we got our '08 Bighorn...LOL! Felt like overkill, but trust me, it wasn't. Truck manufacturers finally caught up with the real weight of RVs in 2011, hence our current truck...

ericandalice · Mar 7, 2012

Thanks everyone! I'm already convinced we need a "big" truck. Those are the only ones on the list at this point.

Any other things you wished you'd known? I like the tip about keeping a few spare parts on hand. Will also have to reevaluate the toolbox in the next few weeks. Any RV specific tools you find handy?

wdk450 · Mar 7, 2012

I bought a "floor stock" trailer that had been on the lot for a year, so I couldn't order it the way I wanted it. I think it is easier to add a few thousands of dollars to the purchase price for options than to come up with thousands of dollars here and there in the years after the sale. Premium tires (far cheaper through Heartland), shock absorbing pinbox, Centerpoint or Independent Suspension suspension upgrades are the options basics. Dual pane windows, power inverter (for generator quiet time) and generator, 2nd Air Conditioner, satellite dish, are all options dependent on your camping style.

codycarver · Mar 7, 2012

Some of the tools I keep on board all the time are bottle jack, jack stands, multimeter, hand screw driver with changeable tips (go around your coach and buy all of the ones you need), brake spoon, wire connectors, spare fuses, warning reflectors, ect, ect. You will refine your list.

The one thing I would definitely recommend is a T.T.P.M.S (Tire temp pressure monitoring system)
We got a hole in one of our trailer tires last year and the only way I knew about it was the fellow behind us pulled around to tell us and saved our bacon. The T.T.P.M.S went to the top of the list that day.

wrgrs50s · Mar 7, 2012

Two things I wish I would have known is that:
After the purchase if you need service for even the simplest of things you have to bring the rig in and get it in line which can be as long as 1-3 months according to the dealers schedule. The explanation for this is that they have to get warranty approval and so on. Meanwhile the priority is makeready on the rigs sold that week, while your's waits to be looked at.
Secondly, you would not expect to start having tire failures and find out shortly after you purchased your rig that you will need to purchase new tires because the manufacturer struck a deal with a company that produces and sells the cheapest tire available with a known history of tire failure. Heartland has surely known this for some time because there are numerous rv forums including this one dating back over a several year period. In this case it's Power King Towmax tires. Avoid those like the plague.

Other than that I'm a happy camper, been doin it for years. Just a little dishearted at the moment for the inconveniences Ive had with the few issues on our 2012 Sundance 277RL, the rig itself we love. I've had to learned to do minor repairs on my own due to the headache of having to leave my rig for an extended period. Two occasions I have called my dealer with simple requests only to be told we are really busy but will call you back, with no return call. When I was considering the purchase I received numerous calls. Dont mean to sound so negative but this is not an isolated event according to my findings. I just think that with so many of us customers who invest our hard earned money and really enjoy the rv lifestyle, the manufacturers and dealers should concentrate more on pleasing the customer after the sale and immediately terminate contracts on inferior products like the tires in my case.

Dont mean to be discouraging but there needs to be an awareness as to what to expect after the sale. I know all dealers may not be the same, but all are focused on the sale, not so much on the service.

My two cents,
Walter

Peteandsharon · Mar 7, 2012

This is not really in the category of what we wished we knew before buying since it would not have changed anything. Of course we still would have bought. But I found that backing a fifth wheel is not as easy as backing a TT had become. I had owned two travel trailers for about 18 years and had become very good at maneuvering them. There was almost nowhere I couldn't back those suckers with zero problems. And I didn't need anyone hollering at me to go right, go left etc. Because the TT is smaller and sits considerably further back from the tow vehicle it's much easier to see where you want to put it and how you sit relative to that destination. The fifth wheel sits much taller and seems to be right up on your shoulder. It's sometimes difficult to get that perspective of where you are and where you need to go. I have had a number of situations where I had to pull out completely, start over and try to reposition myself. A fiver has a lot going for it but, at least for me, backing it is not one of those things.

ericandalice · Mar 7, 2012

Peteandsharon said:
This is not really in the category of what we wished we knew before buying since it would not have changed anything. Of course we still would have bought. But I found that backing a fifth wheel is not as easy as backing a TT had become. I had owned two travel trailers for about 18 years and had become very good at maneuvering them. There was almost nowhere I couldn't back those suckers with zero problems. And I didn't need anyone hollering at me to go right, go left etc. Because the TT is smaller and sits considerably further back from the tow vehicle it's much easier to see where you want to put it and how you sit relative to that destination. The fifth wheel sits much taller and seems to be right up on your shoulder. It's sometimes difficult to get that perspective of where you are and where you need to go. I have had a number of situations where I had to pull out completely, start over and try to reposition myself. A fiver has a lot going for it but, at least for me, backing it is not one of those things.

I appreciate this. Confirms my fears with the 5-er. Not enough to deter me. But I have been worried about that lately. I'll be picking our campgrounds very carefully.

~Alice

krhyde · Mar 7, 2012

wrgrs50s said:
Two things I wish I would have known is that:
After the purchase if you need service for even the simplest of things you have to bring the rig in and get it in line which can be as long as 1-3 months according to the dealers schedule. The explanation for this is that they have to get warranty approval and so on. Meanwhile the priority is makeready on the rigs sold that week, while your's waits to be looked at.
Secondly, you would not expect to start having tire failures and find out shortly after you purchased your rig that you will need to purchase new tires because the manufacturer struck a deal with a company that produces and sells the cheapest tire available with a known history of tire failure. Heartland has surely known this for some time because there are numerous rv forums including this one dating back over a several year period. In this case it's Power King Towmax tires. Avoid those like the plague.

Other than that I'm a happy camper, been doin it for years. Just a little dishearted at the moment for the inconveniences Ive had with the few issues on our 2012 Sundance 277RL, the rig itself we love. I've had to learned to do minor repairs on my own due to the headache of having to leave my rig for an extended period. Two occasions I have called my dealer with simple requests only to be told we are really busy but will call you back, with no return call. When I was considering the purchase I received numerous calls. Dont mean to sound so negative but this is not an isolated event according to my findings. I just think that with so many of us customers who invest our hard earned money and really enjoy the rv lifestyle, the manufacturers and dealers should concentrate more on pleasing the customer after the sale and immediately terminate contracts on inferior products like the tires in my case.

Dont mean to be discouraging but there needs to be an awareness as to what to expect after the sale. I know all dealers may not be the same, but all are focused on the sale, not so much on the service.

My two cents,
Walter

I have found Heartland and their suppliers to be extremely helpful with questions and warranty parts. Now; many dealers are a different story, but I've not yet had to call my dealer for service. I have however called Heartland Customer Service and Lippert Components for help and I've been very pleased with their response. Ken

What do you wish you'd known before buying?

Senior Question Asker

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)

Well-known member

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)

Prolifically Gabby Member

Senior Question Asker

Prolifically Gabby Member

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired

Retired

Senior Member - Past Moderator

Kentucky Chapter Leaders-retired

Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired

Past Heartland Ambassador

Senior Question Asker

Well-known member

Founding Wyoming Chapter Leader-retired

Well-known member

Well-known member

Senior Question Asker

Kentucky Chapter Leaders-retired

Similar threads