Wilderness TTs

My In-laws are shopping for a lightweight TT. North Trails are too heavy for them. We'd like to see them in a Heartland for obvious reasons. The WD3150DS Wilderness would meet their weight requirements. Does anyone have any experience or know anything about Wilderness RVs?

Thanks in advance,

Cliff and Mindy

Hi Cliff,

We checked out the Wilderness before we decided on the North Trail. The weights are really close together. That maximums are the same. We got a better feeling in the NT. Heartland got the Wilderness brand after they bought the brand during another companies bankruptcy. It does look like Heartland did a good job on those trailers.

They are really close with what weight they can pull. They have a Toyota Sequioa, towing capacity 6800#s. Looking for a bunkhouse with two slides and outside kitchen. Base dry weight of North Trail 29BUDS 6795#s, 32BUDS 6995#s. Base dry weight of Wilderness WD2950OK 5350#s, WD3150DS 6550#s.

They were looking at Shadow Cruisers by CruiserRV. They have similar models S280QBS 5085#s, S313BHS 6385#s.

Our thought is North Trail is by far the nicest, then Wilderness and lastly Shadow Cruiser.

We are taking ours for a one night stay on its maiden voyage this weekend. One of their sons has a basketball tourney Sunday so we're camping near that. They're gonna stay with us and do some camper shopping Saturday. Just happens to be a Wilderness dealer in that area. Should be fun. It'll be interesting to see how crowded it feels with four adults and four kids in the camper. Nice to have our own bedroom and the bunkhouse for the kids.

Still hoping to get some input on Wilderness.

Cliff and Mindy

They need to look at the GVWR not dry weight unless it is going to be towed without food, water, clothing, dishes, pots and pans etc.

Manzan, you are absolutely correct! Gross weight and hitch/pin weights are the numbers you need to look at when evaluating a possible tow vehicle.

In addition, you also need to consider the weight of the passengers and stuff in the tow vehicle. My Mountaineer, for example, is rated for up to 7,000 pounds. However, in order to get that much towing capacity, I'd have to have the car empty except for me, and I'd have to get rid of some of me, too. I'm working on that, but I can't really get rid of my wife, so my actual towing capacity is quite a bit less than 7,000 pounds. That's why we're towing an mpg. It has a gross weight of 3800 pounds, so there is room for my wife, the cat, some tools, my "spare tire," etc.

The WD2950 would be the best for them. They want to stay away from the heavier ones. If the want to go bigger, they will have move up in TV. Only a fool will travel with their trailer at the max. That trailer would be breaking down all the time. Our NT is kept below 6000lbs. We love our trailer we want it to be here for a long time. The Toyota Sequioa is a good TV. Most of them already have the automatic airbags which is a great feature.

I know when we were looking. The Wilderness was just coming out. We started really looking in September. It was the end of the season when we first saw them. They hit the lots out here in Colorado about a month after we started really looking. With that being said the Wilderness is so new there may not be that many owners on the forum yet.

No doubt they are pushing things. Put in my two cents but I can't decide that for them.

I didn't know how long Wilderness had been around. That explains why no Wilderness owners have responded.

Thanks all for your help,

Cliff and Mindy

I am reseraching info on the Wilderness line as well, but I am not finding any feedback from owners.
Any owners out there have experiences that they would like to share?
Thanks in advance!
Scott

Hi Scott,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

I'm sure someone will jump in soon with a little feedback for you. I will say that Heartland RVs is second to none when it comes to customer service.

Meanwhile enjoy the forum.

Jim M

I think I would question some of the weights shown on the specs for the Wilderness. The 2950 shows a dry weight of 6350 and a GVWR of 6900 pounds. That only leaves 550 pounds for everything else (batteries, propane, spare, water, etc). Now the 3150 is more realistic with a dry weight of 6550 but a GVWR of 8600 pounds which leaves 2000 plus pounds for everything else. Most TTs I have had usually had a difference of 1500 to 2000 pounds. Good luck with your search. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between Wilderness and North Trail GVWR-wise on the one that look like they're right

Yes, I have noticed the small difference between dry weight and GVWR, especially in certain models. In particular, we are interested in the 2750RL model, with dry weight of 5350 pounds and GVWR of 6900 pounds. The reason why we prefer the Wilderness to the North Trail is the interior height. The Wilderness is better for tall people. However, to us it is important to read owners' feedback, and it is a problem that we are not finding any! Thanks!

Wilderness as well as Prowler are two old brand names that Heartland picked up when their original builder Fleetwood, went out of business. They have just recently started to build them. You will find lots of older Wilderness trailers around but the only similarity is the name. My take on them is that they are a basic entry level unit that will be pretty close in construction and amenities to any other make that is similar in looks and price. The main difference is that you will get the great Heartland reputation for service that the others cannot match...Don

Yet again the spectre of the discontinued Edge rears it's ugly head. This would have been a perfect unit for them. Maybe. They can find a 2011 left at a dealer. Heartland, you really blew it when you dropped such a unique TT line.

Welcome to the forum Scott! Wilderness campers are still too new to the forum for feedback. It's suprising no one from the factory has chimed in.

Not sure what year Sequoia, but a 35' is not a good match for any of them. Way too short a wheelbase. If tow rating is 6800 pounds, most people are pleased with towing performance and handling near 5000 pounds loaded, or closer to 4000 pounds empty. Bunk house means family, which means a loaded tow vehicle. The Sequoia has generally had low payload, under 1200 pounds on some. How much does the family weigh? 400 pounds, 600? That does not leave much for trailer tongue weight. 800 means 6000 pounds loaded TT and 5000 pounds dry. If the Wilderness line is what they like, the 2250 is appropriate for the tow vehicle.