Year2: Build Quality is starting to worry me

Year2+: Build Quality is starting to worry me

I've generally found that not much goes wrong the first year - it is the second when you really feel how good the build quality is. This post is where I'm going to track what has gone wrong now that our Bighorn 3010RE is out of warranty. So far, IMHO, our problems have been minor - but really should not be happening.

I updated the original post to show when issues occurred. We are just starting our third year.

Year 1: Under Warranty & Things we fixed
Items our Dealer Fixed: Slide Seals dropping, Bedroom Slide Trim Broken, Bedroom Window not closing, Chip on Stovetop, Trim above door falling off, Decals scratched, Awning not aligned, table leaves don't fit together, countertop has many small scratches, roof bubbles.
Fan Blades fell off. Used Loctite on screws threads to fix.
Pantry Door came open just an inch during travel and I didn't see it before the handle caught on the slide. Minor re-alignment of doors and re-nail trim back in.
Outside Shower: Hose only reaches to edge of udc and water with good pressure is a trickle. After taking apart: the hose is 60 inches and is not caught on anything, that is just how long it is. However, if you pull it all the way out it crimps at the fitting. Did make this hole in the sprayer a little bigger to increase water flow. Will need to replace with a longer hose that can reach our dachshund. Pretty useless as installed.
Vacuum - Bought an air-powered head from a dyson and now vacuum actually works. Why didn't it come with a head that works?
VENTS - Styrofoam in vents is noisy when hear/ac is on, Removed all vent covers, removed styrofoam, screws & wood chips.
LED Bedroom Lights - disrupt antenna signal to TV. Dealer can't replicate. We spend several hours testing the led bulbs but that doesn't appear to be the problem. FIX: Don't turn on the bedroom lights if someone is watching the TV.
Bed: Added memory foam mattress topper after reading mattress issues on forum.
Drawer On Steps - won't open or close. Shaved off 1/4 inch from bottom face.
Fresh Water Tank - Lost water going to campsite from overflow tubes. Added some loose fitting corks as a temporary fix.

Year 2:
1. Tires: Replaced Blowmax Tires
2. Slide Seals - Arrived at campground to see top slide seals hanging off the back of the camper. Threaded them back into the slots and added screws at both ends.
3. Fan Blades are now hitting the slide trim when in.(yes, the fan is off) Must make sure they don't bang the trim each time I put the slides in. Darn, I still haven't fixed this!
4. Rear Cabinet door caught on slide - This door came open while we were traveling. Grrr! Even with being careful, you can't see this cabinet door is open just enough to catch the slide.The slide caught on the door handle and bent the hinges before I could stop the slide. Need new hinges...and maybe our slide needs to be re-aligned. This is a really bad design.

Year 3:
1. LEFT TAILLIGHT: Led's - except 2 - have suddenly quit working. Est. $37 from Heartland
2. TABLE TOO CLOSE TO WALL - shades would get caught between wall and table. Unscrewed table (1 of 4 screws was a different head, lol!). Moved table out from wall 1 inch
3. WATER ALARMS: Added Zircon Leak Detectors behind sinks, in basement and in washer dryer pan. $10 each plus batteries. Given the damage undetected water can cause, leak detectors should be an option.
4, CLOSET DOOR MIRROR - tabs holding mirrors in are snagging hanging clothes. Temp fix = duct tape over the tabs until I can take down the doors. Door handles fell off and are nowhere to be found. Hoping they are not under the bed.
5. DINING TABLE CHAIR: Brace cracked through at screw. Bottom staples are coming loose, probably because I put a couple of magazines underneath the seat. Temp Fix with Construction Adhesive. I have had cheap chairs for 10 years that never broke, so this is very disappointing.

These are the problems you've found over the course of a year?

It is amazing how some simple things are overlooked by the factory . . .

We have a few things that were under warranty that were 'supposed' to be fixed . . . all pretty minor stuff, really . . .

But to pay someone to fix this stuff the way it should have come out of the Heartland factory . . . Thousands ($1,000's of $$$$) of dollars!

My thought in my head (while I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer . . . I'm not stupid!) . . . if this stuff had been made right from the factory, my trailer would have cost $Thousands of dollars less that what I actually paid for it . . .

But all they (ie.- dealership) did was replace many parts so they will break again the first time we use them . . . instead of fix the actual problem in the first place!

It is our job, as owners, to report these issues and make a big stink here in the chats when our dealerships (just got ours back and they screwed up over half of the warranty repairs) to let Heartland know about their engineering mistakes!

This just seems to be the way of the new world order . . .

Can't expect nothing to be perfect . . . and can't expect our dealerships to know how to deal with the factory mistakes!

And we are supposed to get used to our dealerships screwing up our warranty repairs until they are out of warranty . . . . until we are liable to finally, in the end, pay someone else to fix said warranty issues the right way out our our own wallet, since the new world order work ethic of the new world order does not recognise that they should do a good job in the first place at the time of manufacture (they blame it on the Amish people).

That is what we are supposed to expect in this new world order . . . ie.- 2016 economics and manufacturing in the US of A protocol!

And blame everything else on the Amish people . . .

We also have a 2014 BH 3010RE, however our experience has not been anything like some other posters. We have been from Alaska to Newfoundland/Labrador and all across the Western Provinces and many of the Western States. We have had a few minor issues with the trailer, however almost all of them were related to rough roads and not build quality. Minor issues that we encountered during the first year of ownership (warranty period) were simply listed and we dropped the trailer off at our dealer to have repairs completed. No problems with the dealer, or the repairs. We did have one problem with the pantry doors adjacent to the kitchen (off-door) slide where the doors bounced open while in transit and jammed the slide. No serious damage done, and we removed the interior sliding shelves before securing the cupboard doors with a couple of the baby locks that you can buy anywhere. I have taken a tip from others on this forum and will be modifying the pantry by replacing the sliding shelves with fixed, lighter shelving. In short, we would buy another BH3010RE in a heartbeat based on our experience to date. Also, at the risk of getting yelled at by others on this forum, we are still travelling on our original Towmax tires; although we will replace them this spring with Sailuns before heading back on the road. At 30,000 miles...its time.

#1 LED lights will have an led go out from time to time, mine have and their Truck-Lite
#2 No water alarms, I just went thru and made sure everything was tight.
#3 Chair, thats a problem, but you'll get it right.
#4 The hose is long enough it's just caught on the HWT or another hose in the basement.
#6 They are junk to start with but it keeps the basement clean, inside we use a good vacuum.
#7 Don't use the fan with the slides in anyway.
#8 Cabinet doors are checked before we open the slides, that's Patti's job.
The chair is the only problem I see, the other stuff is just maintenance.

What do you expect for tens of thousands of dollars?? Of course I'm kidding...There hasn't been one single year since I bought my trailer in the Fall of 2010 that I haven't spent at least $1,000.00 on repairs, parts and maintenance. I doubt that the day will ever come when it all ends. Just when I think everything is good, something else pops up. Have had both front and rear caps painted, Heartland DID pay for one, all four springs went flat and started to arch the opposite way, both suspension equalizers started to bend sideways, had it weighed the first year, no it isn't overloaded, brakes were full of grease when delivered, didn't notice until a couple years later, warped doors, drawer under fridge collapsed and self destructed. Good thing it wasn't full of concrete blocks like the one in the brochure, plumbing leaks, cracked plastic plumbing fittings, decals on the sides are now cracking and fading, fiberglass on the rear cap had a flaw in it which turned into a small hole, bottoms on kitchen chairs ave fallen off, wire support under the slide out fell apart, both fender skirts turned brown, supposed to be gray, one fender skirt also blistered and peeled, fireplace runs but the fan only works when it wants to, shelf in front closet cracked in the middle, this is in addition to the front entry door that was replaced under warranty because of a large blister inside, and the various pieces of trim that fell off on the inside.
So you see your list is nothing...give it a few more years.....Good luck...Don

I gave our dealership a bad Yelp review . . . and now they are trying to figure out what they did wrong!

Even after explaining it to them on the phone several times . . . they just don't seem to get it.

I would think it would be less expensive to be done correctly at the factory than to get a warranty claim and a POed customer...

I have the same model and IMHO those are really minor problems and easily fixed. We have in excess of 25K miles on ours and haven't even had that many problems. We do check the cabinet doors before moving the slides. I keep after the maintenance, have the bearings packed/replaced as needed with new seals every 10K miles. I ordered the Goodyear 614 tires when I bought it so we're good there. The only major problem I did have was a loose neutral which resulted in frying the microwave (never liked that Hot Point anyway) that I was able to fix myself. I have never been back to the dealer except for warranty work on an air conditioner that I had the dealer install in the bedroom. I, too, would not hesitate to buy another 3010RE.

CaptnJohn said:

I would think it would be less expensive to be done correctly at the factory than to get a warranty claim and a POed customer...

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Yes . . . you would think this to be true . . . but apparently it is not!

Our rig is going on 6 years owned. Every time we turn around, there's a little thing to do. Maintenance, fixes, improvements, you name it. It's a part of RV ownership. When we fix something, or something bugs us, we try to make it better. We have a better rig in the long run.


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It appears to me that no one that has a S/B home has ever had to do any repairs/maintenance on them and they don't go bouncing down the road. I have had less problems with a 9 year old BH that my S/B's.

After reading RV forums I have come to the following conclusion. That you don't look for and buy a well made rig, you look for a rig that is designed well and easy to repair. Sure miss my "92" Holiday Rambler TT. Never had one problem with that rig. On the bright side I am learning a lot about RV repair. Like how to repair two cabinet door, replaced bathroom vent lid/door, tighten all water fittings (there are a lot of them too), repaired outside shower, replaced release valve on water heater and now learning how to remove a furnace that not working.

Well we all love the RV life, where we pay twice as much to travel half as often.

Bob&Patty said:

It appears to me that no one that has a S/B home has ever had to do any repairs/maintenance on them and they don't go bouncing down the road. I have had less problems with a 9 year old BH that my S/B's.

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True . . . but sticks and bricks are designed to sit in one place on a piece of land.

And an RV is supposed to be built to be dragged down the road . . . which is it's intended purpose after all!

So it should be made to handle said usage!

- - - Updated - - -

kowAlski631 said:

JohnD said:

Have you spoken with the dealer who did the repairs?

Maybe you should let Heartland and everyone here know who is doing substandard warranty work.

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Yes . . . I spoke with them the next day.

Didn't help much, so I wrote a little note on their facebook page and now they are all over it!

They even offered to come pick it up and fix the repairs!

But I asked them how long it would take . . . and they didn't know.

And we leave four weeks from today for the Tucson HOC Rally . . . and I don't want to chance another 10 weeks sitting around their shop.

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John, sorry you had to wait so long for half *** repairs. I would have made all those repairs myself, less stress and faster. Looks like the important things the wiring and Flex-Guard they never touched. The other things are just normal maintenance and repair to me.

jnbhobe said:

John, sorry you had to wait so long for half *** repairs. I would have made all those repairs myself, less stress and faster. Looks like the important things the wiring and Flex-Guard they never touched. The other things are just normal maintenance and repair to me.

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Actually . . . none of those wires were rubbing on the tires when I dropped the trailer off.

I've already fixed those myself, although that one wire (goes to one of the slides) that was rubbed to the bare wire really needs to be replaced!

And the window shades . . . one needed to be replaced . . . one needed to be adjusted and the window crank behind it needed to be replaced . . . and the one that the screw was hanging out of the wall in the photos . . . well, it wasn't that way until I picked it up!

There was nothing wrong with that shade when I dropped it off.

I was raised by a maintenance Foreman father. I joined the navy and became a nuclear electrician and made a career out of it. When I got out, I bought my first house. As a hobby, my wife and I got into sailing and over the course of 14 years owned 3 sailboats. Because of knee replacements, we now own a pontoon and a Bighorn. I have never owned a complex piece of machinery, or worked on one in my professional life that didn't have "problems". New cars, new boats, new submarines, all came with their fair share of problems. I don't appreciate shoddy workmanship, but I also understand that anything mass produced (or even one-off's) are going to show some failures. I have developed an attitude that if the problem can be fixed by me, it will BE fixed by me. That way I know the quality of the repair. I will task a dealer with getting me the required parts, but by and large, the repairs do not require parts. I also believe in modifying a purchase to better meet my needs, such as reversing doors, adding electrical components, changing out lightbulbs, changing out door handles, etc. The only things I don't tackle myself are the ones that I either don't have the tools/facilities to attack, or require a specialist (on our largest sailboat, the only technician that ever worked on anything was a diesel mechanic who had to reset the fuel racks). A little research and some self-confidence work wonders. The forums, the manuals, the drawings that are available online and the response from tech support from Heartland have been all that was really necessary. I would recommend that if something is not to your liking, change it! If something is broken, fix it! Not only does it insure a quality repair, but your knowledge of the systems on your rig will increase and the pride you will feel from tackling a task for the first time and successfully accomplishing it will give you a self confidence boost like none other!

Amen, Scott, Amen!!

While growing up my father was the 'fixer-upper' and the 'shade-tree' mechanic. I remember once I broke the floor shift mechanism on our 1932 Model A (acting stupid). My father said 'you broke it, you fix it'. I told my father once that I wanted to learn how to work on a car so that summer we spent rebuilding an engine on a 1955 Chevy Biscayne. My father would also tackle all of the home repairs including crawling under our house (on piers) to fix plumbing and heating (floor furnace) issues. I guess I was blessed that this occurred. He instilled in me that if you are capable of fixing something then do it yourself. That way you know it got fixed right and you learn in the process. I have done that with our RVs over the years as well. Most of the things that break can easily be repaired and in this day of You Tube you can usually find a You Tube video instructions of how to make the repair. Just Google the problem and you will have an answer most of the time. Now the next issue is do you have the proper tools to make the repair. If you don't then if possible go buy it, and if that breaks again you have the tool to fix it. Or, if it is a tool you cannot afford to buy or it is too large think about renting the tool. Somethings such as removing slideouts or changing out suspensions are more than most of us can tackle. Then it time to let the professional take over. But keep in mind anything you can do, such as removing trim or tires/wheels will save the technician time and you money. Most of all have fun and teach your children skills. Example: When our daughter learned how to drive I had her change a tire. She learned how and now is not afraid to tackle that if needed instead of standing on the side of a busy road looking helpless. She is not afraid to change her oil or transmission fluid either. Happy Travels.