Hi from Scotland

JackieMac

Member
Hi. I have just joined this forum as we are considering purchasing the Heartland Sundance 288 RLS travel trailer.

We currently live in Scotland UK and are hoping to be given visas to enable us to tour your wonderful country for several months at a time.

I am looking for any advice that may be useful to us folks who have never towed anything before and any useful advice on purchasing the 288 RLS. Anything we should particularly make sure we have fitted for example?

Thanks for any advice...

Jackie
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Re: Sundance MSRP - Updated 1-Feb-2014

Hi. I have just joined this forum as we are considering purchasing the Heartland Sundance 288 RLS travel trailer.

We currently live in Scotland UK and are hoping to be given visas to enable us to tour your wonderful country for several months at a time.

I am looking for any advice that may be useful to us folks who have never towed anything before and any useful advice on purchasing the 288 RLS. Anything we should particularly make sure we have fitted for example?

Thanks for any advice...

Jackie

Hi JackieMac,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There's a great bunch of friendly and helpful people here, so I'm sure you'll get some feedback shortly.
 

Bones

Well-known member
Hi,
I don't have a travel trailer but a lot of people say to use a weight distribution type hitch. Have you done any camping before with a camper?
 

JackieMac

Member
Hi, we have not done any camping at all - so looking for any advice.

We know we need to get a decent truck to pull the trailer.

We have been emailing a dealership in Las Vegas regarding the trailer and they say they sometimes have trucks too, but I think we may go to a proper car/truck dealer for the truck.

J

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Thanks!
:D
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Welcome to RV'ing!

When are you planning on coming over here and where do you plan to go?

We have a big Rally in Las Vegas in October, so a whole bunch of us will be there then.

Perhaps when you arrive someone here can help you get started!

I have a 5th-wheel now, but have been pulling bumper pull TT's since I was 10 years old (now almost 56).
 

olcoon

Well-known member
One thing several of have found out is that the dealerships selling trucks, and campers will tell you almost anything to make that sale! Coming to a forum like this was a wise thing, as you will get good answers and several of them, so you can average out the information, to make a good choice. There is so much information we could pass along to you that if we were sitting face to face it would take hours/days to do. It would be hard to relay the information in a forum like this. Possibly you could meet one of us that lives in the area of where your dealership is to have a one-on-one meeting. I'm not an expert by any means, but have been doing this for about 5 years, and would be happy to meet with you to talk, when you get here. I know there are others that would like to do the same.

Here are a few websites I researched for you that may help. Haven't I just scanned through them to see if they may be helpful for you.
http://www.rvsleuth.com/travel-trailers
http://rvbasics.com/techtips/travel-trailer-towing-safety-tips.html
http://rveducation101.com/DetailPages/TravelTrailerDetail.htm?SiteID=69 This guy has DVD's for sale & several free videos about RV's on the internet. I've watched some of them and he's got some good info.

Good luck, and welcome to the "club"! Hopefully when you start your travels in the US, we can meet!!!
 

JackieMac

Member
Welcome to RV'ing!

When are you planning on coming over here and where do you plan to go?

.

Hi we are hoping to come over in May and get started as soon as we can. If we are still there in October we could join in, we would like to meet some folks doing the same thing to get advice!

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Wow, that's so kind, thank you. I will have a read through the links and come back to you. It's a real comfort to know there are so many welcoming, friendly people out there!
;)
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hi we are hoping to come over in May and get started as soon as we can. If we are still there in October we could join in, we would like to meet some folks doing the same thing to get advice!

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Wow, that's so kind, thank you. I will have a read through the links and come back to you. It's a real comfort to know there are so many welcoming, friendly people out there!
;)

Hi Jackie and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. One thing you may wish to consider is flying into Chicago and driving to Elkhart, Indiana to tour the Heartland Sundance factory. This will give you major insight into the brand and the construction. It will also allow you to take pictures of coach production in-progress and possibly meet with the GM of the brand.

There's also a Heartland dealer in Elkhart that carries the Sundance brand.
 

Bgthomas

Well-known member
Jackie, unless I'm mistaken, that rig will require a Ford F-250/350, Dodge or GM 2500/3500. I would suggest diesel. Those trucks are well equipped to tow. Definitely buy a weight distribution hitch. A Scott should master towing quickly. You'll do fine.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Jackie, unless I'm mistaken, that rig will require a Ford F-250/350, Dodge or GM 2500/3500. I would suggest diesel. Those trucks are well equipped to tow. Definitely buy a weight distribution hitch. A Scott should master towing quickly. You'll do fine.

Below are the weight specs of the Sundance Travel Trailer 288 RLS. I think you're right on 3/4 ton truck suggestion. Diesel for a 10.5k RV? It sure would pull it anywhere - nicely :) Wonder of 10.5k is to much for a gasser? I've never towed anything like that with a gas engine so I have no idea.

Hey Jackie - we have a Scot here in the US that has a Bighorn. And that guy can drive anything. Must be in the water over there :) He drives a semi truck and moves concerts and such all over North America.



GVWR
10,500 lbs​

Dry Weight
7,470 lbs​

Hitch Weight
1,025 lbs​
 

JackieMac

Member
Thanks Bruce appreciate the info on hitch, we were thinking of those exact trucks! ;)

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Thanks Jim, good idea. We are keen to get started as soon as we get there, so doing the tour etc. might delay things too much for us, however, it is certainly something worth considering or doing in the future!

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I am very nervous about the driving I have to say. My OH (getting into the terminology already:rolleyes:) seems pretty comfortable but I haven't even driven the SUV we rented when we were there. I guess most nervous about bends and on the highway. Guess we will find out when I do it how I manage! :eek:

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Thanks! Planning to be in Texas in July/August, and yeah, we know, its gonna be HOT! Looking forward to it, never been there before. Visiting friends in Conroe too! :cool:
 

Chippendale

Well-known member
Jackie: Since you are going to be unfamiliar with driving a truck, with the controls on the wrong side, on the wrong side of the road and towing something you have never towed before, you might want to check out these folks: http://www.rvschool.com/
I have never taken their course, but have heard their presentation at an Escapees RV Boot Camp seminar. It is my understanding that they have instructors all over the country. Spending a day or so with them or some other RV driving school might make your tour of the Good Ole USofA much less stressful and enjoyable. Hope you have a great experience.

George Speir
 

Lance & Jo

Well-known member
We have met quite a few Europeans while living/traveling in Mexico and it has always been an interesting discussion on how they settled on the particular RV they were traveling in. Some things to think about that might help in your selection.

Are you planning on seeing Canada and Mexico? Or for that matter any farther, some folks we have met actually took their rigs to south america and then across to africa via ship.

Is this going to be a multi year vacation or are you planning on disposing of the RV after your visa expires. As most will tell you time goes by rather quickly and there a lot to see here. If planning a multi year trip you might think of traveling Mexico during the winter months while waiting for the next US visa. If multi year and returning home between trips I would think of storing the trailer in southern area with milder climate.

Trailers built in the US are normally heavier than those built in Europe (more steel and less aluminum) so be sure to think about enough truck for what ever rig you choose.

Have fun, enjoy your trip, lots of fun folks on this forum who would really like to exchange stories and can provide personal experience suggestions on most any area you might think of visiting.
 

JackieMac

Member
Jackie: Since you are going to be unfamiliar with driving a truck, with the controls on the wrong side, on the wrong side of the road and towing something you have never towed before, you might want to check out these folks: http://www.rvschool.com/
I have never taken their course, but have heard their presentation at an Escapees RV Boot Camp seminar. It is my understanding that they have instructors all over the country. Spending a day or so with them or some other RV driving school might make your tour of the Good Ole USofA much less stressful and enjoyable. Hope you have a great experience.

George Speir

Thanks George, yes I have been looking at that. Not sure if there is one in Vegas but I am certainly going to be checking it out. My OH has been doing the driving for a while so he is fairly comfortable. Thanks for the advice, appreciated! ;)
 

JackieMac

Member
Are you planning on seeing Canada and Mexico? Or for that matter any farther, some folks we have met actually took their rigs to south america and then across to africa via ship.

Is this going to be a multi year vacation or are you planning on disposing of the RV after your visa expires. As most will tell you time goes by rather quickly and there a lot to see here. If planning a multi year trip you might think of traveling Mexico during the winter months while waiting for the next US visa. If multi year and returning home between trips I would think of storing the trailer in southern area with milder climate.

Trailers built in the US are normally heavier than those built in Europe (more steel and less aluminum) so be sure to think about enough truck for what ever rig you choose.

Have fun, enjoy your trip, lots of fun folks on this forum who would really like to exchange stories and can provide personal experience suggestions on most any area you might think of visiting.

Hi, we have been touring the states almost every year since 2006, mostly in the West. We should have thought about doing this a long time ago, but as we were only spending between 3 and 6 weeks a year it may not have been cost effective (although a car may have been).

We plan on doing the 6 months every year until we can no longer do so, have seen all we want, or want to do something different, we then plan to sell or ship trailer back so we can tour Europe (if we have any money left).

We would like to see Canada and Mexico, not sure about the safety in Mexico or South America although we would love to see some of the places there. We still want to spend a reasonable time at home, but whilst we are fit and able to travel long distances we want to see as much as we can.

We are really keen to make friends through various forums, I have also signed up to the rvforum for advice too. If there are others that you would recommend, please let me know.

It will be great to meet like minded folks and to swap stories and get advice on where to go. Often we have had great advice on places to visit that we would otherwise never have known about.

We plan to stay for a week minimum in most places unless we have friends staying who may want to move around a bit more.

Once we get set up I will try to be online regularly.:D
 

lishshel

Member
Personally I would buy a newer used trailer. We are on our third fifth wheel in 20 years. We bought our first brand new one last year and have spent most of the year getting things fixed under warranty. Nothing real major, but a lot of things that needed to be fixed. We have made many trips back to the dealer fifty miles from home. Since you don't want to spend a lot of time messing around with warranty work, why not buy a nice newer one that the previous owners have already dealt with the warranty issues, and spend your time traveling instead. We have had more work done on our new trailer than we did on the 2 used ones put together. Just a thought. Whatever way you go, enjoy the ride!
 

JackieMac

Member
Personally I would buy a newer used trailer. We are on our third fifth wheel in 20 years. We bought our first brand new one last year and have spent most of the year getting things fixed under warranty. Nothing real major, but a lot of things that needed to be fixed. We have made many trips back to the dealer fifty miles from home. Since you don't want to spend a lot of time messing around with warranty work, why not buy a nice newer one that the previous owners have already dealt with the warranty issues, and spend your time traveling instead. We have had more work done on our new trailer than we did on the 2 used ones put together. Just a thought. Whatever way you go, enjoy the ride!

There seems to be varying opinions of new versus used. I saw somewhere that the factory warranty is not transferable if you buy second hand, plus you can't be sure previous owner fixed issues. I guess we're being very cautious about what we do as we don't live in the States. I am hoping the dealer we will use will fix any issues promptly and we will probably ask an expert to inspect before we pay for it.

Thanks for your guidance :D we are really looking forward to our journeys.

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Personally I would buy a newer used trailer. We are on our third fifth wheel in 20 years. We bought our first brand new one last year and have spent most of the year getting things fixed under warranty. Nothing real major, but a lot of things that needed to be fixed. We have made many trips back to the dealer fifty miles from home. Since you don't want to spend a lot of time messing around with warranty work, why not buy a nice newer one that the previous owners have already dealt with the warranty issues, and spend your time traveling instead. We have had more work done on our new trailer than we did on the 2 used ones put together. Just a thought. Whatever way you go, enjoy the ride!

There seems to be varying opinions of new versus used. I saw somewhere that the factory warranty is not transferable if you buy second hand, plus you can't be sure previous owner fixed issues. I guess we're being very cautious about what we do as we don't live in the States. I am hoping the dealer we will use will fix any issues promptly and we will probably ask an expert to inspect before we pay for it.

Thanks for your guidance :D we are really looking forward to our journeys.
 
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