New RW 355 Owner?

R8RNAZ

Member
I'm thinking about buying a new Road Warrior 355. I've never owned a 5th wheel before. Can you guys please give me some ideas to think about before buying it.
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi R8RNAZ,

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

I'm sure some of our other owners will jump in soon with some info for you.

Enjoy the forum,

Jim M
 

Jv75353

Well-known member
The first thing in my opinion is checking your tow vehicle load and towing capacities against the trailer GVWR. If your planning on getting a new (newer) tow vehicle they can have higher ratings than the same model that is a few years older. If you are getting a new(er) tow vehicle plan ahead so you will not be wishing you'd gotten more truck if get a larger trailer someday. Next step research 5th wheel hitches. If you have a short bed pickup you may need a slider hitch. If you are planning on using your truck bed to hauler other "stuff" you may want to consider a hitch that mounts below the truck bed and does not leave mounting rails in the bed. Others will chime in and provide you with their feedback, there are many helpful people on this forum. Are there any particular areas of concern that you have?
 

R8RNAZ

Member
The first thing in my opinion is checking your tow vehicle load and towing capacities against the trailer GVWR. If your planning on getting a new (newer) tow vehicle they can have higher ratings than the same model that is a few years older. If you are getting a new(er) tow vehicle plan ahead so you will not be wishing you'd gotten more truck if get a larger trailer someday. Next step research 5th wheel hitches. If you have a short bed pickup you may need a slider hitch. If you are planning on using your truck bed to hauler other "stuff" you may want to consider a hitch that mounts below the truck bed and does not leave mounting rails in the bed. Others will chime in and provide you with their feedback, there are many helpful people on this forum. Are there any particular areas of concern that you have?
Thank you for all great. I looked at my truck specs and added a set of air bags to help the ride. We ar very excited.
 

hboy1

Active Member
We've had the RW 355 for about 6 months. It's a 2017 model. I think the model is discontinued now, but there may be some on dealer lots.

The major issue we had(have) with ours is, with 2017 came a new patio rail system. We ordered the patio kit and 4 season removable wall. Coming off the line, I've been told that the new patio rail system created clearance issues with the removable garage wall. Our rig arrived with no screen or removable garage wall. It's taken months for this issue to get resolved. I was notified last week that my dealer received; 1 new ramp door, 1 removable garage wall, and the old patio rail system. I plan to take the camper back to the dealer this week to get this cleared up.

Other than that we have a few warranty items (typical stuff, nothing specific to this floor plan).

I hit the scales upon delivery to see how the spec weights on the Heartland web site compared to actual weight. The trailer weight was right on. The king pin weight was 200 lbs lighter than advertised.

I tow with a (see signature below). I chose the Anderson Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection hitch. I chose this hitch because I like the light weight design that is easy to install and remove.

This was our first 5th wheel. It's much easier driving than prior bumper pull trailers.

We chose this rig mostly because it had enough seating for our family, dual opposing slides has a big impact, king bed, I didn't want a 3 axle TH, 6 point hydraulic auto leveling.

The auto leveling has been great. Last weekend 2 tires were off the ground after auto level completed.
 

pcm_15

Member
We are a big fan of the 355 (2016 model). Hit a lot of the key items we were looking for in an RV (This is our 2nd).


  • Loft is great for kids and is a perfect place to store things that you may use periodically but want to keep out of site.
  • Toy Hauler capability for the Harley or the ATV (depending upon the mood).
  • Autoleveling
  • Big kitchen
  • Extra seating
  • Extra bathroom through garage for entry when it is bad weather
  • Ramp door patio
  • and many more

We've had 2 issues (and a potential 3rd in the works):


  • Limit switch on furnace failed so they had to swap it out
  • Recliner on kitchen side kept coming off of the screws that are there to keep it in (they fixed it too)
  • 3rd potential issue is a hydraulic leak (it was low when we picked it up in September but have not had to fill tank with any extra since)

Recommend getting at a dealer (Camping World for us and they have been great) for above items.

My only complaints are:


  • We did not get Artic package (we live in CO so plan on adding tank heaters and line heaters prior to the summer to extend our season)
  • Table in garage requires that you swing it or take it off in order to sit on couch side by the bathroom wall
 

hboy1

Active Member
[LIST said:
[*]Table in garage requires that you swing it or take it off in order to sit on couch side by the bathroom wall
[/LIST]

This is the modification to the dinette table my dealer made for me (under warranty). They just notched the corner off and replaced the trim piece. Turned out very nice.
 

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