32BUDS Kind of Happy, but Kind of Dissapointed.

[Kubzilla]

Hi, This is my first post here. We just traded in our Class C Winnebago on a '13 32BUDS TT. Let me start out by saying that we love the floor plan and the interior woodwork and flooring. It is a very nice looking and spacious TT. However, after our first short trip (about 100 miles), we were dissapointed in some of the basics. First, when we arrived at our camping spot and opened the front door, we noticed that both of the sliding doors were off of the sliders and hanging at an angle. One of the hangers above one of the doors had been bent, and two of the plastic keepers were broken. We had attached both of the straps before our departure, and one of them was hanging loose when we arrived. (I noticed after reading other posts that this is common.) Then when I walked around back to hook up the park water to the Trailer, I noticed that the Spare Tire Cover was gone. (I kind of expected that one...) Then when we opened the bathroom door all the way, I noticed that it would turn all of the switches on the levels panel on. (water pump, and both gas and electric water heater). One of the doors on our overhead cabinets was hanging crooked, and I noteced that the hidden hinge had come out of the hole. A simple fix, but I hope I don't have to fix it every time we go somewhere. Finally, when my son went to bed, he could not safely get into the top bunk, because there was no ladder, and I didn't want him to climb on the shelves. All in all, we do like our Trailer, but come on guys, this thing lists for around $35,000, and I expect more attention to detail from the manufacturer. Seriously, we have had 4 Travel Trailers and one Motorhome in the last 18 years. We take very good care of them, and have never had this many problems. That said, I must say that because I do like the trailer, I will go the extra mile to make everything work. Just some food for thought if someone from the manufacturer happens to read this. Oh, one more thing, why is the black tank flush connection on the opposite side from the discharge, making it necessary to run the hose under the Trailer when draining the tanks?

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Kubzilla,

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

Sorry to hear you have run into a few problems, but hopefully you can get everything taken care of and start enjoying your new North Trail.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M

 

[Kubzilla]

Thanks Jim. We actually did enjoy our overnight stay. We always take a short (shakedown cruise) for our first outing in any new rig. This TT has the potential to be the best one that we have owned. I'm not too concerned about the little things, because I suppose that after a few trips, we will iron out most of those. I am, however, a little worried about things like the sliding doors, because that is a basic functionality issue, and should have been corrected after the first few reports of a problem. Time will tell, but so far, I'm not unhappy, maybe just a little dissapointed.

 

[goducks11]

The cheap plastic strap for the sliding doors are a joke. Most RV makers use em. I put a sliding door lock like you would use for your home door down on the floor at the end of the sliding door. We had trouble with our overhead cabinet doors also. Have had 3-4 of the hinges pop out of the doors. I just use some super glue to re-insert the plastic screw plug thing. Like you say easy fix but shouldn't be happening. We've been to a few RV shows since we bought our 26LRSS and theres not very many TT's with as nice of wood work and quality thats in our NT. But like the rest of them they all use some cheap stuff here and there.

 

[Kubzilla]

Thanks for the advice, that sounds like a good idea for the doors! In place of the plastic keepers, I installed a spring at the top of the door to keep the slider from sliding out. I need to find a permanent solution as I don't trust the original plastic keepers, and I don't want a spring visible at the top of the doors. I would almost rather install curtains and remove the doors, but the Wife likes the sliding doors. I really don't think that I should have to re-engineer the unit to make it work properly.

 

[Bob&Patty]

I assume you are refering to the closet doors?? If they are are like the ones in our BH, then get some heavy duty "white" velcro. Cut both pieces about 4", stick them together, install them on the door and shut the door. Push on the door alittle. Problem solved.

 

[Kubzilla]

Thanks Bob, that too sounds like a very good idea. These are actually the dual sliding doors that separate the Master Bedroom from the Living Area. I also have to find a way to permanently fix the slide attachment on the top of the doors. The plastic keepers that came on the Doors are obviously not adequate for normal travel. And by the way, I don't mean to sound overly critical of the North Trail. I really do like most of the features, and I really like the way it pulls. I think that once we get all the bugs worked out, we will really enjoy it.

 

[smp2000]

We have similar problems with the bedroom doors falling off. Ours only happens on one side. We found the doors to be worthless in the colder weather due to no heat registers in the bedroom. With the doors closed the bedroom is cutoff and gets pretty cold. We removed one so ours puppies can come and go throughout the night and to make it easier when the tv is reversed so you can watch it without having to have both doors closed. Also check your outside shower and city water connections inside the rear cabinet in the back bunk area to make sure they are tight. There is an access panel on the bottom right of the entertainment center. Ours were loose and slowly leaking on the bedroom floor. We use a $20 stepladder from walmart for the top bunk which works great and you will find it handy for other uses while you are out and about. I also noticied the bathroom door hitting the switches. I put one of the kids shoes against the wall at night to stop it from hitting but i'm going to put a door stop on it on our next trip out. Like you said a lot of simply fixes but a pain to deal with for the cash you spend. Good luck with it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we love ours!

 

[Kubzilla]

Thanks Mike (or Dawn)! Thanks for the information on the outside shower. I didn't know that there was an access panel, now I'll go out and check it. I didn't even think about the heat registers. If my Wife would let me, I would seriously just take the doors down, and put up curtains. I did manage to secure the doors, and to keep the sliders from coming out, I used a wire with eyelets on each end. One end was screwed to the top of the door (using a wing nut in case I need to remove it), and the other end around the slider rod that slides into the top of the door. I believe that it will hold, although I'm a little perturbed that I had to re-design it. For the Bathroom Door, I bought a door stop and installed it near the top of the door and far enough back that it stops just before it hits the switches. I'm just hoping that my son doesn't lean against the door when it's open and punch a hole where the stop is. Funny that you should mention the ladder, because I just purchased a 3 step ladder from Home Depot, and it works well for the bunk! We also installed one of those shower curtain rods that collapse in when you are not using it and expand out when you take a shower. Huge difference in the amount of room in the shower! Oh, I also just installed 12V fans in the bedrooms, and I found that in the Master Bedroom, the Positive and Negative wires were reversed in the lights above the head of the bed. (Black was Positive). Obviously not a problem for the lights, but the fan ran backwards! Just another example of the lack of attention to detail from Heartland. Oh well, I think that we have just about fixed everything that we have noticed. We really did enjoy it last weekend, and now that the fixes are in place, I think that it will be a fantastic unit! (providing nothing else go wrong...) ...Mike

 

[ZNK]

Thanks Mike (or Dawn)! Thanks for the information on the outside shower. I didn't know that there was an access panel, now I'll go out and check it. I didn't even think about the heat registers. If my Wife would let me, I would seriously just take the doors down, and put up curtains. I did manage to secure the doors, and to keep the sliders from coming out, I used a wire with eyelets on each end. One end was screwed to the top of the door (using a wing nut in case I need to remove it), and the other end around the slider rod that slides into the top of the door. I believe that it will hold, although I'm a little perturbed that I had to re-design it. For the Bathroom Door, I bought a door stop and installed it near the top of the door and far enough back that it stops just before it hits the switches. I'm just hoping that my son doesn't lean against the door when it's open and punch a hole where the stop is. Funny that you should mention the ladder, because I just purchased a 3 step ladder from Home Depot, and it works well for the bunk! We also installed one of those shower curtain rods that collapse in when you are not using it and expand out when you take a shower. Huge difference in the amount of room in the shower! Oh, I also just installed 12V fans in the bedrooms, and I found that in the Master Bedroom, the Positive and Negative wires were reversed in the lights above the head of the bed. (Black was Positive). Obviously not a problem for the lights, but the fan ran backwards! Just another example of the lack of attention to detail from Heartland. Oh well, I think that we have just about fixed everything that we have noticed. We really did enjoy it last weekend, and now that the fixes are in place, I think that it will be a fantastic unit! (providing nothing else go wrong...) ...Mike

Mike,

My question to you on this. Did you do a thorough pre inspection of these items before you left the lot? I had all of these issues as well. But had most of them fixed before I left. I love my North Trail.

Ive put in a lot of modifications, many that probably should have been done at the factory, but it is okay. I have installed a new kitchen faucet, bathroom faucet, and drinking water faucet. Also installed a cut off switch. Many more to come!

As for the Black water flush. I believe the reason it is on the other side is so that it cannot be easily mistaken for the city water.

Zack

 

[Kubzilla]

Hey Zack, thanks for the reply. We did do (what I thought was) a thorough inspection, and it looked pretty good. There were a couple of little things that I had them fix, but mostly, I thought they did a good job going through it. With the exception of the Ladder, which I thought he said was included, nothing showed itself until we arrived at our destination. I would have never expected that the door hardware was not adaquate for the job it was built for, and the cabinet door was fine when we left. And whoda thought that the spare tire cover was not up to the job? Oh well, we have fixed all of the problems. I bought a small step ladder from Lowes for the bunks, installed a bathroom door stop at the switch panel, glued the cabinet door hidden hinge to the door, fixed and reenforced the bedroom sliding door hardware, and we absoloutly love our RV now! My only complaint, if you want to call it that, was that the manufacturer HAD to have known about these issues, and chose not address it at the manufacturing level. I like your idea of a cutoff switch, and I intend on installing a taller bathroom faucet. I will never understand why manufacturers install faucets that require you to cram your hands into the back of the sink just to wash your hands! We did install a folding expanding shower curtain rod that makes a huge difference while taking a shower. Oh yeah, my wife and son made me install those little 12 Volt fans by the beds. ...Mike

 

[odie]

I have a TrailRunner and I had dozens of issues pop after I hit the road just to get it home. 40 miles oneway.
-Two metal straps fell off the black and grey tanks within 15 miles of the dealer, unfortunately they were closed by that time. Motorist flagged me down.
-Skirting by the drivers lost half of the screws by the time we got home. Why dont they put a not on these?
-Same door issue as you, came off the hangers but this one swung into the wall and put a 2 inch hole in it
-Toilet hose dettached, leaked
-Kitchen sink connects spun completly off on one drain. Leaked
-Kitchen sink sprayed water out the top of handle, when on city water with a pressure controlled regulator.
-outside shower leaked under bunk bed
-bedroom wall trim came off on trip home
-outside rubber "bumber" trim that runs the length of the TT, 3-4 feet came out of the valley it sits in, no silicone was used under this section for some reason.
-Radio antenna was disconnected. They played a cd and dvd during our walk thru.
-Cover to access the water bypass and water pump, 4 screws 3 were not screwed into anything. Found out when I installed a water filter.
-After opening the slide in our driveway for a "test camp" that nite, 3 screws fell out on the ground. No idea where they belong.

Some of the repairs I did immediately so my wife and daughter wouldnt be dissappointed. The others were repaired by the dealer. But many still have to be fixed every other trip or so. Trim constantly coming off, screws falling out from who knows where, and hoses loosening up (I called Heartland and they said not to use putty or tape).


Nowthat being said I have always had some issues come up on every RV I have owned (5 total) none were ever high end models, just middle of the road and the Heartland was neither better or worse.
They are the best as far as calling and getting help and that means a lot other companies were difficult to get in touch with.

 

[JJMcK1]

I'm in the same boat with my bedroom doors.

 

[Kubzilla]

Wow, Odie, it looks like I got off easy in compairison! The door issue is unacceptable, because it is a known issue, and happens still. It sounds to me like your Dealer needs to be more vigilant when they take delivery from the factory. These things aren't cheap, and the customer deserves better than this. I was told to check the outside shower connections due to known leaking problems. Mine were fine. I also found some screws in the slide out area, but it seemed that they were maybe dropped at the factory, and just left there. I hope that your Dealer was able to fix your problems. Enjoy your TT!

 

[Kubzilla]

JJ, I had to modify my slides. I used a looped wire on top as a stop in order to keep my doors from sliding out of their slides. I also attached Bungi cords around the outside edges of the two doors, as well as a rubber latch (like you would find on the outside of a hood) on the inside where the doors meet each other when in transit. I haven't had any problems since. It really is unbelievable that we have to modify our rigs in order to use them...Mike