Are You Happy With Your BigHorn & Heartland?

[sjandbj]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It was good to see most of the replies in the positive, but I appreciate the posts from those who were not happy as well. I think in any RV, there is always a chance that warranty work might be necessary and you have to make sure your dealer will stand behind you when that time comes. Unfortunately, we don't have many choices for BigHorn dealers here in Eastern Washington, just RnR RV. We have dealt with them in the past and they seem like fairly decent dealers. One thing you can be sure of, both the wife will spend most of the day if necessary going over the trailer with a fine tooth comb for our part of the PDI.

Although we haven't made our final decision yet, we are leaning towards the BH 3160EL. The wife loves the large windows, pantry, and full shower. The only thing it doesn't have is the King Bed option. There is the new BH 3575 that combines the best of both worlds but we are not sure if we could pull that thing with my 2500HD Duramax Diesel (Allison with Z71 tow package). Although I'm sure the 3160 wouldn't be a problem, the 3575 might put it right at the limit. Anyone have any thoughts on that or is actually pulling a 3575 with a 3/4 ton diesel?

These trucks will pull just about anything but in my case my F-350 is a bit overweight. The combined weight was just a couple of hundred of pounds to much. I have the Big Country 3150 which is the same weight as the 3160.

 

[SNOKING]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It was good to see most of the replies in the positive, but I appreciate the posts from those who were not happy as well. I think in any RV, there is always a chance that warranty work might be necessary and you have to make sure your dealer will stand behind you when that time comes. Unfortunately, we don't have many choices for BigHorn dealers here in Eastern Washington, just RnR RV. We have dealt with them in the past and they seem like fairly decent dealers. One thing you can be sure of, both the wife will spend most of the day if necessary going over the trailer with a fine tooth comb for our part of the PDI.

Although we haven't made our final decision yet, we are leaning towards the BH 3160EL. The wife loves the large windows, pantry, and full shower. The only thing it doesn't have is the King Bed option. There is the new BH 3575 that combines the best of both worlds but we are not sure if we could pull that thing with my 2500HD Duramax Diesel (Allison with Z71 tow package). Although I'm sure the 3160 wouldn't be a problem, the 3575 might put it right at the limit. Anyone have any thoughts on that or is actually pulling a 3575 with a 3/4 ton diesel?

We are towing a BH3575el with a 2015 RAM 3500 SB CC Diesel with Aisin Tranny. We are close to the trucks limits of.

GVWR of 11,700
RGAWR of 7,000
GCWR of 25,300

The 3575el will put your 2500HD way over weight. Admittedly we are heavily loaded as liveaboards and pushing close to the trailers 16K GVWR.

The BH3160el will overload your 2500 also most likely. I am sure some are installing larger tires and air bags, and towing 3160el with 2500HD's. It is a personal choice for each owner to decide if they are OK with that solution. Chris

 

[TomMontague]

These trucks will pull just about anything but in my case my F-350 is a bit overweight. The combined weight was just a couple of hundred of pounds to much. I have the Big Country 3150 which is the same weight as the 3160.

Hello everyone - its been a long time since I've been online but I promise I read almost everything that's posted. I think this discussion has been a good one and I certainly love the fact that OWNERS are responding to these questions and not someone like me. I think it's important you get a true picture of what to expect and not a "ROSEY" version someone in my position might offer... This forum is another tool that really sets Heartland apart from almost everyone else. There are a lot of great people out here that can and will ( if you want it or not ) give you the straight scoop on whats going on at Heartland.

I wanted to add one thing that should help everyone out in the long run. We ( Heartland) approves or denies warranty claims on average within 48hrs of getting the claim. If you have a claim that has taken longer than this - it's a pretty good bet the dealer hasn't submitted it. We also take at most 2 weeks to ship the most backordered of parts. If you are waiting longer than that for parts you should call Heartland and ask if your part has been ordered. All you need is the last 5 of your vin.

PLEASE don't abuse this. Our service people are extremely busy and don't need to check on parts or claims 5 minutes after they have been submitted and then called every hour about it as it moves through the system. This little bit of inside knowledge should help frustration levels stay at a minimum. I can't tell you how many times a frustrated customer who has been waiting for Heartland to "approve" a claim 4 months after their service visit calls me and is absolutely at their boiling point. Almost without fail when I dig into the claim there is NOTHING submitted.

Hopefully this tip helps everyone out. We have spent a lot of time and resources improving our service over the past couple years because we know as product continues to get closer and closer together the one thing that can help make a company stand apart is a quality service department.

Talk Soon,

Tom

 

[Nuclearcowboy]

It's our 1st year anniversary with our BH 3270RS. Just returned from a 3 month, 6K mile trip with zero issues. Just coming out of warranty. Before we started the trip, I noticed a small hairline crack in the gel coat on the door side slide. Knowing we might be out of warranty when we returned and wanting to make the trip without tying the rig up at a dealer for months, I called HL with the issue. Was told to take a pic, email him with it and let him see the issue. He was more concerned with the issue than I was. He told me he had it on record in our file and to go ahead and enjoy our trip and he would take care of it when we got back. I'd have to say that is good CS. The Sailum tires that came on our rig held up great. No air loss on trip and they still look good. We love our Bighorn and the Heartland family. Really nice stopping at 2 HL rallies while on our trip. Nice visiting with friends and making new ones. The truth is, I was getting a little tired of just talking and looking at DW for that long of a period in close quarters.lol
This is our 3rd HL product and we loved all 3. This is the longest we've kept one due to the moving up 1 foot at a time problem I have. Everytime I go to the dealer, my salesman just laughs when I walk in. He tried to tell me about this problem on our 1st rig.

I don't think you could go wrong with a BH. Met lots of Montana owners on trip who really liked our rig. If you do your part, I'm sure HL will do their part in helping you maintain that home on wheels. I know they've been good for us. Debbie and I would never buy outside the Heartland family which is the best reason to own a Heartland product.

I absolutely agree with these comments. We had our BH 3270 RS for about 13 months before trading up to our 3970RD and it was an awesome unit - only two minor issues which were easily and readily taken care of (cracked sconce light and door knob replacement). Our new unit is even more awesome. We are Heartland sold!

 

[John_n_Genny]

Hi Tom and thanks for responding to this thread! It's good to see that Heartland itself actively monitors the forum for feedback and responds when appropriate It gives the wife and myself some reassurance that you do care about the customers. Certainly this will be a factor when we get ready to purchase our rig. We will probably purchase sometime in January after our local RV Show once we have made our final decision.

 

[John_n_Genny]

We are towing a BH3575el with a 2015 RAM 3500 SB CC Diesel with Aisin Tranny. We are close to the trucks limits of.

GVWR of 11,700
RGAWR of 7,000
GCWR of 25,300

The 3575el will put your 2500HD way over weight. Admittedly we are heavily loaded as liveaboards and pushing close to the trailers 16K GVWR.

The BH3160el will overload your 2500 also most likely. I am sure some are installing larger tires and air bags, and towing 3160el with 2500HD's. It is a personal choice for each owner to decide if they are OK with that solution. Chris

Thanks Chris for the input. The K-2500 Duramax has a GVWR of 9200 pounds, a GCWR of 22,000 pounds, RGAWR of 6084, and can pull max trailer weight of 13,600 pounds. Right now the wife and I are weekenders and vacationers so we don't load up that much. I think we would be OK with the 3160EL, but I think you are right that we would be stretching it on the 3575.

 

[Dumboldles]

Took our BH in for warranty work (closet sliding door, shower door handles, and had a 50 amp fuse for the hydraulics). While testing the slides noticed the refrigerator side slide was not retracting evenly. The tech looked under and we noticed a broken bolt laying on the ground below the slide...this was the problem and luckily happened at the dealership and not out camping. The warranty work was all done without having to unhitch. I'm one of those that has had a good relationship with my dealer and the service department (Desert Coach and RV, Saint George UT).

Very happy with our now out of warranty BH, yes some minor stuff but on the whole a very good quality rig.

Dumboldles

 

[SNOKING]

Thanks Chris for the input. The K-2500 Duramax has a GVWR of 9200 pounds, a GCWR of 22,000 pounds, RGAWR of 6084, and can pull max trailer weight of 13,600 pounds. Right now the wife and I are weekenders and vacationers so we don't load up that much. I think we would be OK with the 3160EL, but I think you are right that we would be stretching it on the 3575.

If you intend to stay under the truck GVWR, which quite a few people ignore, even the 3160el will have you 800 to 1000 pounds over that 9200 number. Just be careful to not overload the rear tires on the truck if you choose this route. As a comparison to the 3575 stretching it, we weighed 11,750 loaded on the truck. Truck is maybe 800-1000 heavier than your chevy. So lets say you come in at 10,500 on the truck. You are at least 1300 over the 9200 GVWR.

As long as you realize that a new truck may be in your future, enjoy. Chris

 

[John_n_Genny]

If you intend to stay under the truck GVWR, which quite a few people ignore, even the 3160el will have you 800 to 1000 pounds over that 9200 number. Just be careful to not overload the rear tires on the truck if you choose this route. As a comparison to the 3575 stretching it, we weighed 11,750 loaded on the truck. Truck is maybe 800-1000 heavier than your chevy. So lets say you come in at 10,500 on the truck. You are at least 1300 over the 9200 GVWR.

As long as you realize that a new truck may be in your future, enjoy. Chris

Chris, maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but the GVWR I posted of 9200 pounds was for the truck itself. Doesn't that mean it's the maximum weight you should load the rig, including the weight of the vehicle itself, passengers, dogs, whatever? It's a completely seperate rating just for the vehicle. It can pull a trailer weight of 13600 pounds. And the GCWR of 22,000 pounds would be the combined weight of both the trailer and vehicle, correct? I don't expect to ever load the 2500HD up to it's GVWR of 9200 pounds. It has a unloaded curb weight of about 6000 pounds. So that means we have about 3000 pounds to spare. It's just me, the wife, and the dogs so I think we would be OK there

 

[Garypowell]

Your forgetting about the pin weight of the rig. I got away with this mistake for several years until the bill came for replacement springs and differential fix!

after realizing the mistake I had made moved up to 3500 SRW and all is in limits now.

The 2500's will pull most anything but where they fail on bigger rigs is their cargo capacity.

 

[SNOKING]

Chris, maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but the GVWR I posted of 9200 pounds was for the truck itself. Doesn't that mean it's the maximum weight you should load the rig, including the weight of the vehicle itself, passengers, dogs, whatever? It's a completely seperate rating just for the vehicle. It can pull a trailer weight of 13600 pounds. And the GCWR of 22,000 pounds would be the combined weight of both the trailer and vehicle, correct? I don't expect to ever load the 2500HD up to it's GVWR of 9200 pounds. It has a unloaded curb weight of about 6000 pounds. So that means we have about 3000 pounds to spare. It's just me, the wife, and the dogs so I think we would be OK there

You need to go weigh your truck ready to tow. 6000 is for a basic 2x4 gas std cab truck. If it is a 4x4 Duramax Diesel it is going to weigh more than 7500 pounds ready to tow. My RAM weighs 8600 or so ready to tow. Lets say you are 7500 ready to tow, and have 2600 pounds of pin weigh, which is a low estimate for a 3160 loaded up a bit, so 7500 plus 2600 and you are at 10,100 pounds on a truck rated to 9200. What does the door jam sticker list as allowable payload. What year is the truck. With the year we can pull up some actual numbers for you. However everything you put in the truck from passengers, dogs, tools, firewood and hitch adds to the weight of the truck.

For the record we are trying to help and not discourage you. However the simple fact is that larger 5th wheels and 250/2500 have issues with weight. Take for example your 6084 Rear GAWRing, my newer 3500 RAM SRW has a 7,000 pound Rear GAWR.

Chris

 

[Bob&Patty]

Your pin weight will be about 20% (+/-) of the loaded for travel weight of the BH. At 15500K you will be at or over 3K pin weight. Just food for thought.

 

[Bohemian]

Your pin weight will be about 20% (+/-) of the loaded for travel weight of the BH. At 15500K you will be at or over 3K pin weight. Just food for thought.

Plus weight of the hitch.

 

[macjj]

Nice thread. You should be applauded for doing your homework up front. I have a 2012 3070 (14000 GVWR), but I too have a 3/4 ton. Worked great for me, but it would seem your options are greater. When we were looking, I found it difficult to match a good product along with a good dealer. Someone stated, choose your product, then find a dealer to service that you are comfortable with. I bought in Virginia, use dealerships in California. I, like you went to the forums to hear from the owners. Of course the Wife opinion withe the Color scheme and layout had a lot do do with the choice. I have had warranty/repair questions, and Heartland has always responded promptly, even if was not covered. As stated Mr Jim Belitti is the Owners Advocate, and does a great job. I was in the Navy, and a house on wheels is like an aircraft landing on a carrier. However they have a dollar figure in the billions. We have traveled coast to coast 4 times, and the majority of the roads are not as good as your driveway, or the dealers lot. Bottom line, things will break eventually. This forum is great for heading off those issues, but the Manufacture always being available to help is a great asset. Good hunting.


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[mrudick66]

We own a 2016 Heartland 3760EL and love it. Had a few minor problems at first. Got on the forum and thanks to the good people on the forum got my questions answered. Called Heartland help line got problems resolved and sent new part to my house at no cost to me. Great service from Heartland and Forum. Love the unit no complaints highly recommended B H and Heartland.

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