Considering purchase of a North Trail (Caliber) 28RKDS

[Botterell]

Hi everyone,
My wife and I are considering the purchase of a North Trail (Caliber) 28RKDS and would greatly appreciate hearing good and bad experiences with the North Trail brand and especially this model. Looking forward to any and all posts. Have a great summer everyone.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Botterell,

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.

My daughter and son-in-law have a North Trail and really enjoy it when they use it.

Enjoy the forum and hope to see you in a Heartland unit.

Jim M

 

[Domi]

Second owners of our unit and we have enjoied it a lot. There have been some issues but it seems like all rigs have some issues. If your half way handy you can fix alot of stuff.

Good luck.

John

 

[Silverado23]

I am on my 2nd NT happy with first but wanted a bit more room so upgraded to bigger model. Been quite happy overall. Dealer experiences are a different matter.

X2 If your handy or willing to learn, many issues that creep up are relatively easy to fix.

 

[redevil]

I really like my NT 24BHS, would go bigger but they don't have anything that is under 30 ft max length with the BHS floor plan. I would definitely buy another NT after owning it for 1 year. Only issue that I wasn't happy with was a lose wire for my furnace that caused it not to work. Dealership fixed it and all has been good.

 

[Botterell]

A BIG thank you to everyone who responded to my post. I am glad to hear that the great majority of NT owners/posters are happy with the brand. Many thanks for your help.

 

[John.Northtrail]

I just bought a North Trail Caliber using for first time and enjoying every minute of it.

 

[Spxmike]

We just bought a 2019 North Trail 28RKDS a few months ago. Our inaugural voyage was Big Bear Lake (southern California), altitude ~6700 ft. We really like it! A few issues:

• The water pump turned on but kept running. I discovered the unit had been "winterized" - I found a valve at the water pump inlet (half-buried in insulation foam) that was closed. I opened it and poof! problem solved. The dealer should have caught that.
• The coach lost all 12v power, but the big 12v power users - hitch lift, stabilizer jacks, slide-out - worked fine. There is a little circuit breaker on that 12v bus bar on the front of the coach. Push the black button. Problem solved. The outstanding Heartland Users Guide led me to that fix. Thanks!
• The bathroom door leading to the living area (not the slider to the bedroom) doesn't want to latch when the slideout is extended. It works fine when the slideout is retracted. I suppose the extended slideout tweaks the frame a little. Before I chew up the door jamb with my Dremel to relocate the strike plate, I'm going to try slideout support jacks from Camco. They should arrive today.
• I'm also going to add a battery cutoff switch. There is enough draw from the clock on the stereo and the propane gas monitor that the batteries draw down too much - even with a 3w solar panel. The battery switch should do the trick.

 

[danemayer]

• The bathroom door leading to the living area (not the slider to the bedroom) doesn't want to latch when the slideout is extended. It works fine when the slideout is retracted. I suppose the extended slideout tweaks the frame a little. Before I chew up the door jamb with my Dremel to relocate the strike plate, I'm going to try slideout support jacks from Camco. They should arrive today.

Slideout support jacks may help, but another solution is to get an elongated strike plate from the hardware store. That'll allow for a little shifting in the position of the latch. Less than $5.

 

[Spxmike]

Slideout support jacks may help, but another solution is to get an elongated strike plate from the hardware store. That'll allow for a little shifting in the position of the latch. Less than $5.

Thanks danemayer! much cheaper = much smarter. Still a bit concerned with what that long slideout might be doing to the frame, though.