Greystone Construction Quality

[Woollybob]

Hello everyone. First post here. Currently have a Glendale Titanium, but looking to get something newer and bigger for the family.

I am looking at a used 2011 Heartland Greystone. I like the floorplan and features for the asking price, but it had a leak that was repaired by the dealer and he took some pics of the process. The repair looked OK when all was done, but what it revealed had me concerned on the construction materials/design - Does not look very robust or built to last.

Question: From the pic below, does this look normal? Wood framing with kraft-faced insulation batts? Is the construction in other Heartland brands similar?

Just trying to get a feel for the level of construction quality, as I am no RV expert. My 2002 Titanium has a laminated wood/foam material in the ceiling and I thought a 2011 would be more advanced that what I am seeing.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xoYgroSfd2Vx1x5G9

Thanks in advance for your thoughts! - Bob

P.S.: I would just put the image in the post, but that is disabled for new forum users.

 

[danemayer]

Hi Woollybob,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Heartland has a pretty broad line of products at different price points, so as you might expect, construction materials will vary. Some roof structures are wood while others have foam and metal and may be laminated. As long as the roof is maintained and caulked/resealed appropriately, most people never see what's inside the roof structure.

I believe Greystone was equivalent to the Sundance line, the difference being dealer geographical sales territories. Based on what's been posted to this forum over the past 9 years that I've been following, I think the vast majority of Greystone and Sundance owners have been happy with their purchase.

 

[NP_Chief]

Welcome to the forum!

I second what danemayer said. There's no big secret to keeping a RV roof from leaking. The seals have to be checked annually (I check mine every 6 months). Eternabond tape can be placed over the seals and make them last longer.

As far as the Greystone is concerned... if you are comfortable with the price, floorplan and repairs... I say go for it! I would still recommend a doing a PDI before you commit to the purchase. One of our members has put together a good one.

https://www.rvwiththetanners.com/pre-delivery-inspection

Keep us posted.

 

[Woollybob]

Thanks for the responses. My main concern was that the wood structure would not have long-term dimensional stability and lead to more seams pulling apart and further leaks in the future. Wood construction for homes that don't move might be fine, but seems a bit unstable for an RV that bounces down crumbing Midwestern roads. Seeing the 'all aluminum frame' stickers on some units, or even the galvanized steel structure mentioned in brochures seemed like a more appropriate design choice, but again - wanted to get the opinions from you experts.

I am also trying to judge from afar - this unit is a 6 hr drive from home so wanted to have a bit more confidence before investing a full weekend to check it out first hand.

 

[cacheflady]

We have a 2013 Greystone 34 QB. It is a large camper at 39' 8". We love it and love camping in it. Our outside exterior started with some cracking just after warranty at the top of the slide outs on each side. It was minimal and was only on the outside and not all the way through. We had it checked and structurally everything was good they said and it was out of warranty so nothing they could do so we had to cover the cost. We fixed it with no other issues to date in that area. We just went for inspection and my husband did his typical walk around befor pulling it out of storage and noticed it sagging over the wheels on the one side pretty low. Thought it was a slide out issue and had them check it. Got a call that it will not pass inspection because it is not a slide out issue. The frame above the axels is bent. According to insurance, not covered because no accident or storm damage occured. They said it was a manufacturer defect. The insurance guy could not believe it was not 3 axels for the size and weight of how it was built. We contacted Heartland and they told us to contact the frame company who then said it was not their fault and would have been detected in the place it was made if there was a problem. I believe it is as the insurance guy said, a design flaw!! Too much weight on the frame for the size camper so after time it bends the frame. Apparently, just enough time though to go out of warranty or the flex warranty. So a $40,000 camper is unusable for our family of 6 right before camping season. So bouncing roads on the highway would put stress on this over time but our bunkhouse is in the back and all closes up so no real weight is over those axels besides the weight of the camper and the clothes in the camper. I have researched and found other frame issues on here also with bigger campers like Big Horn so buyer beware if you are choosing a bigger camper, pay to have it reinforced because the extra warranty won't help. Our camper goes to Virginia Beach every August since we had it. It went to Florida the last 2 years for 3 months and we camp just about every other weekend from the end of May to Labor Day. We really use our camper but think that for the investment it should have lasted since we baby it and do everything to protect it and make it last!! We bought this new and planned on keeping it for a long time. To fix it this will cost us about $6000.

 

[danemayer]

The insurance guy could not believe it was not 3 axels for the size and weight of how it was built.

Hi cacheflady,

Sorry to hear about your frame problem. Lippert warrants the frame, but only for 1 year, not for 4 or 5 years.

If you look at the GVWR on the label near the pinbox, on the off-door-side, it probably says something like 14,000 lbs or less. The RV world is full of trailers from every manufacturer with GVWR up to 15,500 lbs, sitting on 2 axles. I'm sure you could walk any dealership, look at the GVWR label and count the axles and find no 3 axle trailers in your weight class.

So, that tells me the insurance guy might have been saying that as an excuse to blame the problem on the manufacturer, instead of paying the claim. You might want to get an opinion from an unbiased 3rd party as to the cause of the frame problem, to support your insurance claim.