Heartland RVs QC Program - A Review

[Loco]

I must agree with most of everthing that has been said here. As many of you have seen the troubles I had with our 07 Cyclone in the pictures posted in the Cyclone area and yes I fixed them all myself and better than the dealer ever could. I am anal about this type of things. Heartland came through and made it right for our family. They usely do not pay owners to do there own work on their rigs. They found out that I know more about fixing these type things than most dealers. But I worked it out and got what I wanted out of Heartland. I hope to think that I help them to improve the new Cyclones because Scott talk to me and said they did have some troubles with the Cyclones. He thank me for the pictures of before and after and past them on to production.I will keep on making improvement to our rig and it will be the Best Cyclone on the road bar none. I am setting a goal now. You can take that to the bank. And yes we are taking it the heartland plant this spring to show it off to them I hope. Yes we do love our Cyclone

 

[ct0218]

Glad its all working out for you. Just another example of Heartland's commitment to customer satisfaction! I walked thru a Cyclone at the factory in Sept, nice.

 

[kathyo]

Jim
We are looking to buy a Bighorn fifth wheel. I do not like what I am hearing about the Chinese tires. RVers are saying that they are having a lot of problems with them. Are they going to change to a better tire. We looked at a Bighorn this weekend and it had those tires. Do you call that good QC?
Kathyo

 

[jbeletti]

Kathyo,

Doubt we'll see non-Chinese tires on Heartland trailers anytime soon. Based on the volume of RVs sold, I just don't think there is enough capacity at non-Chinese tire plants to fill the need of U.S. trailer makers. This is just my sense of the matter and it is not based on any facts from Heartland.

That said, it is clear that there are some Chinese (and maybe other countries) tire factories that are turning out bad tires. This has been proved out in the latest nationwide tire recall (brands not used on Heartland trailers thus far).

Do I wish all Heartland models were supplied to the consumer with Goodyear or Michelin tires? YES. Is it practical? Can it really be done? I'm not so sure it can be done. Regardless, it's not my call. Like you, I don't work for Heartland. Just another RVer here...

What I do suggest you do is look at the tires on other brands of trailers that you are favoring. If tires are the deciding factor and you find another brand of trailer that suits you perfectly and has a tire brand you prefer, you may have found a winner. Another suggestion is to make the tire brand of your choice, a part of the deal you negotiate with a Heartland (or other brand) dealer.

Best of luck and let us know what you end up getting in terms of trailer brand, model and tire brand and country of manufacture.

Jim

 

[ChopperBill]

Kathyo, I wouldn't let the tires be a deciding factor. Any good dealer will trade them out for you. And I will add I wouldn't drive any thing off the lot with Chinese tires, no matter what the brand.

 

[mrcomer]

Well I've been reluctant to enter into the big tire debate. We have a Bighorn 3500RL (floorplan no longer available) and it has Mission tires on it. We travel every single weekend during camping season to a local campground which is about 20+ miles one way (approx. 25 weekends per year), we have taken it to the Rally in Elkhart (2) times which is 240 or so miles one way, we've been to Pigeon Forge, Diamond Caverns, and Terre Haute Indiana without incident. Yes I'm knocking on wood right now. I can't tell you exactly how many miles we have on our trailer tires and I realize that we do not travel near as much as some other folks but they seem to be doing well. I do keep an eye on tire pressure. I have read many of the horror stories posted at this forum and others. It is enough to keep me a bit worried but I do what I can to check my tires often.

Let's hope I did not just jinx myself.

Mark

 

[Uncle Rog]

mr, your short trips are probably about right for the chicom tires, they probably do not get hot enough to detonate.......

 

[cdbMidland]

mr, your short trips are probably about right for the chicom tires, they probably do not get hot enough to detonate.......

My two trips to Florida and back on Trail America tires might disprove your point.

Chuck

 

[jwb187]

I was a bit skeptical about my Mission tires that came as original equipment on my Bighorn 3055 and was even told by forum members to immediately trash them and buy something else.....I decided to give them a try and monitor them closely for unusual wear and or any tread bulging or separation. Since then I have been to Branson and Gulf Shores putting a total of over 2000 miles and guess what.....no unusual wear and they look like they are wearing normally. I do check the air (80psi) maximum load each and every time I start on a trip. I load them to 75psi......I might have four blowouts next week but right now they're as good as any RV tire I've had in the past on different trailers. Keeping my fingers crossed....jwb.

 

[Uncle Rog]

cdb, I hope you are right! I am glad you have not had any problems. I, on the other hand, have had two catastrophic failures with the TA's, one with no damage and one that only took $200 in cosmetic parts to fix, very lucky. This is my fourth rig in almost 15 years and the previous two flats were from
1) I left the tires on too long and they were sun rotted.....replaced them
2) I had a slow leak that I gambled on, planned to change it out at the camp ground, tire got hot and grenaded, tearing up the slide wire harness
Ever since our maiden voyage, when I discovered all the lugs were loose, I have religiously checked pressure, temp and visually inspected the tires at least every 200 miles or whenever I stop. I honestly think that my tires were poorly made or defective at best. Anyway's we now have the GY's and the Doran system for insurance. Keep on roll'n and good luck.....

 

[ChopperBill]

Do ALL chinese tires explode? Nope. Do lots of them explode? Yep. How many posts about exploding Michelin's you see? Haven't seen one yet. If anyone has send link, please.
On track. Heartland taking care of folks was not the OP. Quality control was. Two different subjects.

 

[Uncle Rog]

Chopper, you are right, I never even looked at the thread title, I just saw the tire post........All in all I have read just as many, if not more, issues about other rigs on other forums. HL, I have to think, is trying to do a good job and that is that......

 

[kathyo]

Thanks Guys for all the info on the tires. I thank I will check and see about changing the brand name to include on the sale. I really do like the Bighorn 3400RL.
Kathyo

 

[sharmulst]

We had mission tires on our '06 BH 3500RL which we had put about 12,000 miles on. They had all worn pretty evenly. When getting ready to go to the rally this year Steve was checking the tires. Found one that had about a 12" crack in one tread groove and it also had a bulge on it. We replaced all 5 (spare included) with BF Goodrich tires. Guess we were lucky to not have a blow out. Steve always checked the tires and made sure the pressure was good and there was no unusual wear.

 

[Gregnbonnieinvermont]

I am going to say that in the 1st year we have had our Trailrunner, the quality of this trailer is great. I have been in some others that were cheaper made(not by heartland) and was very disappointed in the craftsmanship and quality. When I had a problem with the flooring, we could have redone the floor with something else but DW wanted it the way it was and since I was the one who ripped it, Josh from Heartland was a big help. Supplied me with the supplier and I was able to order some. I can see where they take pride in their work and I can't wait until next year to get back out there.

 

[Wharton]

Contacting Heartland

How does one contact Heartland? Over the last month I have sent 2 emails with no response(several weeks apart) and called, leaving a message(a week ago) with no response. This alone makes me think I don't want a Heartland RV. We have looked at them, liked what we saw but have questions that need to be answered and the dealer was useless....................



Admin Note: I pushed this request directly to Heartland today with your email address. Jim

 

[ChopperBill]

How does one contact Heartland? Over the last month I have sent 2 emails with no response(several weeks apart) and called, leaving a message(a week ago) with no response. This alone makes me think I don't want a Heartland RV. We have looked at them, liked what we saw but have questions that need to be answered and the dealer was useless....................



Admin Note: I pushed this request directly to Heartland today with your email address. Jim

I called 'em the other day. Operator answered right away, I asked for warranty service and got Chris on about the second ring. He got me the answer I needed and I was completely satisfied! Cant get any better service than that. Be thankful that your dealer cant answer your questions because they are generally wrong. Best source of info it right here! Ask Away!

 

[jpmorgan37]

I would like to know what e-mail address you used and what phone number you called. This is so untypical of Heartland. I know that anytime I have called or e-mailed over the last couple of years, I have gotten a response in a very short time. As Bill (retired4fun) suggested, ask you questions in the Prospective Owners threads and I'm sure that you will get your questions answered there.

John

 

[Dusty]

I have had some problems with my Bighorn, but I sure have never had any problems with Heartlands response. I am still a very happy camper with my trailer and with Heartland

 

[blackfin]

Hi! everyone just joined today and wanted to say hello, 2009 3950, one of the reasons beside quality that I purchased my trailer was the response I got from Heartland (David, eastern sales), I have spoken with him several times and had a chance to meet him last month---top notch guy...hope to meet some of you folks...