New member & owner - 2011 H BH 3055RL

[mhsmith57]

Hello forum members, new member here. After an indepth research, my wife and I have chosen a 2011 H. Bighorn 3055RL. We're picking it up August 2nd. We looked at the BigCountry's, Jayco Designers and Eagles, and even a new 2009 Teton (involved a 3 day trip) for 3/4 ton trucks. I hope the BH doesn't let us down.
During our PDI, what should I specifically be looking for from a Heartland product? Any pointers would be appreciated and thanks. BTW, my tow truck is a 2005 Dodge diesel, G56 manual tranny, 2wd quad cab s/b, 325hp/610tq stock, and a 18K lb Reese slider hitch.
Mark

 

[Invizatu]

Welcome to the forum Mark! Someone will chime in with a check list, I believe there is one that you can find by typeing in pdi checklist into the advanced search in the upper right hand corner of this page. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Bobby A]

Welcome to the Heartland family, you will love this forum and all the members that partisipate on it. You have chosen the best company for your Rving needs. Heartlands customer service is second to none. Someone will chime in with a link to PDI. Enjoy your new rig and congratulations !!

 

[jimtoo]

Hello forum members, new member here. After an indepth research, my wife and I have chosen a 2011 H. Bighorn 3055RL. We're picking it up August 2nd. We looked at the BigCountry's, Jayco Designers and Eagles, and even a new 2009 Teton (involved a 3 day trip) for 3/4 ton trucks. I hope the BH doesn't let us down.
During our PDI, what should I specifically be looking for from a Heartland product? Any pointers would be appreciated and thanks. BTW, my tow truck is a 2005 Dodge diesel, G56 manual tranny, 2wd quad cab s/b, 325hp/610tq stock, and a 18K lb Reese slider hitch.
Mark

Hi Mark,

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 knowledge if needed.

The PDI is very important, so take your time, inspect everything, make sure everything works and you can work everything, from hooking up water and tv to draining water from all the tanks and with no leaks. If possible stay the night at dealer or close by so you can operate and check everything without the dealer looking over your shoulder.

This is a link to wiki on the forum with some good PDI check list.

Have fun and enjoy your new Big Horn.

Jim M

 

[imdun]

Just wondering where you purchased your unit at. We are looking to purchase a Big Horn or a Big Country.

 

[mhsmith57]

We bought our BH in Mesa, Az at LaMesa RV. Speak to Duane Riveria or Bob Barker, Sales Managers. Very nice gentlemen and tell them Mark Smith reffered you if you don't mind.
Mark

 

[DRGalligher]

Congratulations! We picked our brand new 2011 3055RL, August 13, 2010! Our first trip was three weeks to Yellowstone and we didn't have any problems. Make sure you do a thorough walkthrough and take your time. Take the checklist from the link sent to you and make sure you open all the doors and cupboards, pull open all the drain valves outside in the central compartment and put on the electrical connection yourself there at the dealership. We did and thought we had it right but always struggled with it, only to find out we were turning it the wrong way. Make sure that they have tested the water heater in both electric and propane mode and same for the fridge. Practice opening the fridge - it's known to be tight. Bring those slides in and out, but I'm sure all this is on that checklist. We just came back from an 8 day boondocking trip. We filled up with the full fresh water capacity and had plenty of water on our trip, in fact, we ended up dumping about 1/3 of it. That was only our third trip but I've lost track because we drive way camp as much as possible!

 

[SJH]

Congratulations on your new rig! HERE is a pretty comprehensive PDI check list. At the bottom of the page is a link to download the list as a MS Word file. Then you can edit the list to fit your needs.

Best Wishes!

 

[mhsmith57]

I want to thank you all for the pdi inspection list and the valuable personal information. I think I'm prepared now. Looking forward to seeing our new baby!
Mark

 

[KL7j]

Hello forum members, new member here. After an indepth research, my wife and I have chosen a 2011 H. Bighorn 3055RL. We're picking it up August 2nd. We looked at the BigCountry's, Jayco Designers and Eagles, and even a new 2009 Teton (involved a 3 day trip) for 3/4 ton trucks. I hope the BH doesn't let us down.
During our PDI, what should I specifically be looking for from a Heartland product? Any pointers would be appreciated and thanks. BTW, my tow truck is a 2005 Dodge diesel, G56 manual tranny, 2wd quad cab s/b, 325hp/610tq stock, and a 18K lb Reese slider hitch.
Mark

We picked up a 2011 3055 which was our factory order.

Here is our list of issues that might help you out:

The hot water heater when switched over to A/C failed due to lose wire nuts in the junction box, tech fixed 2 days later.
The latch on the under sofa drawer was broken.
The curtains over the sofa had manufacture defect in weave, were replaced.
If you have keyless entry, the lights are not bright enough in daylight to program it to your personal code.
The fresh water fill flex hose line to the tank was too long and poorly routed and formed a P-Trap and failed to vent adequately during filling. It had to be shortened and rerouted.
Pressure fresh water leaked on second day in the basement storage near the UAC, a lose pex fitting was found.
The brakes were inadequate and failed lockup with two different trucks testing. Lippert frames tech came out, verified, and replaced all 4 with Axle Tec brand that worked and indeed could lock this unit up.
I use a Tire pressure monitor system on (Doran) each tire and found upon receiving the unit that the tires were low. I had them filled to 80 psi and found two days later the tires again were low. A trip to a tire shop found all four tires had loose stems leaking which was visible under water and were repaired. Without a TPMS I likely would have run them low without ever suspecting within a day they went down. Check your tires daily.

Do a good PDI, then watch and test all systems, including TV and radio coax connectors. My outside radio antenna on the slideout was loose.
Take the QC sticker with a grain of salt.