Prospective owner 2008 Big Horn 3055RL

[DougKirby]

Hi everyone, I am from and live in New Zealand, after importing a Coachmen A class in 2009 and converting it to right hand drive, I am now looking to buy a 5th wheel and store it in the US for use from time to time. For my first 5th wheel I don't want to outlay a lot while I decide if I like this type of RV or not.
I need to have an office space to keep my business running in NZ (I am a self employed engineer) and have settled on the 3055 and focused my search on that, before I travel to the US to view a few of these I would like to know if this RV has any known issues I should look out for and any interesting positives I may not be aware of. I have just emailed Heartland asking about recalls, so far I have only found one from 2008 for the Dometic fridge.
Thank you very much in advance for your assistance and advice.
Regards Doug (and Catherine so some of the above should be we).
I am exploring insurance, any advice on recommended liability cover would be appreciated, the state minimums seem to be low to inadequate based on a bit of googling I have done, finding recommended figures is proving to be difficult, thanks.
P.S. - I am ex navy, interested in; motor racing, space, science, reading, cycling/mountain biking, water sports, travel, exploring, family and meeting people - hopefully I will secure an RV and meet some of you over the coming years.

 

[cookie]

Howdy Dougkirby and welcome to this great forum.
Although the Bighorn 3055 is no longer in production it has been the top selling floor plan for many years. Very popular.
Since what you are looking for is nearly 10 years old, be sure that it has been maintained so there are no leaks.
You should get plenty of replies from current and prior owners.

Peace
Dave

 

[danemayer]

Hi DougKirby,

You should inspect the underside of the slide outs flooring for signs of water damage. There was a design change in 2009 or 2010 to improve protection from water contacting the front and rear edges of the slide room floor.

Also inspect seals around each slide while checking the caulking on the roof and around windows and light fixtures.

Look at the tire date of manufacture stamped on the sidewall. Many of us replace tires at 4 or 5 years regardless of tread condition.

Look for wear on the suspension shackle links that connect the springs to hangers. Most show wear after a few years of travel. Elongated mounting holes indicate they need to be replace or upgraded.

 

[Gary521]

My former unit was a 2008 3055RL. The layout was great and we liked it a lot. There were only two issues that I can remember with that model. The springs went flat on them. Lippert had a bad batch of springs as they supplied the axles at that time. The second was a wear issue on the bottom edges of the slides. I can't remember what caused it but the solution was a kit supplied by Customer Service where you glued plastic strips on the bottom edges of the slides. The kit was also available from another supplier too. We also had tire issues with the supplied tires. They were not Towmax then but another brand called Mission. I still would check to see that they are not some off brand of ST tires.

 

[jayc]

We began our Heartland ownership with a 2007 3055. We loved the floorplan but I wanted an all-together bathroom, so we traded it in for a 2009 3370RL. We didn't have the 3055 long enough to have any problems but the suggestions that you have from others are proper. Good luck!

 

[Gaffer]

Look for a 2010. I am pretty sure 2008's still had the vertical rather than sloped front end under the overhang. The sloped front made room for reinforced frame frame. Some of the pre-2010 Lippert frames had cracking issues at this point. This may have been resolved with the 2009 model year or may have been done mid-year depending on the build date.

 

[DougKirby]

Look for a 2010. I am pretty sure 2008's still had the vertical rather than sloped front end under the overhang. The sloped front made room for reinforced frame frame. Some of the pre-2010 Lippert frames had cracking issues at this point. This may have been resolved with the 2009 model year or may have been done mid-year depending on the build date.

Hi Gaffer, thank you and everyone for your replies.

I am a bit stuck for time to organise this from New Zealand and have already booked an 08 unit in for an independent inspection next Tuesday, so far none of my research nor the specific replies in this blog have dissuaded me from this model of RV other than your advice which is the first I knew of this issue, so thank you for that, I was wondering if you would be good enough to further advise me please ?

Does the frame fracture where it goes from the lower horizontal rail to the vertical section rail or the vertical section rail to the horizontal section rail where the hitch is ? Or both ?
Is there any way for the inspection technician to inspect the frame for these fractures through a storage space or elsewhere without the need to remove permanent panels ?
If not is there any way to test the integrity of the frame, for example; have the RV jacked up with the front jacks so no weight is on the hitch, then lower the RV using the front RV jacks to put load onto the hitch and thus the frame at the same time observing and measuring for any deflection around the suspect joint area (and also listen for any metal to metal squeaking from the fracture), if that works or there is still some doubt we could really load the suspect frame section up by then jacking up the RV with the rear jacks to transfer some more load off the RV wheels onto the hitch and the suspect joint/s.
Or is there some other test method that you suggest please ?

If we establish that we have a fractured frame, do you have any experience of a repair or even photos of that and can you recommend where to take it to for the repairs please ?
Finally can you confirm, or even a rough estimate will be great (I wont hold you to it, and anyway I am already in your debt for helping me !) of the hours and even the likely cost to repair the frame please ?

Thanks very much in advance for your advice and assistance.
Regards Doug

 

[danemayer]

When someone suspects frame flex (damage that allows the pin to flex), there's typically a noticeable separation around the sides of the front cap as weight is transferred from the landing gear to the hitch - often 1/2" or more.

If you put a camera on a fixed object and take a photo from the side while weight is on the landing gear, and again when resting on the hitch, any separation is usually easy to see in the photos. It's also helpful to tape a ruler near any suspected area to actually measure any flex.

 

[Gaffer]

I don't know if it was ever a problem with the 3055, being one of the shorter if not the shortest in the Bighorn line. It may have been only on the longer and heavier floor plans. Even on the bigger units, it was likely a small number. On your 2008, it probably would have happened by now if it was going to. The difference between the extra reinforced frame in the 2010 (top) and the 2008 is shown below. The Lippert frames with this construction was used by many manufacturers.

 

[Gary521]

One other thing on the 2008 3055RL. The way that the propane gas line is routed to the stove puts the line right in front of one of the tires. I had a tire blow and take out the soft copper gas line. This needs to be rerouted for your safety.

 

[JohnAndAsiza]

We've been full timing it in our 08 3055rl. We live in eastern Washington state, own a resort out here. I can tell you that we love our BH. The only real issue we had was when the weather dropped to negative 20, our kitchen sink would freeze no matter what we did. The issue was that the water lines run behind the stair cubby where the stairs fold up. There is no insulation behind the metal. Even fully skirted, the cold would freeze those lines. Had to just keep the faucet on a steady drip. The other improvements we did was to replace the tv. It came with a heavy plasma tv that was very thick. Also drilled holes though the side of the tv cabinet to run more wires to the entertainment center for our Xbox one. Other than that, it's a real solid rv. We picked ots up for $19k. Looking to upgrade to a BH3890SS since the resort will be our home and the wife needs a bigger fridge and living space. We have 2 dogs. Message me if you want, you can call me for more info.

 

[Ksboynky]

I wished I had looked at this website before I made a purchase of a 2008 3055RL. This was the cleanest used unit I had ever run across, it doesn't appear to have ever been lived in and I doubt it's been used at all much. I think it must have been stored in a covered location for the shape it's in. I sure hope the issues you describe aren't ones we will have to deal with, I was really excited about making this purchase until I saw the remarks here.

 

[DougKirby]

Here is an update - I bought the RV 2 weeks ago and it is great. There is some minor rot in the bedroom slide out floor, looks like an easy fix and will do that in a few months. The frame checked out OK, the 5th wheel attachment is a 5th Airborne which seems to absorb road shocks really well which I expect will have protected the frame from extreme stresses and as noted by one of the guys earlier it is the shortest of these models so it will be the least stressed frame anyway. I had a piece of heavy angle steel fixed over the gas line to protect it rather than reroute it. I fitted all new tires and a tire pressure monitoring system that does the truck and RV, this has already saved a tire failure on the RV after a valve stem leaked. I had all three detectors renewed, fitted two new batteries and a had few other minor things done and I was ready to go - so I headed north away from the hurricanes.
Thanks to everyone for your assistance with my questions.
Regards Doug.