Airtyme
Member
We have a 2015 Heartland Cyclone HD 4200 that we purchased in December 2015, so it's still covered under warranty.
A couple of months ago, we were putting the slide out and it started tilting. Checked into it and was told to clean the sides and put some slide lubrication on it. That didn't work and the next time we put the slide out, it dropped hard at the end and made a loud sound.
We then checked the underneath and noticed The mounting brackets had slipped and bottomed out. They were also bent. We scheduled an appointment at the nearest Authorized Heartland Service Center immediately.
At the appointment, the service tech said that it was not adjusted correctly at the factory. He showed me where the brackets had been slipping overtime. It was off center and completely off balance. He told me that the brackets and support beam could not be fixed (the integrity/strength of the metal was compromised) so it had to be replaced. He assured us that he saw no reason why factory warranty wouldn't cover it since it is obviously a manufacturer issue...but it would likely take a couple of weeks to get it approved. He adjusted it as best he could, but it still would not operate correctly.
We managed to make it to our summer destination. A couple of weeks later, we got a call from the service center. They told us Heartland had DENIED warranty coverage and the reason was "the issue should have been caught and fixed during PDI so the dealer will need to take care of it." The dealer's response was "nothing was wrong at inspection."
Heartland continued to deny. But since we were not going anywhere the rest of summer, we decided to take care of it when we pack up to go home.
We are home now. However, we had a discovery during this time. I noticed that the mounting brackets (attached to the track arm and attach to the bottom of the slide) didn't look quite right. Turns out, the front is mounted on a "T" bracket and the back is mounted on an "L" bracket. The specs of the brackets are completely different, to include the adjustment spaces, making it nearly impossible to line up properly.
Just to be sure, we went around and looked at many other Cyclone HD 4200's. NONE, I repeat, NONE of them had different types of brackets installed. All had the same in the front and the back.
Root cause discovered: Heartland RV installed two different type mounting brackets on our slide during the build process.
I have pictures and will be putting together a video to give to Heartland RV and others to see. I trust they will now honor their warranty, as there is NO DOUBT this is a manufacturing issue.
My question is...how in the heck did this pass inspection AT THE FACTORY? There is a white marked "x" on both brackets...so someone had to see it.
My question...has anyone else had this problem? I forgot to add...in order to get the slide in, we had to remove and get rid of the couch because the supports underneath are so bent, the weight keeps the slide down and it will not come in without it.
A couple of months ago, we were putting the slide out and it started tilting. Checked into it and was told to clean the sides and put some slide lubrication on it. That didn't work and the next time we put the slide out, it dropped hard at the end and made a loud sound.
We then checked the underneath and noticed The mounting brackets had slipped and bottomed out. They were also bent. We scheduled an appointment at the nearest Authorized Heartland Service Center immediately.
At the appointment, the service tech said that it was not adjusted correctly at the factory. He showed me where the brackets had been slipping overtime. It was off center and completely off balance. He told me that the brackets and support beam could not be fixed (the integrity/strength of the metal was compromised) so it had to be replaced. He assured us that he saw no reason why factory warranty wouldn't cover it since it is obviously a manufacturer issue...but it would likely take a couple of weeks to get it approved. He adjusted it as best he could, but it still would not operate correctly.
We managed to make it to our summer destination. A couple of weeks later, we got a call from the service center. They told us Heartland had DENIED warranty coverage and the reason was "the issue should have been caught and fixed during PDI so the dealer will need to take care of it." The dealer's response was "nothing was wrong at inspection."
Heartland continued to deny. But since we were not going anywhere the rest of summer, we decided to take care of it when we pack up to go home.
We are home now. However, we had a discovery during this time. I noticed that the mounting brackets (attached to the track arm and attach to the bottom of the slide) didn't look quite right. Turns out, the front is mounted on a "T" bracket and the back is mounted on an "L" bracket. The specs of the brackets are completely different, to include the adjustment spaces, making it nearly impossible to line up properly.
Just to be sure, we went around and looked at many other Cyclone HD 4200's. NONE, I repeat, NONE of them had different types of brackets installed. All had the same in the front and the back.
Root cause discovered: Heartland RV installed two different type mounting brackets on our slide during the build process.
I have pictures and will be putting together a video to give to Heartland RV and others to see. I trust they will now honor their warranty, as there is NO DOUBT this is a manufacturing issue.
My question is...how in the heck did this pass inspection AT THE FACTORY? There is a white marked "x" on both brackets...so someone had to see it.
My question...has anyone else had this problem? I forgot to add...in order to get the slide in, we had to remove and get rid of the couch because the supports underneath are so bent, the weight keeps the slide down and it will not come in without it.
