So how do they build em in 2 days?

[kdubinwa]

This is the build week for my 3160EL. I was told by salesman a Bighorn is built in two days!? Really?? Shoot, I wish they would relax and take 3 or 4 days to get everything perfect...

If true I'm guessing they have tons of components pre-rigged and two days is more like the assembly timeline?

 

[Bohemian]

This is the build week for my 3160EL. I was told by salesman a Bighorn is built in two days!? Really?? Shoot, I wish they would relax and take 3 or 4 days to get everything perfect...

If true I'm guessing they have tons of components pre-rigged and two days is more like the assembly timeline?

The correct term is "assembly" in 2 days. Major, pre-built components are assembled into a finished unit. Assembly is usually not scheduled until all the components are built, acquired, and avaiable. (

 

[TravelTiger]

Here is a video about the Toyhaulers, but it's a good example of the assembly process. LINK

 

[pegmikef]

I think we were told during the factory tour of the BH/BC/LM build area that it was more like four days.

 

[wclark]

What ever the time frame is they should take longer. Our bighorn is falling apart.


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[sengli]

We have taken the factory tour for big horn and elkridge many times as we live very close to the factory. The two day assembly time, is what we were told, then there is QC, and final acceptance stops as well. Those assembly people fly when they are building the coaches. They are tasked with completing so many actions items each day, whether it takes 8 hours or 10 hours to do. So if they get it done is 6 hours, they clock out. It is amazing to think they can do it so quickly. But they do have alot of things as sub assemblies ( wiring harnesses, plumbing runs, walls and roofs) already built.

 

[carl.swoyer]

I went to the factory in 2012 the at that time did 12 per day from bare chassis to finished landmark

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[jbeletti]

Yep - you guys have it figured out. Heartland has many plants in our campus that produce sub-assemblies such as roofs, walls, floors, counter tops etc. The frames are contract built by Lippert.

All that comes together at our assembly plants that assemble your coach. In addition to our own sub-assemblies coming into our assembly plants daily, there is a steady stream of manufacturer and distributor trucks streaming through our plants, dropping off appliances, furniture, tires/wheels and more.

 

[avvidclif]

Tell the TowMax truck to keep on trucking....GRIN

 

[JohnD]

Yep - you guys have it figured out. Heartland has many plants in our campus that produce sub-assemblies such as roofs, walls, floors, counter tops etc. The frames are contract built by Lippert.

All that comes together at our assembly plants that assemble your coach. In addition to our own sub-assemblies coming into our assembly plants daily, there is a steady stream of manufacturer and distributor trucks streaming through our plants, dropping off appliances, furniture, tires/wheels and more.

They need more QC in several of their sub assembly lines . . . most especially when it comes to plumbing, heating ducts, wire and coax runs.

I'm picking up our Prowler from the dealership today after getting several warranty issues resolved (hopefully) . . .

Took them 10 weeks to get them fixed.

 

[TxCowboy]

They need more QC in several of their sub assembly lines . . . most especially when it comes to plumbing, heating ducts, wire and coax runs.

Agreed. If HL needs for more focus on QC, it should be in their electrical and plumbing areas. These two areas seem to be the biggest areas of complaint in these forums, in my opinion. Slides are another area but that is likely more of a reengineering issue because of slide weights and duty cycles of the support mechanisms than it is of construction/assembly issues.

 

[juneausilver]

Yep - you guys have it figured out. Heartland has many plants in our campus that produce sub-assemblies such as roofs, walls, floors, counter tops etc. The frames are contract built by Lippert.

All that comes together at our assembly plants that assemble your coach. In addition to our own sub-assemblies coming into our assembly plants daily, there is a steady stream of manufacturer and distributor trucks streaming through our plants, dropping off appliances, furniture, tires/wheels and more.

Hi, Jim. Didn't you recently get a new Landmark 365? We did and have had issues. But, this refrigerator issue could be a big problem for all of us. Any ideals.

I went to the factory in 2012 the at that time did 12 per day from bare chassis to finished landmark

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[jbeletti]

Hi, Jim. Didn't you recently get a new Landmark 365? We did and have had issues. But, this refrigerator issue could be a big problem for all of us. Any ideals...

I got a LM 365 Ashland in March 2015.

Unsure what issues you are having with your refrigerator. If you haven't already posted specifics and ask for ideas, please do so in the Appliances sub-forum.

 

[juneausilver]

I got a LM 365 Ashland in March 2015.

Unsure what issues you are having with your refrigerator. If you haven't already posted specifics and ask for ideas, please do so in the Appliances sub-forum.

Actually our issues have been taken care of by Sutton RV and the factory. But, the posts have been helpful. The walking refrigerator caught my attention due to the shear weight. I will check the appliance sub-forum to see if someone has found a way to anchor or strap more securely. Thank you. Judy

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[JohnD]

Picked up our Prowler from the dealership this afternoon after 10 weeks of warranty repairs, and so far am very disappointed in the work!

The inside trim around the entrance door kept falling off . . . after 10 weeks at the shop and supposedly fixed . . . when I entered the trailer . . . the trim was falling off again!

And that gas strut that is supposed to hold the door open that ripped out of the wall over the door and the door itself the second week we had the trailer (poor engineering design from the factory)?

Well, they replaced the strut, but used the same mounts and screws . . . and they almost ripped out when I opened the door to go inside while still at the dealership today.

Some fix . . .

Apparently Heartland didn't authorize a real fix . . . but to just replace the strut!

The original strut is OK . . . guess I'll keep it as a back up or something . . .

I know how to fix it, but I just thought that it should have been done under warranty (shame on me for thinking that ).

Anyway, most of the other fixes seemed to be good, but after seeing those two items right off the bat I didn't even go in to complain . . .

I just hitched up and hauled it home!

Tomorrow I'm going to check out every single repair that was supposed to be done . . . then I'll make that call to the dealership.

 

[kowAlski631]

I'd check with Heartland also to see what type of repair authorization was requested vs what you expected to be requested. Could be different.

 

[carl.swoyer]

I found while still in warranty that heartland authorized full Repair. Never pointed fingers. Most of my problems were with the repair
facility

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[JohnD]

I'd check with Heartland also to see what type of repair authorization was requested vs what you expected to be requested. Could be different.

I found while still in warranty that heartland authorized full Repair. Never pointed fingers. Most of my problems were with the repair
facility.

That may be, however when I dropped it off, I showed them exactly what happened to the door strut and what I thought would be an easy and probably the best fix.

And the service manager was taking notes . . .

And it most likely would have cost less than the replacement strut that they put back up there . . .

Anyway, I was just out looking it over and found a bunch more stuff . . . like one of the wiring harnesses under a slideout is now rubbing on a tire . . . and I found a hose (either a brake line or hydrolic line) laying on another tire under the slide on the other side, with the mounting bracket unscrewed from the frame . . . and the hose is worn flat just from the 40 mile drive home yesterday.

One of the fender brackets right there was never bolted to the underside of the slideout (my drill wasn't heavy duty enough to drill the hole) from the factory, and they drilled a hole and put that were it should have been, but didn't hook that hose back up!

I'm going to try and fix those two issues myself before I back the trailer into the yard.

I need to get it parked before I can open it all up and check all of the other 'fixes'.

 

[kowAlski631]

Taking notes and communicating what's in those notes are two different things. I had my staff in the same meeting taking notes, but you'd think they were in different meetings sometimes when they when they each wrote reports.

 

[JohnD]

Turned out that the wire rubbing on the tire is one of the slide wires . . . it was worn through to the bare wire so I cleaned it off and wrapped it good with electrical tape (although it will need to be replaced I think - I took photos), then I put zip ties on it to keep it off of the tire.

When they reattached the fender bracket, they didn't put the wire back over the top of the bracket and just left it hanging.

On the other side, the whole wiring harness was rubbing on the tire, so I got under it and pulled the wiring harness back through the slide gears until the whole thing is away from the tire (it still has plenty of room to stretch when putting the slide out).

The entrance door issue I'm just going to fix it myself.

Funny, I was just reading over the work log that they gave me, and even after I explained the problem several times to them, it seems that they determined that the strut was broken . . . so just replaced that.

I ran the furnace and they did get that working, although they cut a few holes in the coroplast and didn't seal any of them.

They did cut a large square piece of coroplast to cover the big hole they cut to get at the heating ducts, but all the did was put three screws on all four sides, but didn't tape it off.

Guess that will be another thing I'll have to do . . .

On a lighter note . . .

Before I parked the Prowler in the side yard I drove it over to our local propane dealer to get the tanks filled for our trip to the Arizona HOC Rodeo Rally (we leave 5 weeks from today), and low and behold we had only used 2/3rds of one tank all summer (5 campouts in 2015 with the new Prowler)!

Not bad considering we did a lot of cooking, dishes, showers and running the furnace several nights.